How do you shoot/ build your panoramas?

  • He, Milo do you save as .psb photoshop large ? I always do max size aprox 10000x5000 and then the psb is aprox 350 -700 mb *wink*

    Cheers

    Tuur *thumbsup*

  • Yo,

    oke i tried 5000x 2500 and 6000x3000 ... big files like 8.2mb etc..

    what resolution should i set???

    i always do 300 but can i go lower without to much loss?? like 180 or 72?? what should you recomend??

    Tuur *thumbsup*

  • @milo: I mentioned the post process in the reply further up.

    My PT Gui exports are never bigger than about 20Mb which your PC and PS should easily be able to handle. Just with your paging file size on the default settings should be OK...

    Edited once, last by Richard (May 25, 2009 at 4:16 AM).

  • Richard:

    As you, I find the hotspot setting really dull and boring... I opted for not using hotspots at all, and no disrespect to anyone but I think polygon hotspots really look unprofessional and bad, so in the case that I do need to put a hotspot, I have created a PHP/JS web script that creates the necessary XML for my hotspots, by just rotating and clicking on set hotspot... its nothing fancy, but it works quite well... I was thinking of releasing this to the public once I get it to work more globally, right now it works for my needs but its to basic for public usage yet.

  • Milo i dont think you would want to save the actual 2:1 image for web through photoshop i would think your would loose to much quality. i make mine 10000x5000 and just save it as a 8 bit tif then use multires with at least 1 level of zoom sometimes 2, i like being able to zoom in and inspect things.

    also i stopped using raw images after we got our new D90. actually i shoot all regular photography in raw for weddings, outdoors, landscape and infrared. i do not use raw only for panoramas. raw has more flexibility in post processing but if you can get it right the first time or at least very close the need for raw is lessened. i use my histogram on the camera to judge how accurate my settings are i find if you can get a nice clean mound in the middle with no sharp spikes in either side the exposure is great. raw vs jpeg is the eternal digital photography battle.

    also I jsut wanted to through this out there. a very cheap but decent pano head for people who are strapped for cash. this is the pano head i have shot every single image i took with. i have not used anything else to date but i an getting a nodal ninja 5 very soon this will then be my backup. this is a great starting pano head. it comes with great directions for manual calibration. I have settings for 2 body styles and 3 different lenses. Everything is manual but once you know the setting is is quicklly adjustable. The Panosuarus !

    http://gregwired.com/pano/pano.htm

  • Milo i use photoshp fpr post processing i just do not save the 2:1 imags for web. I just save it. Saving for web can only be done on smaller images. When trying to save for web reduce the lenght and width of the image and eventually it will save without that error. I save all my buttons and images for web inside the tour i do not however save the actual spinable image for web.

    I did some reading yesterday about jpg vs raw and i found something i had forgotten.

    JPG = 256 colors
    RAW = 655535 colors

    just by using jpg you loose 97% of the quality. i think i might do some more expiramenting this weekend.

  • only reason i am upgrading is so when i want I can use our 70-300 mm lens and shoot a hi-rez pano or zoomify. the panosaurs cannot be calibrated acuratly while zoomed out at 300mm it is to long i can't center the focal point.

  • to patch the zenith and nadir I found a great trick. take you equirectagular image at 2:1 and flip the image 180 upside down, then go to Filter -> distort -> polar cooridinates select square to polar and apply. it will apply polar cooridiantes to your image and the hole at the bottom ends up and exact circle and can be clone stamped in photo shop very easily now. it also format the iamge so if you have a nadir cap or logo you just drag in over the hole then undo the previoos steps. Filter -> distort -> polar cooridinates select polar to square and apply. rotate back 180 and your hole is patched neatly.

    Here is a Photoshop script from a friend of mine - Rune Spans - which will help you do the touch up/clone stamping of nadir and zenith
    http://www.superrune.com/technical/software_supercubic.php

    Cheers,
    Kim

  • anybody use a sunex lens and rotator Because this Sunex fisheye covers 185 degrees, you have enough overlap to create complete spherical 360 x 360 degree panoramas with only two shots.
    http://www.kenrockwell.com/sunex/super-fisheye.htm


    website http://www.superfisheye.com/


    I am still undecided about which workflow is best


    sigma 4.5m nodal ninja
    sigma 8.m nodal ninja
    sunex fixed aperture of f/5.6 & panoramic rotator is designed exclusively for Sunex SuperFisheye lenses for making 360° immersive images from 2, 3 or 4 shots. This versatile and user-friendly rotator has 4 detent positions (0°, 120°, 180° and 240°). Its kinematic mount design positions the lens nodal point precisely on the axis of rotation. No special tool is required to engage or dis-engage the lens


    I will be hiring other people to capture the panos and then I will create the tours.So I want something thats easy to learn.


    tim2420 *w00t*




    Edited once, last by Tim2420 (June 1, 2009 at 5:15 PM).

  • sigma 4.5m nodal ninja
    sigma 8.m nodal ninja
    sunex fixed aperture of f/5.6 & panoramic rotator is designed exclusively for Sunex SuperFisheye lenses for making 360° immersive images from 2, 3 or 4 shots. This versatile and user-friendly rotator has 4 detent positions (0°, 120°, 180° and 240°). Its kinematic mount design positions the lens nodal point precisely on the axis of rotation. No special tool is required to engage or dis-engage the lens


    Hi Tim,

    For low resolution, high quality panoramas including HDRI probes I am tempted to go with the below solution, although it is rather an expensive one. The Sunex lens is two shots per pano instead of three with the Sigma. Do we know if is optically similar or better in quality than the Sigma 8mm?

    * Canon 5D mk II full frame: $3300
    * Sigma 8mm w/Canon mount - or the Sunex lens : aprox. $800 - $900
    * Nodal Ninja Ultimate R1: $380
    * Gitzo GT1932 Series 1 Basalt 3 Section G-Lock Tripod: $300

    Prices are aprox. from online stores, Amazon etc. With the Ultimate R1 rig I would just leave the fisheye lens permanently attached to the lens ring. I assume Nodal Ninja would first have to custom make a new lens ring for the Sunex lens?

    Cheers,
    Kim

  • I think the difference between shooting 2,3 or 4 shots is minimal, especially if you're going to shoot HDR (which I think is a must). Now that I have the pano head and settings worked out, the actual shoot is one of the easiest parts of the process.

    But a Canon 5D MkII would certainly be nice, especially considering its unlocked video capabilities with the just-released firmware update.

    The most annoying part of the actual physical process I find is having to swap out the pano head and changing lenses when I want to do other photography.

    So if I had the budget I think I wouldn't go for a top-end camera, but rather a lower-end camera that I could devote 100% to panorama work: no lens swapping, no demount from the head etc.

  • We are going that route too, although with two Canon 5Ds, one being a Mark II. On film sets there is always two VFX crews when capturing scene info photographically. One unit (person) capturing the HDR probe, usually with a fisheye setup or chrome ball, and a second unit for capturing a high resolution panorama using a Rodeon rig or manually with Manfrotto/Nodal Ninja etc for set extension purposes. We have similar use for a low rez HDR probe for lighting our CG scenes, and the high res pano for backgrounds and high res panoramas.

    What I would like to do is have the two rigs with me on every shoot both with separate tripods and cameras, although I think swapping lenses from time to time will happen since people will always want to use the mark II for other things than HDRs.

    I have revised my thoughts on lens and panorig for HDR - for sure going for the Sigma 8mm + the Nodal Ninja 180.

    Cheers, Kim

  • what's a chrome ball?

    A smallish mirror ball or near perfect reflective sphere usually put on a tripod and photographed in 6, 9 or more different exposures to capture a light probe (360 degree high dynamic range image) of the environment. This pano image, usually in the .hdr or .exr format (you would really need to photograph the chrome ball from two different positions to capture a full 360 sphere proper) is used to light CG scenes. As mentioned it is an alternative to using a fisheye lens to shoot a panorama but you do get a less quality 360 image, and ideally would need to retouch out the photographer and tripod used to photograph the chrome ball (hence using a telephoto lens to photograph it is common)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging

    Cheers, Kim

  • only reason i am upgrading is so when i want I can use our 70-300 mm lens and shoot a hi-rez pano or zoomify. the panosaurs cannot be calibrated acuratly while zoomed out at 300mm it is to long i can't center the focal point.

    VN2009
    You dont need a pano head for telephoto panos. Use a normal tripod head & eyeball the overlap. works for single and multirows. Here is a link to some 180mm panos. I've also taken some with a 300mm using this technique.

    http://www.john-law.org.uk/standard/bath-g1.html

    best wishes

    JL

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