Panono: stitching of 36 single photos with ptgui

[autoargus]

I am trying to find a way to stitch the 36 photos per shot of a Panono Ball camera.

How can this be done with ptgui? What would be the best way?

Sample files are available, if needed

H.

[Kenji Akiyoshi]

Hi, autoargus-san.

Please share the sample 36 phots.

I will try stitch it.

Best Regards.

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PTGui" group.
To post to this group, send email to pt...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to ptgui+un...@googlegroups.com
Please do not add attachments to your posts; instead upload your files at a file sharing site (for example http://ge.tt/ ) and include a link in your message.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ptgui

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PTGui Support" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ptgui+un...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
秋吉　健次
Akiyoshi Kenji
819-0383 福岡市西区田尻１－１－４８
TEL/FAX 092-806-9653
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[Erik Krause]

Am 05.12.2015 um 14:48 schrieb autoargus:
> I am trying to find a way to stitch the 36 photos per shot of a Panono Ball
> camera.
> How can this be done with ptgui? What would be the best way?

Load them in PTGui and press Align Images. Level the horizon. Start with
a shot without near objects in order to avoid problems from the
inevitable parallax. Once you have a reasonable result save as template.

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

[autoargus]

I did try it, but got garbled results and did not find a way to level and organize the photos...

Thanks.

H.

[autoargus]

Here you find a download link (36 single photos + 1 equirectangular)

https://a187872.merkur.1blu.de/data/public/205ed1.php

PW: 20151205

[Erik Krause]

Am 05.12.2015 um 17:30 schrieb autoargus:
> Here you find a download link (36 single photos + 1 equirectangular)
> https://a187872.merkur.1blu.de/data/public/205ed1.php

Well, I got sort of a stitch. But the subject is very bad for creating a
template. Too much parallax due to nearby objects, blown highlights,
featureless walls, very noisy images, white balance differences...

Get the PTS from http://ge.tt/3i9Lj6T2/v/0

PTGui failed to find anything automatically, so this was manual work.
Aligning images manually and using "generate control points here..."

[Erik Krause]

Am 05.12.2015 um 19:56 schrieb Erik Krause:
> Get the PTS fromhttp://ge.tt/3i9Lj6T2/v/0

Sorry, new link: http://ge.tt/8U3wx6T2/v/0

This isn't intended as a final result. Instead use as a basis to
improve. Wherever ther is a mismatch add control points using select
area (shift+drag) in control points editor and richt click to "Generate
control points here" or add control points manually.

The featureless ceiling images are placed manually, hence this can't be
used as a template.

[autoargus]

Thanks for the solution. It looks pretty good. 

There is general question: would it be possible to create a template to stitch those 36 photos automatically? I don't understand the template procedure in all details. 

Doing it manually seems to be out of reach, to complicated for a decent workflow.

Or will it always be "searching for control points"?

Herwig

[John Houghton]

On Monday, December 7, 2015 at 8:38:22 AM UTC, autoargus wrote:

Thanks for the solution. It looks pretty good. 

There is general question: would it be possible to create a template to stitch those 36 photos automatically? I don't understand the template procedure in all details. 

Doing it manually seems to be out of reach, to complicated for a decent workflow.

Or will it always be "searching for control points"?

See Working with templates in PTGui's Help pages.

Because of the fixed configuration of your lenses, you should be able to get a decent stitch without needing control points simply by applying a good template and going straight to the Create Panorama tab.  It's therefore worth spending time on creating a good template. To minimize parallax effects, shoot a panorama in a large venue such as a mall or church that is rich in features for control points in all directions as far away as possible.  Because you are using multiple lenses, you may find it advantageous to assign individual lens parameters for optimum results, but this may not make much difference to the end results, which will inevitably be compromised by parallax issues in smaller venues.  In such cases, control points and careful optimization might produce some improvement.

John

[Erik Krause]

Am 07.12.2015 um 11:28 schrieb John Houghton:
> To minimize parallax effects, shoot a panorama in a large venue such
> as a mall or church that is rich in features for control points in
> all directions as far away as possible.

While this is generally a good advice it might pose problems with the
panono. The problem is image noise, which is so bad that PTGui mistakes
noise for details. Could well be this is better in brightly lit places.

BTW.: If the heavily varying white balance of the panono images wasn't
introduced in post processing I'd consider this a bug. All cameras of
such a device should choose the same white balance. Or at least they
should deliver raw images in which case white balance cold be chosen later.

[John Houghton]

On Monday, December 7, 2015 at 2:28:01 PM UTC, Erik Krause wrote:

While this is generally a good advice it might pose problems with the
panono. The problem is image noise, which is so bad that PTGui mistakes
noise for details. Could well be this is better in brightly lit places.

Yes, the noise is a big problem in the supplied images.  However, I see from the brief details of the App that's available to control the camera that there's a manual exposure mode in addition to the auto mode that was probably used here.  The settings appear to be limited to exposure time and ISO, though a hands-on review at DPreview says "... the production version of the Panono camera will offer manual control over key parameters such as shutter speed, ISO and white balance. There will also be options for bracketing and time-lapse shooting and the team is currently testing an HDR mode".   So shooting in low light situations may be practical now or later.

John

[autoargus]

John and Erik: thanks for your valuable contributions. Panono updated the balls firmware and software recently, now with a regular app for iPhone (no TestFlight anymore) with manual settings for white balance and exposure (shutter speed and Iso). It is a really interesting point, if they use the same settings for each camera in auto-exposure or vary by camera. I will test this but also hope somebody from Panono can answer this question. (HDR and bracketing is still under development. But it should arrive soon)

Herwig

[Daniel Richter]

Hi! The Panono stitcher produces rubbish with some of my Panono panoramas so I'd like to give it a try with my own stitchers, especially PTGui.

 Unfortunately all of the templates here are offline, so if you guys could re-upload them I would highly appreciate it. ;)

[Erik Krause]

Am 11.03.2016 um 09:22 schrieb Daniel Richter:
> Unfortunately all of the templates here are offline, so if you guys could
> re-upload them I would highly appreciate it. ;)

Those project files where not meant as templates but as a try on the
particular problem (huge parallax in this case). I doubt you could use
them successfully for other shots.

--
Erik Krause

[Daniel Richter]

Why not give it a try? :(

> --
> Many people are reading this forum via email and get every post delivered to their inbox. To limit the amount of data please do not add attachments or images to your posts; instead upload your files at a file sharing site (for example http://ge.tt/ ) and include a link in your message.
> --- You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "PTGui Support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/ptgui/qFize2UZD1c/unsubscribe.
> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to ptgui+un...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to pt...@googlegroups.com.
> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/ptgui.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/56E2A938.6060402%40gmx.de.

[Erik Krause]

Am 11.03.2016 um 12:35 schrieb Daniel Richter:
> Why not give it a try?:(

I should have deleted it, but for some reason I still have it. I guess
it's this one: http://ge.tt/8A2pVmY2

good luck

[Stefan Maier]

Mhhh, ge.tt loads and loads but does not delver the file.

Maybe you can up it somewhere else?

Thx!

[Erik Krause]

Am 13.03.2016 um 01:54 schrieb Stefan Maier:
> Mhhh, ge.tt loads and loads but does not delver the file.

..seems to have it's hickup again...

> Maybe you can up it somewhere else?

Try here: https://www.sendspace.com/file/l1g7m1