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Panorama stitching software?

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Just for interest, another alternative is to obtain a "one shot" type lens for doing 360 degree images

attached is a "donut picture from such a lens and then the following will be the unwrapped long picture from the donut.





--
Phil A
FCAS Member #100
http://www.pbase.com/philinnz
cp5000, SB26, WC-E68, TC-E2
 
philinnz said:
Just for interest, another alternative is to obtain a "one shot"
type lens for doing 360 degree images

attached is a "donut picture from such a lens and then the
following will be the unwrapped long picture from the donut.
Click to expand...
Phil, now you're just showing off :-)

--
Simon....

Perth, Western Australia
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.pbase.com/simonb
CATS Member > ^..^
 
philinnz said:
For landscapes it does not matter, except sometimes as you rotate
the camera during handhold you end up rotating the camera a little
each time. A tripod will help you avoid this error. If you are
taking a pano series in a room for example, the shooting head or
tripod is essential to avoid parallax errors
Click to expand...
Thanks; I understand the importance of the tripod (actually, I can't even imagine how this without a tripot would work). My question related only to the "centering" of the camera exactly over the tripod pivot point.

The off-setting of the tripot mount thread from the lens' center of the 8800 appears less than an inch (from the pictures). I don't see how the resulting difference in the camera position when turning (from the ideal position) would became relevant even in in-house situations.

Do you really think that a special bracket is necessary for the 8800? (I did not receive my 8800 yet, I can't try it out.)
 
Kaj E said:
Can somebody please recommend a good pano stitching software? I
would like something that would be relatively easy to use, but the
quality of the result is my main concern.
Click to expand...
Hi Kaj,

I see others have given you the advice that I would have (before I got up this morning), to try Panotools with the PTGUI front-end. PTGUI has a fully functioning trial period and Iended up purchasing it.

I started on the Pano road quite a while ago and tried to use PTAssembler (another Panotools front-end) and ended up giving up on it because I really didn't understand a lot of the concepts required. Not the tools fault. I then went to using the Arcsoft tool that others have mentioned and got pretty good results with that and with PanoramaMaker.

This is one of my first (handheld, as are most of mine, so I don't go along with the previous advice that you must use a tripod):



I then had difficulty with several stitching attempts, so I started investigating other software. I kept coming back to Panotools (all the stuff I read said it was the best), so I found PTGui and spent an entire weekend getting to grips with it and haven't looked back since:





It's worth the effort!

Cheers and have fun,
--
Simon....

Perth, Western Australia
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.pbase.com/simonb
CATS Member > ^..^
 
Gabor,

There is a point somewhere within the length of the lens known as the nodal point. That point moves forward or backward at different focal lengths of a zoom lens. When the camera is pivoted about this nodal point, objects close to the camera and those at a great distance remain in perspective to one another. If not pivoting around the nodal point, the two objects will move in relation to one another as you pan.

To see this in action, place a broom handle, or similar object, vertically about 5 feet in front of the camera. Watch the display on the camera as you pan on a tripod. The position of the broom handle, relative to objects in the background, will shift as you move the camera.

As you can see, when you take pictures with objects that do not maintain a consistent relationship on the right side of the frame as they do on the left side of the frame, will be difficult to stitch.

Finding the nodal point is a matter of trail and error. It will always be directly under the center of the lens (side to side), and somewhere in the length of the lens. This is not so critical if you're doing landscapes with everything far away from the camera. If you have near objects, pivoting on the nodal point can make things much easier in post processing.

Steve
GaborSch said:
philinnz said:
For landscapes it does not matter, except sometimes as you rotate
the camera during handhold you end up rotating the camera a little
each time. A tripod will help you avoid this error. If you are
taking a pano series in a room for example, the shooting head or
tripod is essential to avoid parallax errors
Click to expand...
Thanks; I understand the importance of the tripod (actually, I
can't even imagine how this without a tripot would work). My
question related only to the "centering" of the camera exactly over
the tripod pivot point.

The off-setting of the tripot mount thread from the lens' center of
the 8800 appears less than an inch (from the pictures). I don't see
how the resulting difference in the camera position when turning
(from the ideal position) would became relevant even in in-house
situations.

Do you really think that a special bracket is necessary for the
8800? (I did not receive my 8800 yet, I can't try it out.)
Click to expand...
 
Simon,

Nice work, especially to be handheld. I have pretty much given up on handholding, as my sucess/failure ratio is dismal. I waste much of the images to cropping, accounting for shifts in position as I pan. You obviously have mastered a technique I have problems with.

Steve
SimonB said:
Hi Kaj,

I see others have given you the advice that I would have (before I
got up this morning), to try Panotools with the PTGUI front-end.
PTGUI has a fully functioning trial period and Iended up purchasing
it.

I started on the Pano road quite a while ago and tried to use
PTAssembler (another Panotools front-end) and ended up giving up on
it because I really didn't understand a lot of the concepts
required. Not the tools fault. I then went to using the Arcsoft
tool that others have mentioned and got pretty good results with
that and with PanoramaMaker.

This is one of my first (handheld, as are most of mine, so I don't
go along with the previous advice that you must use a tripod):



I then had difficulty with several stitching attempts, so I started
investigating other software. I kept coming back to Panotools (all
the stuff I read said it was the best), so I found PTGui and spent
an entire weekend getting to grips with it and haven't looked back
since:
Click to expand...
SimonB197408 said:
It's worth the effort!

Cheers and have fun,
--
Simon....

Perth, Western Australia
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.pbase.com/simonb
CATS Member > ^..^
Click to expand...
 
Digital Shutterbug said:
Gabor,
There is a point somewhere within the length of the lens known as
the nodal point. That point moves forward or backward at different
focal lengths of a zoom lens. When the camera is pivoted about this
nodal point, objects close to the camera and those at a great
distance remain in perspective to one another. If not pivoting
around the nodal point, the two objects will move in relation to
one another as you pan.
Click to expand...
Thankx, I see. Perhaps I will produce an adjustable bracket or plate to mount between the tripod plate and the 8800.
 
Digital Shutterbug said:
Nice work, especially to be handheld. I have pretty much given up
on handholding, as my sucess/failure ratio is dismal. I waste much
of the images to cropping, accounting for shifts in position as I
pan. You obviously have mastered a technique I have problems with.
Click to expand...
Steve, it's not that hard. I take the first image, holding the camera still until the viewfinder comes back, half press the shutter again IN THE SAME POSITION and then, while making a mental note of an object in the RH third (if panning right) of the viewfinder, I then pan right until that object is then in the LH third, take the 2nd shot and repeat.

I also tend to use one of the focus marks in the viewfinder, or one of the other pieces of textual information there, to mark a horizontal line for consistent up/down position.

I hope that helps, it's worth persisting it if you don't have a tripod with you!

--
Simon....

Perth, Western Australia
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.pbase.com/simonb
CATS Member > ^..^
 
Not the easiest to use, but once you get a command it is the best one out there, can handle infinite number of rows and columns, and can handle mistakes made while shooting. The software is free, but there are several GUIs that are available for a price that will make the job easier.

There is a yahoogroup related to Pano Tools named "PanoTools", people are very eager to help you learn. Wayne Degner posted his panorama's url a couple of days ago on the list:

The large version is here: Three Bridges
http://home.comcast.net/~wayne.degner/panos/BRIDGE_LARGE.mov
(in case other doesn't work)

The small version:
http://home.comcast.net/~wayne.degner/panos/bridge_reg.mov
(in case other doesn't work)
Kaj E said:
I have tried to take a few panoramas but it is a real struggle. I
have tried using PSE2 to do the job, without getting any good
results. The pictures do not want to line up, and most of the time
I get a message that the program cannot match some of the pictures.
Even when I try to do some of the work manually lines are still out
of sync and the sky looks very patchy with the seems clearly
visible. I fix the focal length, exposure and white balance prior
to shooting (I keep the focus on auto with manual selection of
focus area because I have tried only landscapes with far away
subjects to focus on i.e. infinity). I have not been able to get
acceptable results even with very heavy and time consuming use of
the clone stamp.

Can somebody please recommend a good pano stitching software? I
would like something that would be relatively easy to use, but the
quality of the result is my main concern.
Click to expand...
 
WaqasUsman said:
The large version is here: Three Bridges
http://home.comcast.net/~wayne.degner/panos/BRIDGE_LARGE.mov
(in case other doesn't work)

The small version:
http://home.comcast.net/~wayne.degner/panos/bridge_reg.mov
(in case other doesn't work)
Kaj E said:
I have tried to take a few panoramas but it is a real struggle. I
have tried using PSE2 to do the job, without getting any good
results. The pictures do not want to line up, and most of the time
I get a message that the program cannot match some of the pictures.
Even when I try to do some of the work manually lines are still out
of sync and the sky looks very patchy with the seems clearly
visible. I fix the focal length, exposure and white balance prior
to shooting (I keep the focus on auto with manual selection of
focus area because I have tried only landscapes with far away
subjects to focus on i.e. infinity). I have not been able to get
acceptable results even with very heavy and time consuming use of
the clone stamp.

Can somebody please recommend a good pano stitching software? I
would like something that would be relatively easy to use, but the
quality of the result is my main concern.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Kaj E said:
I have tried to take a few panoramas but it is a real struggle. I
have tried using PSE2 to do the job, without getting any good
results. The pictures do not want to line up, and most of the time
I get a message that the program cannot match some of the pictures.
Even when I try to do some of the work manually lines are still out
of sync and the sky looks very patchy with the seems clearly
visible. I fix the focal length, exposure and white balance prior
to shooting (I keep the focus on auto with manual selection of
focus area because I have tried only landscapes with far away
subjects to focus on i.e. infinity). I have not been able to get
acceptable results even with very heavy and time consuming use of
the clone stamp.

Can somebody please recommend a good pano stitching software? I
would like something that would be relatively easy to use, but the
quality of the result is my main concern.

--
Kind regards
Kaj
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.pbase.com/kaj_e
WSSA member
Click to expand...
--
Mike
 
Kaj E said:
I have tried to take a few panoramas but it is a real struggle. I
have tried using PSE2 to do the job, without getting any good
results. The pictures do not want to line up, and most of the time
I get a message that the program cannot match some of the pictures.
Even when I try to do some of the work manually lines are still out
of sync and the sky looks very patchy with the seems clearly
visible. I fix the focal length, exposure and white balance prior
to shooting (I keep the focus on auto with manual selection of
focus area because I have tried only landscapes with far away
subjects to focus on i.e. infinity). I have not been able to get
acceptable results even with very heavy and time consuming use of
the clone stamp.

Can somebody please recommend a good pano stitching software? I
would like something that would be relatively easy to use, but the
quality of the result is my main concern.

--
Kind regards
Kaj
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.pbase.com/kaj_e
WSSA member
Click to expand...
--

Kaj - your first port of call must be http://www.panoguide.net - all your questions will be answered.
Panorama Factory is very easy to use.

Hope this helps Mike
Mike
 
Thanks for the tips Simon. I do pretty much the same thing, but I pan before half pushing the shutter release again. I'll try your method. Perhaps that will help in maintaining position.

I'm a firm believer in tripods for just about all photos. However, having VR helps reduce that dependency. If I could master your technique for panos, that would further reduce the need to always have a tripod on hand. I appreciate your help.

Steve
SimonB said:
Steve, it's not that hard. I take the first image, holding the
camera still until the viewfinder comes back, half press the
shutter again IN THE SAME POSITION and then, while making a mental
note of an object in the RH third (if panning right) of the
viewfinder, I then pan right until that object is then in the LH
third, take the 2nd shot and repeat.

I also tend to use one of the focus marks in the viewfinder, or one
of the other pieces of textual information there, to mark a
horizontal line for consistent up/down position.

I hope that helps, it's worth persisting it if you don't have a
tripod with you!

--
Simon....

Perth, Western Australia
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.pbase.com/simonb
CATS Member > ^..^
Click to expand...
 
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