Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

[360degrees]

Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by 360degrees » Tue Jun 28, 2016 4:09 pm

Why does preview show a perfect stitch but when not previewing, I see my errors?

In other words, preview looks as I need it to, but when I render it shows some sitting issues that I cannot seem to fix. PLEASE help!

Yale.

Pics below.

Attachments

[olivierbo]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by olivierbo » Wed Jun 29, 2016 1:41 pm

Hello,

When you select the preview mode it applies some defaults values like a default blending (for instance anti-ghost). That said, that's not pretty easy to see where the stitching errors are. Can you show me?

Kind regards,
Olivier

[360degrees]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by 360degrees » Wed Jun 29, 2016 2:07 pm

Thanks for the reply, Olivier. You can see the errors on the top right of image #1. Image #2 (in Preview mode) is pretty clean and very usable. I guess my question would be -- How do you export the image you see in preview?

Thank you!

Yale

[olivierbo]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by olivierbo » Wed Jun 29, 2016 2:24 pm

OK, that's what I thought but I was not sure. What kind of color correction did you set for the renderedg pano compared to the preview default settings and what kind of blending (Multiband and Smart)?

Kind regards,
Olivier

[360degrees]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by 360degrees » Wed Jun 29, 2016 6:15 pm

Well, I haven't corrected any colors yet outside of APG. What I used on APG was "Auto" and "levels" but I don't adjust them in ADP. I edit in Lightroom. And I'm also unsure about the preview default settings. Sorry, I know it sounds absurd but when I began using the program, I had a friend do the presets.

Yale

[Annis]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by Annis » Thu Jun 30, 2016 9:08 am

Your second screenshot doesn't have quickpreview enabled, so there is no blending, no anti-ghost pass. It isn't "perfect" and it definitely isn't what a final result is or could be. Activate the quick preview by clicking on the green Q button at the bottomleft corner of the workspace. Once it's active there'll be a green border around your panorama.

There are areas where the overlapping areas aren't perfectly overlapping, this can be cause by parallax (if you were slightly off for the NPP) or a lack of control points (or both), and as such it produces ghosts (= blurriness). When you render the panorama, the antighost tries to sort through which ghost to keep. If you are using APG you can also control this by placing points with the Mask tool.

See the comparison here:

[360degrees]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by 360degrees » Thu Jun 30, 2016 1:05 pm

I've been using the quick preview and that's part of the main topic of this post. When I talk about using preview and it looks just about perfect, that's what I'm talking about.

The overlapping shouldn't be happening as I use some pretty tight equipment (manfrotto tripod, head by Precision360) and I've done a good amount of shooting for tours so I'm pretty certain that went okay. I haven't done a tour in a while and am a bit rusty but still - when I get it in quick preview, it's perfect. My question is -- How do I render the pano to look how it looks in quick preview?

Y.

[Annis]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by Annis » Thu Jun 30, 2016 1:23 pm

Your second screenshot isn't using quickpreview, or there would be no ghosting.
So what does your panorama look like with quick preview activated?

[360degrees]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by 360degrees » Thu Jun 30, 2016 1:47 pm

Actually, it seems it's quick preview that is causing my stitching issue. No matter, when I take it off it's perfect and still, when I render, the stitching is crooked. See below.

Attachments

[Annis]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by Annis » Thu Jun 30, 2016 1:57 pm

This is precisely what I'm trying to explain.

Without quick preview, or before rendering, no anti-ghost is applied, you've got blurry corners in areas where either your camera moved, or there's missing control points for the overlap to be perfect, since it's a pretty detail-less zone. It isn't a perfect preview, nor is it a preview in the slightest. It is your project in progress, with the image placement, but no colour correction applied, no blending, no anti-ghost.

When you activate quick preview or render the image, the antighost is applied, and your blurry, messed up areas, are rendered to the best of Autopano's ability. You can try to select a priority with the Mask tool if there is one image that fits better.

[360degrees]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by 360degrees » Thu Jun 30, 2016 2:29 pm

So I'm a little confused. When I view it without the green outline in quick preview, the image is pretty solid (even if there was some movement). And I'd be okay with that. But when I render, it only renders the poorly stitched one. I know, I'm clearly confused but there must be a way to render the "good" stitch I see in APG.

Below, my settings. If you see anything wrong, please let me know and I'll try it.

Thx Annis!

Attachments

[360degrees]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by 360degrees » Thu Jun 30, 2016 2:31 pm

ADP is also telling me my stitch is good. So confused...

See image below.

Attachments

[360degrees]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by 360degrees » Thu Jun 30, 2016 5:15 pm

How do I ensure that I render the stitch I'm showing in my last post? For some reason, I can only render the poor stitch.

[usecatchyname]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by usecatchyname » Tue Nov 21, 2017 10:25 am

KOLOR TEAM ----

Listen and read very carefully.. you are NOT answering the questions we have, instead dancing around the topic like blind mice.

Listen:
1. the preview of the panorama in autopano pro shows the stich is PERFECT when in combined view within green box
2. the control points have been added and stitched correctly
3. panorama has been re-optimized
4. preview has been re-blended
5. rendered panorama again
6. THERE ARE STICHING ERRORS THAT ARE NOT PRESENT IN THE PREVIEW - FIX THIS!!!!

Otherwise provide a workaround for all your paying customers.

I've used 126 photos in HDR, converted to 42 photos, then imported 42 photos in to Autopano Pro, spent the entire day adding control points and rendering over and over again with this stupid software that is clearly full of bugs, and NOT rendering what is being shown in the blended rendered preview.... I am more direct than the other posters and have come across at least 5 posts with the exact same issue, NONE of which have been solved since 2015. WHY?

Very frustrating... FIX IT! or provide a workaround!

Thanks.

Attachments

[usecatchyname]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by usecatchyname » Tue Nov 21, 2017 11:07 am

KOLOR TEAM ----

Listen and read very carefully.. you are NOT answering the questions we have, instead dancing around the topic like blind mice.

Listen:
1. the preview of the panorama in autopano pro shows the stich is PERFECT when in combined view within green box
2. the control points have been added and stitched correctly
3. panorama has been re-optimized
4. preview has been re-blended
5. rendered panorama again
6. THERE ARE STICHING ERRORS THAT ARE NOT PRESENT IN THE PREVIEW - FIX THIS!!!!

Otherwise provide a workaround for all your paying customers.

I've used 126 photos in HDR, converted to 42 photos, then imported 42 photos in to Autopano Pro, spent the entire day adding control points and rendering over and over again with this stupid software that is clearly full of bugs, and NOT rendering what is being shown in the blended rendered preview.... I am more direct than the other posters and have come across at least 5 posts with the exact same issue, NONE of which have been solved since 2015. WHY?

Very frustrating... FIX IT! or provide a workaround!

Thanks.

Hello KOLOR TEAM,

Still waiting for a response since you do not have a "Contact Us" support function as all other major reputable vendors do. Please attend to this ASAP...

[marzipano]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by marzipano » Tue Nov 21, 2017 2:54 pm

I seem to recall a lengthy discussion on this very topic with Kolor a few years ago

As I recall the preview you get whist in the editor and checking for errors, masking, blending etc. is a cut down version of the final render. This is usually because the preview is only processing the data visible in the screen at that time or is just a "quick" attempt at a render

This is very evident if you use the +/- magnification buttons on the preview screen and watch stitching errors appear and disappear as the visible area changes.

The final render is holistic and thorough whereas previews are in effect partial renders and do not take into account all the "variables" in the whole pano

When the original thread was being discussed I seem to remember Kolor saying that in principle we could have the full render as a preview option BUT users would need to be aware in would be very slow compared to the current preview (i.e take as long as a "real" render). I was in favour of this but the majority were not IIRC !!

Sorry - not a solution to the current issue but just my recollection of the previous discussion

Martin

[usecatchyname]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by usecatchyname » Wed Nov 22, 2017 12:01 am

I seem to recall a lengthy discussion on this very topic with Kolor a few years ago

As I recall the preview you get whist in the editor and checking for errors, masking, blending etc. is a cut down version of the final render. This is usually because the preview is only processing the data visible in the screen at that time or is just a "quick" attempt at a render

This is very evident if you use the +/- magnification buttons on the preview screen and watch stitching errors appear and disappear as the visible area changes.

The final render is holistic and thorough whereas previews are in effect partial renders and do not take into account all the "variables" in the whole pano

When the original thread was being discussed I seem to remember Kolor saying that in principle we could have the full render as a preview option BUT users would need to be aware in would be very slow compared to the current preview (i.e take as long as a "real" render). I was in favour of this but the majority were not IIRC !!

Sorry - not a solution to the current issue but just my recollection of the previous discussion

Martin

Thanks for the comment Martin - helps somewhat understand the issue, but still misleading from an end user perspective and causing great grief when editing panorama's 1.4GB in size for a client, hopefully the Kolor team can also provide a response and or workaround of sorts

Thanks

[usecatchyname]

Re: Preview Shows Perfect Stitch?

by usecatchyname » Wed Nov 22, 2017 11:44 pm

Kolor Team - can we get a response?