I will offer my view. I hate stereo glasses and hate stereo in general.
One should be able to see 3D from the depth-cueing and by keeping the view in motion. For fitting, I like to flip the view by 90 degrees. I know I am going to move in displayX and displayY, but never in displayZ. I then rotate the view around the vertical axis so thatn the old displayZ becomes displayX. Furthermore, I don't waste too much time fitting. I know the software can fit the map better than me, so I let it do its job. I only need to get the coordinates within the radius of convergence of the refinement program. I also know that 9 times out of 10, the displayed electron density is probably suspect, so I believe in stereochemistry more than I believe in the map. The main trick is to realize that as a human being, you really are not that good at fitting the map or that it is unnecessary to waste your time since the software is really so much better than you. Refinement is quick enough that you can try various hypotheses as in: "If I move this here, then refinement will do the trick" and "Well, that didn't work, so I will move that over there and see if refinement will do the trick." As for stereo figures, you should be able to convey what you want to say from a good figure with depth-cueing, shadows, etc. Don't ever use stereo glasses in a public seminar. Maybe my opinion will change with better stereo technology. OK, I know quite a lot of people will disagree with me. :) Jim -----Original Message----- From: CCP4 bulletin board [mailto:CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behalf Of David Roberts Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2011 10:29 AM To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK Subject: [ccp4bb] while on the subject of stereo Hi again, I'd like to ask a question about the pedagogy of stereo. That is, using stereo with students in the classroom. Do you all find that, after setting up these elaborate stereo devices, students really use the stereo or do they tend not to? I am a huge fan of stereo - and frankly here we have quite a few options for doing stereo - from the active Nvidia systems that people have recently been discussing to passive zalmans. ... As I mentioned, I like stereo a lot, but really projecting on a nice bright lcd monitor also has it's advantages, and with the ease of moving things using the mouse (or whatever device you use), the overall need for stereo seems to be decreasing. I don't know - I just wonder what peoples views are out there for the actual "need" for stereo. It's incredibly cool - and I think is a very powerful way to show things - but I'm wondering if we focus too much on it because it's cool and not because it's pedagogically necessary. Just wondering, no worries. Thanks Dave
