Just like with videos, you want your panoramas to show blue bird skies and powder snow, but how often have you hired a photographer/videographer and the weather just didn't play ball, leaving you with expensive material that doesn't do your resort justice, and to rub salt into the wounds a few days later the conditions are perfect.
What this tutorial does is show you how to capture the conditions or events yourself using only a basic digital still camera and then stitching those images together with a simple $79.99 software application, which you can then embed onto your web site or maps.
Not all panoramas you see are produced the same way.
Some are taken using a spherical lens on the camera and with only a single shot, which produces an image that is warped on the edges. We have all seen those 360 VR's that feel like you are viewing from inside a fishbowl.
Others are made by taking multiple still shots then stitching these shots together to form a single wide image. This produces a more realistic 360º panorama that is not warped or curved.
How the pro's make panoramas and how to cheat and get some excellent results.
Using the multiple shot method a pro will most likely have a heavy tripod with a panorama head attachment and a high quality SLR camera. The panorama head allows the camera to be rotated precisely around a complete 360º circle taking still shots that are perfectly lined up with the horizon and overlap each other by the correct amount. Shots that are lined up and overlapped in this way are so much easier to stitch together.
So what you need to do is copy their method without the panorama head equipment or tripod and using your own simple digital camera. If a tripod is available it does makes things easier.
Video shows you how to do this:
Click on the image below to see the finished product.
The goal is to take multiple shots standing in the same place while turning around in a circle, and to have all these shots follow the horizon, plus overlap each shot by around 20%. You might take about 8-12 shots depending on the camera lens and how much overlapping you have done. A good rule of thumb is take a shot for each hour on the clock.
The next thing you need to do is make sure your camera is set on manual exposure NOT auto. If you use auto each shot you take will have different exposure settings and when you go to stitch them together they won't look like a single consistent image. So manual exposure is required and to set this up you firstly leave the camera in auto mode and with your finger slightly depressing the shutter button, pan around in a circle, you will see that the shutter speed and aperture settings are changing all the time. The object is to settle on a exposure that will work best around the complete 360º circle. Some areas may come out darker and some brighter but its an average you are looking for. Snap off a few shots in auto mode, preview them on your camera, and see what exposure settings were used on the shot you like the most. If its say, 2.8/125 (lens aperture & shutter speed) then this is the settings you use when the camera is back in manual mode and ready to take the shots.
Most common problems.
If you don't follow the horizon closely when you take the photos it makes the stitching process so much harder and you will get an image that is cropped heavily at the top and bottom.
If you haven't used manual exposure then there's no chance of a nice looking stitched image.
If you haven't overlapped each shot with the last then the stitching may not be able to match points.
Check list
1. Shoot all photos on manual exposure settings. Choose an average exposure setting and use that setting for all 12 photos.
2. Take one photo for each hour of a clock, 1 thru to 12. By taking 12 photos per panorama it gives plenty of overlap to assist in stitching.
3. Make sure you stay level to the horizon. (very important) By staying level to the horizon means stitching will work best. Your first shot and the last shot should be on the same level plane. A tripod is handy for this.
4. Shoot at high res.
5. Name the images and place into a folder for each panorama on your computer.
Stitching the images
The software itself will have detailed instructions on how to use it, but basically it goes like this:
1. It will ask you what type of stitching you want to do, such as wide screen or 360º. Choose 360º. It will also ask you for other things like lens used or output size, what I use is auto for the lens and medium for the output size.
2. Next it will ask you to import the 12 photos you have taken and then thumbnail preview each shot lined up beside one another. Select them all and include them into the stitch window. If they look correct hit next. This is where the auto stitching starts. If all your shots were taken with the horizon in mind will make this stitch so much better.
3. Now you will get a preview of the stitch and if all is good the stitch might be perfect and you can save the jpg, however more than likely some shots won't be lined up perfectly to the last shot and you will need to fix. Hit the Fine Tune button and select on the image where the problem is. This will show you 3 marker points on each image that you drag onto specific points that match the same point on each image, such as a tree top or lift tower or bump in the snow. Once these are set hit ok and the app will start to stitch again using your marker points. You may need to do this in multiple places before the complete stitch is finished.
4. Save the image in the required format for the player you will be using. MVP or vicoMap panorama players uses a jpg, or you can export a .mov file to be used in Quicktime players.
Enjoy taking your photos and remember - stay horizontal to the horizon!
0 comments:
Post a Comment