newbie
Hi,Interested in getting any feedback on PTGui and 360 dergrees of freedom software. Curious which would be a better choice for starting out to do vr panorama. Will be using a Nikon 10.5mm fisheye on a D200. Does the bracket that comes with the 360DOF software work well? Is it better to invest in another bracket. Main uses for this will be interiors of buildings.
Thank you for any feedback you can share.
AMMG
Re: newbie
http://www.360dof.com/products/panorama-stitching-vr-equipment/full-360-...
This is the link for the software and bracket kit. The intention is to be using this for business purposes. I am interested in products that will provide professional results. Thanks for any help.
AMMG
Re: newbie
The rotators that 360dof are selling for $795 US are Agnos ones. It looks like they are going out of their way to avoid mentioning the make/model, as people would then realise how much 360dof are over-charging them for it...
It's not totally clear which head they are selling as they have photos of two different ones. It's either the MrotatorTCPshort which Agnos sell for 320 Euro plus tax (roughly $440 plus tax) or the MrotatorTBP which Agnos sell for 280 Euro plus tax (roughly $390 plus tax).
Ian Wood
Landmarks of Britain
Azurevision
Re: newbie
PTgui, PTgui, PTgui and Capture NX for Nikon NEF processing if you ask me, for the bracket I don't know of any that would free you, the offer is pretty lame and expensive leaving you to build your own most of the time.
-m
Re: newbie
If you are using the D200 and a 10.5mm Nikon Fisheye, then you must have a certain amount of finance available to you. In which case, you really should look at REALVIZ Stitcher Unlimited and the superb 360Precision Adjuste rotator.
These two products together simply blow away the competition (in my opinion). The 360 DOF rotator is made by Agnos. A good rotator for sure, but nothing is available to match the 360Precision in terms of accuracy, build and overall design.
If you are taking images purely for self interest, then sure PTGUI will do the job, but I believe for a business there's value in using a high profile software company as your supplier as you can refer to this in your sales pitch. Plus for me, it's the best stitcher for the 10.5mm.
Andrew Baddeley
360 Tactical VR Ltd - Immersive Imaging Solutions
www.360tacticalvr.co.uk
Re: newbie
AMMG
Andrew's giving you good advise.
If you're thinking of spending US$795 for a rotator, spend US$300 more and get what is consistantly reported by users as the best. www.360Precision.com makes 2 models the Absolute and the Adjuste. The Absolute is made specifially for your camera & lens combination and you won't need to position the Nodal Point. The big benefit is if you are shooting in situations where quick, accurate set up is essential. The Adjuste, as its name implies, is adjustable and can accomodate many different camera & lens combinations. The D200 and 10.55mm is a very popular setup so 360Precision can probably give you the settings to correctly position the Nodal point on the Adjuste. I'm not sure how the Adjuste is stored between shoots, but if you can put it away without changing the postions on the rails, it'll be ready to go for your next shoot.
A more affordable and good quality rotator for the camera/lens combo you're considering is the Nodal Ninja 3 www.nodalninja.com which is only US$225. I just got one as the first part of adding a dSLR setup to my Nikon Coolpix 2 Fisheye system. Its a good value for the money. Its a Chevy, the 360Precisions are Cadillacs
PTGui is an excellent stitcher. Probably the best at stitching. But it doesn't have the features a product like RealViz Stitcher Unlimited has, like direct output to multiple formats. The Cubic Faces output is particularly useful if you want to edit out a tripod completely rather than cover it up with a "tripod cap." It can be done in PTGui, but isn't as easy.
I use PTGui (US$90) as a solution for problem stitching situations, then import the Equirectangular Projection into my iPIX software.
In the long run you don't have to use just one product. I'm looking at RealViz Stitcher Unlimited to stitch images from my soon-to-be-aquired Canon XTi/Sigma 8mm setup and may convert them into the iPIX format because I like the progressive loading it offers with their Java Viewer.
Your first virtual imaging choices & purchases probably won't be your last, so think of it as a process rather than a single event.
Good luck
Douglas Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
Re: newbie
Doug,
Thank you for the new info. The Ninja Bracket seems quite good for a cheaper alternative.
I am still a little confused about software options. If I am understaning this correctly, PtGui is a great stitcher program. To make it an interactive VR image, you need to use ipix, real viz, or other programs. If you use Real Viz to do the stitching from the start, then it has the capability to also make it into a VR image that will support quicktime & java. Is that correct?
If that is the case, what is the next step to get it onto a client's website? Do you give them the file to upload it? Or does one need to have the knowledge of uploading it for them?
Thank you for any additional info.
ammg
Re: newbie
ammg
That confuses a lot of "Newbies"
An output format common to RealViz Stitcher, iPIX Interactive Studio (with the Format Pack), easypano Panoweaver, PTGui and other virtual imaging/stitching programs is an Equirectangular Projection, usually saved as a JPEG. Its an image projected onto the interior of a sphere. An Equirectangular Projection is a stitched image that's twice as wide as it is tall. I have a couple of them under "Gallery Stills" on my IVRPA member page at http://ivrpa.org/user/2607.
RealViz calls it a "Spherical Image", PTGui uses just "Equirectangular", other software use variations.
Various "viewers" display images of this type as interactive "virtual" images. The "PTViewer" and immervision PurePlayer are popular Java Viewers that support this image type.
There are other output formats and viewers like QuickTime Cubic VR (QTVR) saved in the .mov file type and viewed with the QuickTime Player. Instead of the image being projected onto the interior of a sphere, its projected onto the interior of a cube
The iPIX .ipx format is basically an Equirectangular Projection saved in a proprietary file type that offers addional functions like progrssive loading and hotspot support with their proprietary Java iPIXViewer.
So PTGui would produce essentially the same Equirectangular Projection as the other programs. The others just have more output options.
A link to QuickTime VR .mov file can added to a website with no html code. If the person who wants to view it has the QuickTime Player installed, a QT Player window will open on top of the webpage, load the image and "play" it. The QT Player can be embedded in the webpage with html
The Java viewers require html and java to play the images, as far as I know, always embedded in the webpage. Some of the guys who are better at webpage authoring can probably explain it better.
Hope that helps
Douglas Aurand
Albuquerque, NM
Re: newbie
Interactive images can be displayed using different viewers.
Some of them like Java applets do not need anything else than the equirectangular image you stitch with PTGui.
Others may need to be converted to cubefaces which there are free converters for.
If you want to use Quicktime you need to convert it to a QTVR movie which you can also do with the last version 7 of PTGui which is currently in beta.
You can also use Pano2QTVR or Panocube or if you are on Mac CubicConverter or the free MakeCubic.
They are all very cheap tools and comparing to RealViz stitcher the price of PTGui + Pano2QTVR is still only 1/3
For links to software and viewers http://www.panoramas.dk/panorama/software.html
Hans
www.panoramas.dk
Re: newbie
AMMG
Can you post a link to the rotator you're considering so we know what you're considering?
Douglas Aurand
Albuquerque, NM