360 degree Panorama

TC
Posted By
tom_cunliffe
Apr 15, 2004
Views
980
Replies
16
Status
Closed
I would like to make 360 degree panoramas. I have Photoshop Elements and also Photoshop Album, neither of which provide this facility as far as I can tell. Can anyone recommend a cheap product which would give me this additional functionality. I expect its a bit too much to ask for a Photoshop plugin, but this would be ideal.

any suggestions gratefully received.

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GD
Grant_Dixon
Apr 15, 2004
Tom

The early Canons came with a program that does this sort of thing. Now that is the knowledge of my understanding about 360 degree panorama. But ……here is a really cool site devoted to just this sort of thing http://www.panoramas.dk/

Grant
MR
Mark_Reibman
Apr 15, 2004
Quicktime Pro will do it. Try this link to learn more.

<http://www.apple.com/quicktime/upgrade/>

Grant jogged my memory. Perhaps this was Photostitch plus Quicktime.
EW
Ed_Wurster
Apr 15, 2004
wrote:
I would like to make 360 degree panoramas. I have Photoshop Elements and also Photoshop Album, neither of which provide this facility as far as I can tell. Can anyone recommend a cheap product which would give me this additional functionality. I expect its a bit too much to ask for a Photoshop plugin, but this would be ideal.

any suggestions gratefully received.

I looked into many programs that do panopramas, and eventually settled on Ulead Cool 360.

Examples of what I did can be found at:
http://www.teethforkids.com/tour.htm.

Go through the links on the left. One of the links is a 360 panorama.

There is a Photoshop plugin, but it is not the simplest way. I can’t remember the name. As you spend more money and time on the project, the results get better.

Ed Wurster
LK
Leen_Koper
Apr 15, 2004
At the 2002 photokina I saw a nice little tool; unfortunately I forgot who produced it. I will try to describe it; perhaps someone might be able to "google it up".

It is a mirror, shaped like a 45 degree cone with the point towards the lens. Place the camera flat on its back and the mirror will reflect a 360 panorama towards the lens.

The only problem is you will always be included in the image, unless you use the selftimer and run and hide quickly behind a tree, in a manhole or behind a wall.

Leen
CS
Chuck_Snyder
Apr 15, 2004
Leen, all you have to do is crouch down close to the tripod, right??
GD
Grant_Dixon
Apr 15, 2004
Leen

You do make me dig deeply into the recesses of my mind. While I don’t know the particular manufacture of the one you saw I do believe that the common term for it is a Bird’s eye attachment, or lens.

g.
CS
Chuck_Snyder
Apr 15, 2004
…..which is presumably different than a fish-eye lens….
CS
Chuck_Snyder
Apr 15, 2004
Susan: Isn’t this something you can do with Pano Tools?
GD
Grant_Dixon
Apr 15, 2004
Ok found it

It is or was made by Spiratone. It works in the opposite direction that a fisheye does. To get away from a fisheye you have to stand behind the camera to get out of the way of a bird’s eye you have to stand in front of the camera. Here is a link to an old brochure.
http://www.fondation-langlois.org/media/CRD/public/d00013961 .pdf

While I would like to sound so clever the truth is that way back in the 60’s and 70’s, when I was very young, I was exposed to an "All Sky Aurora Watch" where they used custom made bird’s eyes with old VW hub caps (the shinny ones not the ones that had VW on them) and cameras was suspended to the underside of a tripod, the whole contraption was pointed vertical.

Grant
LK
Leen_Koper
Apr 15, 2004
Grant, it was a similar design, but this one is based on a sphere, the one I saw was based on a cone with the point in the direction of the lens.
The Spiratone one produces a fisheye like image; "mine" didnot.

Leen
BW
Barbara_Wayne
Apr 15, 2004
Tom,

This link <http://www.virtualparks.org/html/making-panos.html> from Virtual Parks has tips on how to shoot panoramas. It’s one of my favorite sites, gorgeous images!

Barb
SS
Susan_S.
Apr 16, 2004
Chuck – yes the Canon stitch software can do 360 degree panos and also create quicktimeVR files… (Amazing what you find out when you actually read the help files in photostitch – I must confess I have always winged it…it may have a few options there I’ve not found just by playing with it)

Susan S
SL
Steve_Last
Apr 16, 2004
I would highly recommend Panostitcher from Pixtra.com. It is cheap and does an excellent job, a lot better than PSE’s photomerge.
I use it for my business projects and although I occasionally have problems with it falling over on file saving generally it is very good. It can creates embedded panoramas embedded in web pages very easily. Some examples can be seen on www.luckyc.org or www.byamhouse.org these are low resolution images for web loading, the originals are very high quality.

Also Pixtra has a spherical version (Omnistitcher) which I am now using as it will do vertical and horizontal rows simultaneously.
Steve Last
T
Tel
Apr 18, 2004
As far as I know, Quicktime will only display VR’s, Pro or non-pro. The Quicktime VR Authoring costs a few hundred dollars.

Panorama tools (by Helmut Dersch) is free and great. Try the photoshop plug-in. Search for PTools or Panorama Tools. That should get you to a mirror in norway I believe. The quality achieved is due to the advanced maths he uses. He starts at bi-cubic where everyone else leaves off.

There’s also PT Mac based on the above which costs, can’t remember, but around 50 dollars or less. It works with OS X an includes a lens database.

I think Leen means this tool
<http://www.kaidan.com/Detail.bok?no=101>
Costs an arm and a leg but looks good.

I’ve been searching for a surface-silvered ball for ages. The ones for christmas trees don’t really have the quality and most these days seem to be somewhat non-smooth.
Anyone seen one?
Theoretically four images, three sided pyramid formation and apex, would be enough for a 360 x 180 degree panorama.

Tel.
DS
Dick_Smith
Apr 18, 2004
"Costs an arm and a leg but looks good."

Cough, cough, hack, hack……
RR
Raymond Robillard
Apr 18, 2004
Canon Photostitch will permit to save a Quicktime VR panorama, for those who have a Canon camera and installed the utilities that came with it.

Ray

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