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Viewing 29 posts - 1 through 29 (of 29 total)
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  • Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Really useful info, all of it! But one thing that’s odd is how all Sam Rohn’s posts are ‘by’ Leon. Is there a site glitch?

    k

    in reply to: immediate resignation of Juergen Schrader #23542

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
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    “the problem was evident before Mr. Schrader stepped to fill the vacancy of president after Mr. Martin left.”

    Please stop mischaracterizing things. I left because I could not find a way to improve things, as my resignation letter shows. And I finished my term as president and Juergen started his in the normal manner; there was no ‘vacancy after I left.’ Your wording is dishonest.

    in reply to: Which Company DSLR Cam is best? #19329

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    There isn’t one ‘best’ DSLR I’m afraid. As a general point Nikon, Canon, Sony and others make some excellent cameras. When it comes to what is best for you, that depends on a number of factors including the kind of work you want to do and your budget.

    For example, the Nikon D7500 is a great camera, as is the D7200 it replaced, and their prices are relatively affordable. These are both DX sensor cameras, so any lens you use is effectively 50% ‘longer’ than normal; a 50mm lens delivers the view angle of a 75mm lens and so on. For 360 VR shooting it’s normal to use as wide an angle lens as possible, so this can be a slight challenge – but it’s not impossible to deal with.
    Alternatively, the Nikon D850 is an absolutely incredible camera, and it has an FX (full size) sensor. You could buy this tomorrow and still be using it very happily in 2029… but it costs a LOT more.

    What kind of stuff do you plan to shoot? What is your budget?

    in reply to: Interactive pano from single image #18927

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Hi Gustav – you may find a tool I made useful. Exif Fixer helps people get panoramas working in Facebook, including cylinders and partial panoramas.

    See http://thatkeith.com/exiffixer for details and download links. Oh, and it’s free.

    Keith

    in reply to: Reminder: Facebook is NOT the IVRPA Members Forum! #18891

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    For the record, while we were investigating the reason for Luc’s inability to post his statement I posted it for him. He subsequently asked for it to be withdrawn, which I did once I had confirmed that he really wanted this.

    in reply to: Candidate Statement – Jürgen Schrader (2018) #18890

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Candidate statements are not the place for these discussions; these are formal election statements. Everyone is welcome to start a separate post if they wish to ask questions. Please keep things civil.

    in reply to: Election voting question #18807

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    No, as per previous elections, once a vote is cast it cannot be changed.

    in reply to: IVRPA 2018 Board of Directors Election: Announcement #18684

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    It is indeed important to do this because you want to help. It’s more important to be interested in helping the organisation than having a lengthy resumé.

    in reply to: Calling 360 photographers #17750

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    1
    I’ve been interested in 360 photography since Apple first showed QuickTime VR, over 20 years ago! I got into it properly (as opposed to just experiments) around 2005, with the help of a friend.

    2
    I enjoy many different kinds of 360 capture. I particularly love the creative and technical challenges involved in festivals, clubs and similar dynamic environments, although ‘specialise’ is a more exclusive, limiting term than I would use.

    3
    Could you give a bit more context to this question? It’s a bit vague…

    4
    Hmm…

    5
    This has been a topic that has caused a lot of vexation over the years. I don’t think it’s a good thing to throw out numbers without a TON of context, and even then there’s the question of whether this strays into price fixing territory to consider.

    6
    What are you proposing? Are you launching a service?

    7
    See number 6

    8
    No. It’s a personal decision: I didn’t want the hassle of having to follow requirements that didn’t fit my aims or keep on top of the shifting sands.

    9
    Yes. I’m looking forward to reading your responses to number 6 (and 7). :)

    10
    ‘360 over VR’? Please don’t go down the route of saying something isn’t VR unless it’s in a headset! That’s IMMERSIVE VR, a very effective way to deliver 360 media but not the only thing that can claim the VR term. QuickTime VR was launched over 20 years ago. 360 content can be delivered in many ways, all different forms of delivering VR experiences. Perhaps our glossary might help? https://ivrpa.org/about-ivrpa/virtual-reality-photography-glossary/

    in reply to: Calling 360 photographers #17748

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Hi Sandi, that’s a lot of questions! Some are potentially contentious, so I’ll think them through rather than just rattle off quick thoughts.

    I’m also curious – what’s the project, who is it for?

    in reply to: Optimum size for equi rectangular #17747

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    I’m not a fan of that kind of tour; it pushes photographers away from producing high-end creative work and into churning out ‘waypoint’ snapshot panos. Of course, if that’s bringing in the money… :)

    You need to make your own choice about how much work you’re prepared to put in and what resolution is actually required for whatever you’re aiming to produce and how it is to be delivered.

    in reply to: Nikkor 14mm ultra wide lens Panos #17746

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Your 16mm lens is a fisheye, not a wide angle. Although its ‘mm’ number is larger it sees further than the 14mm ultrawide does, so if you switch to shooting with the 14mm you’ll need to change your shooting pattern – take more shots and as Aaron says shoot multiple rows.

    in reply to: Why my panos are not 2:1? #17745

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    If you want to shoot equirectangular (‘spherical’) panoramas rather than cylinders they MUST be 2:1 width to height ratio. I’m afraid I don’t have the linguistic knowledge to browse your site effectively, I apologise!

    How do you stitch your images together? What software do you use?

    in reply to: Financial reports and BoD minutes #17697

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Given recent GDPR requirements I would rather not consider adding new automated email alerts until we have time to consider the ramifications and make sure we have appropriate systems in place to manage this.

    Keith

    in reply to: Financial reports and BoD minutes #17575

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    I agree transparency is important. The 2017 report deadline has been extended by three months by formal agreement with the tax authorities, as we have had delays with getting some documents back from the Austrian accountant we used for the Vienna conference. The numbers are fine and the final report will be published within the official schedule, please bear with us.

    I apologise for the missing reports; I wasn’t aware until recently that the ones for 2015 and 2016 were not in the proper place. Maybe you can help get to the bottom of this, Luc, as you were President for some of that time? Regardless, we will find the final report documents AND the meeting minutes and post them ASAP.

    Keith

    in reply to: Looking for Kaidan Quick Pan Pro pdf manual #15573

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Hi Rick,
    Wow, Kaidan QuickPan Pro? That’s a blast from the past! I have one at home. It’s an impressively robust bit of kit, but I’d only recommend using it if all other options were not available; it’s huge, heavy, and a bit of a fiddle to assemble.
    However, I may have a printed copy of the manual that I could scan. I’ll look for it and let you know.
    Keith

    in reply to: Candidate Statement – Sam Rohn (2017) #15059

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    A short statement from someone who has done SUCH a lot for the group! Respect.

    in reply to: Candidate statement – Keith Martin (2017) #15036

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Improving the organisation’s links with education is a big part of my goals, as always – and with the development of two major VR-specific courses at the University of the Arts London we’re well placed to do that. This will also help us be a bridge between education and industry, in ways that only a dedicated non-profit organisation with world-class expert members can do effectively.

    in reply to: IVRPA 2017 Board of Directors Election: Announcement #14960

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Thanks Luc! Absolutely – it’s rewarding and important but requires active participation.

    in reply to: First Time User Pano2vr #14187

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Could you also tell us a bit more about your output settings? As long as your input images are fine it’s all going to be down to the options chosen for the output.

    k

    in reply to: GTP or not GTP, which is the difference? #13530

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    In which case, to qualify for the lower price you’d need to be a Google Trusted Photographer when you purchased the head.

    in reply to: Virtual tours and client only #12658

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    If you can access your own web space the best approach will be to separate the two requirements: creating a virtual tour, and making it available only to certain people.

    1. Create your virtual tour using any up-to-date industry-standard tool. I suggest Pano2VR, but there are others.

    2. Upload the finished tour to a directory on your site and work out whatever level of web-based security you prefer. This can be simply putting the tour into a directory that doesn’t have public links into it (‘security through obscurity’), slightly more pro-active JavaScript password scripts, all the way to server-level htaccess name/password access control.


    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Alexandre, this is very cool! Belated thanks. :)


    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    You mentioned 360 video – what software do you use to prepare your final 360 content?

    in reply to: Panorama Hosting #12655

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Adding to this, 360Cities is worth checking out. You have unlimited uploads, and Pro accounts include embedding in third party sites with control over the display.

    https://www.360cities.net/

    in reply to: Inside 360 photo and light disparity #12652

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    If the light level difference isn’t too extreme you can do a lot by processing a single set of shots at the RAW processing point, recovering burned out highlights (as long as they aren’t actually blown and clipped) and lifting dark shadows. But if the difference is strong the only safe, professional solution (short of custom lighting control, which is very complex for 360 work) is to shoot bracketed exposures and blend/fuse the exposures together either before stitching (my preference) or as part of the stitching software’s own workflow (another good method, just not my own preference).

    Whatever you do, don’t shift the exposures for individual shots in one set. :)

    in reply to: Artifact line after photoshop editing on 360 pano #12651

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    If you make edits to an equirect in Photoshop you always run the risk of this kind of problem. It’s generally better, where possible, to do that kind of adjustment to the individual images before you stitch. If this isn’t possible you can extract the zenith and nadir and do some touch-up work to eliminate the glitch.

    If your edits changed the left and right extremes differently and you now have a vertical line where the equirect wraps around and joins up that’s a tougher fix – but it’s doable by using Photoshop’s Offset filter (Filter > Other > Offset) to bring the seam around to the middle of the image and a separate process to extract the zenith and nadir for patching.

    I use Pano2VR for extracting patches from an equirect for fix-up edits, but I do my very best to make any and all wholesale adjustments to the individual shots before I stitch anything.

    in reply to: IVRPA Logo – 2016 #11266

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    The IVRPA logo is a PNG with transparency, which helps it blend into the ‘look & feel’ of your site. Using it should be fairly self-explanatory, but in case it’s any help I’ll list a few basic pointers…

    • Use the entire logo; don’t crop off the text on the right. You and I know what the diamond and circle graphic means, but until we complete our plans for world domination most normal people won’t.
    • To avoid encroaching on the visible part of the graphic, the pixel area of the image shouldn’t be cropped. This example shows the actual pixel area of the logo:IVRPA logo crop example
    • If the background of your page behind where you place the logo is visually busy (i.e. has a strong pattern or other distinct content) and is likely to clash with or obscure the logo, particularly the type, please put it into a container with an opaque fill. White is preferred.
    • This graphic is 600x300px. Scaling the image down to 50% (300x150px) will work well, but smaller sizes will lose legibility.
    in reply to: Time-lapse tips? #7411

    Keith Martin
    Forum Member
    • Forum Posts: 37
    • ★★

    Hi Aaron,
    Very interesting feedback! Thanks – the project got pushed back somewhat and I’m still thinking and tinkering. Useful stuff here, I’ll be re-reading this and rethinking my experiment plans. :)

Viewing 29 posts - 1 through 29 (of 29 total)