Claudio Branch Posted July 3, 2007 Share Posted July 3, 2007 As I understand it, to create quality panoramas I need the following: digital camera tripod w/ pano-head picture-"stitching" software Am I missing anything here? I have a couple of questions as well: Why do I need the "pano-head" for my tripod? Does Photoshop have a "stitching" feature or utility, or is there a more suitable program out there? I'm new to this type of image creation so any advice is greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moshenko Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Hi Claudio, Manfrotto has a great step-by-step lesson about shooting panoramas: http://www.manfrotto.com/Jahia/site/manfrotto/pid/3491 I actually re-learned a lot by rereading it just now! The lesson goes through manual stitching with Photoshop, but there are other automated programs available (Canon includes one with their cameras). I've found that some "automatic" programs won't work well (or at all) with images shot using wide-angle lenses. There is a free suite of software called PanoTools and some associated programs that can do everything you need to with panoramas: http://panotools.sourceforge.net/ I can tell you that there is nothing more satisfying than seeing a panoramic image come together when everything has been set up properly. The Manfrotto device is hard to understand at first but well worth the expense and effort of learning to set it up. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted July 4, 2007 Author Share Posted July 4, 2007 Sounds great...I have everything I need except the pano-head. Thanks for the links Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted July 4, 2007 Author Share Posted July 4, 2007 Whoa! That Manfrotto pano-head costs almost as much as my Nikon D40. Perhaps there is something out there a little more economical for us first-timers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moshenko Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 You could try this for a mid-range price: http://www.kaidan.com/ Or this for the cheap option: http://www.rosaurophotography.com/html/panoramas/vr_review/nn3/nn3_review.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlimpMaster Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Claudio, I would recomend ptgui for stitching, and photoshop for final adjustments. You could also use a simple "focus" or "macro" rail to get the rotation to take place around the "nodal point" of the lens (that is one of the most important things for a successful stitch). I have done many panoramas with just my tripod. The pano head is most useful for interiors with wide lenses. When I do landscapes with a longer lens (85mm) my tripod works just fine. If you want to shoot vertical (to get more pixels) a pano head is very usefull (and a pano head is almost required for sphericals). Here is a link to a recent panoramic photograph of New York. http://www.usablimpaerialphotography.com/BlimpMaster_NYC_Jersey.htm It was shot with a D2X, an 85mm lens, and is made up of 14 frames, using my tripod head only. It is a 4mb image, so it may take a few moments to download. I have printed this out at 1'x16' and it looks great. You can zoom in on the quicktime movie to see the details. You can almost make out the people on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. What lens (or lenses) are you using for your panoramas? What are you planing to make panorama of? How large do you plan to make them? Jay aka BlimpMaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ingo Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Hi Claudio, you don't need a tripod with an expensive head, it just helps you if you really want high quality pictures. Otherwise you can shoot manually and use a "simple" program like AutoPano ( http://www.autopano.net/ ), that works pretty well. Just look at the top of my old website at http://www.im-graphics.de/p/he.html , all photos under the menus were made that way. ingo alias ingo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Alexander Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Whoa! That Manfrotto pano-head costs almost as much as my Nikon D40. Perhaps there is something out there a little more economical for us first-timers? Claudio, Yes you can do exteriors if your careful freehand. Done it myself & stitched 4 sets taken in Denmark for a BG of an animation recently. If you'd be interested in making a pano head for giggles let me know. Made a couple 'prototypes' out of wood... now that I think about it... Damn didn't get the dudes name & number who sells custom aluminum extrusions the other night at 'Hat Tricks' in Lewisville. Sh!T that's exactly how the expensive ones start out. WDA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted July 5, 2007 Author Share Posted July 5, 2007 What lens (or lenses) are you using for your panoramas? What are you planing to make panorama of? How large do you plan to make them? Jay, first off, just let me say that your work is very nice (I saw some of it on a previous post). As for the questions you posed: My Nikon D40 came with an 18-55mm lens. I want to make panoramas of large civil engineering projects. I have access to 36" roll-fed HP plotters and I just specify length as needed. I am returning to photography after a LONG hiatus. I just dropped $550, I believe, on my Nikon D40 and that is an "intro SLR". I am absolutely giddy with the thing though! My 3D viz work is all related to large civil engineering projects (dams, bridges, roadways, bodies of water, etc). After a project is completed, it is typically photographed and perhaps used to decorate the office walls or perhaps to be put to use by marketing. Some of these projects are really impressive, but the photos used in the past, don't really communicate it. I want to change that. I recently used the HP plotters to do a series of hi-res renders (10,000x3900) and they came out nicely just using plain roll paper. We also have "photo" paper (whatever that is) for the HP's, but I haven't used it. Perhaps I will have reason to soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlimpMaster Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Claudio, If you will be making such large panoramic images, you may want to take two or three rows of photographs (horizontal would be fine) to get a higher resolution final image for printing. I would do a test with your tripod head, doing three rows of several frames, and using ptgui to stitch them all together for your final image. Ptgui may take some time to learn all the details, but it is inexpensive, and allow for complete manual control, if the automatic doesn't work well. Some of the auto programs have no manual control, which is necessary for the work I do. I am sure the auto programs work well with a proper tripod head, centered, leveled, etc. My aerial camera positions for my panoramas may tilt up to 15 degrees, and move 30' between frames which makes the auto programs not as usefull to me. The "photopaper" is usually a heavier paper that has a smoother, more photo like surface (although they also have textured photopaper). Photopaper may be capable of more contrast than the "paper", and have more detail producing a sharper looking print. I would also recommend test printing both papers to see what each one is capable of. Let me know if you have any other questions. Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted July 6, 2007 Author Share Posted July 6, 2007 Let me know if you have any other questions. How the heck do you adequately stabilize a camera while it's in a blimp? One more...how do you operate the shutter (cable release?) and adjust the pano-head (RC rotatary actuator!)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlimpMaster Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Claudio, The camera is on a pulley system that keeps it as close to level as possible. There is usually some movement, but there are periods of no motion, which is when I take the photographs. I use a "RadioSlave" to trigger the camera. Remote control servos move the camera position. I have a little camera from a baby monitor, and a handheld receiver that shows what the camera is looking at. The blimp performs best when there is no wind. I have had it up in winds to 10mph with acceptable results. Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claudio Branch Posted July 10, 2007 Author Share Posted July 10, 2007 Very cool...remote control photography! Thanks for sharing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Lane Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Just on this topic, i found this awesome little autostitcher...great little program! The thing most people get wrong is tho, white balance and auto exposure. As you rotate around, youll get different light values as you face towards/away from light sources - so it pays to have a manual, or semi-manual camera so you can disable auto exposure and white balance, otherwise as you go around, some images will have dark patches and some lighter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlimpMaster Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Ky, Your right about auto exposure. I too have found that a single exposure for the entire series of images is best for stitching. Noon is a good time for even lighting in 360 images, but it can sometimes lack overall snap. Morning or evening is the most difficult for the 360s, due to the front light, side light, and back light that all must be assembled to look realistic. Late morning or early evening is a good compromise. I have tried Autopano (no luck due to my camera movement between frames), but I may try the AutoStich to see how it works. Jay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ky Lane Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 This is what autostich is capable of. You can also see the problems in using manual settings - the road is nice and bright, whereas the carpark is dark and gloomy. It takes alot of setting up to do a good proper pano shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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