Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
stitcher software
|
Re: stitcher software
Posted: 2 Dec 2008 at 11:27 GMT
updated: 2 Dec 2008 at 11:28 GMT
|
go to thread
|
|
Another vote for Hugin for the same reason Klaus mentions plus you don't need to get on the costly PTGui upgrade treadmill. Hugin has all the basic functionality of PTGui Pro and is free (a savings of ~$200).
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
Discount PTGui
|
|
Forum:
Commercial Announce
Thread:
360Precision - Price Adjustment - Limited Offer
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
Photoshop CS4 & 360° Panoramas
|
Re: Photoshop CS4 & 360° Panoramas
Posted: 14 Nov 2008 at 19:24 GMT
|
go to thread
|
Hans Nyberg
You really do not need that to do amazing panoramas.
You can use your standard kit lens + a panohead at 150 euro +PTGui at 79 euro if you want the best software.
Thats all you need if you just have a decent tripod.
And if you start doing cylindric anyone can make a panohead in 10 minutes with simple elements from your building market.
Hans[/quote said:
You really don't even need PTGui. The latest Hugin is great and is free!!!
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
|
Re: Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
Posted: 5 Oct 2008 at 15:48 GMT
|
go to thread
|
Nick,
Yes I am thinking of an outdoor solution. It would be something to take on hikes so compact and light are a premium.
John
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
|
Re: Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
Posted: 4 Oct 2008 at 17:46 GMT
|
go to thread
|
Nick,
I can't wait to see what you have in the works.
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
|
Re: Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
Posted: 4 Oct 2008 at 17:44 GMT
|
go to thread
|
|
It doesn't look like you can change the pitch of the Atome. I was looking for something where I could take six around, pitch it up 90 take the zenith and then, maybe, pitch it down for one or two shots.
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
|
Re: Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
Posted: 4 Oct 2008 at 16:28 GMT
|
go to thread
|
Doug,
I ended up having our machine shop make a custom panorama head and then I added some memory foam to the mounting location. By memory foam, I'm referring to the the plastic you warm in hot water and then mount the camera on top of it so when it cools, there is an exact imprint of the camera body.
The custom rig works great at work but I was hoping someone would make a light rig for when I go on a hike. Now that I think about it, I may just make a simple L bracket to mount on a monopod. 
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
|
Re: Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
Posted: 4 Oct 2008 at 14:48 GMT
|
go to thread
|
Doug, Nick,
Actually I was looking for something more customized like 360P's Atome but that would have pitch capability.
Doug- I've found that 360P's heads are not as precise as claimed. The pin that supposedly holds the camera in the exact same position between mounts was too small so there was enough play that template stitching only works for low resolution panoramas. I found that when doing high resolution work, a stable panorama head and tripod with software (I use Hugin) that auto aligns images works better than a 'precision' panorama head and batch stitching.
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
|
Re: Anyone getting the Nodal Ninja 180
Posted: 4 Oct 2008 at 3:05 GMT
|
go to thread
|
|
I must say, you certainly do get a lot more for your money with a NN panorama head than you do with a 360Precision head... including great customer support. Nick, is there some way we can get a nice solution for full frame fisheye set-ups? Something that is designed for six shots around, one up and one or two down? That way we can have something compact, fairly priced and that has customer support!!!
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
360 Precision Absolute to Nodal Ninja migration..
|
Re: 360 Precision Absolute to Nodal Ninja migration..
Posted: 15 Aug 2008 at 4:24 GMT
|
go to thread
|
|
98% customer satisfaction? I assume you hired a research firm to get that number? Odd how you closed your google group when the customers complained in your Google group. You don't want real customer opinions to get out to the public do you?
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
360 Precision Absolute to Nodal Ninja migration..
|
Re: 360 Precision Absolute to Nodal Ninja migration..
Posted: 13 Aug 2008 at 3:07 GMT
|
go to thread
|
Finding the nodal point really isn't difficult. You can get two of the three settings by pointing the camera straight down at the rotation point. Then adjust the fore and aft setting using a close and distant object to ensure they do not move relative to each other when panning.
Considering the price difference and the automatic nature of many stitchers these days, there is no real need to spend hard earned money on a 360P head from a company known for lousy customer relations.
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
Perfect auto stitch - a myth?
|
Re: Perfect auto stitch - a myth?
Posted: 6 Jul 2008 at 6:49 GMT
|
go to thread
|
Myth. Perfect auto stitching either from an automatic control point and alignment tool or batch stitching using a supposed 'precision' panorama head is not reliable. Unless you are doing low resolution real estate work, a precision head is a waste of money. Why is neither reliable?
Let us start with automatic alignment. Most current automatic matching tools depend on finding unique features in images. Several things will cause automatic matching tools to fail. One cause of failure is if there are moving targets in the scene. The moving target may be matched by the feature finder but if it has moved relative to the rest of the image, the result will be the feature (moving person, etc.) will be matched between images but the parts of the image that have not moved may be missed. This is especially true if the subject is of a moving target (a boat perhaps) on a featureless background (smooth water). Empty blue skies will also fail to match as they have no features. Another common failure of auto match point finders is in scenes that have repeating patterns such as is often found in mosques. Auto feature finders often mistake say the light fixture above one door with an identical light fixture above another door.
As for 'precision' panorama heads, they can work for low resolution panoramas but will not for anything else. Take for example a Nikon D300 with the Nikor 10.5mm fisheye lens on it. The lens has an ~87 degree field of view in the small edge direction. The nikon D300 creates images 4288 x 2848 pixels which equates to 33 pixels per degree (2848 pixels divided by 87 degrees) or 0.03 degrees per pixel (87 degrees divided by 2848 pixels). You won't find any claim of accuracy on 360Precision's site (at least I haven't) but I doubt their heads are repeatable to 0.03 degrees. However, if you shoot low resolution panoramas, the precision needed for reproducible results and batch stitching is lower. In addition, modern blending routines (e.g. smartblend) are able to mask small errors by varying the seam locations so the seam is placed where the images match but that has nothing to do with a panorama head's precision.
So what are the keys to making a perfect stitch? I think you hit on what is your likely problem. Your 'no parallax point' is probably not correctly set. Note that fisheye lenses do not have 'no parallax points'. What you need to find in the case of fisheye images are the adjustments so the images align where the seam is going to be placed. Once you do find the proper camera mounting location, mark it on your panorama head so you can remount the camera in the same location on your next shoot. Rectilinear lenses do have 'no parallax points'.
A sturdy panorama head is a big help as is a sturdy tripod and a solid footing. The various 'precision' heads are generally sturdy but you can also find sturdy panorama heads for far less cost. Note that you don't even need a panorama head if the subject matter is distant.
Good luck.
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Commercial Announce
Thread:
360Precision Adjuste - pre-launch sneak peak.
|
Re: 360Precision Adjuste - pre-launch sneak peak.
Posted: 3 Jan 2007 at 20:41 GMT
updated: 3 Jan 2007 at 20:42 GMT
|
go to thread
|
|
Cost? Top dollar. Best to see what Kaidan puts out with their precision quickpan pro then decide. Hopefully it will be all the precision at half the price.
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Forum:
Q & A
Thread:
How to order a 360 precision ???
|
Re: How to order a 360 precision ???
Posted: 14 Dec 2006 at 7:53 GMT
updated: 14 Dec 2006 at 7:55 GMT
|
go to thread
|
|
The good news is that Kaidan just announced a precision panorama head on Panoguide and many other lists. This should get interesting. As the old beer ad once said "Tastes great. Less filling."
|
|
alert moderator
|
|
Prev
