Even at Smugmug Original view size the white building details are difficult to see...

I suppose that this building is included in two adjacent source images and a mismatch occurred between them. Possible reasons:
1) Autopano placed some of its contol points (CP) on cloud details though the wind moved the clouds slightly between shoots (this often occurs.)
2) Autopano placed some CP on two different windows or any other identical building features. Computer programs often look deprived of any common sense

"Control points"  are the marks Autopano "SIFT engine" places (or should place) on identical features of adjacent images to find how it should line-up them, as explained in this tutorial:http://www.autopano.net/wiki-en/action/ … _panoramas

If 1) is the real cause, deleting all CPs in the sky should cure the problem, if 2) you should remove CPs having a non-green color. If 1 + 2 then you should apply both recipes...

Gurl, Thanks for responding!

Looking at the image in AP, there are a bunch of green control points on the house and sand. There are no points in the sky or on the roof which is where the misalignment occurs. There are 2 orange points on the sand near the bottom of the image.
So I tried adding control points using the CP editor to the top of the building and it really helped.

Another thing I need to work on is pointing the camera higher and still keeping it level. The sky is obviously a lot more interesting than the beach. But when I pointed the camera higher, a big curve was introduced as I panned left to right. Is shooting vertical the solution? I need some advice, thanks.

Here is an updated larger image;

Last edited by brada (2010-07-03 17:15:58)

Brada,

Where was this pano shot?

Which Nodal Ninja head do you have? From what you've told us I just wonder whether it might be a NN180 single axis pano head?:
http://www.nodalninja.com/products/pano … ja180.html

Last edited by mediavets (2010-07-03 20:30:17)

brada wrote:

I have a NN5 with RD16 and just starting to play with it. This is in Destin Florida near the SanDestin Resort. I also have a HDR version, so it is 3 shots per 4 pan shots.

Why the preference to shoot verticals?

I got interested in panos from a book I read but have not found very many good tutorials on the web.

I have a couple of more shots to post for some feedback. Should I post them in the gallery section? Thanks for your help.
Brad

Depending on what you want to learn, this book could be the best of all on this subject or not!

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Digital … 1933952458

If you are interested only by tutorials about Autopano or interested only in a particular panorama category, you could find that there is too much theory or that APP is not covered with enough details (for example there is no gigapixel-panorama in the 4 projects which are detailed.)

A full coverage of panoramic photography would require 1,500 pages rather than 150 and would be obsolete long before being printed. Harold Woeste opted for a much more sensible solution: the first part of the book describes the available tools and methods, the last part details 4 projects from shooting to printing or QTVR. Difficult subjects like stitching error correction and HDR are included.

brada wrote:

I have a couple of more shots to post for some feedback. Should I post them in the gallery section?
Brad

You like the result (though you think it could improved): post in Gallery
You dislike the result: post in Using Autopano Pro & Autopano Giga

brada wrote:

I have a NN5 with RD16 and just starting to play with it. This is in Destin Florida near the SanDestin Resort. I also have a HDR version, so it is 3 shots per 4 pan shots.

Why the preference to shoot verticals?
Brad

Is this still a question in your mind?

If so then consider what the design of a pano head would need to be like to accomodate a camera in landscape orientation.

AFAIK the only two-axis pano heads that support a camera in landscape orientation are motorised, like these.

Pixorb:
http://www.peaceriverstudios.com/pixorb/index.html

Rodeon VR Station:
http://www.dr-clauss.de/VRstation_EN.htm

brada wrote:

And my question still exists, why the preference to vertical?

- 2 or 3 landscape rows often result in too much sky in the top row (so that stitching is difficult)
- PanoTools lines constraints (that's "control lines" rather than control points) are easiest to set and more precise (this don't apply to Autopano)
- a landscape panohead setting is less rigid (distance between camera center of gravity and panohead horizontal arm is higher)
- rotators: horizontal steps are easiest to implement than vertical so that the less pitch changes you need the better.

Never the less in some occasions (for example where 2 shoots are enough) landscape orientation is preferable.

When using a fisheye of the rectangular image category, 2 horizontal portraits shoots + 2 vertical portrait shoots + zenith + nadir would work fine ...but a panohead where the camera would rotate easily around the lens axis would be both heavier and more expensive (my supposition.)

The best solution? clearly a square sensor!
- the circular image the lens produces would be used in the best possible way
- mirror viewfinders would make this very expensive (or nearly impossible?) but digital viewfinders now make this easier (see notes.)
- will occur some day, the "lens cost / sensor cost" ratio being the main point.

Notes:
1) Hello Olympus, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony.
2) Special hello to Ricoh for a future fisheye + square sensor module!
3) for large and heavy cameras: 2 tripod mounts (a landscape one + a portrait one) would make things easier

brada wrote:

The Nodal Ninja can operate in horizontal mode, and here is a bad photo (camera phone) of my camera mounted on my NN5 in the horizontal position.

And my question still exists, why the preference to vertical?
If you shoot a skyline, the vertical would require more images and increase the overall resolution.
I just got back from shooting my first vertical images, everything else has been horizontal.

Brad

I was referring to two-axis pano heads.

Mounted as in your photo you have turned an NN5 into a single axis pano head - functionally equivalent to a very much cheaper Nodal Ninja 180. And you cannot shoot a full 360x180 using that setup, but perhaps you don't want to?
http://www.autopano.net/forum/postgalle … ntal-1.jpg

Last edited by mediavets (2010-07-05 18:55:40)