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Aerial Photography and Video > Need Help With Aerial Spherical Please
 
 
talk the torque
Senior Heliman
Location: SA

Hi guys

I need some help on spherical's. I have tried using PTgui and found it quite impressive, but I'm still no to sure as to which lens angle is the most efective/practical to use while doing sphericals from the heli? The other thing is what would be the best way to finish off the sky? Should I, after the flight complete the sky shots from the ground or is there a better way? How many shots normally make up a spherical pano? From 100 - 150 foot what is the acceptable movement from the helicopter?

Regards
05-06-2008 03:58 PM
 
 
CKY
Veteran
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC, Canada

A fisheye is probably the best for heli use. I am using a 10-22mm lens on an XTi from a mast. I use 12 to 20 photos for a full spherical.

Almost 50% overlaps. To do the same with a heli would be difficult.

A good fisheye should allow only 3 shots around plus straight down then shoot the sky from the ground.

PTGui is great for rendering a hi-res jpg in layered format for editing, then use Pan2VR for final spherical rendering. Way faster.

I hope others share their secrets
05-06-2008 04:18 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
Hogster
Key Veteran
Location: Surrey, UK

So far as I see it:

- Helicopter with underslung 360°-rotation mount
- DSLR
- Fisheye lens in the region of 8 to 10mm focal length (look at the Sigma 8mm, Sigma 4.5mm, Sigma 10mm and Nikon 10.5mm)
- Angle the camera down so you include only a small amount of sky above the horizon
- Fill in the sky with a shot from the ground

This will obviously differ depending on the subject ....

I don't have any of the above () but that's how I would do it.

Cheers,


David

PS. PTGui should do the job fine for stitching
PPS. Take the photos as quickly as possible to minimise the tendancy for the heli to drift!
05-06-2008 05:34 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
AZ ChopperCam
Veteran
Location: Aerial Pano Creator!

Quote 
which lens angle is the most efective/practical to use while doing sphericals from the heli?
full frame fisheye 10.5mm is what I have shot all my panos with.

Quote 
The other thing is what would be the best way to finish off the sky?
I have shot a collection of over 200 skies at various times of day with various sky conditions from my mast. I use these to fill in my sky.

Quote 
How many shots normally make up a spherical pano?
I do mine with 6

Quote 
From 100 - 150 foot what is the acceptable movement from the helicopter?
This depends greatly on your image editing skills, but an average number for that altitude might be no more than 5' in any direction.

DJ
www.azchoppercam.com
05-07-2008 04:00 PM
 
 
talk the torque
Senior Heliman
Location: SA

Thank you very much for the replies that helps a lot. I though it could be done with maybe 8 shots, 6 is even better, DJ does that include your sky shots as well? My camera man did a ground test which ended up with 40 shots not even including vertiacally up or down. I was very surprised at how well PTgui handled the stitching and blending
05-07-2008 11:31 PM
 
 
Soundwave
Heliman
Location: USA

also - some people are shooting in landscape and some in portrait. something to keep in mind. not sure what dj is doing (was doing) but most shoot in portrait mode.
05-07-2008 11:32 PM
 
 
AZ ChopperCam
Veteran
Location: Aerial Pano Creator!

Quote 
I though it could be done with maybe 8 shots, 6 is even better, DJ does that include your sky shots as well?
6 or 7 and that is without the sky as the sky must be added in later unless you want to see the helicopter above.

Quote 
not sure what dj is doing (was doing) but most shoot in portrait mode.
aerial sphericals must be shot in portrait for optimum results.

DJ
www.azchoppercam.com
05-08-2008 04:02 PM
 
 
talk the torque
Senior Heliman
Location: SA

Thanks once again guys.

I assume then that 1 image would cover from slightly past horizon and all the way to vertical and the 6 or 7 shots are then all taken in a single horizontal line?
05-08-2008 09:17 PM
 
 
AZ ChopperCam
Veteran
Location: Aerial Pano Creator!

not quite.

6 or 7 shots with the camera in portrait and tilted down about 10° will cover Nadir through about 45° past the horizon.

Then from the ground or mast, shoot another 6 or 7 with the camera pointed up about 10°, Merge the two in Photoshop and done.

DJ
www.azchoppercam.com
05-08-2008 09:29 PM
 
 
_architorture_
Heliman
Location: Tampa, Florida

Is it possible to shoot portrait with an askman mount? Are you all making custom gimbles for portrait orientation?
05-08-2008 09:36 PM
 
 
Hogster
Key Veteran
Location: Surrey, UK

I would have thought so .... just make a simple right-angle bracket that bolts to the standard mount ...

My 2p


David
05-08-2008 09:47 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
BULLSEYE
Heliman
Location: Texas

DJ,

What mount are you using for your spherical panoramas. Are you using two transmitters, one for heli and the other for mount (that way the wires don't get tangled). Can you provide us with a pic. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Thanks
05-08-2008 09:54 PM
 
 
_architorture_
Heliman
Location: Tampa, Florida

I'll have to verify, but I dont think my camera would fit in portrait mode, esecially with the use of tilt.
05-08-2008 10:50 PM
 
 
AZ ChopperCam
Veteran
Location: Aerial Pano Creator!

Quote 
What mount are you using for your spherical panoramas.

I was using highly modified Airfoil Mini Pro mount. Modified to be nearly 1.5lb lighter and modified pan drive gearing to rotate one revolution in about 3 seconds. I also fabricated my own gimbal as the stock one was not what I would want to use for shooting spherical panos.

Quote 
Are you using two transmitters, one for heli and the other for mount
No. One transmitter (but with two receivers) as I was shooting solo.

Quote 
Can you provide us with a pic. A picture is worth a thousand words
wish I could but I never really took any good pics of the rig and have since been forced to sell it to fund a legal defense.

Once the lawsuit is over and I've been compensated for my costs I'll consider building up a new rig.

DJ
www.azchoppercam.com
05-09-2008 12:36 AM
 
 
meflyjeep
Senior Heliman
Location: On the ground and in the air ...

10.5 here, too; but just starting panos ... and watching closely on the forum for more tips ...

meflyjeep
05-09-2008 05:32 AM
 
 
gjestico
Senior Heliman
Location: Vancouver, B.C.

DJ knows his panos. He did some amazing work with a set of shots that I thought were a lost cause. Funny we never see any impressive photo work from that other guy who has all the hot cars.
Is there any issue with resolution of the final result by using an ultra-wide angle lens and less shots versus a regular wide and more shots ?
05-09-2008 06:07 AM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
AZ ChopperCam
Veteran
Location: Aerial Pano Creator!

Quote 
Is there any issue with resolution of the final result by using an ultra-wide angle lens and less shots versus a regular wide and more shots ?

yes. what you are referring to is Angular Pixel Density. More shots with a longer lens yields the potential for an image of greater resolution. But I've found that a 10mp 1.5x crop camera and 10.5mm lens with about 7 shots can get you an equirectangular image that you can still pull rectilinear shots from and be able to print them up to 8x10 and they look damn good.

So, yes... a longer lens will get ya a higher quality image in terms of pixel density but there does come a point of diminishing returns. More images takes longer to stitch with a greater chance for parallax errors and in most cases the typical client would never know the difference between a 12 shot pano and 6 shot pano when viewing at full screen resolution.

I think the best method for our purposes is to use a full frame fisheye and shoot 6 or 7 shots.

check this link.. very neat info

http://www.worldserver.com/turk/qui...vr/panores.html

DJ
www.azchoppercam.com
05-09-2008 08:12 AM
 
 
AirFoilAviation
Veteran
Location: Quincy, IL.

Quote 
Funny we never see any impressive photo work from that other guy who has all the hot cars.

Actually we are not posting until the mount is done to shoot Spheres and in production. About a week left. We have two new products coming out next week one for the GSR and the other is a 360 mount designed solely to be used for panos and spheres setup for the camera in portrait mode..

We actually just hired a girl three weeks ago to stitch the photo's we are shooting now.
What do we use? The Cannon XSI 12.2 meg pix and the Cannon 15mm fish eye in portrait mode. "1 3/4lbs" I think the best equipment you could buy to shoot these.

Set tight you will see we havebeen working on two designs one that will change safety and the other dedicated to this topic.

BTW
Quote 
Once the lawsuit is over and I've been compensated for my costs I'll consider building up a new rig.

Why post that BS? Didn't you just offer to settle and we said no?
I didn't dig the hole you are in, you did.

John

Team AirFoil
05-09-2008 01:32 PM
 
 
AZ ChopperCam
Veteran
Location: Aerial Pano Creator!

Quote 
a 360 mount designed solely to be used for panos and spheres setup for the camera in portrait mode..

Sounds good.... a few questions

Will this mount have tilt control or will the camera be fixed in position?

Will the mount be adjustable to allow for aligning the entrance pupil of the lens to be inline with the pan axis?

How fast are you rotating your mount for a full 360° and how many shots are you using?

How are you compositing your skies?

DJ
www.azchoppercam.com
05-09-2008 03:26 PM
 
 
Hogster
Key Veteran
Location: Surrey, UK

Quote 
The Cannon XTI 12.2 meg pix
Do you mean the Canon XSI?


David
05-09-2008 04:24 PM
HOMEPAGE  
 
 
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Aerial Photography and Video > Need Help With Aerial Spherical Please
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