Autostitch

[mobilene]

http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/autostitch.html

 

Anybody ever heard of this or used it? It is said to do an excellent job of stitching together separate photos you take for a panorama.

 

I can think of many excellent uses as I go roadgeeking.

 

jim

[DennyG]

...used it?

I have now. A while back, Serif, the company whose photo editor I use, offered a free copy of their PanoramaPlus as part of an upgrade promotion. I installed it and probably opened it but didn't actually use it. When I followed the link to Autostitch, I noticed that PanoramaPlus is one of the licensed Autostitch based products so I fired it up. In the past, I've done a few panoramas using a stitch program that came bundled with a Canon camera. I used PanoramaPlus to reconstruct a panorama I had done of the Veteran Memorial Bridge between York & Lancaster in Pennsylvania in 2004. The two versions are here (old) and here (new). The PanoramaPlus/Autostitch version is much better with no detectable seams.

[mobilene]

Wow. I have a couple panoramas I've stitched together manually; I'll have to try it on them.

[Chris Rowland]

The two versions are here (old) and here (new). The PanoramaPlus/Autostitch version is much better with no detectable seams.

While the new image does better at hiding the seams, the old picture is much sharper and clearer. So I actually like the old one better... unless the sharpness is an artifact of the image compression and the new one actually looked sharper at a higher quality setting.

 

Chris

[wanderlustjake]

Thanks for posting the info on stitching. I just took a few pics recently and was going to look online for stitching software, nice to find links with feedback. On another note, I had to laugh, I had seen that some of you had posted about 3-D photography and Stereo Realist cameras. I have my grandfather's Stereo Realist and had been shooting with it until recently (expensive for mounting). Then I peeked at Mobilene's blog and saw his post about old Kodak cameras (another thing I have recently gotten into w/inhereited cameras). It is interesting seeing how many common interests there are here besides the roads.

 

Jason

[DennyG]

While the new image does better at hiding the seams, the old picture is much sharper and clearer. So I actually like the old one better... unless the sharpness is an artifact of the image compression and the new one actually looked sharper at a higher quality setting.

 

Chris

Yep, I see that. My first thought was that it might be due to cruder sizing software in the PanoramaPlus. What I did in 2004 (I think) was produce as high-res panorama then resize with PhotoPlus. I ran out of play time before I could verify that. Maybe tonight.

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Jim,

 

I have used half a dozen photo stitching programs over time. The one I liked best until recently was by Arcsoft. It did a good job and also produced 360 degree interactive images. I recently bought PanoramaStudio because it could do a panorama that neither Arcsoft nor Photoshop Elements would swallow.

 

It will work automatically, but my need is for a program that will also work with imperfect shots, and it does. I don’t use a tripod, and I’m too lazy to be very careful to keep the camera level, so I need an error tolerate program with adjustments for my mistakes. For that reason I haven’t been happy with automatic only programs. But I’m open to one that works!

 

Incidentally, I probably have an older version of Photoshop Elements around here if you need a photostitcher....you can have it for free if I can find it.

 

 

Jason,

 

I think I mentioned, I just use two matched inexpensive digitals mounted side by side on a flash bar now for 3D. Cheap, and the processing is “free.” I can’t say that 3D has been a big attraction here, but I think they are fun, and sometimes it is the only way to show a road feature.

 

And yah, this is a helpful gang.