"I am looking for a workable 3D Blu-ray Ripper for the purpose of ripping 2D Blu-ray to side-by-side 3D MKV so that I could play it as a SBS 3D movie on my 3D MKV player. What kind of 3D movie maker should I use to convert 2D Blu-ray to side-by-side 3D MKV movies on my Windows 8.1 PC?"

If you have the same query as this one, then read this post carefully to find out the right solution to convert 2D Bliu-ray to side-by-side 3D MKV video file.

Part 1: Something about Side by Side 3D

What is Side by Side 3D?

Side by side 3D content is one of the many 3D content format types, and it is one of the most popular yet. While DLP 3D ready projectors and newest 3D TVs prefer sequential 3D content, side by side 3D content can be used too.

Where side by side 3D content can be used?

While projector and TV manufacturers recommend sequential 3D content, side by side 3D can be used too in newest 3D TVs, most modern 3D ready DLP projectors (like BenQ projectors), Plasma televisions. Blu-ray players adopt sequential 3D content format, but side by side content is suitable for cable or air television and is in fact the most popular choice. For the latest news some television providers in the U.S. have already started first 3D tansmissions using side by side content. It is suitable for cable or air tansmissions because it uses the same bandwidth.

How does side by side 3D content work?

Like in sequential 3D, in side by side 3D the content consists of frames, but opposite to sequential 3D, in side by side one frame is not intended for both eyes at the same time. The frame is splitted verticaly in two parts: left part is intended for the left eye, right part - for the right one. So if we have 720p frame (which is 1280 x 800 resolution), the left part of the frame is 640 x 800 pixels of resolution, and the same resolution has the right part of the frame. In that way each of the eye recieves image which is horizontaly downsized in half (in picture).

Advantages and disadvantages of side by side 3D:

Advantages: On one hand, such content is so popular because of its bandwidth, which is suitable for cable or air television, and also it can be used in most of TVs (and some projectors). On the other hand, 3D glasses to view side by side content is much cheaper. Opposite to sequential 3D, you don't have to use active shutter glasses (which are expensive), so you can save up some cash. To view such content you have to use passive 3D glasses: anaglyph (one red and one cyan lenses) or polarized 3D glasses.

Disadvantages: Quality is compromised. If you have 1280 x 800 pixels resolution content, each of eye will get only 640 x 800 pixels of native resolution content. It can be (and will be) upscaled, but it will never be as good in quality as sequential 3D content.

Part 2: Convert 2D Blu-ray to Side by Side 3D MKV

To convert Blu-ray to MKV 3D side by side, you could use Leawo Blu-ray Ripper to achieve this. Leawo Blu-ray Ripper is a Windows based professional 2D Blu-ray to 3D video converter. It could convert 2D Blu-ray to 3D videos in various formats like 3D MKV, 3D MP4, 3D AVI, 3D H.264, 3D FLV, etc. There're in total 6 different 3D movie effects available for you to choose from: Red/Cyan, Red/Green, Red/Blue, Blue/Yellow, Interleaved, Side by Side. Thus, you could freely make use of this 2D Blu-ray to 3D video converter to create side-by-side 3D MKV videos out of 2D Blu-ray movies on your PC. The below guide shows you how to convert 2D Blu-ray to side-by-side 3D MKV in details.

Guide on how to convert 2D Blu-ray to MKV 3D video side by side

Step 1: Free download and install this 2D Blu-ray to MKV 3D video converter. Mac users can turn to the Mac version to convert BDMV to MKV 3D on Mac.

   

Step 2: Add 2D Blu-ray movies

Launch this Blu-ray to MKV 3D video converter to enter the main interface, and click the "Add Blu-ray/DVD" button to browse and add 2D Blu-ray movies into this converter.

Note: Full Movie, Main Movie and Custom Mode are selectable for you to load source Blu-ray content.

Step 3: Set side-by-side as output 3D effect

Click the "Edit" icon in each loaded Blu-ray title to enter an editing panel, where you could set 3D effect. Open "3D" tab, switch "3D Mode" button to green, and then select Side by Side option. The program would then turn Side by Side as output 3D effect. For vivid 3D effect, you could even adjust 3D Depth. The program would deliver you an instant preview of changes.

Step 4: Set MKV as output profile

Click the drop-down box ("MP4 Video" by default) next to the "Add Blu-ray/DVD" button and then select select "Change" option. Under "Format" tab on the popup Profile panel, select MKV as output format.

For advanced needs, you could customize the video and audio parameters of output profiles by clicking the same drop-down box and choosing "Edit" option. You could change video codec, audio codec, bit rate, aspect ratio, resolution, frame rate, channel, and other parameters.

Step 5: Start to make MKV 3D video side by side

After setting the output profile or detailed parameters if necessary, you will be returned to the main interface where you need to click the green "Convert" button to pop up a side bar. Set the "Save to" directoy on the popup side bar and then click the "Convert" button at the bottom to start 2D Blu-ray to Side by Side 3D MKV video conversion.

Note: If you want to create side by side 3D MKV/MP4/AVI/FLV videos out of common 2D videos, you could make use of Leawo Video Converter.

Extension: Top 3 3D Video Players to Play Side by Side 3D MKV

No. 1: 5KPlayer

5kplayer-3d-video-player

As the best 3D video player, 5KPlayer is easy to use just as simple as playing 2D videos without need to enable further settings to play 3D movies on Windows/Mac. Among all the free 3D video players, 5KPlayer can be said to be the promising new 3D player in this field. It is an HD media player that delivers spectacular 3D experience combined with a slick performance and the ability to play 3D videos 1080p, 720p in MKV, MP4, etc.

No. 2: Bino Player

bino-player-3d-video-player

Bino is a quite professional 3D video player that plays stereoscopic 3D videos with a wide range of video format. It is free and efficient, and can work on both Mac and Windows. But it is experiencing current unstable development.

No. 3: KM Player

km-player-3d-video-player

As a free video player for 3D movies, one of the best feature about KM Player is that it does some conversion from 2D to 3D by adding anaglyph effects, so you need to use 3D glasses in order to view the movie.