Rudge
Posts: 29
Location: Windsor, United Kingdom
Registered: 8 Sep 2010
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Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 8 Sep 2010 at 21:31 GMT
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Hi Guys,
I have come back to doing VR tours after a 15 year gap, I used to do it all on film and scan each image, (that was not fun!)
Anyway I'm sure a lot has changed since then?
I used to use VRWorx which was great at the time and allowed hot spots to seamlessly guided you from room to room.
I would be really grateful if you can give me some links to the best pro software out at the moment.
I would like to do full screen (hi res) as well as standard, & be able to show a map/plan of the tour in the player, also object V.
However the cherry on the cake would be 'HDR' built into the stitching software.
I use Photomatrix at the moment, which is fantastic, but it would be really nice if I did nor have to jump from one software to the other.
Any recommendations?
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mediavets
Posts: 1980
Location: Isleham, Cambs., United Kingdom
Registered: 8 Feb 2008
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Re: Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 8 Sep 2010 at 22:00 GMT
updated: 8 Sep 2010 at 22:05 GMT
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Rudge said: Any recommendations?
I like the Autopano Giga stitching program which comes with Autopano Tour, a GUI front-end virtual tour authoring program for the krpano Flash Panorama Viewer.
www.autopano.net
What camera(s) and lens(es) do you plan to use?
Do you have a pano head?
Andrew
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DorinDXN
Posts: 2853
Location: Timisoara, Romania
Registered: 14 Nov 2006
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Rudge
Posts: 29
Location: Windsor, United Kingdom
Registered: 8 Sep 2010
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Re: Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 8 Sep 2010 at 22:34 GMT
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Hi Andrew,
I have just ordered the Nodal Ninja NN5 - D16 Kit + Nodal Ninja EZ Leveler MKII.
I have a Canon 5d Mk11 for this with a Canon EF 16-35mm 2.8, however if I start getting busy will probably opt for a Sigma 8mm fisheye 180deg so I can take moving people etc with just two images, however is the quality the same as doing it with more images with say my 16mm?
What about HDR? I think the best guys in the biz are using this?? are they processing 1st in Photomatrix etc?
Who are doing great things now in the VR world, any good pro sites to look at, really like www.bohonus.com/ looks like HDR to me?
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Doug Aurand
Posts: 3282
Location: Albuquerque, NM, United States
Registered: 2 Jan 2008
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Re: Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 9 Sep 2010 at 0:22 GMT
updated: 9 Sep 2010 at 0:22 GMT
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Rudge
While I have been given 2 fisheye shots from a Canon 5D MII and Sigma 8mm and got them to stitch, the seam is marginal
You'll get better results with 3 shots using that setup
If by "quality" you mean "resolution", yes there will a large sacrifice in resolution, but you can still produce some reall nice work.
I got a link to a tour by a guy in Brazil using that setup and he's doing some beautiful work
Re: HDR, some are processing first in Photomatix or Enfuse, others are letting the stitching program PTGui, do it as part of the stitching process
Take care
Doug Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
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Doug Aurand
Posts: 3282
Location: Albuquerque, NM, United States
Registered: 2 Jan 2008
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Guest
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Re: Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 9 Sep 2010 at 1:09 GMT
updated: 14 Mar 2011 at 16:13 GMT
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removed by the moderator
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Doug Aurand said: If by "quality" you mean "resolution", yes there will a large sacrifice in resolution, but you can still produce some reall nice work.
Rudge. Please remember that some "advice" you should not follow. Not everyone is trying to help people to advance or get better. Sad but true.
Visit the website(s) of those who are advising you, to see if they are really skilled enough to meet your own quality expectations. The above advice comes from the creator of this: www.virtualalbuquerque.com/VirtualABQ/
IF what you see, is what you are looking for in terms of quality, you should take his advice and disregard mine.
I provided links to the works of people who are professionals, and not charlatans. People who take their PHOTOGRAPHY seriously, and who do not sell their pano for what a couple of packs of cigarettes cost in Norway.
If you want to succeed, you should take advice from those who are not trying to bring you DOWN to their own level, but those who guide you towards brilliance.
Best of luck, and be vigilant.
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hindenhaag
Posts: 729
Location: Netherlands
Registered: 7 Mar 2010
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Re: Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 9 Sep 2010 at 5:12 GMT
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Rudge,
Many of us use PTGui Pro Beta 2, nice masking function et al.
2 workflows for HDR: first photomatix pro, then PTGui. Or use exposure fusion in HDR for blending the different exposure fused panos and than go to photomatix.
For me personally I am very often confident without using photomatix afterwards because of a nice exposure blending.
Heinz
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Sam Rohn
Posts: 267
Location: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Registered: 5 Mar 2008
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Re: Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 9 Sep 2010 at 7:44 GMT
updated: 9 Sep 2010 at 7:50 GMT
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for shooting panoramas, Nodal Ninja 5 + RD16 is great, this will allow pretty much any lens or body you might want to use, on a full frame body like 5Dm2 i think you will need 4 around w sigma 8mm fisheye lens, 16mm (fullframe fisheye) will give you better quality w 6 around + 1 up & 2 down, canon has just announced a 8-15mm fisheye zoom which looks pretty ideal for VR photography - www.dpreview.com/news/1008/10082616canon8mm15mm.a...
see this site for more info on recommended # of shots by lens - www.vrwave.com/
for stitching panos, PTGUI is the way to go these days, it has built in HDR features, but i prefer to use EnfuseGUI to merge my panos after batch stitching, as exposure fusion via photomatix or an enfuse variant like enfusegui usually gives a more natural look than tonemapped hdr - enfused output typically benefits from some further attention in lightroom or photoshop
www.ptgui.com/
software.bergmark.com/enfuseGUI/Main.html
for displaying panos, QTVR is basically dead, flash has become the current king, Pano2VR, KRPano, & Flash Panorama Player + Flashificator, are probably the top choices
gardengnomesoftware.com/pano2vr.php
krpano.com/
flashificator.com/
for web viewing of panos on iPhone or iPad, KRPano & the latest betas of Pano2VR & PTGUI all support iPhone/iPad compatible HTML5 output, which is required as these devices do not support flash
Pano2VR is a pretty essential tool which is handy for extracting nadir etc for retouching, converting files from one format to another, & is great for making standalone qtvr & flash panos with nav buttons, etc, also allows more complex projects w hotspots, overlay graphics, etc, without any coding
Flashificator + FPP is great for making elaborate flash virtual tours w multiple panos, maps, etc without hand coding XML files, excellent if you want to make more elaborate presentations of your work
good luck 
sam
- - - - -
Sam Rohn :: Panoramic Photography :: www.samrohn.com :: Location Scout :: www.nylocations.com :: New York City
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David Tan
Posts: 155
Location: Kualalumpur, Malaysia
Registered: 31 Mar 2010
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Re: Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 9 Sep 2010 at 7:54 GMT
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Sam Rohn said: for stitching panos, PTGUI is the way to go these days, it has built in HDR features, but i prefer to use EnfuseGUI to merge my panos after batch stitching, as exposure fusion via photomatix or an enfuse variant like enfusegui usually gives a more natural look than tonemapped hdr - enfused output typically benefits from some further attention in lightroom or photoshop
Sam, as I understand from what you said above:
1. Batch stitch with PTGui all the images from three exposures
2. Create Panorama for all three images (one under, one normal, one over)
3. Merge the three panos that have different exposures with EnfuseGUI
4. Done.
Is that your workflow?
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Sam Rohn
Posts: 267
Location: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Registered: 5 Mar 2008
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Re: Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 9 Sep 2010 at 9:17 GMT
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thats it more or less, but when i bracket i typically shoot about 9 exposures using a promote remote -
www.promotesystems.com/products/Promote-Control.h...
i dont aways use all the exposures i shoot though, but i typically use ptgui batch builder to stitch the whole lot (each exp. as separate identically stitched pano) and then run them through enfusegui or photomatix and see what looks best
whatever the result there, a bit of photoshop or lightroom at the end usually doesn't hurt
sam
- - - - -
Sam Rohn :: Panoramic Photography :: www.samrohn.com :: Location Scout :: www.nylocations.com :: New York City
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David Tan
Posts: 155
Location: Kualalumpur, Malaysia
Registered: 31 Mar 2010
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Re: Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 9 Sep 2010 at 9:33 GMT
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Sam Rohn said: for 360° VR panos i shoot with a nikon D300 + nikkor 10.5mm f2.8 fisheye
Sam Rohn said: thats it more or less, but when i bracket i typically shoot about 9 exposures using a promote remote
D300 can have up to 9 exposures right?
www.hdr-photography.com/aeb.html
Based on your experience, are the 3 exposures default auto bracketing never enough to produce high quality HDR pano?
I think Doug also said that he uses 7 exposures and this make me wonder if 3 default exposures are just inferior for producting decent HDR. I think shooting every image with that many exposures without automatic control can shake the camera's position a bit since we have to change the shutter speed manually each time, correct? Because of this potential shaking problem, maybe one needs to use Promote Control? Or is there anyway to make that many exposures without automatic device?
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Sam Rohn
Posts: 267
Location: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Registered: 5 Mar 2008
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Re: Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 9 Sep 2010 at 10:09 GMT
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it really depends on the scene, 3 exposures may be enough for some situations but not enough for others - and sometimes it may be unnecessary altogether, bracketing does not make conventional photography obsolete of course, i've probably overdone it a bit at times just to see what would happen
i like to avoid touching my camera while it is shooting a bracket sequence, nikon D300 will bracket 9 shots but it requires 9 separate presses of the shutter release - with the promote one button press fires the whole sequence, 9 clicks per pano vs 81 clicks per pano adds up to less digit strain, less worry about losing track of where you are in a sequence, etc
a wireless remote like this is handy too, works either direct (wireless) to camera or through the promote - martybugs.net/blog/blog.cgi/gear/PhottixPlatoWire...
sam
- - - - -
Sam Rohn :: Panoramic Photography :: www.samrohn.com :: Location Scout :: www.nylocations.com :: New York City
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Hans Nyberg
Posts: 2791
Location: Denmark
Registered: 28 Aug 2005
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Re: Best VR software for the Mac?
Posted: 9 Sep 2010 at 10:18 GMT
updated: 9 Sep 2010 at 10:21 GMT
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Unfortunately not one of the DSLRs Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Sony etc has a fully functioning auto bracketing function as we want it to be.
Thats why Promote was made.
The ideal would be a choice between 2-5 exposures and with anything between 1 an 3 stops between them.
But the Nikons have either 7 with just 1 stop between or 3 with max 2 stops.
Same with Canon. Standard is 3 exposures with max 2. Some of the latest Canon's have 3 with max 3 stops which is at least a progress as we often need just a little more than the 4 EV standard.
I do usually fine with the 3 exposures in 2EV stops but especially in some churches with small windows featuring glass mosaic I may need an additional 2EV for some of the windows which I do manually.
If you learn to expose always with the medium exposure 1 stop under you can do well with 3 exposures. And you can do some additional adjustments in the raw conversion.
Just to show you that even 2 exposures can do it for some subjects here is one.
www.panoramas.dk/panorama/hdr/enfuse-1.html
BTW I never use the PTGui HDR but I use Enfuse on the original images. That gives me more control and I can do individual images with extra exposures.
If the images are not taken on tripod and are not align PTGui is the best solution.
Hans
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