Depth Maps for Facebook 3D Photos: The SPM Workflow
Facebook’s 3D photo feature builds its parallax from two files: the photo and a matching depth map. StereoPhoto Maker connects to this in two ways — it prepares and aligns real stereo pairs, and since v6.41 it can extract depth maps from iPhone HEIC portrait photos that carry depth data. This workflow uses both.
Route A: from an iPhone portrait (photo + its own depth map)
- Take the portrait-mode shot and transfer the original HEIC — converted copies lose the depth channel.
- Extract the depth map in SPM v6.41 (step-by-step).
- Keep the photo and depth map as a named pair (same base name).
- Upload both together to Facebook’s 3D photo flow and check the result on a phone — tilt to verify the parallax reads naturally.
Route B: from a real stereo pair (depth from disparity)
Facebook also derives depth when you upload a stereo pair in its supported forms. Prepare the pair in SPM — aligned, window set, saved as a clean master (walkthrough) — because every geometry error becomes a wobble in the generated 3D effect. A true pair gives the feature real disparity to work with, which generally beats a single photo’s estimated depth around edges.
Quality checks before posting
- Hair, glasses and thin objects are where depth estimates fail — inspect at full size.
- If the effect swims at object edges, the depth map — not the photo — is the problem; a cleaner extraction or the stereo-pair route fixes it.
- Keep the originals: platform features change, and today’s upload pair is tomorrow’s re-export.