Master all aspects of stitched panoramas! Arnaud Frich will show you the basics, and then techniques to create professional-quality panoramas using Autopano Pro. This training also applies to all professional stitching applications.

Author’s introduction

Definitions

Introduction to panoramic photography
What is a panoramic photograph? • What is a stitched panorama? • Principles of stitched panoramas

Understanding projection types
The types of geometric projections • Geometric projections by stitching • Projections when tilting the camera

What makes a good panorama?
A closer look at overlapping areas • Definition of the « entrance pupil » • Overlap

Handling your photographic equipment

Panoramic heads
Locating the entrance pupil • Camera settings • Can you use a standard tripod head? • Two types of panoramic heads • The parts of a panoramic head • How to proceed if you don’t have a panoramic head? • Transporting camera equipment • Setting up your tripod

In the field...
Panoramic head settings • Framing • Measuring exposure time • Final tips • White balance • Taking the pictures •

Using the program

Preparing elements
Stitch quality. What about optical faults? • RAW v JPG • Preparation of JPG images

Corrections before stitching
Chromatic aberration correction • Vignetting correction • Distortion correction • White balance and luminosity correction • Importation, organisation and saving photos

A stitching program: Autopano Pro

Program overview
Stitching programs on the market today • Program preferences • Autopano Pro’s interface • Help in Autopano Pro

First steps with Autopano Pro
Opening and analysing a folder • Detection parameters • Detection and strong distortion • Editing a panorama

Aesthetic choices with panoramas
What type of geometric projection is desired? • Planar projection • Cylinder and spherical projections

Autopano Pro’s tools
The control point editor • Reframing your panorama • Defining the center point of your panoramas • The horizon line

Geometric and tonal correction
Luminosity correction • Colour correction • Image rotation • The zoom tool • Correction of roll • The history tool

Panorama rendering
Rendering: output settings • Rendering: batch rendering and memory use • Night photos and blending modes

Recipes for improving your panoramas
Dealing with dynamic contrast

Retouching and finalising
Retouching images in Photoshop • Final retouching of a stitched panorama • Finishing an image for a specific use

Going further
An introduction to virtual tours • Some principles for creating virtual tours • Conclusion

• Compatible Win 2000/XP/Vista or MAC OS X
• Resolution : 1024x768
• Processor : 1,2 GHZ minimum
• DVD-ROM drive required
• Sound card required