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	I hope the little informations of this section will enable you to begin with creating panoramic images and spherical Quicktime VR or maybe better understand the process involved.
	Vidéo : create a complete Quicktime VR 360°-180° in 10 minutes How to create a Quicktime VR step by step, from the shots to the stiching part A smaller hole on the nadir = less work in Photoshop Tilt your camera for less work in Photoshop after: Nikon D70 + Nikon 10.5mm + Nodal Ninja 3 + Stitcher Unlimited (or PTGUI) Quicktime VR 360°-180° with 3 shots : Nikon 10.5mm on a Canon 5D Create a good quality Quicktime VR with only 3 pictures and a strange couple camera/lens Spherical head 360Precision /PTMac /PhotoshopCS2 /CubicConverter Easy and quick workflow to create a spherical QuicktimeVR Basic informations to understand & create Quicktime VR 360°-180° Basic informations and tutorial Manfrotto 304 VR : a cool "do-it-yourself" Quicktime VR head From the 303SPH Manfrotto to a head with new functionalities All the technical chapters in one (and long) page

Basic informations to create a clean Quicktime VR 360°-180°
Basic informations and tutorial

There are as many techniques as different ways to build a panoramic image or a spherical Quicktime VR through stitching. The one described below is one amongst others. It probably is the easiest one to reproduce. It's up to you to adjust it according to your needs. (as the above article)

Basis
For greater ease, this example's shooting is based upon an horizontal row of 6 pictures, a top view (zenith) and a bottom view (nadir) using a VR head mounted on a tripod. (see graphics below)

Hardware
- Camera:
Nikon D70 and 10.5mm / Canon 1DS orMark II DS and 15mm Sigma / Canon 20D and 10-22mm, etc.
- Support:
QTVR head (Panosorus, Manfrotto, Kaidan...), tripod

Nikon 10.5mm - Sigma 15mm - Canon 10-22mm

Preliminary settings
- Photo:
The camera must be set to manual mode for focus, exposure and white balance to avoid any offset of the point, light and color setting between images.
- Photo + head:
Beyond the correct mounting of the head and camera on the tripod, you have to define the nodal point to get pictures that are easy-to-assemble.
Alain Hamblenne wrote an interesting Web documentation and PDF on an adjustment method called "the grid": http://www.outline.be/quicktime/tuto/ (available in english and french)
Arnaud Frich is giving large details on the topic and on the ways to operate these different settings (french only): http://www.arnaudfrichphoto.com/gp_point_nodal.htm
Manfrotto also has a page dedicated to the subject: http://www.manfrotto.com/303SPH/main.php?cnt=howto#sph

6 horizontal views

Shooting
1 row of 6 horizontal pictures, 1 top, 1 bottom> see video

There are many ways to "shoot" the bottom (bottom/nadir) :
- 1 view by handholding the camera after taking good marks and placing yourself out of the shooting field.
- 2 views with the camera inside the head, above the screwing joint of the tripod (add a logo to hide the remaining circle).
- 2 views by making sure, if your head allows it, that the camera is outside the monopod if you are sure not to have problems with paralax and/or offset.
- 3 views (as shown on the right) if you're paranoid : 2 inside views + 1 outside view).

Top and 3 bottom views with parts of tripod & head

Stitching the bottom picture (nadir)
Whatever software you're using (Photoshop, The Gimp...), your goal is to stitch all 2 or 3 images to get a bottom image free of any part of the tripod/head.

Paris Sainte chapelle bottom 01 and 02 and 03

after assembling 1+2+3 bottom views in Photoshop

Correcting images before stitching
- Lens correction / Remap to rectilinear
Defish : http://www.worldserver.com/turk/quicktimevr/fisheye.html - http://www.kekus.com
Nikon Capture (perfect with both Nikon D70/10.5mm) : http://www.digitalreview.ca/cams/NikonCapture4.shtml

Lens correction

Remap to rectilinear

Stitching
It can be done using multiple software with different processes, including:
-RealViz Stitcher : http://realviz.com/products/st/index.php
-PTmac : http://www.kekus.com/ptmac/ (note: you don't need -> rectilinear with PTMac - see above)

Publishing (flat and QTVR)
After stitching and rendering, the resulting image (spherical, cylindrical, etc.) can be displayed "flat" or interactively through Apple's Quicktime VR technology.

- Realviz Stitcher enables a Quicktime VR direct rendering.
-CubicConverter is an excellent conversion software: http://www.clickheredesign.com.au/cubicconverter/

Enjoy your shooting...

Sainte Chapelle de Paris Quicktime VR large

spherical render (cropped)

Large view

zoom inside

Quicktime VR : medium - large - fullscreen

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Help for some night shots, ice creams, pizzas, carring tripod, supporting me and english web translation : Cecile Brand
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