Tom Hall
Posts: 9
Location: Santa Rosa, United States
Registered: 6 Apr 2008
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Is PTGUI the "BEST" stitching software
Posted: 6 Apr 2008 at 15:08 GMT
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I am investing in hardware and software to create interior & exterior virtual tours of various multi-million dollar homes & luxury hotels. I bought the adjuste head from 360P, a Nikon D80, a Nikkor 10.5 fisheye lens, an SB800 Flash. I'm now down to choosing software. I hear a lot of discussion of PTGUI and I get the impression this is the software of choice amongst the true professionals. Am I wrong? Does it offer something others do not? Thanks.
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Doug Aurand
Posts: 720
Location: Albuquerque, NM, United States
Registered: 2 Jan 2008
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Re: Is PTGUI the "BEST" stitching software
Posted: 6 Apr 2008 at 16:05 GMT
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Tom
PTGui is as good as it gets at "stitching"
But its not as user friendly as many others.
It also offers a limited number of output types compared to RealViz Stitcher Unlimited and some others
Doug Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
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mediavets
Posts: 420
Location: Isleham, Cambs., United Kingdom
Registered: 8 Feb 2008
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Re: Is PTGUI the "BEST" stitching software
Posted: 6 Apr 2008 at 16:07 GMT
updated: 6 Apr 2008 at 16:08 GMT
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For me Autopano Pro is the 'best' stitching and rendering software - inexpensive too.
I'm far from being a 'pro' but there are many pros who have chosen it too.
Andrew
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Hans Nyberg
Posts: 824
Location: Denmark
Registered: 28 Aug 2005
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Re: Is PTGUI the
Posted: 6 Apr 2008 at 16:26 GMT
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Doug
User Friendly is a very subjective expression.
What is user friendly or not depends on the user.
To me there is no stitcher more user friendly than PTgui.
Regarding output I believe we can say that Ptgui Pro (with free panotools) has more output than any other stitcher.
Equirectangular, cylindric, rectilinear, circular, mercator, transverse mercator + 3 more.
And letting you do it with Tif, PSD, JPG, PSB for gigapixels, blended - blended with layers or as individual layers.
Plus direct output as QTVR
You can input and stitch all types of lenses and files including already stitched panoramas.
You can convert and extract rectilinear views for editing any view like nadir oer zenith.
You can warp or stitch with both PTGui and Panotools
You can blend with Ptgui's own blender or you can choose Enblend or Smartblend (only WIN)
You can do HDR or or the latest type of dynamic contrast control Fusing.
And you can batch stitch.
Hans
www.panoramas.dk
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Tom Hall
Posts: 9
Location: Santa Rosa, United States
Registered: 6 Apr 2008
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Re: Is PTGUI the "BEST" stitching software
Posted: 6 Apr 2008 at 16:58 GMT
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I really appreciate the discussion my thread prompted. It confirms that PTGUI is as good of choice as any and unless i learn otherwise I will probably buy it. THANKS. What a great group. T
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atomicmak
Posts: 173
Location: ahmedabad, India
Registered: 7 Dec 2006
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Re: Is PTGUI the
Posted: 6 Apr 2008 at 17:00 GMT
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i am with hans.
i used ptgui, easypano, tourweaver, autopano, realviz and many more to test.
my experience with ptgui is best amongs all.
since i am doing pano work from last 3 years i would say that pgGUi has given the best on all.
i have very less hurdles with it.
The fact i would say is dont expect everything 100% perfect.
software is just a thought of one expert to help others but the one using it might have different mind and expertise and digestive power so just try every demo possible and judge your own strength.
as far as easiness or user friendliness is concern i must say if you use ptGui for atleast 20 pano in different situation you will better work with ptGUi in less time than any other software available.
ptGUi is so active in all the stitching software category and they give every latest option available in industry.
would say give some time to it and you will be soon one of us on suggestion of ptgui list.
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Doug Aurand
Posts: 720
Location: Albuquerque, NM, United States
Registered: 2 Jan 2008
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Re: Is PTGUI the Best
Posted: 6 Apr 2008 at 17:28 GMT
updated: 6 Apr 2008 at 17:29 GMT
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Hans
All due respect to PTGui
But it can't output the .w3d files for use in Adobe/Macromedia Director/Shockwave. It can't output VRML Projection. It doesn't produce AVI or MOV video files.
And I don't think it can produce the Cubic Strip used for the PURE Player .ivp file type or the Spi-V Shockwave Viewer
I know it can't produce somethis as simple as a Thumbnail like iPIX Interactive Studio can.
And to create a Flash supported image, a newbie like Tom would have to buy and learn still another program like Pano2QTVR with the FlashPack, where something like Easypano Panoweaver will output it directly from the stitching program
I think its also very limited in what types of stitched images it can covert from one type to another, like converting a QTVR into an Equirectangular Projection. But you may have to correct me on that.
My point being that there is no "best" stitching program for all situations.
Anyone who gets into Virtual Photography seriously, especially commericially, would be very smart to have more than one stitching program.
Its just like there are advantages to 2 fisheye image capture in many situations over 4+1+1 with the Sigma 8mm or 6+1+1 with the Nikkor 10.5mm and even more photos needed with rectilinear lenses
Doug Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
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atomicmak
Posts: 173
Location: ahmedabad, India
Registered: 7 Dec 2006
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Re: Is PTGUI the Best
Posted: 6 Apr 2008 at 17:49 GMT
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dear doug,
you are true on your aspects but as i tried most of the stitching software i found that everyone on their own standards.
some supports two three output methods where some on less but they concentrate on stitching more.
ptGUi stands in the list of software who concentrate on good stitching with HDR.
for giving different formate you have to still rely on different output software instead of stitching software.
and as per my view ptGUi has given me every possible ways to give good errorless stitching with my d200 and 10.5 or 8mm sigma both.
i will still suggest ptgui for stitching and pano2vr for qtvr and flash output. though i am not using flash because flash becomes resource hungry when it comes to panoramic display.
i do give most output in qtvr and java and now i am going to apply devalvr also but flash is still far away in my output format list because of my clients target audience resource of pc.
hope this will help to reader of this post.
regards
mak
www.vox360.in
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Doug Aurand
Posts: 720
Location: Albuquerque, NM, United States
Registered: 2 Jan 2008
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Re: Is PTGUI the Best
Posted: 6 Apr 2008 at 18:04 GMT
updated: 6 Apr 2008 at 18:05 GMT
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atomicmak
As far as "stitching" alone, I agree, there is nothing that has more capability than PTGui.
And they have expanded their "native" output to inlcude QuickTime VR.
But for newbies, sometimes something not so sophisticated is a better place to start.
I've come to think of PTGui as a program for a more advanced virtual photographer. With several other stitchers being better suited to a newbie.
Just my humble opinion
Doug Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
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klaus mayer
Posts: 79
Location: Australia
Registered: 15 Jan 2008
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Re: Is PTGUI the "BEST" stitching software
Posted: 6 Apr 2008 at 22:33 GMT
updated: 6 Apr 2008 at 22:49 GMT
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I purchased PTGui some weeks ago but honestly still prefer Hugin.
For me PTGui's best feature is that you can manually move pictures in the preview window. It has also the nice feature that lets you create .MOV files from your panos.
However, Hugin came with Autopano and Enblend which give me much more satisfactory results. Hugin aligns perfectly in most cases without too much stuffing around. You can add Autopano and Enblend to PTGui but I find it rather frustrating that Autopano finds up to 2000 additional control points that PTGui missed in panos with about 40 images.
I also find the zoom quality in the Control Points window much better in Hugin than PTGui. Hugin is also more reliable in automatically finding the right control point in the other window. I tried both on the same panos, Hugin managed in most cases to find sufficient and good control points while PTGui frequently tells me that it cannot find control points for some image pairs which requires then time consuming checking and adding of control points.
However, this is my personal view and I trust that people who used PTGui for a long time will have a another opinion. I guess it comes down to personal preference.
I would suggest to try Hugin (for free) and compare it with the PTGui trial version before spending the money.
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spyboy
Posts: 239
Location: New Hampton, NH, United States
Registered: 7 Oct 2006
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Re: Is PTGUI the "BEST" stitching software
Posted: 7 Apr 2008 at 3:19 GMT
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I switch between PTGui and Autopano Pro.
I usually throw a pano into both apps to see how each handles it (I run the 64bit versions on my quad core box)
Sometimes APP can auto stitch where PTGui chokes. Sometimes its the other way around.
So for me, it's whichever gets the autostitch closest, then I'll add in additional control points to tweak it.
Kirk
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atomicmak
Posts: 173
Location: ahmedabad, India
Registered: 7 Dec 2006
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Re: Is PTGUI the "BEST" stitching software
Posted: 7 Apr 2008 at 3:58 GMT
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no offense to other software.
but for me ptgui runs well on all my 2000+ pano i stitched to date.
i use d200 nikkor 10.5 nn3 manfrotto tripod and everything stitches perfect without any stitching error except minor zenith seams which can be easily touch up on PS without any extra efforts.
so my openion is going with ptGUi.
just for others info
for newbie it might be possible that ptGUi at first step looks bulky to understand but its not like what it looks.
once you step in to working with ptGUI it will give you good help.
also tom you must check rosaurophotography.com for his best tech guide of how to setup camera tripod and shooting tips.
hope this helps.
mak
www.vox360.in
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Smooth
Posts: 1455
Location: Australia
Registered: 21 Jul 2004
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Re: Is PTGUI the "BEST" stitching software
Posted: 7 Apr 2008 at 5:42 GMT
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Your ask for the "best" stitching software and this is not an easy question to answer.
A LOT will have to do with the Camera/Lens combination, even more will have to do with the person understanding and driving the software. Many users on this forum struggle to use anything but "Automatic" stitcher's as much as they try and seek support here in this very forum.
Personally I have Panoweaver, PTGui, Photovista and Autopano Pro. The most "Powerful" is PTGui the one with the most "options" is PTGui and the one I use most is PTGui. But! Panoweaver is very good at what it does so long as you are using a compatible camera/lens combination and of them all is by far the fastest and offers "Right Click Stitch" options without even needing to open the program. Autopano Pro is probably the best of the "Automatic" stitcher's by virtue of the different types of images it can deal with and has great advance options outside of the automatic mode.
Of them all in my selection only Panoweaver offers Stitched Image, Flash, Java and Quicktime + HTML output options along with your own custom loader with the Java output.
I suggest you download all the trials and give them a shot. Understand that "most" on this forum use PTGui and that is why you will get most recommendations on here for this program (along with good support). But the same can be said with the Panoweaver forum, Autopano Pro forum etc.
You need to ask and learn about the products in the right places. There is no "one stop shop" for advice.
Regards, Smooth 
www.smooth360.info
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Matt Rogers
[360 Precision]
Posts: 209
Location: Oxford UK, United Kingdom
Registered: 16 Jun 2005
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Re: Is PTGUI the Best
Posted: 7 Apr 2008 at 7:18 GMT
updated: 7 Apr 2008 at 7:29 GMT
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Tom asked is PTGUI the best "STITCHING" application and yes it is. If you want to output your stitched panoramas into the various formats you will never want to do it straight from your stitching application. Maybe if you're producing run of the mill 2 shot ipix garbage then it's acceptable but Tom has invested in decent equipment so I'd assume he wants to make the best of it. In this case all you need from the stitching app is a final stitched image.
The simple fact is PTGui Pro 7.8 is the most flexible, fully featured 'Stitching' application available. I've tried every mainstream stitching application available and always try to stay up-to-date with new releases. I have a standard set of test images and if it fails in stitching any of the sets then the application goes into the trash. The next step is being able to manually adjust, correct or change any parameter of the images during the stitching process. If this manual process isn't quick and easy then again the app fails. That's my basic criteria out of the way.
As everyone else wants to compare Autopano, Panoweaver and PTGui here are my thoughts;
1. Autopano is great if your images stitch but if it fails and needs manual intervention then god help you. The manual control point system is just too confusing and time consuming so that's a show stopper.
2. Panoweaver 5.0 can't stitch 16 bit tiff files, this for me and for any imaging professional should be the killer. If you don't grasp the huge benefit 16bit files offer over 8bit when doing colour correction and manipulation in Photoshop then you need to learn, NOW. You just have to look at the easypano gallery to see that image quality isn't high on their list of priorities.
EDIT: I've just tried to import D300 NEF files into Panoweaver 5.0 as I thought Smooth might reply and answer as such to my 16bit comment. Well, it recognised the files as .nef but the conversion was unusable. Now if it can't handle D300 nef files by now there's a serious issue somewhere.
Well there you have it, out of the three most popular apps discussed on this forum only one at the moment really cuts it as a professional application. I for one would not rely on the other applications for high-end work.
Doug Aurand said: Its just like there are advantages to 2 fisheye image capture in many situations over 4+1+1 with the Sigma 8mm or 6+1+1 with the Nikkor 10.5mm and even more photos needed with rectilinear lenses
Doug Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
There are ZERO advantages to shooting 2 fisheye panos if you have a solid set-up and work flow in place. No SERIOUS professional I know would ever in 2008 delivery panos shot with a 2 fisheye set-up.
Matt
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DorinDXN
Posts: 1672
Location: Timisoara, Romania
Registered: 14 Nov 2006
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Re: Is PTGUI the Best
Posted: 7 Apr 2008 at 9:25 GMT
updated: 7 Apr 2008 at 9:50 GMT
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Hi Tom, PTGui is used by many very good panographers
There is a tunning both from users and from developer and a PTgui user might find other software "philosophy" rather confusing OTOH you somehow narrowed your needs and, as Matt said, you invested in decent equipment, then you must already have a set of photos like ones you and software will deal with. If your equipment is good to provide photos for batch stitching nothing can beat a right-click stitch as Smooth suggested. not only for easiness to do but because you can provide right then, on the field, some preview for you, for your artist of even for your client.
Think of the worker in car factory in early historic movies and how them are now, now them are "plugged", because somewhere a client just choose the color for the car interior the worker will "discover" which pieces to use for that interior and accessories. so maybe the succes of VT maker will depend on how them are able to make a team with the client..
PTGui is the best if you are skilled enough to use it. When you become that skilled then knowing your needs you'll surely know what is best suited for that job and could discover that another software is the best for you, but you'll recommend PTGui to others if their needs is not exactly as yours.
Autopano is the best for you if you are skilled enough to use it ... the sentence goes as above but this time for AP
Panoweaver/Tourwaever is the best for you if you are skilled enough to use it ... like above
I discovered that for a particular camera with rectliniar lens the only software I tried with 100% succes is autostitch - yes one might say that then be must be better with other commercial software which uses the the same algorithm as autostitch.. No, for that particular case, those fails on 25-30% of cases.
If is not a lens/combo at first encounter for me I can consider Hugin equally pwerful as PTGui
I saw people after only two hours of using Tourweaver they were able to produce virtual tours with floor maps and they start to think about interfaces/skins floor maps to look better/cute scenarios for transitions like a true director. Again I agree with Matt is time for Easypano to find the best photographer, they can, around them and make a deal to increase the level of their gallery.
Dorin
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