>FromParis - Technical documentation and tutorials : panoramas, spherical 360°/180° Quicktime VR, hardware, software

panoramas

images bank

screensavers

technical

> home > technical >

Links

About this technical section

for new updates

	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

Spherical head 360Precision + PTMac + PhotoshopCS2 + CubicConverter
Easy and quick workflow to create a spherical QuicktimeVR

spherical render

Large view

zoom inside

Quicktime VR : medium - large - fullscreen

ecard

360Precision (http://www.360precision.com)
For most spherical heads on the market, setting the "nodal point" requires patience and a minimum knowledge. Even when it is set, vibrations, transportation, shocks... will make you the operation regularly (most of the time, when you do not have time to do so).
360Precision works on the opposite principle: it has been designed for a couple "camera body + lens". It has no customizable setting, apart from the spirit level. > see the video


	360Precision + D70 +10.5mm	back screw
	Pros • Precise : vey, very precise • Compact, it can easily fit into a photo case / bag. • Resistent and reliable, it looks sound as a rock. • As it is preset, you only have to screw it on the camera ~~and make it level~~ Cons • Expensive : £520. But you'll find it more cost-effective than you think, compared to other heads of the same category.

Photoshop CS2
The most famous of the image editing software. Enhanced from the CS2 version with more convenient features for panoramic photographers, like the Warp or Vanishing Point features.

http://www.adobe.com
http://www.adobe.com/products/tryadobe/ (free trial)

PTMac
A Must-Have (as Realviz Stitcher) to assembly panoramic images directly from fisheyes shots.

http://www.kekus.com/ptmac/

CubicConverter
The Swiss army knife for Quicktime VR. It can convert images in 2-ways "equirectangular" <-> Quicktime VR as well as edit the sides (cube) separately.

http://www.clickheredesign.com.au/cubicconverter/

Photographic part - Stitching - Nadir creation

Photographic part

Nikon D70 + 10.5mm

8 images : one row (6) / nadir (1) / zenith (1)

AF : manual

Balance des blancs : manuel

Vidéo [Mpeg /4,1 Mo / 61 secondes]

Stitching

Selecting 8 images making up the sphere:
zénith (1), rangée (6), nadir (1)

Opening PTMac

Adding the first 7 images:
zénith (1), row (6)

Lens settings*
ex: fov 87.1946 (10.5mm Nikor)

Placing the images:
+ 0°, + 60°, +120°, -180°, -120°, - 60 °...

Creating control points
Note : Autopano software enables creating multiple control points.

Optimisation

Rendering and saving

Nadir creation & patch

Opening CubicConverter

Loading the image previously rendered in PTMac

Saving the side containing nadir with the "hole".

Opening Photoshop CS2

Loading the Nadir with the hole from CubicConverter and the picture of Nadir made during the shooting

Assembling, placing and modeling the two images with the Warp module

Edit -> Transform -> Warp

Fine placing and cutting

Correction of the density of the added central part.
Note: You can set this correction in "grayscale" not to be influenced by colors.

Color enhancement of the added central part

Editing of details and backup

Replacing the side containing nadir with the hole in CubicConverter

Final conversion in CubicConverter and saving as a Quicktime file and an image (TIFF, JPEG format...)

Once saved, the final spherical image can be corrected, edited, enhanced according to your needs and your creativity.

Duration (shots, stitch, nadir): 15 - 30 mnts

Quicktime VR "fullscreen" (1.3 MB)

Special thanks to Matthew/360Precision, Pierre/Adobe, Stéphane/Realviz, Gilles, Michel, Jean,... and all members of the PhotoPanorama forum for their assistance and informations (especially on PTMac).

Another instance made the same way (without any link to Paris, but fun and pretty technical :-). Note that the mirror on nadir has not been shot from the "nodal point", in order to avoid the camera to be reflected.

Quicktime VR "fullscreen" (1.3 MB)

Original idea: Marco Luethi : fullscreen (1.5 MB)

Wish to participate ?

If you have corrections, information, links and documentation you would like to submit relating to this topic: contact me

Faq - Copyrights and Uses - Contact - About

All photographs are copyright "Eric Rougier / FromParis.com". Please, do not to use without written authorization.
Help for some night shots, ice creams, pizzas, carring tripod, supporting me and english web translation : Cecile Brand
The pyramid of the Louvre museum: Leoh Ming Pei, architect. "La Géode": Adrien Fainsilber, architect.
The "Grande Arche": Otto van Spreckelsen, architect. Bibliotheque Nationale de France: Dominique Perrault, architect.
Lighting of the Eiffel Tower is copyright "Société Nouvelle d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel".
Some history texts are licensed to the public under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Zoomify™ is a trademark of Zoomify Inc. QuickTime ™ and QuicktimeVR ™ are trademarks of Apple Computer.