Panorama Editor "Numerical Transform" in Batch Processing

[Marquales]

Hello Everyone, I'm new to the group (and PTGui, too), and am hoping that someone might be able to provide some insight on a problem I'm having.  I'm doing an application for a Marina that involves using an outdoor IP controlled P/T/Z head to continuously stitch five rows of 34 images (170 total) to present a 180 degree view.  The camera is a 1080p Sanyo HD-4600 IP video camera with a f6.3 to 63 zoom lens, and a 5.76mm x 4.29mm CCD, set to 5x optical zoom.  I collect a JPG snapshot every 8 seconds, after the P/T/Z has had time to settle.  Unfortunately there is no EXIF data available from the camera; I've been guessing at 28mm, but I'm not sure this is even close to correct, or whether it even matters...

After Batch processing with PTGui, the resulting JPG file is "Zoomified", with a new image posted about every half hour.  It can be viewed at panorama.portolympia.com. (daylight only... West Coast USA, GMT -8)

The camera is mounted on the P/T/Z head in a position where the "no parallax point" for Pan motion is correct.  Unfortunately, the P/T/Z head's Tilt mechanism pivot point is about five inches below the "no parallax point".  I believe this is what is causing the "arching" of the image horizon.  I've found that using the Panorama Editor to apply a "Numerical Transform" with a Pitch of 7 and a Roll of 2 cleans up the image quite nicely.  Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to apply this edit in Batch Mode.  Also, it would be nice to crop the left edge, but I can't make that happen in the Batch process, either.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[Ken Warner]

You might try passing the result from PTGui through another program that does your editing. Maybe IrFanView would work. It has batch processing but I've never used it in command line mode.

But the point is there may be an image editor that would do the last bit of editing you need -- if you can't get PTGui to do it.

[Erik Krause]

Am 03.10.2012 23:20, schrieb Marquales:
> The camera is mounted on the P/T/Z head in a position where the "no

> parallax point" for Pan motion is correct.Unfortunately, the P/T/Z

> head's Tilt mechanism pivot point is about five inches below the "no

> parallax point".I believe this is what is causing the "arching" of the
> image horizon.I've found that using the Panorama Editor to apply a

> "Numerical Transform" with a Pitch of 7 and a Roll of 2 cleans up the

> image quite nicely.Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to apply this
> edit in Batch Mode.Also, it would be nice to crop the left edge, but I

> can't make that happen in the Batch process, either.

The arching is because the horizon is not in the middle. It should go
away if you press "Straighten panorama" in Panorama Editor Edit menu. If
not you can correct it manually:
http://www.ptgui.com/man/straighten.html
and
http://www.ptgui.com/support.html#5_19

You can crop the panorama to your needs if you pull the crop lines from
the edges of the panorama in Pano Editor.

For batching save one panorama as template. On Project Settings tab you
can specify what options should be applied by the template. The Help
pages are pretty good on that.



--
Erik Krause
http://www.erik-krause.de

[Marquales]

Thank you for your reply, Erik

My objective is to create a "near-realtime" on-line panorama by repeatedly capturing a set of 170 images; processing them in a PTGui batch; post processing the resultant 150MB JPG file with Zoomify, and posting the results on a Web page.   I've been able to create a template that accomplish everything but the straightening and cropping on the image on an automated basis. 

I've used the methods you've suggested to manually straighten and crop the panoramas I've created, but still can't figure out how to create a generic template I can use to repeatedly process images in a directory that are replaced with new data every half-hour. 

I've tried almost every conceivable combination of settings on the Project Settings Tab, but I can't get the images to align under batch process control.  I can see where the template file caries yaw, pitch and roll data for each image, but when I substitute a new set of images the alignment is preserved, but the images don't stitch properly.  If I regenerate control points and optimize again, the image loses its alignment...

Again, thank you for your response; your help is much appreciated.

[Erik Krause]

Am 05.10.2012 02:32, schrieb Marquales:
> I've tried almost every conceivable combination of settings on the Project
> Settings Tab, but I can't get the images to align under batch process
> control. I can see where the template file caries yaw, pitch and roll data
> for each image, but when I substitute a new set of images the alignment is
> preserved, but the images don't stitch properly. If I regenerate control
> points and optimize again, the image loses its alignment...

You need an anchor image. Best would be one in the middle of the
panorama, which doesn't move and hence holds the rest of the panorama in
place. I guess you need to disable Straighten Panorama, Fit Panorama,
Choose a suitable projection and Roughly arrange images first on Project
Settings tab, but I can't try at the moment since I'm not at home...

--
Erik Krause

[Marquales]

Hi Erik,

Thanks for your suggestions.  Unfortunately, I'm still not able to reliably create panoramas from my 170 auto-generated images.  I can produce beautiful panoramas with a manual workflow, but when I save the template and try to run a batch on a new set of files,  I can't straighten the image, whether I use an anchor image, or a numeric transform on the completed stitched image.  Also, I can't make persistent crop settings.

I'm going to repost my support request with a new title, an explanation of exactly what I'm trying to accomplish; what equipment I'm using, and post two sets of images on GE.TT.  Thanks for your help, and I'd appreciate it if you had a chance to take a look at my new support posting, called "Need Help With Automated Stitching".