VR Panoramas
Jun 23, 2013 17:19:25 #
Recently I've found myself drawn more and more to the challenges of shooting panoramas. There's something about creating large vistas that I find particularly satisfying especially as you can image something in a way that the eye can't perceive directly.
Since the weather today was dreadful (again!) I thought I rework some of my better efforts into VR versions. This required going back to the original source files and completely redoing them and as I shoot these panos HDR, the workflow gets rather complex and does tend to thrash the hardware significantly.
For your intellectual and philosophical pleasure, here are the results of today's hard graft. I can't post the originals here as there's no way I can incorporate all the necessary support files so you'll have to follow the links:
http://castle-eden.edps.org.uk
http://denemouth1.edps.org.uk
http://denemouth2.edps.org.uk
I'm definitely hankering after the new Mac Pro—this thing has stupendous amounts of horsepower. Judging by what little info is out there about the new computer, I could easily reduce the workflow time by a factor of 50 or more!
Enjoy, and comment as you see fit :D
=:~)
Since the weather today was dreadful (again!) I thought I rework some of my better efforts into VR versions. This required going back to the original source files and completely redoing them and as I shoot these panos HDR, the workflow gets rather complex and does tend to thrash the hardware significantly.
For your intellectual and philosophical pleasure, here are the results of today's hard graft. I can't post the originals here as there's no way I can incorporate all the necessary support files so you'll have to follow the links:
http://castle-eden.edps.org.uk
http://denemouth1.edps.org.uk
http://denemouth2.edps.org.uk
I'm definitely hankering after the new Mac Pro—this thing has stupendous amounts of horsepower. Judging by what little info is out there about the new computer, I could easily reduce the workflow time by a factor of 50 or more!
Enjoy, and comment as you see fit :D
=:~)
Jun 23, 2013 18:00:22 #
DoctorChas, Fantastic. I like your second one: sand(?), sun & surf. :thumbup:
Jun 23, 2013 18:04:41 #
ozgecko wrote:
DoctorChas, Fantastic. I like your second one: sand(?), sun & surf. :thumbup:
Thank you :-)
What looks like sand is actually nearly 100 years of colliery waste from the coal mines that was tipped onto the local beaches. Fortunately Mother Nature is slowly reclaiming her own.
=:~)
Jun 23, 2013 18:04:58 #
Jun 23, 2013 18:06:22 #
Nikonian72 wrote:
What fun! All three are excellent.
Bless you, sir :-)
=:~)
Jun 23, 2013 21:52:31 #
This is just amazing to me. You put these together in one day? It's like being there and turning in a circle. Wow and wow!
Jun 24, 2013 05:52:18 #
Great, great, and amazing.
More please.
More please.
Jun 24, 2013 06:26:04 #
Jun 24, 2013 06:54:56 #
Ruthiel wrote:
This is just amazing to me. You put these together in one day? It's like being there and turning in a circle. Wow and wow!
Thank you :D
It isn't that it's difficult to do (with the right kit), it's just time-consuming. This is what's involved:
1. Make a large pot of coffee.
2. Assemble the source images into an album in Aperture: for these three panos, that's 402 pics.
3. Process each group of three bracketed shots in HDR Efex Pro 2
4. Chase the cat off the keyboard.
5. Since my camera tends to be a bit noisy, run each created HDR image through Dfine 2.
6. Chase the cat off the keyboard again.
7. Export the finalised images to a working directory.
8. Import into Autopano Giga: tweak horizon line, crop and render.
9. Put the cat in the kitchen and close the door.
10. Process the panorama in PanoTour Pro.
The vast majority of the time is waiting for the computer to chew through the math, hence the desire for a faster machine.
Santa? Oh, Santa?...
=:~)
Jun 24, 2013 06:58:15 #
rebel hiker wrote:
Great, great, and amazing.
More please.
More please.
I thank you :D I certainly plan on doing more.
=:~)
Jun 24, 2013 06:58:38 #
Jun 24, 2013 08:38:07 #
Jun 24, 2013 08:42:17 #
malco555 wrote:
Excellent work! Thanks for posting the method too.
My pleasure. The most vital step in the workflow is the first one :D
I'd forgotten one step: check the original source images for stray birds flying through frame and remove them. The reason for this is that the bird will be in three different positions (usually) and when going through HDR, you can get a little black dot with a halo round it. I'll also remove any lens flare where possible.
Incidentally, Denemouth 2 was the first time I'd attempted a 2-row 360 pano. One row was with the camera tilted about 20 degrees down, the other 20 degrees up. I'm amazed that Autopano Giga didn't even bat an eyelid at computing the link points.
=:~)
Jun 24, 2013 09:39:24 #
A truly impressive set! I especially like the castle (#1). You do some beautiful work for sure! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
Jun 24, 2013 10:20:48 #
verichrome
Loc: California
Thanks for posting your pano/HDR images. I like the first image as it shows the textures and colors of the structure in a very natural way.
Have you considered adding focus stacking to your process?
Jim
Have you considered adding focus stacking to your process?
Jim
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