rork wrote:

When building a webpage from PTGUI for instance, I get less distortion when viewing, as when building one from Panotour (v1.5 btw).
The strange thing is that the FOV defaults are the same for both, 90 dgr.

Hey Rob!

Given you did a correct stitching/rendering basically all distortions will be the same no matter which application you use.
By default the maxl FOV is 90° in PanoTour/Pro. Of course you can set it to, let´s say: 70°. This wou´ll have less distortion
while moving around - but that also depends on the kind of location and on your POV.
You can set the FOV in PanoTour/Pro or you can edit it in the XML of your pano.

Afaik PTGui is a stitcher (i have an older version and maybe it changed actually) - but PanoTour/Pro is an application to make the stitched images
interactive.

Basically the stitched image doesn´t determine the FOV when the pano is viewed interactively on screen - it´s the application which makes it interactive
that sets the values.

As i said: setting 70° or even 60° as FOV is more moderate than 90° in terms of distortions while moving - but of course you need to move around much
more to cover a scene. So it´s better to decide individually which FOV suits a scene best.

best, Klaus

rork wrote:

@gkaefer:
why not using 1.8?
Because I need a reason (e.g. actual client) to buy into 1.8 Pro.

But I think you mean something else, I have seen those controls. If both the FOV for a PTGUI and Panotour are equal (90 dgr.), the amount of zoomlevel into the pano 'hides' the distortion on the edges.
This is what I tested. The PTGUI version zooms in more into the pano, thus not showing the more noticeable distortion in the Panotour viewed by default zoom. The FOV stays the same.

@ klausesser:
PTGUI gives me perfect stitches, no problem there ;-)
Yes, if I start playing with the FOV (<90 dgr), I get less distortion, but the effect is still more noticeable than playing with zoom.

I found out after posting I can get more or less the same 'look' as in the web export/viewer from PTGUI, when I start playing with the zoom limits in Panotour. Upping to min. zoom to 125% or so.
But I'm not sure if that is the correct way of approaching this.

Hope this makes it more clear.

thanks for the quick replies!!

rob

Rob - sphaerical panos naturally show distortions when you pan around. That´s the nature of wide-angle photography - which shooting a sphere indeed is to the extreme. The only way to avoid it is to limit the FOV - which is comparable as to use a tele lens instead of a wideangle lens. I found 70° is widely accepted by clients and people who view the panos. 70° of course needs more pan and tilt but it´s a good combination of FOV and moving. 60° is even better in terms of the FOV - but you of course need to move around much more and so a natural feeling as an overview is gone.
But - as i said - that depends mainly on the scene/location.

This is absolutely independent from the stitcher-application.

Regarding the zoom-level: NEVER exceed 100%. If you need more zoom-level: use a longer lens for shooting and do more shots.

best, Klaus

Last edited by klausesser (2012-11-05 12:21:31)

Hi Klaus,

Thanks for the reply :-)

Yes, going towards 60-70% FOV seems to be the sweet spot. And yes, you need to look around more and so loosing some of that overview.
I never giving it much thought, but I had some comments from people on this lately. So that's why I asked.
I see about the zoom, will not use that in the future for getting rid of that distortion... ;-)

again thanks!

rob

Ah... didn't know that <blush>

Will have a look at it.
As far as the question, with both of you replying it is answered for me. I created a version with smaller FOV, and so far the comments are positive.

Thanks!!

rob