PT3D: Stitching Stereo Panoramas – Québec 2016

Spherical panoramas look great in VR; 3-D spheres look spectacular. You can create stereoscopic spheres with standard panography tools, but it takes a lot of photos, a lot of skilled work, and considerable luck. To make 3-D spherical panography really practical, new tools are needed.

PT3D is a "helper tool" for stitching stereo panoramas that inserts 3D-aware image alignment and correction into the familiar PTGui stitching flow. It reads a project aligned by PTGui, re-analyzes it using techniques borrowed from photogrammetry and 3D modelling, and outputs corrected images and a new project for stitching them. The resulting panorama is aligned and warped more accurately than PTGui would have done by itself, and needs less hand work to make it look perfect - using the regular PTGui and Photoshop masking and blending tools.

https://roundme.com/tour/56163/view/141380/

PT3D is optimized for 6 to 12 shots around with a stereo pair of cameras, but also works with photo sets taken with the one-camera "cha-cha" method, one-shot spherical arrays, even stereo triples. Thomas will show examples, and of course expound a bit on the theory.

SPEAKER: Thomas Sharpless

Thomas Sharpless tksharpless.net

http://tksharpless.net

Biochemist/Engineer/Panographer in Philadelphia, PA. Like to write software, hack with cameras, walk dogs. Contributor to Hugin, developer of Panini and PT3D s/w. IVRPA member since 2011; past director. Ambition: to create an automatic 6-dof 3D stitching system.

12 thoughts on “PT3D: Stitching Stereo Panoramas – Québec 2016”

Update May 2018

After 2 years, PT3Dv1 is now at version 1.5.0 and is working pretty well as a low cost minimal stereo stitching solution. Get it at /a>

It could do a much better job by using depth information, finding its own control points, and pre-warping the images. That would also make it a slower and more expensive solution. I am working on a new PTGui helper that will work that way, to be released as a separate product if I ever get it done.

Hi Thomas
Will the program work with images stitched with Autopano Giga?

Steve

imasoft360 said on December 26, 2017 at 12:08 pm:

I am not Thomas but I can tell you that PT3D … “PT3Dv1 is a helper for stitching stereoscopic 3D panoramas
with PTGui.”
Log in to Reply

Contact Thomas Sharpless.
http://tksharpless.net

Cheers!
Luc

Hello,

I wanted to know if there’s a new version of this program?

I downloaded the link you provided us and it’s not working.

Thanks

Hi Thomas, thank you for interesting post :)

Well ,reading all information the best option for me is to build a new setup with low profile cameras.
I have purchased a pair sony a5000, and I have chosen the Samyang 8mm f/2.8 Fisheye II Lens for Sony E Mount.

My principal interest is to shoot interiors

All the new accessories and adaptors I need are on the way.

I am impatient to test, and learn with the help of your software, but I think it will not be posible until 10 – 15 days.

Would you provide US a link when final version is available to purchase ?

Hi Guillermo
Get PT3D version 1 evaluation betas here
OS X: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5ebncu8bmcepsk4/PT3Dv111.dmg?dl=0
Win64: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8d2m1v23gkwo2sz/PT3Dv111.exe?dl=0
These are free licensed but will expire on a given date.
Please read the manual.
Please give me feedback on your experience.
— Tom

imasoft360 said on October 9, 2016 at 3:56 pm:

Thanks for sharing links, I can’t test it by now, but your software open my mind to more possibilities and I am very happy that you will have soon a comercial version of your PT3D software.

I am absolutely new on 3D panoramas, even I am thinking to update my equipment for 360panos ( S5pro + Nikon 10.5) or get a small profile one ( Sony, Panasonic ).

I have a technical question, may be I am wrong , but standard 360 stereo panos force inter pupil distance to 70 mm at maximum for interiors 360 stereo panos, to get aceptable results all the hardware sets I have seen on pictures are low profile cameras with low inter pupil distance.

Do you know if PT3D gives nice results in interiors with 120 mm inter pupil distance ?

Any information is much apreciated.
Log in to Reply
- imasoft360 said on October 10, 2016 at 4:56 am:
  
  I have read more carefully PT3D Manual, sorry I should read it before previous question.
  
  “ The cameras should be mounted close together, ideally
  with the lens centers 65mm apart; but you can get good
  results with spacings up to 90mm.”
  
  So inter pupillary distance must be from 65 mm to 90 mm ??
- Thomas Sharpless said on November 4, 2016 at 4:12 pm:
  
  PT3D will work with any IPD, however for best results your IPD should be as small as possible. 65-70 mm is recommended where the subject of interest is 3-10 meters distant. For closer subjects the IPD should be reduced, for more distant ones it can be increased.

Hello
I have seen on IVRPA Québec City 2016 Conference Video Archive your conference about using PT3D.

Looks like an essential tool to save time making 3D stereo panos.
I will like to test and use it

Where can I get it ?

Thomas Sharpless said on May 24, 2018 at 11:30 am:

Update May 2018

After 2 years, PT3Dv1 is now at version 1.5.0 and is working pretty well as a low cost minimal stereo stitching solution. Get it at /a>

It could do a much better job by using depth information, finding its own control points, and pre-warping the images. That would also make it a slower and more expensive solution. I am working on a new PTGui helper that will work that way, to be released as a separate product if I ever get it done.
Log in to Reply
Stephen Dyer said on December 23, 2017 at 10:41 pm:

Hi Thomas
Will the program work with images stitched with Autopano Giga?

Steve
Log in to Reply
- imasoft360 said on December 26, 2017 at 12:08 pm:
  
  I am not Thomas but I can tell you that PT3D … “PT3Dv1 is a helper for stitching stereoscopic 3D panoramas
  with PTGui.”
  Log in to Reply
Luc Villeneuve said on April 11, 2017 at 7:28 am:

Contact Thomas Sharpless.
http://tksharpless.net

Cheers!
Luc
Log in to Reply
joshua argueta said on April 10, 2017 at 12:10 pm:

Hello,

I wanted to know if there’s a new version of this program?

I downloaded the link you provided us and it’s not working.

Thanks
Log in to Reply
John Zack said on January 15, 2017 at 10:13 am:

Hi Thomas, thank you for interesting post :)
Log in to Reply
imasoft360 said on November 6, 2016 at 12:13 pm:

Well ,reading all information the best option for me is to build a new setup with low profile cameras.
I have purchased a pair sony a5000, and I have chosen the Samyang 8mm f/2.8 Fisheye II Lens for Sony E Mount.

My principal interest is to shoot interiors

All the new accessories and adaptors I need are on the way.

I am impatient to test, and learn with the help of your software, but I think it will not be posible until 10 – 15 days.

Would you provide US a link when final version is available to purchase ?
Log in to Reply
Thomas Sharpless said on October 7, 2016 at 12:05 pm:

Hi Guillermo
Get PT3D version 1 evaluation betas here
OS X: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5ebncu8bmcepsk4/PT3Dv111.dmg?dl=0
Win64: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8d2m1v23gkwo2sz/PT3Dv111.exe?dl=0
These are free licensed but will expire on a given date.
Please read the manual.
Please give me feedback on your experience.
— Tom
Log in to Reply
- imasoft360 said on October 9, 2016 at 3:56 pm:
  
  Thanks for sharing links, I can’t test it by now, but your software open my mind to more possibilities and I am very happy that you will have soon a comercial version of your PT3D software.
  
  I am absolutely new on 3D panoramas, even I am thinking to update my equipment for 360panos ( S5pro + Nikon 10.5) or get a small profile one ( Sony, Panasonic ).
  
  I have a technical question, may be I am wrong , but standard 360 stereo panos force inter pupil distance to 70 mm at maximum for interiors 360 stereo panos, to get aceptable results all the hardware sets I have seen on pictures are low profile cameras with low inter pupil distance.
  
  Do you know if PT3D gives nice results in interiors with 120 mm inter pupil distance ?
  
  Any information is much apreciated.
  Log in to Reply
  - imasoft360 said on October 10, 2016 at 4:56 am:
    
    I have read more carefully PT3D Manual, sorry I should read it before previous question.
    
    “ The cameras should be mounted close together, ideally
    with the lens centers 65mm apart; but you can get good
    results with spacings up to 90mm.”
    
    So inter pupillary distance must be from 65 mm to 90 mm ??
  - Thomas Sharpless said on November 4, 2016 at 4:12 pm:
    
    PT3D will work with any IPD, however for best results your IPD should be as small as possible. 65-70 mm is recommended where the subject of interest is 3-10 meters distant. For closer subjects the IPD should be reduced, for more distant ones it can be increased.
Guillermo Mora Pavón said on October 6, 2016 at 1:37 pm:

Hello
I have seen on IVRPA Québec City 2016 Conference Video Archive your conference about using PT3D.

Looks like an essential tool to save time making 3D stereo panos.
I will like to test and use it

Where can I get it ?
Log in to Reply

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