Page 1 Autodesk ® Stitcher Unlimited 2009 ™ User Guide...
Page 2 © 2008 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose. Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder.
Page 3: Table Of Contents
Stitcher User Guide Chapter 1 Introduction ....................1 What is Autodesk®StitcherTM? ....................3 About this guide ......................... 4 Minimum system requirements .................... 5 Software ............................5 Hardware ............................5 Installing Stitcher ........................6 Uninstalling Stitcher ........................6 Autodesk Stand-Alone Licensing..................7 Manage Your Stand-Alone License ..................
Page 4 Contents Automatic stitching ......................25 Semi-automatic stitching ....................25 Phase 3: Alignment ........................26 Phase 4: Lighting equalization .....................27 Modifying exposure ......................28 Phase 5: Projection Types and Rendering ................30 Snapshot projection ......................30 Cylindrical projection ...................... 31 Cubical projection ......................32 Spherical projection ......................
Page 5 Stitcher User Guide Editing in an external application ..................57 Modifying the display of images ..................58 Changing the frame color ....................58 Moving images as a frame .....................59 Changing the texture size ....................61 Changing the Stitching Window background color ..........62 Adjusting the transparency of images ..............63 Displaying HDR images ......................64 Changing the exposure ....................64 Displaying the Live Preview ....................65...
Page 6 Contents Film back values ........................ 83 Focal length ........................83 Sensor shift values ......................85 Distortion values ......................85 Fisheye lens properties ......................87 Flat stitch properties ........................88 Manipulating images ......................89 About thumbnail lines and markers ................89 Indicator markers ......................89 Indicator lines ........................
Page 7 Stitcher User Guide Unstitching, detaching, and deleting images ............. 114 Unstitching images ......................114 Detaching images ......................114 Deleting images ......................115 Tips for stitching images ..................... 115 Overlapping and aligning images ................115 Stitching highly distorted images ................... 116 Evaluating focal length ....................
Page 8 viii Contents Aligning the panorama using the Display Grid ............136 To change the Display Grid ..................138 To change the color of the Display Grid: ..............138 Equalizing images ......................... 139 To equalize images: .......................139 Hotspots............................ 141 Creating hotspots ........................141 Selecting, duplicating, and moving hotspots ..............
Page 9 Stitcher User Guide Tips for rendering ........................164 Understanding width and height value constraints ......... 165 Understanding interpolation ..................165 QuickTime output setup ..................... 167 Compression Settings ....................168 Rendering Quality ......................168 Tiling (for Cubic QTVR only) ..................168 Preview ..........................
Page 10 Contents Saving a project as a template ..................190 Opening a template ......................191 Troubleshooting ........................193 Stitching problems ........................ 196 Glossary ............................. 198...
Page 11: Chapter 1 Introduction
Introduction...
Page 13: What Is Autodesk®Stitchertm
User Guide What is Autodesk®Stitcher Using Autodesk Stitcher, you can build high-quality panoramas for the Web, film, print, and 3D animations. With advanced features, such as the automatic stitching engine, automatic color-matching, and real-time previewing, Stitcher gives photographers and artists the power to deliver the most impressive panoramas in all the popular formats.
Page 14: About This Guide
Chapter 1 Introduction resulting panoramas to create new image sets by filming in the image using a virtual camera. About this guide This guide uses type conventions to help you quickly find and understand information. Key combinations are capitalized with bold type. For example, press Ctrl+Z (Windows®) or Command+Z (Mac®).
Page 15: Minimum System Requirements
Stitcher User Guide Minimum system requirements Software Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited 2009 is supported on the following operating systems: ® ™ Microsoft® Windows XP Professional, (SP2 or higher) 32-bit operating system Microsoft® Windows Vista® Business, (SP1) 32-bit operating system Apple Mac OS X 10.4.11 and 10.5.2 (Intel version only) operating system...
Page 16: Installing Stitcher
Chapter 1 Introduction Installing Stitcher Autodesk recommends that you uninstall previous or evaluation versions of Stitcher before installing Stitcher Unlimited 2009 (see “Uninstalling Stitcher” on page 6), unless you are installing an upgrade. Close all open applications. Follow the onscreen installation instructions.
Page 17: Autodesk Stand-Alone Licensing
The number of days that a trial mode is active differs between Autodesk products. You can register your license at any time before the trial period expires. After the trial period expires, you cannot run Stitcher until you register the product.
Page 18: Manage Your Stand-Alone License
Not for Resale A license for a product that is not sold commercially. Educational (EDU)/Institution A license designed specifically for educational institutions. Student Portfolio A License for students who are using an Autodesk product as part of their curriculum. License behaviors Trial A license that allows individuals to try the product in trial mode for a specified number of days.
Page 19: View Product Information
Stitcher User Guide Term Non-Extendable Allows access to an Autodesk product for a limited period of time. The term cannot be extended. View Product Information You can view detailed information about Stitcher and your product license, such as the license usage type and the license behavior.
Page 20: Update Your Serial Number
Select Help > Activate. In the Stitcher Activation window, enter your product serial number. Click Activate. NOTE If you have lost your serial number, contact the Autodesk Business Center (ABC) at 800-538-6401 for assistance. Click Close. Exit Stitcher and restart for the updated activation to take effect.
Page 21: Register And Activate Stitcher
Online Registration and Activation Online registration and activation requires that you have Internet access. This process allows you to create one or more password protected user accounts that can be accessed when activating any Autodesk product(s). To activate Stitcher Launch Stitcher Select Help >...
Page 22: To Register Stitcher Offline
If you choose Send My Request by Email, an email message will display for you to complete. If you choose to forward your request by fax or phone, the Contact Autodesk page will display with pertinent contact information. You will be sent your activation code by the method you specified on the Customer Information page.
Page 23: Quick Start To Stitcher Projects
Quick Start to Stitcher Projects...
Page 25: The Stitcher Interface
Stitcher User Guide The Stitcher Interface The Stitcher interface is composed of the following elements: Stitching Window Toolbar Main Menu Main Menu: If a shortcut is available, it is shown next to the functions in the Main Menu. Toolbar: The Toolbar contains a set of contextual toolbars for working through the Stitcher five-phase workflow.
Page 26: The 5-Phase Stitcher Workflow
Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects The 5-phase Stitcher Workflow Load your image files (see “Phase 1: Loading images” on page 17 for the complete list of the supported file formats). Stitch your images using the automatic stitch function. If there are inconsistencies in your shots for which you will need to compensate, you can manually stitch or force- stitch your images.
Page 27: Phase 1: Loading Images
Stitcher User Guide Phase 1: Loading images All images used in a panorama must be the same size in pixels (height and depth), and they must be shot with the same focal length. Stitcher reads any EXIF data in the images and displays the information for you to keep or edit (the edited values are only used by Stitcher - the EXIF data in the images remains the same).
Page 28 Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects TIP Alternatively, drag the images directly from Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) into the Stitching Window. Stitcher reads the EXIF information in the images and asks whether you want to keep the settings. Click Yes to keep the EXIF data settings.
Page 29: Working With Thumbnails
Stitcher User Guide Working with thumbnails When you first load images into your project, they appear in the Thumbnail View. In the Thumbnail View you can select an image, modify its rotation, and view information about it. You can zoom in and out of the thumbnails by moving the vertical slider at the top of the Thumbnail View - when you move the cursor over the top of the Thumbnail View, it changes to arrows and you can drag the view to the size you prefer.
Page 30 Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects Using the navigation controls, you can view your panorama as you place images in the Stitching Window and stitch them together. You can also set the camera orientation precisely with numerical values. To select an image, click the image. The selected image is highlighted. Press Ctrl+click (Windows) or Shift+click (Mac) to add images to the selection.
Page 31 Stitcher User Guide Before stitching images, you can: Move the selected image to overlap and align it with another so that you can stitch them together. Rotate the selected image by pressing Shift+right-click (Windows) or Shift+Ctrl+click (Mac) in the Stitching Window to designate the pivot point. Center the selected image by selecting View >...
Page 32: Create And Organize Stacks
Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects Create and Organize Stacks To create an HDR panorama (32-bit image), you can have stacks in which to hold however many exposures you have for each shot. You can also shuffle each stack to change the exposure that is displayed on top, or (if you have no images selected) you can change a panorama’s whole exposure value.
Page 33 Stitcher User Guide TIP For example, if you have shots in 6 positions for your panorama, with three exposures for each position, you will have 18 images loaded. Choose Stack exposure by 3 and Stitcher will automatically create 6 stacks of 3 adjacent images. Select all the exposures you want to stack together, then right-mouse click one of the thumbnails and choose Stack exposure by >...
Page 34 Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects TIP Stitcher can load 32-bit images (EXR and HDR format) generated by external software and it can render the panorama either as a 32-bit image or a tone-mapped image. For more information about 32-bit or tone-mapped images, see “Displaying HDR images” on page 64.
Page 35: Phase 2: Automatic And Semi-Automatic Stitching
Stitcher User Guide Phase 2: Automatic and Semi-Automatic Stitching You use the Stitcher automatic stitching or semi-automatic options to stitch your images together. If you use the semi-automatic option, you need to add images to the Stitching Window and then place them as you want them before stitching them. Automatic stitching You can use the automatic stitching option to stitch all of the loaded images, or only selected images.
Page 36: Phase 3: Alignment
Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects Phase 3: Alignment Before equalizing and rendering your panorama, you can align it based on what appears in the Stitching Window. To automatically align the panorama, do one of the following: Select Tools > Auto-Align Panorama. Click The alignment command is best used on a single row of at least three or four images.
Page 37: Phase 4: Lighting Equalization
Stitcher User Guide Phase 4: Lighting equalization If your images vary in their brightness or contrast, you can use the Stitcher equalization process tomake the image lighting more uniform for the panorama. To automatically equalize the brightness setting in the panorama, do one of the following: SelectRender >...
Page 38: Modifying Exposure
Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects Modifying exposure To change the exposure of the panorama, make sure no image is selected and select HDR menu, then select one of the following: Exposure UP Exposure DOWN Exposure RESET Exposure example 1...
Page 39 Stitcher User Guide TIP You can also change the exposure of the panorama by right-mouse-clicking anywhere in the Stitching Window and selecting Exposure UP, DOWN, or RESET. Exposure example 2 - after changing the panorama’s exposure value.
Page 40: Phase 5: Projection Types And Rendering
Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects Phase 5: Projection Types and Rendering The type of projection you choose to render your panorama depends on how it will be used (for example, the Web, film production, or product packaging) and whether or not you will edit the stitched images in an external graphics application.
Page 41: Cylindrical Projection
Stitcher User Guide Cylindrical projection The cylindrical projection creates a cylinder that accurately shows a row panorama without distorting the top and bottom of the original image. This projection is ideal for print or for creating Internet banners. Be sure to reposition your view in the Stitching Window if you want to adjust the center of the cylindrical panorama.
Page 42: Cubical Projection
Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects Cubical projection The cubical projection creates six images that correspond to the six sides of a cube (front, back, right, left, top, and bottom). Using this type of projection, your panorama will look as if it is being projected onto the inside surfaces of a cube. Cubical renderings are particularly good for rendering backgrounds in 3D scenes and for producing Cubic QTVR movies that you will edit in external graphics applications.
Page 43: Spherical Projection
Stitcher User Guide Spherical projection Like cubical projections, spherical projection shows an entire 360°×180º panorama in a single image. Choose spherical projection to create: printed panoramas environment maps for 3D packages JPG files to be used by Java spherical viewers on the Web cubic QTVR movies that need to be modified as one image To choose a spherical projection, select Spherical Image from the Type list in the Render Parameters dialog box.
Page 44: Cylindrical And Cubic Qtvr Projection
Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects Cylindrical and Cubic QTVR projection Cylindrical QTVR and Cubic QTVR projection types render cylindrical and cubical movies, respectively, which can be viewed in QuickTime. These projections are useful for publishing your panoramas on the Web or inclusion on a CD-ROM. To choose cylindrical QTVR or cubic QTVR projections, select Cylindrical QTVR or Cubical QTVR from the Type list in the Render Parameters dialog box.
Page 45: Rendering Your Panorama
Stitcher User Guide Rendering your panorama To render a projection: Select Render > Render from the menu or click . The Render Parameters dialog appears. In the Render Parameters dialog box, do the following: Browse to the directory to which you want to save your rendered projection, a filename (avoid special characters).
Page 46: Saving Your Project
Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects TIP Avoid special characters such as & # * % ! “ / < > \ | and accented letters and spaces, when naming rendered files. Saving your project To save a project: Select File >...
Page 47: Stitcher Command Shortcuts
Stitcher User Guide Stitcher Command shortcuts Stitcher provides the following types of shortcuts: Contextual (shortcut) menus The contextual (shortcut) menus contain commands for the image or thumbnail in the Stitching Window. To access the contextual menus: Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl+click (Mac) in either the Stitching Window or on the thumbnails to open the contextual menu.
Page 48 Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects Action Shortcut Look At Maximize/ Spacebar Minimize Live Preview Alt+click Preferences P (Windows) Command+, (Mac) Proof Preview Ctrl+P (Windows) Command+P (Mac) Properties Alt+Enter (Windows) Command+I (Mac) Render Ctrl+R (Windows) Command+R (Mac) Rotate (image) Shift+right-click (Windows) Shift+Ctrl+click (Mac) Save...
Page 49: General Stitcher Operational Shortcuts
Stitcher User Guide General Stitcher Operational shortcuts Action Shortcut Change Shift+Page Up, Shift+Page Down exposure Delete Delete Duplicate Ctrl+D (Windows) or Command+D (Mac) Exit Stitcher Alt+F4 (Windows) Command+Q (Mac) Flip panorama Focal length Shift+(-) decrease Focal length Shift+(+) increase Full Screen Ctrl+Shift+F (Windows) Command+Shift+F (Mac) Select...
Page 50 Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects Action Shortcut Open Ctrl+T (Windows) Template Command+T (Mac) Prev/Next Page Up/Page Down Image in Stencil Mode Redo the last Ctrl+Y (Windows) action Command+Y (Mac) Reset the Shift+Home exposure Related menu Right-click (Windows) Ctrl+click (Mac) Roll Alt+right-click (Windows) (panorama)
Page 51: Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts
Stitcher User Guide Customizing keyboard shortcuts You can create and edit custom Stitcher keyboard shortcuts from the Preferences dialog box. Select Edit > Preferences. To create and edit keyboard shortcuts: From the Preferences dialog box, select Shortcut Management. Select an action from the Functions list (you will see a short description of the function).
Page 52 Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects...
Page 53: Chapter 3 User Guide
User Guide...
Page 55: Shooting Photographs
Stitcher User Guide Shooting photographs The following sections provide guidelines for photo shoots that will help achieve the best results in Stitcher. Recommended equipment You can use any high-resolution digital camera. Whenever possible, use a tripod and panoramic pan head for capturing panoramas. This not only prevents parallax, but also ensures sufficient overlap between images.
Page 56 Chapter 3 User Guide The top row is captured with the camera tilted up at 45° pitch. The middle row is captured with the camera leveled at 0° pitch. The bottom row is captured with the camera tilted down at –45° pitch. This creates a total of 36 images.
Page 57 Stitcher User Guide The tables below show the approximate FOVs for some common lenses and the number of images needed to capture a full 360° × 180° view. You can use this information as a guide when planning your shots.. Focal length Image FOV Images required...
Page 58 Chapter 3 User Guide Image layout One image at +90° pitch; eight images every 45° at +30° pitch; eight images every 45° at –30° pitch; one image at –90° pitch Focal length Image FOV Images required 24 mm Image layout One image at +90°...
Page 59: Photograph Overlap
Stitcher User Guide Focal length Image FOV Images required 35 mm Image layout One image at +90° pitch; 12 images every 30° at +60° pitch; 12 images every 30° at 20° pitch; 12 images every 30° at –20° pitch; 12 images every 30° at –60°;...
Page 60: Shooting The Panorama
Chapter 3 User Guide Shooting the panorama In addition to your rows of images, in most cases you will also want to capture one image straight up (+90°) and one straight down (–90°). By taking a shot straight up, you ensure that the upper region of the panorama blends well with the images that compose the topmost row.
Page 61: Camera Settings
Stitcher User Guide Avoid parallax. When you reposition the camera for each shot, try to pivot your body around the camera (as opposed to standing in the same spot and pivoting the camera around you) The goal is to photograph the scene while keeping the camera at the same point in space.
Page 62 Chapter 3 User Guide Zooming between your shots In interiors, if you have white walls and ceiling, incr ease the overlap to have he more textures in common. Also, interior panoramas could have stark lighting natural lighting contrast between the backs of rooms and windows. In this situation it is best to try to shoot HDR images (see “Loading HDR images”...
Page 63: Stitcher Projects
Stitcher User Guide Stitcher projects A Stitcher project is any set of stitched images. Any Stitcher session can be a project and can be saved withSelect the file extension *.rzs (Windows). To start a new project, do one of the following: Select File >...
Page 64: The Stitcher Workflow
Chapter 3 User Guide The Stitcher workflow The Stitcher workflow takes you through the stages to create a panorama, including removal of artifacts, color adjustment, and the creation of hotspots for the Web. For more information, see “The 5-phase Stitcher Workflow” on page 16. During the workflow, you can: Define Stencil regions for images that contain artifacts (see “Stencils”...
Page 65: Preferences
Stitcher User Guide Preferences You can set various project and display preferences in the Preferences dialog. For example, in the Colors page, you can change the default colors of the interface and in the Display page, you can define the thumbnail and maximum texture size. To show the Preferences dialog, select Edit >...
Page 66: Setting The Temporary Files Directory
Chapter 3 User Guide Setting the temporary files directory Stitcher needs to create temporary files to operate. By default, these files use the default system temporary directory, but you can change it and choose specifically where you want to put the temporary files. To set the temporary files directory: Select Edit >...
Page 67: Setting The Blending Application
Stitcher User Guide Setting the blending application You can use an external tool for blending your images. To set the external blending editor: Select Edit > Preferences and select External Links. Click Blending Software ... to set the blending software directory. Browse to the external blending editor (only Enblend (XBlend) and Smartblend are supported).
Page 68: Modifying The Display Of Images
Chapter 3 User Guide Modifying the display of images After you have loaded images into Stitcher (see “Loading images” on page 77), colored frames appear around the images as you select, move, and stitch them. These colors can be set in preferences. You can also have Stitcher move an image as a frame rather than redrawing the entire image.
Page 69: Moving Images As A Frame
Stitcher User Guide Moving images as a frame Moving images as a frame temporarily removes the content of the images to speed up the redrawing process as you move images or pan, zoom, or roll your view. NOTE To retain the content of images, but reduce the drain on processor performance, change the texture size (see “Changing the texture size”...
Page 70 Chapter 3 User Guide To move images as a frame: Select Edit > Preferences. In the Display tab, click Move As Frame: Click OK.
Page 71: Changing The Texture Size
Stitcher User Guide Changing the texture size The quality of display depends on the resolution of your images and the quality of your graphics card. The higher the resolution, the better the display quality, but performance suffers since large amounts of video memory are required to redraw the image. NOTE Reducing the texture size affects only the display and not the quality of the stitching or the rendered panorama.
Page 72: Changing The Stitching Window Background Color
Chapter 3 User Guide Changing the Stitching Window background color The background appears gray by default. To change the Stitching Window background color: Select Edit > Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears. Select Colors. Click the Stitching Window box to show the Color dialog. NOTE If you want to change the color of the Stitching Window in either the Hotspot, Close Panorama, or Align Panorama modes, click the Interactive Modes box.
Page 73: Adjusting The Transparency Of Images
Stitcher User Guide Adjusting the transparency of images Adjust the transparency of images to be able to see through them. A value of 1 gives an opaque image. To reduce the opacity of the image, reduce the value in this field. To adjust the transparency of images: Select Edit >...
Page 74: Displaying Hdr Images
Chapter 3 User Guide Displaying HDR images An HDR image cannot be displayed correctly on modern monitors because the image dynamics are too large. To be able to visualize this kind of image, the entire dynamics need to be reduced to display only a part of them. Stitcher uses a special feature of a computer’s video graphics card that is able to display 32-bit (HDR) images.
Page 75: Displaying The Live Preview
Stitcher User Guide Displaying the Live Preview The Display Live Preview option in the Preview page of the Preferences dialog toggles the display of the Live Preview in the Stitching Window (press Spacebar as a shortcut). Settings in the Preview page of the Preferences dialog determine the display of the Live Preview as either a flat cubic, cylindrical, or spherical panorama and the size of the preview window as small, normal, or large.
Page 76: Managing Memory
Chapter 3 User Guide Managing memory After installing Stitcher, you should set the Stitcher memory management preferences. Settings in the Memory page of the Preferences dialog determine the memory management.
Page 77: Setting The Cache Size
Stitcher User Guide Setting the Cache Size Use the Image Cache Size sliding scale in the Memory page of the Preferences dialog to set the maximum usage of your RAM by Stitcher. The default setting should be sufficient for your projects. This memory cache contains the input images. Sometimes before rendering, it will be helpful to decrease its value toward 0% to leave more memory for the render, but it is not recommended that you change this setting unless you are an advanced user.
Page 78: Setting The Manual Stitch Magnifier
Chapter 3 User Guide Setting the Manual Stitch Magnifier In the Other tab of the Preferences dialog, you can set the zoom and the size of the Magnifier display when you do a manual stitch: Setting the GPU preferences The GPU (Graphic Processor Unit) is the processor of the graphics card. The GPU can do real time blending of the stitched images in the Stitching Window and in the Live Preview if the Real Time Linear Blending is checked.
Page 79 Stitcher User Guide The following image shows stitched images in the Stitching Window without GPU Real Time Linear Blending:...
Page 80 Chapter 3 User Guide The following image shows stitched images in the Stitching Window with GPU Real Time Linear Blending appears at the bottom right of the Stitching window if your graphics card includes a powerful enough GPU. The icon appears crossed ( ) if: the GPU Real Time Linear Blending option is disabled (Preferences >...
Page 81: The Interface
Stitcher User Guide The interface The Stitcher interface is composed of the following elements: Live Preview Toolbar Main Menu General Information Status Indicators Stitching Window Thumbnails NOTE Toggle Full Screen mode by going to Windows > Full Screen or press CTRL + Shift + F.
Page 82: The Main Menu
Chapter 3 User Guide The Main Menu The main menu contains all of Stitchers commands. Shortcuts available to main menu options are shown next to the function. See “Stitcher Command shortcuts” on page 37 for more information about shortcuts. NOTE Some main menu functions are available directly through toolbar icons. The Toolbar The Toolbar contains a set of contextual toolbars for working through the Stitcher five- phase workflow (see “The Stitcher workflow”...
Page 83: Thumbnail View
Stitcher User Guide Thumbnail View When you load images, the image thumbnails appear in the bottom half of the Stitcher interface. You can drag thumbnails to the Stitching Window to stitch them. See “Phase 1: Loading images” on page 17 for more information. Status Indicators and the symbols to the right of the Thumbnail View indicate the status of...
Page 84: General Information
Chapter 3 User Guide General Information The General Information box provides useful image information right in the 3D working area (Stitching Window). To display or hide the general information box, do one of the following: Select View > Display > General Info From the Live Preview, click the white plus symbol to display General Info, or click the white cross symbol to hide General Info.
Page 85: The Live Preview
Stitcher User Guide The Live Preview The Live Preview window displays a cubic, cylindrical, spherical, or snapshot preview of your panorama in the top right corner of the Stitching Window: As you stitch and manipulate your images in the Stitching Window, the Live Preview also updates, giving you an idea of your final panorama in real time.
Page 86: The Image Strip
Chapter 3 User Guide The Image Strip As in previous versions of Stitcher, the Image Strip appears in the bottom half of the Stitcher interface when you select Window > Image Strip. You can drag images from the Thumbnail View or the Image Strip to the Stitching Window and stitch them and undock the Image Strip to place it in the Stitching Window.
Page 87: Preparing Images For Stitching
Stitcher User Guide Preparing images for stitching Loading images The first step when using Stitcher is to load the image files that Stitcher supports. Import formats Extension Cineon *.cin JPEG *.jpg, *.jpeg Maya Image Files *.iff, *.tdi ® OpenEXR *.exr Photoshop *.psd ®...
Page 88 Chapter 3 User Guide Images must be the same size in pixels and the same pixel depth. They must have been shot with the same focal length. To load your images: Do one of the following: Select File > Load Images . Click The Load Images browser opens: Use the drop-down list of the Files of type (Windows) or Show (Mac) field to show...
Page 89 Stitcher User Guide To load all images in the Load Images list, press Ctrl+A (Windows) or Command+A (Mac). All images files are highlighted. Click Open to load the images into the Thumbnail View. TIP Alternatively, drag the images directly from Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) directly into the Stitching Window.
Page 90: Loading Hdr Images
Chapter 3 User Guide Loading HDR images Stitcher can load high-dynamic range (HDR) images in the OpenEXR (.exr) and Radiance (.hdr) file formats. HDR images are created in a software such as Photomatix from several photographs ® with various exposures, for example, one shot with dark light intensity, one with medium light intensity, and another with high light intensity.
Page 91: Setting The Camera Parameters
Stitcher User Guide Setting the camera parameters The camera parameters are modified using the Properties dialog. To open the Properties dialog, Select Edit > Properties. The Properties dialog opens in the Camera tab. The Camera page represents the properties relevant to the camera with which you took your images.
Page 92: Image Resolution
Chapter 3 User Guide Image resolution The Properties dialog shows three read-only fields: Width, Height, and Ratio that describe the size of the loaded image. Ratio is the value of the width divided by the height. When an image is displayed on different screens, the aspect ratio must be kept the same to avoid stretching in either the vertical or the horizontal plane.
Page 93: Rectilinear Lens Properties
Stitcher User Guide Rectilinear lens properties If you choose rectilinear in the drop-down menu of the Camera Properties box, the following parameters can be set. Film back values The film back value is the size of your film. For instance, a Reflex camera has a film back height of 24 mm and a film back width of 36 mm.
Page 94 Chapter 3 User Guide In the Properties dialog, set the Focal Length parameter type to Fixed if you know the exact value. If you do not know the exact value, select Initialized and Stitcher will estimate the parameter value. Enter a value in the Focal Length field and press the Tab key on the keyboard. As the focal length and the angle are proportional, Stitcher automatically computes the values in the text field degrees and adjusts your images.
Page 95: Sensor Shift Values
Stitcher User Guide Sensor shift values The sensor shift value helps to compensate the displacement of the sensor with regard to the optical center of the lens. In modern digital cameras, the sensor is not usually exactly centered with the camera axis. To change the sensor shift values: If you know the exact value for the Sensor Shift select the parameter type Fixed from the drop-down list.
Page 96 Chapter 3 User Guide To change the distortion value: If you know the exact value for the Distortion select the parameter type Fixed from the drop-down list. Otherwise, select Initialized. Enter a value in the Distortion field and press the Tab key on the keyboard. To toggle distortion display: By default, the images are displayed with their own distortion, and the values are shown in the Properties dialog.
Page 97: Fisheye Lens Properties
Stitcher User Guide Fisheye lens properties Before stitching fisheye images, you need to define the camera lens type and the associated properties: the radius, the angle, the distortion, and the circle center. The camera parameters are modified using the Properties dialog. Click on an image and Select Edit >...
Page 98: Flat Stitch Properties
Chapter 3 User Guide Flat stitch properties The Stitcher engine works best on images taken in the same plane, for example, scanned images. A flat stitch is a series of images, where the camera moves in parallel to the plane of the object being captured. This type of stitch can be simulated using images that have a very high focal length.
Page 99: Manipulating Images
Stitcher User Guide Manipulating images The Stitching Window is a sphere and as you place and stitch images, you can look around in it by using navigation controls. You can also set the camera orientation precisely with numerical values. About thumbnail lines and markers As you work with images, colored frames, lines, and markers show the status of images and the relationship between them.
Page 100 Chapter 3 User Guide Stitched images - A green indicator marker indicates that the image in the Stitching Window is stitched (see “Changing the frame color” on page 58). Unstitched images - Thumbnails that you select in the Stitching Window have a red indicator marker until you stitch the image, then the marker changes to green.
Page 101 Stitcher User Guide Stencils - A white indicator marker appears in the top right corner of the thumbnails of images containing stencil removal polygons (see “Stencils” on page 126). psd masks - Images containing a stencil in the .psd file format have an indicator marker (see “Stencils”...
Page 102: Indicator Lines
Chapter 3 User Guide 16-bit images - When you load a 16-bit image, an indicator marker appears in the top right corner of the corresponding thumbnail. Indicator lines As you stitch images in the Stitching Window, indicator lines appear between the images in the Thumbnail View and in the Image Strip indicating that the images are stitched - the color of the line between images corresponds to the way the images have been stitched.
Page 103: Filtering Thumbnails
Stitcher User Guide Filtering thumbnails Right-click on an image in the Thumbnail View and select Show > All Unstitched, Stitched or Manual Stitched to filter the thumbnails to display only the images corresponding to the selected option in the Thumbnail View. To select thumbnail(s): Click a thumbnail to select it.
Page 104: Modifying The Display Of Thumbnails
Chapter 3 User Guide Modifying the display of thumbnails You can rotate thumbnails to help visualize images and decrease the amount of time and effort you spend moving and aligning them in the Stitching Window. For example, you can rotate images to change the orientation from landscape to portrait.
Page 105: Displaying Thumbnail Information
Stitcher User Guide Displaying thumbnail information Checking the Permanent Image Info option in the Thumbnail tab of the Preferences dialog (or pressing Shift+I) displays the image information as you move the pointer over the images in the Thumbnail View: Moving images to the Stitching Window To move images to the Stitching Window so that you can stitch them, drag the corresponding thumbnails one at time into the Stitching Window.
Page 106: Working In The Stitching Window
Chapter 3 User Guide Working in the Stitching Window The Stitching Window is where you move and rotate images so that you can align them then stitch them together. You can navigate around the Stitching Window to see your images from different angles, and you can select multiple images. You can also modify the display of the images;...
Page 107: Aligning Images In The Stitching Window
Stitcher User Guide Aligning images in the Stitching Window Before stitching images, you can move them to overlap and align them so that you can stitch them together. To move an image: Select the image (see “Selecting images in the Stitching Window” on page 96). Drag the image to the position you want.
Page 108: Rotating Images In The Stitching Window
Chapter 3 User Guide Rotating images in the Stitching Window Before stitching images, you can rotate them to overlap and align them so that you can stitch them together. When you rotate an image, you move it around a pivot point. A pivot point is the exact point around which something rotates or swings.
Page 109: Centering Images In The Stitching Window
Stitcher User Guide TIP To have better control, move the pointer horizontally first away from the pivot point. To change the pivot point: Press Shift+right-click (Windows) or Shift+Ctrl+click (Mac) in the Stitching Window to designate the new pivot point. To display the pivot point: Select View >...
Page 110: Setting The Camera Orientation
Chapter 3 User Guide In the Display tab, uncheck the “Look At” After Stitch option. Click OK. Setting the camera orientation To set the camera orientation: Click Edit > Properties. Click the Stitching Camera tab and in the Rotation fields, enter numerical values for the X-, Y-, and Z-axes.
Page 111: Fisheye Images
Stitcher User Guide Fisheye images Stitcher is designed to stitch images captured with both rectilinear camera lenses and fisheye lenses. Fisheye images are shots taken with an extremely wide-angle lens, as much as 180 degrees, and have considerable barrel distortion. The straight lines at the edges of a panorama appear to curve around the center of the image.
Page 112: Calibrating Fisheye Images
Chapter 3 User Guide Full frame: images with a FOV of 180 degrees from corner to corner diagonally that fill entire rectangular image with a curvy, distorted image. The fisheye image does not contain black borders. Calibrating fisheye images Normally if you have selected Read EXIF data in the Preferences dialog, Stitcher will try to automatically calibrate your fisheye lens.
Page 113 Stitcher User Guide A window opens where you can calibrate the image: The circle allows you to crop the image in to delete unnecessary information. For full-frame fisheye images, the circle should pass through each corner of the image. To guide you when placing the circle in the center, two crosses define the center of the circle (red) and the center of the image (blue).
Page 114 Chapter 3 User Guide NOTE When you calibrate one image, all images are calibrated automatically. You do not need to calibrate each image separately. If a black border appears in the 3D view or the rendered image, you should adjust the circle to further crop the image. Click OK to validate the settings.
Page 115: Stitching Images
Stitcher User Guide Stitching images After you have loaded images, place them into the Stitching Window and stitch them together. Stitcher allows three types of stitching: Automatic stitching: Stitcher allows automatic stitching of all or a selection of images (see “Automatic stitching” on page 105). Semi-automatic stitching: when you have loaded images, place them into the Stitching Window and stitch them together (see “Semi-automatic stitching”...
Page 116: Semi-Automatic Stitching
Chapter 3 User Guide Semi-automatic stitching Here is an overview of the semi-automatic stitching workflow: Drag images one at a time to the Stitching Window from the Thumbnail View or the Image Strip. Move and rotate the images to overlap and align points in the images. Adjust your view of the inside of the sphere as you work by panning, rolling, and zooming.
Page 117 Stitcher User Guide Although you do not need to align images accurately, you need to match them reasonably closely in to stitch them. The images shown below show better approximate alignment: NOTE To gain a better understanding overlapping and the reasons for it, see “Overlapping and aligning images”...
Page 118 Chapter 3 User Guide If you get a message that says “Cannot adjust images. Do you want to re-adjust it yourself?”, choose Re-adjust if you think you can better place the current photo or if you want to stitch the image manually. TIP After stitching two images, to see if they are well stitched, you can select one of the images and press the Tab button.
Page 119 Stitcher User Guide or slightly moving objects, like the leaves in the trees: This method can also be used for featureless areas, such as a blue sky: You must place the image precisely. To do so, you can do the following: Nudge pixel by pixel using the arrow keys.
Page 120: Manual Stitching
Chapter 3 User Guide Manual stitching Although Stitcher can automatically or semi-automatically precisely stitch your photos, you might prefer to manually stitch the images. In some cases, the other stitching methods could fail and you will need to manually tell Stitcher how to stitch images. Select two images with at least one already stitched in the Stitching Window.
Page 121 Stitcher User Guide Place a corresponding marker in the second image. The Magnifier opens in both images: When placing markers on one image, pressing and holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) while moving the cursor hides the Magnifier in the other image. You can configure the Magnifier in the Miscellaneous tab of the Preferences dialog (see “Setting the Manual Stitch Magnifier”...
Page 122 Chapter 3 User Guide Place at least three corresponding points in the two images: To delete a marker, select it by clicking on it and press Del. To move marker, select it and drag the pointer to a new location. When enough points have been placed, click Stitch to stitch the images or Cancel to clear all markers and exit Manual Stitch mode.
Page 123: Force-Stitching Images
Stitcher User Guide If the automatic stitch fails because your project does not contain enough detail or light, or the images contain similar patterns, you can still stitch the images using semi- automatic stitching (see “Semi-automatic stitching” on page 106) or manual stitching (see “Manual stitching”...
Page 124: Unstitching, Detaching, And Deleting Images
Chapter 3 User Guide Unstitching, detaching, and deleting images After stitching your panorama, you can modify it by choosing to unstitch some of the images, detaching and deleting images. Unstitching images After an image is unstitched, it remains in the Stitching Window and you can move and rotate in and re-stitch it (see “Aligning images in the Stitching Window”...
Page 125: Deleting Images
Stitcher User Guide Deleting images To delete an image from the current project, select it and do one of the following: Select Edit > Delete. Press Delete on the keyboard. Tips for stitching images You can stitch and unstitch images in the Stitching Window. Detach an image to remove it from the Stitching Window.
Page 126: Stitching Highly Distorted Images
Chapter 3 User Guide NOTE To reposition an image, see “Aligning images in the Stitching Window” and “Rotating images in the Stitching Window” on page 98. Stitching highly distorted images With rectilinear images, high distortion often appears in images with a low focal length.
Page 127: Evaluating Focal Length
Stitcher User Guide NOTE Stitcher cannot calibrate the highly-distorted lens if both images in the Stitching Window are stitched. This option is not used for fisheye lenses. To cancel the high-distortion calibration: Select Tools > High Distortion > Reset. All the images are restored to their original state. NOTE The Reset option is only available if no more than one image is stitched.
Page 128: Calibrating The Camera Response Curve
Chapter 3 User Guide Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl +click (Mac) anywhere in the Stitching Window and select Adjust Camera from the contextual menu. Stitcher calculates the focal length, sensor shift, and/or distortion Initialized parameter values and adjusts all images in the Stitching Window in accordance with the new calculated values.
Page 129 Stitcher User Guide TIP If you know the Exposure Value, check EV and enter the value. Otherwise, enter the ISO, Aperture and Speed values you used during your photo shoot. Click OK Select HDR > Camera Response > Calibrate Camera Response Curve...
Page 130: Closing The First Row Of A Panorama
Chapter 3 User Guide Closing the first row of a panorama After you have stitched the last image, you must close the 360° panorama. You may find that while you are stitching the first row, you may not have enough space to place all the images.
Page 131 Stitcher User Guide The Stitching Window background changes. Drag the last stitched image and roughly align it with the first image. Do one of the following: Select Stitch > Semi-Automatic Stitch . Click...
Page 132 Chapter 3 User Guide Press Enter to stitch the image. Stitcher closes the first row of the panorama. Stitching Window NOTE To change the color of the background, see “Changing the Stitching Window background color” on page 62.
Page 133: Camera Profiles
Stitcher User Guide Camera Profiles As the calibration process can take some time, you can save a camera profile and re-use the calibration result in another project. When you save a camera profile, you save the focal length and distortion of a highly-distorted lens. Saving a camera profile Select Tools >...
Page 134: Render Preview
Chapter 3 User Guide Render preview If you have any doubts about the quality of the last stitch you performed, you can quickly check the final quality with the Quick Preview or the Live Preview (see “The Live Preview” on page 75). The Quick Preview The Quick Preview option allows you to run a snapshot, cylindrical, or spherical render, defined in the Preferences dialog, of the current viewpoint without setting any...
Page 135 Stitcher User Guide Cylindrical preview Spherical preview Cubical preview...
Page 136: Stencils
Chapter 3 User Guide Stencils Stencils let you isolate areas of an image as you apply effects to the rest of the image. For example, if objects have moved between camera shots in the panorama, these objects will appear faded in the rendered panorama. The Stencil function can be used to remove such moving objects from a panorama.
Page 137 Stitcher User Guide The currently selected image is highlighted and the other images in the Stitching Window are transparent: Double-click in the viewport to define the starting point of the polygon. Click to add vertices. The stencil follows the distortion of the image: polygon vertices...
Page 138 Chapter 3 User Guide Double-click to finish the current polygon. Stitcher closes the polygon, creating the stencil polygon. Notice that a white indicator marker appears in the top right corner of the image in the Thumbnail View and the Image Strip. For more details, see “About thumbnail lines and markers”...
Page 139: Selecting, Duplicating, And Moving Stencil Polygons
Stitcher User Guide Selecting, duplicating, and moving stencil polygons Selecting stencil polygons You can select a polygon or a vertex of a polygon simply by clicking on it in the Stencil mode. To select multiple polygons or multiple vertices of a polygon, do one of the following: Select Edit >...
Page 140: Blending Polygons
Chapter 3 User Guide NOTE When you delete several vertices of a polygon, Stitcher ensures that at least three vertices remain. Blending polygons In the Rendering tab of the Preferences dialog, you can specify the number of pixels of the project’s polygons that you want to combine with the background image. Enter a value in pixels in the Stencil Blending text field.
Page 141 Stitcher User Guide NOTE The PSD stencil option is only available if the external editor is defined in the Preferences dialog: To create a stencil: Right-click on a image in the Stitching Window and select Stencil from PSD from the contextual menu. Stitcher creates a copy of the image in the PSD format and automatically adds a stencil.
Page 142: Viewing Stencils
Chapter 3 User Guide Save the image. Stitcher automatically detects the changes and proposes that you re- reads the image on the disk. Click Yes to reload the image as a PSD file: The thumbnail now contains a marker defining the image as containing a PSD stencil. Now then you move the image over another image in the Stitching Window, the area where you added a stencil is transparent.
Page 143: Aligning The Panorama
Stitcher User Guide Aligning the panorama Before rendering the panorama, you can align the panorama to determine what you see in the final panorama. Stitcher aligns the panorama based on what is visible in the Stitching Window at the time you render the panorama. You can align the panorama by: Selecting Tools >...
Page 144 Chapter 3 User Guide Draw horizontal and vertical lines in the Stitching Window by clicking and dragging the pointer. These lines indicate horizontals and verticals in the panorama that will be used to calculate the horizon. A dotted line represents a horizontal. Verticals are drawn as solid lines.
Page 145: Panning Relative To The Horizon
Stitcher User Guide NOTE To change the background color of the Stitching Window in the Align Panorama mode, see “Changing the Stitching Window background color” on page 62. Panning relative to the horizon After you have set the horizon by aligning the panorama, the Constraint Pan option allows you to pan horizontally and vertically in the panorama relative to the horizon.
Page 146: Aligning The Panorama Using The Display Grid
Chapter 3 User Guide Aligning the panorama using the Display Grid To ease manual alignment, the display grid has a center point that you can position over a feature in the image. To show the Display Grid in the Stitching Window: Select Edit >...
Page 147 Stitcher User Guide TIP Press (Windows) or Command+G (Mac) to toggle the grid.
Page 148: To Change The Display Grid
Chapter 3 User Guide To change the Display Grid Select Edit > Preferences. Type a new value in the Grid Step text field. A greater value gives a finer grid: Click Apply. To change the color of the Display Grid: Select Edit >...
Page 149: Equalizing Images
Stitcher User Guide Equalizing images Equalization is the process of balancing the level of brightness among images. Equalize images if your shots vary significantly in brightness. Typically this happens with exterior shots taken through 360° with different exposure settings as a result of differing levels of light around the scene.
Page 150 Chapter 3 User Guide Select Rendering. Enter an Equalization Factor value between 0 and 1. The smaller the number, the closer the brightness is to the original level. The larger the number, the more equalized the images, but the images may look overexposed when you apply the equalization in the next steps.
Page 151: Hotspots
Stitcher User Guide Hotspots Hotspots are clickable areas of a panorama used to launch some actions, such as opening a URL or linking your project to another panorama to create a virtual tour made of several panoramas. You can walk around a virtual tour and go from one panorama to the other with the help of hotspots.
Page 152: Selecting, Duplicating, And Moving Hotspots
Chapter 3 User Guide NOTE Three vertices are required to create the polygon, otherwise, it is discarded. Stitcher closes the polygon, creating the hotspot: hotspot vertices NOTE To change the background color of the Stitching Window while in the Hotspot mode, see “Changing the Stitching Window background color”...
Page 153: Duplicating Hotspots
Stitcher User Guide Duplicating hotspots To duplicate a hotspot, select it and do one of the following: Select Edit > Duplicate. Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl+click (Mac) and select Duplicate from the contextual menu. Moving hotspots Select a hotspot by clicking on it and drag it to a new location. Changing the shape of hotspots To change the shape of a hotspot, do one of the following: Select a vertex or vertices of the hotspot and drag it or them to a new location.
Page 154: Linking Hotspots
Chapter 3 User Guide Linking hotspots You can link hotspots to any URL and define pan, tilt, and zoom parameters for a target panorama in the Properties dialog. Select a hotspot (see “Selecting, duplicating, and moving hotspots” on page 142). Select Edit >...
Page 155: Setting Quicktime Movie Options
Stitcher User Guide Setting QuickTime movie options If the target of the hotspot is another QuickTime panorama: Click on the QTVR checkbox to select the option. Click the Show Controller checkbox to select the option and show the controller bar at the bottom of the QuickTime plug-in area.
Page 156: Hotspots And Panorama Conversion
Chapter 3 User Guide Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl+click (Mac) on the Stitching Window and select Display > Hotspots from the contextual menu. NOTE You cannot edit hotspots unless you are in the Hotspot Creation Mode (see “Creating hotspots” on page 141). Hotspots and panorama conversion When you load a panorama, you can add hotspots in the same way as for images (see “Creating hotspots”...
Page 157: Render Area
Stitcher User Guide Render Area The render area can now be defined directly in the Live Preview. To set the render area, do one of the following: Right-click in the Live Preview and select Live Preview > Set Render Area . Select Render >...
Page 158 Chapter 3 User Guide For a cubical render, all faces are rendered by default, but by clicking each of the faces, you choose which ones you want to render. If you do not select any faces, all faces are rendered.
Page 159: Rendering Your Project
Stitcher User Guide Rendering Your Project After you have finished stitching your images, you can render the project to create a high-resolution panorama. Using Stitcher you can render directly to different projection types. You can render the Stitcher project in the following file formats: Rendering formats Extension JPEG...
Page 160 Chapter 3 User Guide Rendering formats Extension OpenEXR *.exr Radiance *.hdr 8-bit and 16-bit images NOTE Only some projection and render format are available for HDR projects. For example, you cannot render to Quicktime ® Here is an overview of the rendering workflow: Ensure your project is completely stitched and that you have adjusted the focal length (see “Semi-automatic stitching”...
Page 161: Choosing Projection Types
Stitcher User Guide Choosing projection types The type of projection you choose depends on the purpose for which you are creating your panorama (for the Web, film production, or product packaging, for example) and whether or not you need to edit the stitched images in an external graphics application. Use the following descriptions of projection types available in Stitcher to determine which projection and file format to use.
Page 162 Chapter 3 User Guide snapshot cylindrical spherical cubical...
Page 163: Understanding The Naming Of Cubical Images
Stitcher User Guide For Pure Player (*.ivp) or Spi-V exports, the cubic format consists of a single image representing the six faces of the cube. The images are superimposed as follows: front, right, back, left, top, bottom. Understanding the naming of cubical images The of the six images determines which image will appear on which cube surface.
Page 164: Cylindrical Projection
Chapter 3 User Guide Cylindrical projection Cylindrical projection creates a cylinder that accurately shows a row panorama without distorting the top and bottom from the original image. Choose cylindrical projection for row panoramas or for cylindrical QTVR movies that require modifications (see “Cylindrical and Cubic QTVR projection”...
Page 165: Setting Qtvr Output Options
Stitcher User Guide If you need to edit the images, you may instead export your stitched images with the basic cubical, spherical, or cylindrical projection type. NOTE You cannot modify a QTVR movie in a graphics application (see “Cubical projection” on page 151, “Spherical projection”...
Page 166: Hdr And Tone Mapping
Chapter 3 User Guide HDR and Tone Mapping To render HDR images (32-bit images or tone-mapped images) from a bracketed set of images (a stack of exposures), Stitcher must be able to calibrate a camera response curve over the largest stack (the stack being used for calibration must contain at least 3 images).
Page 167: Calibrating The Camera Response Curve
Stitcher User Guide The Add EXIF Information dialog is displayed. To add the EXIF data, do one of the following: Enter the ISO, Aperture and Speed values (Stitcher will calculate the relative exposure value, EV, from these), or Enter the relative EV. Check “Use same values for all stacks”...
Page 168: Render Options
Chapter 3 User Guide Render options Do one of the following: Select Render > Render . Click The Render Setup dialog opens. Click the box beside the Filename field, and select a destination directory and name for your files and click OK (Windows) or Choose (Mac). From the Type drop-down list, select a projection type.
Page 169 Stitcher User Guide In Stitcher HDR, you can render as a cubic, spheric, cylindric and snapshot to create an HDR image or preview the project as a JPG, TIFF, or PNG image. NOTE You cannot create or publish a movie in an HDR project. Check the Use GPU for rendering option to use the Graphical Processor Unit to generate the rendered image.
Page 170 Chapter 3 User Guide , check Save If the rendered images are to be imported into Autodesk ImageModeler ® Cameras to save your cameras’ parameters in an XML-based file format. From the Blending Type drop-down box, select either Smart , Morph , Linear , or External .
Page 171 Stitcher User Guide External: Launches an external software defined the Preferences dialog to blend the images. NOTE The Smart and External options apply only to cylindrical, spherical, and snapshot renders. The default sharpening filter is set to Normal. To change the filter, select either More, or Maximum from the Sharpen drop-down box.
Page 172 Chapter 3 User Guide Modify the default Image Options by clicking on the corresponding tab at the top of the window or leave the default settings. For TIFF file formats, choose from None , LZW , and Pack Bits... If you choose a TIF file format, you can select the Use Strip option to decrease the amount of memory used at the expense of a longer rendering time.
Page 173 Stitcher User Guide When you are satisfied with your parameters, do one of the following: To preview your rendered panorama, click Preview . The Render Preview window opens. Navigate using the same controls you use to navigate the Stitching Window . To render the current project, click Render .
Page 174: Tips For Rendering
Chapter 3 User Guide Tips for rendering Because QTVR and VRML files cannot be modified in external graphics applications, you may need to modify them before rendering, for example, to add a special effect. Follow the rendering procedure, with the following in mind: You must render your stitched images with cubical, spherical, or cylindrical projection so that you can open the file in the external graphics application.
Page 175: Understanding Width And Height Value Constraints
Stitcher User Guide Ensure you choose lossless file format (such as TIFF or PNG). If you choose a lossy file format, your image will be degraded by the time you finish your panorama because of multiple compression. When you have finished making edits, convert the file to a panorama (see “Panorama conversion”...
Page 176 Chapter 3 User Guide scale an image, Stitcher estimates the pixel values in the final image by interpolating the values from the original image. You can set the interpolation type in the Preferences dialog: The different algorithms that Stitcher uses are described as follows: Nearest: The value of the new pixel is the same as that of the closest existing pixel.
Page 177: Quicktime Output Setup
Stitcher User Guide Lanczos: These methods use a 6 × 6 (lanczos3), 8 × 8 (lanczos4), or 10 × 10 (lanczos5) cell of pixels surrounding each new pixel location. These methods produce slightly more accurate results than the bicubic method, but takes a little longer to compute.
Page 178: Compression Settings
Chapter 3 User Guide Compression Settings These settings define the type of compression to use when creating the QTVR movie. Codec: Choose the type of compression you want to use. Photo-JPEG is the most suitable for panoramas. It should be installed by default with QuickTime. Options: Depending on the type of compression you choose, set additional options, such as streaming optimization.
Page 179: Annotations
Stitcher User Guide Fast Start Preview: Check to let your users to see a preview of the movie. Generate Preview: Check to generate a preview image from your panorama. Set the width of each cube face in the Width field. If you want the preview to appear gray, check the Gray box.
Page 180: Authoring Tool
Chapter 3 User Guide Authoring Tool Stitcher has a real-time authoring tool that you can use to define constraints interactively in the Stitcher window. These constraints can be used for QTVR, PurePlayer and Spi-V renders. Select Tool > Authoring Controls to toggle the view over to the movie settings control and preview mode.
Page 181 Stitcher User Guide To manually change your movie settings, click Edit in the General Information box. NOTE You can only make manual changes to the width and height settings. Window: Type the dimensions of the window in pixels. Pan: Set how far your user can pan back and forth in the movie. This type of constraint is particularly useful if you do not provide a full 360°...
Page 182: Quicktime Scripting
Chapter 3 User Guide QuickTime scripting To export your panorama as a QuickTime VR movie, you can add extra functions such as auto-pan or a transparent logo. Select the QTVR Scripting tab: Select a script from the Automatic list and check Use Script: AutoPan automatically pans in the panorama when the movie starts Autopan+Reset resets the automatic pan when you click the mouse button Autopan+click stops the automatic pan when you click the mouse button.
Page 183: Movies
Stitcher User Guide Movies Stitcher enables the production of videos (AVI or QuickTime MOV files) of the ® panorama, for example to create an animation or a presentation of your panorama. As soon as you have at least one image in the Stitching Window, Stitcher allows you to make a movie of your panorama.
Page 184: Defining The Camera Path
Chapter 3 User Guide Defining the camera path To create animation, you must define keys that represent the camera viewpoints. The basic workflow when defining a camera path is to set a viewpoint, then place a key, change the viewpoint, set a key, etc. You can zoom, rotate, and move the scene as you require to find the camera viewpoint that you require for the animation.
Page 185: Checking The Animation
Stitcher User Guide Right-click to open the contextual menu and select Add Key Stitcher adds a key at the start of the Movie Navigation Bar and the Time Pointer moves to the end: Zoom, rotate, and move the panorama as you require to reposition it and right-click again to open the contextual menu and select Add Key.
Page 186 Chapter 3 User Guide To add a keyframe between existing keys, place the Time Pointer on the Movie Navigation Bar between keys K1 and K2, change the viewpoint slightly, and select Insert Key from the contextual menu to add a new key frame between K1 and K2: To replace a key, place the Time Pointer on a key in the Movie Navigation Bar, change the viewpoint slightly, and select Insert Key from the contextual menu to replace key K with the new viewpoint.
Page 187: Setting The Frame Gap
Stitcher User Guide Setting the frame gap The frame gap corresponds to a default value greater than 0.1 seconds when you add a key. The total time changes according to the Key Frame Gap defined the Preferences > Movie dialog:...
Page 188: Publishing Html/Kml
Chapter 3 User Guide Publishing HTML/KML After you have finished rendering your panorama, you can publish the project for sharing on the Web. Stitcher allows you to create either: An *.html file, based on a predefined template, for Web generation, and/or A *.kml file for adding your panorama to GoogleEarth (http://earth.google.com), which comprises maps and satellite images for complex or pinpointed regional searches.
Page 189: Setting The Html Options
Stitcher User Guide To publish your panorama: Click (Publish icon) to open the Publishing dialog: In the File page, click Browse in the Panorama name field and select a panorama to publish (see “Publishing your panorama” on page 178 for the panorama file formats).
Page 190 Enter a project Description. Click Change Description to enter a new description. The description will be used as the description for the *.html page. Autodesk supplies several *.html templates to create your panorama gallery quickly and easily. The template are found by default in the Stitcher installation directory.
Page 191: Setting The Kml Options
Stitcher User Guide When you have chosen a template in the list, the associated thumbnail appears displaying a representation of your *.html page once published. If you publish a Pure Player Java (*.ivp) panorama, Stitcher creates a *.jar file that contains the ImmerVision Pure Player viewer.
Page 192: Sharing Your Panorama
Chapter 3 User Guide Set the GPS location by entering the latitude and longitude coordinates of your panorama location. Enter a Title for the project. Enter a project Description. Use the Change Description button to enter a new description. Enter the URL corresponding to where you can download the final panorama. Click Publish to publish your panorama as a *.kml file.
Page 193: Creating An *.Html Template
Be careful to use the correct notations, otherwise Stitcher will be unable to replace correctly the values. Finally, save the file as an *.html file and put it in the Autodesk templates folder. NOTE Specific templates exist for publishing an IVP panorama in Flash. Choose this format...
Page 194: Panorama Conversion
Chapter 3 User Guide Panorama conversion Typically, after you have stitched your images, you render it to produce a panorama, but in some cases you will need to edit your panorama in an external image editor and therefore change the file format. The Panorama Conversion is used to: Convert a panorama into another format.
Page 195 Stitcher User Guide Import formats Extension QuickTime Movies *.mov ® Once the panorama is loaded, Stitcher enters the panorama conversion mode (see “Panorama conversion” on page 184). NOTE For a cubic panorama, you only need to choose a single face. Stitcher loads automatically the other faces if the file naming convention of the files is the same (letters _f, _r, _b, _l, _u, _d or numbers).
Page 196: Conversion Possibilities
Chapter 3 User Guide Conversion possibilities Stitcher determines automatically the loaded panorama file format and the possible conversions, shown in the table below by an “x”. Import Spherical Cubical Cylind. Spherical Cubical Cylind. Cubical image image image QTVR QTVR Export Spherical image Cubical...
Page 197: Aligning The Panorama
Stitcher User Guide Aligning the panorama You can change the viewpoint to determine what you see in the final panorama. Stitcher aligns the panorama based on what is visible in the Stitching Window at the time you render the panorama. You can align the panorama by: Using the grid (see “Aligning the panorama using the Display Grid”...
Page 198: Creating Hotspots During A Conversion
Chapter 3 User Guide Creating hotspots during a conversion Hotspots can be drawn directly in panoramas to open a URL or link your project to another panorama to create a virtual tour through several panoramas. For example, you can create hotspots in panoramas that were made in another application, such as 3ds Max or you can import old QTVR movies to re-edit them and add hotspots.
Page 199: Saving And Loading Hotspots
Stitcher User Guide Saving and loading hotspots To save a hotspot(s), right-click (Windows) or Ctrl+click (Mac) and select Save Hotspots from the contextual menu. The hotspot(s) is saved and you can load it as described below. To load a hotspot(s), right-click (Windows) or Ctrl+click (Mac) and select Load Hotspots from file from the contextual menu.
Page 200: Templates
Chapter 3 User Guide Templates Templates significantly decrease the amount of time and effort you spend stitching images if you consistently shoot panoramas with identical shot parameters and the same number of rows and with a tripod. Templates let you reuse identical shot parameters and row setups from one project to create another project with perfectly stitched images instantly.
Page 201: Opening A Template
Stitcher User Guide If you don’t have a project created with the required row set up and focal length, load and stitch images the usual way. Click File > Save As Template. The Save As Template dialog appears. In the File name filed, type the name of the template. From the Save In drop-down list, browse to where you want to save the template file.
Page 202 Chapter 3 User Guide To open a template: Click File > Open Template. The Template dialog appears: Click ... beside the Template field to browse to the template file, then click Open. Click ... beside the Image field to browse to the first image in the incremental list of images, then click Open.
Page 203: Troubleshooting
Stitcher User Guide Troubleshooting Problem: While running Stitcher, an error message is displayed “failed to create empty document”. SOLUTION The problem concerns the OpenGL environment creation. You can try changing the graphic board driver that you can download from the manufacturer’s website. Problem: While loading a Stitcher project, an error message is displayed “Error during file load.
Page 204 Chapter 3 User Guide 4. The project file or path contains non-standard or special characters. Make sure that your project file name and path do not contain special characters, such as # * % ! “ / < > \ |. Also avoid accented letters and spaces. 5.
Page 205 Stitcher User Guide Problem: The cylindrical QTVR stops before the 360 when I do a full tour. SOLUTION If you set a Render Area (white rectangle), be careful to pull the handles at each extremity. Problem: In the Render window, there is only the Screen render available. SOLUTION The focal length is set to Flat stitch in the Properties window.
Page 206: Stitching Problems
Chapter 3 User Guide SOLUTION This is due to the Spotlight tool from Mac OSX and its index function. Here is a workaround: Run Stitcher preferences (press the P key in Stitcher) and choose the External links tab. Choose a folder where you will put your temporary files (third link). Make a basic PSD render.
Page 207 Stitcher User Guide SOLUTION If the auto-stitch function fails, verify that your images are not too distorted. If so, run the high distortion calibration before stitching your image (see “Fisheye images” on page 101). Problem: Images are blurred SOLUTION When you have images that have not been exactly shot from the same location, Stitching Window thus introducing image parallax, you may have blurred images in the This blur will be minimized in the rendered images using smart blend as the blending...
Page 208: Glossary
Chapter 3 User Guide Glossary Blending – Combination of two or more images by adding them on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Cubic – Projection that produces six images corresponding to the front, back, right, left, top, and bottom of the cube. Cylindrical –...
Page 209 Stitcher User Guide PNG – Portable Network Graphics image file format. PPM – Portable Pixelmap image file format. Projection – Process of reducing three dimensions to two dimensions for display. It is the mapping of the visible part of a three-dimensional object onto a two-dimensional screen.
Page 210 Chapter 3 User Guide...
Page 211 Stitcher User Guide Index blurred images, during equalization....140 bookmarking about this guide............4 go to viewpoint ........25 Adjust Camera ........... 117 the current viewpoint......25 adjusting the brightness among images ....139 the focal length of images ......117 calibrating highly-distorted images....116 the transparency of images ......
Page 212 Index the texture size ..........61 setting the color of ........138 clearing the Undo Buffer........67 setting the step..........136 Close Panorama ..........120 showing ............138 closing a panorama ..........120 displaying constraint panning..........134 artifact polygons.......... 132 context menus hotspots ............145 description............37 pivot points ............
Page 213 Index film back loading ............189 description............83 moving one or multiple......143 relationship with focal length ......83 panorama conversion ......... 146 flat rendering ............189 setting the properties of a stitch ....88 saving ............189 Flip Panorama ............26 selecting one or multiple......142 focal length changing............83 image...
Page 214 Index panorama conversion hotspots ............146 lenses, changing distortion of......85 panorama conversion possibilities....186 Lighting equalization...........27 panoramas Live Preview............124 centering............136 loading closing............120 a camera profile ...........123 converting ............ 184 images............16 problems stitching cylindrical....196 panorama............184 realigning with the horizon ....... 135 looking at current image ........99 rendering ............
Page 215 Index clearing the Undo Buffer ......67 viewpoint............189 moving images as a frame ......60 Quick Preview ............ 124 setting the cache size ........67 QuickTime scripting .........172 setting the Display Grid step....76 QuickTime® setting the equalization value.....139 filename suffix requirements..... 153 viewing distorted images ......86 output setup ..........
Page 216 Index images in the Stitching Window ....96 changing color of........... 62 one or multiple polygons....129 description ............. 72 sensor shift ............85 focal length and ..........83 setting rotating images in ......... 98 QTVR output options.........155 selecting images in ........96 the cache size..........67 working in ............
Page 217 Index Stitch..............107 Undo..............67 transparency of images, adjusting .....63 troubleshooting blurred images ..........197 closing a panorama ........121 fixing stitching problems......117 poor quality stitching ........196 redrawing images.........197 stitching images ...........196 Undo Buffer ............67 undoing the last action........67 unstack images .............23 viewing distorted images........86 VRML projection ..........155 workflow overview............54...

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Stitcher unlimited 2009

Autodesk 551A1-05B111-1001 - Stitcher Unlimited 2009 User Manual

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Quick Start to Stitcher Projects

Chapter 3 User Guide

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