|
Panorama Stitch
|
|
|
|
| Maximum overlap area: see the following example
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Downsize frames
|
|
|
| Panoramas can become very large, and the stitching can consume a huge amount of resources. For instance, if you have 10 frames from a 5 Million pixel camera, then the resulting panorama can have a filesize of up to 150 MB (= 5 Million Pixels x 3 Bytes x 10 frames), depending on the JPEG compression when storing the panorama. This is usually no problem, however, the stitching can take up to 3 times the amount of memory, that is 450 MB. If your PC only has 500 MB memory, then a lot of virtual memory will be needed, slowing down the process of stitching or even crashing your PC. Usually, you don't need a resulting panorama of this size, so a Max. Height of 800 pixels is a good start to experiment with stitching, and to view the resulting panorama in the Panorama Viewer. Careful: Don't enter values below 200. Naturally, you'll always get the best stitch lines with maximum frame resolution. (also see "Important" below).
|
|
|
| Equalize Exposure and Color
|
|
|
| Due to the rotation of the camera, the frames in a panorama sequence were frequently shot in different light situations. In the following example, the first two frames of the panorama were taken against the light and are therefore too dark (underexposed). This will cause a bad stitch area with the bordering third frame.
|
|
|
| In order to correct the overexposure and improve the stitching, all frames should be manually equalized to the same Gamma (brightness) and Color Saturation. This is best accomplished by first dragging the slider beneath the thumbs, so the corresponding thumbs are reduced in size and become visible at the same time. Next you can equalize the Gamma of the first two frames. Since an increase in brightness also washes out color, you can then increase Saturation to overcome this problem.
|
|
|
| If frames differ only slightly in color and brightness, it may be more efficient to use AutoColor and AutoExposure instead. If all frames are already similar, you may only want to increase the number of matching points in shadow areas by means of SmartFlash.
|
|
|
| Note: Image improvements are usually non-destructive in CodedColor, except AutoRotation. This option may remove some image details (sharpness), apart from the fact that it might not work at all. Better results can be achieved by aligning the frames in the image editor rotation prior to the panorama dialog. Leveling the horizon in tilted frames usually leads to a noticeable improvement in stiching quality.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Flatten
|
|
|
| Since the frames of the panorama were never taken in a perfectly horizontal manner (unless you used a tripod), the stitch line detection causes the panorama to warp. This is a problem of all Panorama Stitch utilities, resulting in "snakelike" panoramas. CodedColor has an ingenious flatten algorithm in order to overcome any disaligment. The downside is, that some frames may become slightly distorted themselves.
|
|
|
| Read the chapter about Parallax, to learn how to reduce warp effects in the first place. You can also align the frames in the rotation dialog of the image editor.
|
|
|
| Crop
|
|
|
| Only use this option with Flatten above. This hides the problem, that some frames may have an unwanted vertical displacement, which the Flatten algorithm cannot correct. Crop cuts off overhanging borders resulting from any vertical displacement. Usually, a value of 5% is good enough, if you had a steady hand while moving the camera during the panorama sequence. For best results of course, you should use a tripod.
|
|
|
| Fade Area
|
|
|
| Select Large as a default, and only reduce the value, if the stitch line causes intense blurring of the affected image area.
|
|
|
| Background Color
|
|
|
| Used to fill in areas resulting from frame disalignment. Dark colors like Gray or Black usually blend in best with the frames.
|
Important Tips
|
|
| · | The more you reduce Max. Height, the more detail is removed from the frames before stitching. Since this detail is needed for determining the ideal stitch line between two frames, it is always better to create the panorama first (provided you have enough resources), and then resize it later in the Image Editor.
|
|
|
| · | Turn off the Crop option, if you prefer to manually crop the resulting panorama in the Image Editor.
|
|
|
| · | If two frames have a poor match quality, while the other frames match good or excellent, you can experiment with Exposure, Color and Overlap. If you cannot achieve a better match quality, you may try to exclude outer frames or split the panorama into two frame sections. Also watch out for identical focal lengths when shooting the frames: wideangle and fisheye frames don't match! You may want to zoom single frames in the image editor, so that important overlapping elements, like buildings or trees, have similar sizes.
|
|
|
| · | More tips for shooting panoramas
|
Related topics
|
|
| · | Panorama Viewer
|
| · | The Parallax effect
|
| · | Gamma correction
|
CodedColor PhotoStudio by 1STEIN is a Windows photo viewer and editor to organize, edit, resize, reformat, correct, compare, sort, watermark, annotate and print digital images, and to edit EXIF and IPTC data in digital photos. You can rename multiple images, remove scratches, create panorama pictures (stitch), convert RAW photos (from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, etc. cameras), send images via Skype, send photo SMS, burn digital watermarks, correct colors, run a screenshow, convert and correct JPEG images in a batch process, rename fields, open pictures and image folders from the Explorer, generate a webalbum in HTML and compress JPG images. The CodedColor full version is not free, but during registration you can choose the Freeware edition, in which some functions are deactivated. After the download you can try the PhotoStudio shareware for 30 days without any restrictions. The CodedColor software interface looks very similar to ACDSee, is easier to use than Photoshop and more versatile than Picasa and Irfanview, but still contains editing and correction features as effective as Paintshop. Have a look at our Before / After tutorials, in order to get an idea of the powerful editor capabilities. The software comes with a detailed handbook and a fast database to store EXIF / IPTC data and color informationen. CodedColor PhotoStudio is a powerful and versatile photo organizer and image editing software for digital camera users. The user friendly interface includes features like photo editing & printing, web & flash album galleries, slide shows, photo management & cataloging, custom sorting, IPTC & EXIF editor and display, GPS tagging, perspective correction, barrel distortion, effects, thumbnail generation, resize & resample images, jp2000, batch conversion, database keyword searching, red eye removal, color / sharpness / brightness & contrast correction, artefacts removal, clone brush, scanner & TWAIN import, screen capture, lossless JPEG rotation, transparency (alpha channel), gamma correction, print ordering and screenshows with many transition effects, watermark text, image annotations, panorama stitch & animation, video capture, PDF album export, photo layouts, collages, frames, shadows, histograms, automatic white balance, skype photo sharing, etc. Opens and converts all common image formats: BMP, WMF, GIF, JPEG, JPEG2000, TIFF, PCX, PNG, PSP, PSD, PCD, and all current RAW formats. Visit the CodedColor FotoStudio homepage to learn more and download a free copy! Includes BYNGO MMS messenger and CodedColor Publisher, a versatile photo layout and DTP tool, from which you can order individual photobooks through KODAK.
