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Mailinglist:PanoTools
Sender:Luca Vascon
Date/Time:2005-Jun-14 11:29:12
Subject:Re: Need help stitching my helicopter panorama!

Thread:


PanoTools: Re: Need help stitching my helicopter panorama! Luca Vascon 2005-Jun-14 11:29:12
Rotfl!!!
The solution is to hung up the eventcam by Me and Martino Agnoletto!!!
check the Agnos site!!
§;-))))

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Douglas L. Urner" <#removed#>
To: <#removed#>
Sent: Thursday, June 09, 2005 6:19 AM
Subject: Re: [PanoTools] Need help stitching my helicopter panorama!


>I goofed on the price of a D70, actually they are only $75.  D100s
> which have a wired remote are the same price these days.
>
> Doug
> --
> Douglas L. Urner <#removed#> Port Orchard, WA  +1 360 769 5565
>
>
> On Jun 8, 2005, at 11:04 :42, Douglas L. Urner wrote:
>
>> Here's a thought.  Around here a D70 rents for around $150/day +
>> about $20/day for a fisheye.  Perhaps you could build a simple mount
>> for 4 D70s and dangle them below the hovering helicopter and trigger
>> them with a remote (or use the 's' models instead and use a wired
>> remote).  The camera rental would be about a wash with the helicopter
>> time (assuming you only have on D70) and you'd be pretty sure to get
>> a good sequence.  Paralax would only be due to the difference in
>> camera positions (probably less than a foot).
>>
>> If you did this, you'd probably be able to be way more productive
>> with the chopper, so you could probably get quite a few different
>> shots and you'd save a ton of stitching time.
>>
>> Doug
>> --
>> Douglas L. Urner <#removed#> Port Orchard, WA  +1 360 769 5565
>>
>>
>> On Jun 8, 2005, at 10:10 :42, Piotr Popik wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I wonder what the guys who did that sucessfully would say. Is the
>>> use of
>>> GPS critical? Was that due to the difficult conditions (like the
>>> wind,
>>> etc)? Sounds like a tough job, anyway.
>>> Reagrds, Piotr
>>>
>>> On Wed, 8 Jun 2005, James Coffee wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> If nothing else this thread is making me much more appreciative of
>>>> shots taken from a helicopter.  I'm the kind of guy who when
>>>> someone asks "can you do..." I say yes.  I hope no one asks me to
>>>> photograph from a helicopter and then stitch.  I'll have to try to
>>>> remember to say no.
>>>>
>>>> -Jim Coffee-
>>>>
>>>>   ----- Original Message -----
>>>>   From: Edward Fink
>>>>   To: #removed#
>>>>   Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 9:37 AM
>>>>   Subject: RE: [PanoTools] Need help stitching my helicopter
>>>> panorama!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>         Well, I got another chance at the helicopter panorama on
>>>> Monday,
>>>>   but so far I haven't had any better luck stitching than last week.
>>>>
>>>>         The helicopter company decided not give a discount for
>>>> retakes -
>>>>   it cost the same $500 per hour as the first time, so I STRONGLY
>>>>   emphasized to the pilot AGAIN the need to maintain position.
>>>>
>>>>         We went with what we thought was the easiest, simplest way:
>>>>   having the pilot pirouette in position while I sat behind him
>>>> and leaned
>>>>   out as far as I could, shooting continuously around the circle.
>>>> We went
>>>>   with Bernhard's suggestion to try and rotate as fast as
>>>> possible, hoping
>>>>   I could finish a set before he drifted too far.
>>>>
>>>>         We didn't move as much as last week, but we moved off
>>>> center -
>>>>   it looks our circle covered about a one block radius.  So far I
>>>> haven't
>>>>   got a good stitch out of it.
>>>>
>>>>         Out of desperation I finally used one of the photos as a
>>>> map,
>>>>   and I drew arrows showing our location, and the direction the
>>>> camera was
>>>>   facing.  I made each arrow a separate Photoshop layer and named
>>>> it the
>>>>   same as the image name so I can use the map to select what
>>>> images to
>>>>   try.
>>>>
>>>>         That really helped a lot to understand our movement, and by
>>>>   stacking up the different passes on top of each other I was able
>>>> to find
>>>>   some places where a shot from the second pass better matches
>>>> something
>>>>   on the first pass, and vice versa.
>>>>
>>>>         Unfortunately, I found at least a couple of places where I
>>>> had
>>>>   three of the compass points (4 shots with my D70/Sigma 8mm)
>>>> fairly close
>>>>   together, but then the shot for the last compass point was two
>>>> blocks
>>>>   away.  I haven't yet tried to stitch some of the new
>>>> combinations that
>>>>   I've found because of the map, but that's the next step.
>>>>
>>>>         It took many hours to create the map.  The hardest part
>>>> for me,
>>>>   without any flying experience, was looking at the images and
>>>> trying to
>>>>   figure out EXACTLY what the helicopter is over.  Sometimes I
>>>> thought I
>>>>   was looking at the west side of a building, but when I looked
>>>> again
>>>>   later, I realized that it was just the shadow, and not the
>>>> actual side
>>>>   of the building, meaning I was really at least slightly east of
>>>> the
>>>>   building instead of west.
>>>>
>>>>         The taller the building, the more perspective clues, but our
>>>>   wide circle went over several parking lots and small buildings
>>>> that make
>>>>   it a lot harder to judge exactly where we were.
>>>>
>>>>         Anyway, I just thought I'd pass that info along while I
>>>> continue
>>>>   trying to stitch different combinations of the pictures.  If
>>>> anyone
>>>>   wants to see the flattened version of my map with all the location
>>>>   arrows to show how much the drift was, they're at:
>>>>
>>>>   http://new-eden.com/temp/MapLowPasses.jpg
>>>>   http://new-eden.com/temp/MapHighPasses.jpg
>>>>
>>>>         We really want the lower altitude (2500') shots, be we tried
>>>>   some at a higher altitude too, thinking that would give me more
>>>> slack
>>>>   even if the pilot drifted.  No such luck so far.
>>>>
>>>>   (The arrow point is the estimated helicopter position, the
>>>> direction is
>>>>   the camera direction. The really long arrows on the low altitude
>>>> map
>>>>   indicate nadir shots that don't extend to the horizon. It's
>>>> faster to
>>>>   draw a long arrow than change colors. The landing skids are so
>>>> visible
>>>>   in the nadirs that to use them you'd probably need a pair almost
>>>>   perfectly 180 degree apart.)
>>>>
>>>>         Thanks again to everyone for the many tips and
>>>> suggestions!  If
>>>>   the client doesn't dump me instead of the pilot, I may
>>>> eventually have a
>>>>   chance to try ALL your suggestions!
>>>>
>>>>         If I get another pilot, I'd like to show him everyone's
>>>>   suggestions and see what he'd prefer.
>>>>
>>>>         Right now my tentative plan, if I get a third chance, is
>>>> to try
>>>>   and take more responsibility instead of leaving so much to the
>>>> pilot,
>>>>   and put the camera on a pole horizontally and (hopefully)
>>>> rotate it
>>>>   before the pilot can drift so far. (The way Willy shoots out
>>>> over a
>>>>   railing.) I've got a heavy duty, 12' telescoping light stand,
>>>> and I'm
>>>>   going to stick my camera on that and do some tests out the
>>>> window.  That
>>>>   should also help me better deal with the landing skids.  This
>>>> time I
>>>>   leaned as far out as my seat belt would let me, then I held my
>>>> camera
>>>>   out as far as the neck strap would allow, and I STILL got a lot of
>>>>   landing skid in the pictures.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   Ed
>>>>   #removed#
>>>>   http://www.new-eden.com/
>>>>   No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn.
>>>>   -- Jim Morrison --
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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