Sharing Lightfield Images
The sharing process for Lightfield images is a little different depending on the recipient's device.
Sharing to Leia Devices
LeiaPix
The best way to share Lightfield images to other Leia devices is to your account on LeiaPix! LeiaPix is already the place where everyone is sharing and talking about the best Lightfield images on the platform. If you want to show off your images, LeiaPix is definitely the place to do it.
Send a Lightfield Image Directly
You can always just send a Lightfield image to another device directly. You can plug in a USB-C cable and transfer the image to another device, including a PC, Mac, or other Lume Pad. You can also move the files onto USB storage. Finally, you can use Android Nearby Share to send the file directly to another Leia device in your vicinity.
The primary filetype used on Leia devices is LIF (Leia Image Format). In a perfect world, you could just send an LIF any method you want. Unfortunately, a lot of the most popular communication platforms compress images, which turns 3D LIF files into regular 2D images.
Options for sharing LIFs:
Send an LIF through a known-good communication platform
Send a Zipped LIF through any platform
Send an SBS instead
Messaging Platforms that support LIF
Unfortunately, there are only a few messaging platforms that don't compress your images. They include:
Email (choose Full Size)
Discord
That's it! All the other major platforms we've tested do NOT support transmitting LIF files, as they compress all images and wipe data of images sent on them.
Messaging Platforms Incompatible with LIF
Slack
Signal
Telegram
WhatsApp
Messenger
WeChat
Zipping LIF files to send on Incompatible Messaging Platforms
To ZIP a LIF file to send over one of the above incompatible messaging platforms, you can simply put the LIF files into a folder in the Files app on your Leia device, tap the ellipsis button (three dots in the right corner), and then tap "Compress". This will ZIP the entire folder, including the LIF files. You will be able to send this through any platform that supports basic file transfer, and when the recipient unzips the folder, they will be able to access the LIF images in full Lightfield View Mode!
Export as SBS
If you don't wish to spend the time zipping the files, an easy way to get them onto another device is to export it as an SBS. To export the file as an SBS, simply go to the image in LeiaPlayer and tap the Share button, then choose Side-By-Side under Export Options. These will be able to be sent through any messaging platform that supports images. Two potential issues however: the platform may still compress the image which lowers it's visual quality, and the image will show two side by side images when it's recieved.
Sharing to Legacy 3D Devices & XR headsets
Older 3D devices and XR headsets don't support Lightfield file formats. Unfortunately, there's no golden standard for 3D file formats. Some devices use full-width SBS, some support half-width SBS, some support MPO, and some of them support multiple of the above file formats.
The first step in getting your Lightfield files to a format viewable on your target device is to find out what file format the device supports. Then, you need to find a path to getting your Lightfield image into that format.
Because full-width SBS is so popular, there is a good chance your device supports it. In many cases, all you have to do is export your Lightfield image from LeiaPlayer into an SBS file and it will simply work on your legacy 3D device or XR headset. If not, you can often easily find 3rd party programs on your computer to turn your full-width SBS file into a half-width SBS or MPO file. This makes it easy to get your favorite Lightfield images onto your other devices.
Sharing To 2D Devices
There are broadly two ways to share Lightfield images to a 2D device: as a LIF or as a Lightfield Animation. If you share a LIF to a 2D device, it will simply look and work like a normal JPG! No additional work required. Lightfield Animations however are a way for people on 2D devices to get a sense of the depth of the image without a Leia device. To learn more about Lightfield Animations, go to the Lightfield Animations page.
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