VR Toolbox - QTVR Panorama FAQs

How can I get my exported movie to auto-rotate when opened?

2008-06-16T13:51:42.862-04:00

VR Worx does not have the capability of adding auto-rotation to its VR movies but there are third party applications available that can add this function.

RevolVR® by Squamish Media Group is a great tool and easy to use for adding auto-rotation to QTVR panoramic movies. This product is currently only available for Mac OS 9.

LiveStage Pro by TotallyHip is another great tool which allows you to add auto-rotation to QTVR but it really has much more to offer as a QuickTime editing/authoring tool.

There are also resources available on the Internet where you can download free QuickTime sprites and with the use of QuickTime Pro, add this function to QTVR panoramas very easily.

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How do I set the initial view of my movie?

2008-06-16T13:51:15.699-04:00

After you composed/compressed your movie and are previewing it in the Preview Panel, use your mouse cursor to pan to the view you would like as your initial view. Then click on the Set button under initial view constraints. To test, pan around and then click on the Go button under Inital Constraints. It should take you back to the opening view you selected.

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How do I set minimum and maximum zoom in a movie?

2008-06-16T13:50:47.687-04:00

While creating a panoramic movie, you'll be allowed to edit your image, add hotspots and set some constraints on the viewers. For example you can set the minimum zoom to specify a limit, which the viewer cannot zoom-in beyond (useful for preventing the image from appearing pixilated). To set the minimum zoom level, zoom in on your image in the playback panel to the desired level and click on the SET button. You can similarly set the maximum zoom to specify a limit, which the viewer cannot zoom-out beyond.

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Why should I use the video track hints, 'Preload' and 'Cache Data'?

2008-06-16T13:50:15.112-04:00

Preload and Cache data will cause loading to occur, prior to opening a movie image, and will retain as much calculated data as possible for that image, resulting in smoother movie playback.

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Why should I create an 'Additional Track'?

2008-06-16T13:49:10.787-04:00

The main reason for enabling any of the additional track features is for faster loading of the movie tracks. This, of course, will result in a lower degradation of the image. This is ideal, however, when working with an enormous movie file or working on a slower machine with limited memory. Below explains each feature in better detail.

Create “Web Preview” Image Track - This feature, if enabled, will create a image track for web previewing based on the options provided in the Preview Track Options dialog. The dialog is invoked by choosing the Options... button. This is primarily used for faster loading of movies when viewing them on a web page. It is ideal to load a lower resolution track so that the movie can quickly begin and then improve the resolution as the movie plays.
Create Quarter-Resolution Image Track - If enabled, the movie track will be at a quarter of its normal resolution. This is primarily done to aid in the loading and storing of a movie.
Create Half-Resolution Image Track - If enabled, the movie track will be at a half of its normal resolution. This is primarily done to aid in the loading and storing of a movie.

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What is a 'Composition Preset' and how do I create one?

2008-06-16T13:48:08.012-04:00

The composition presets feature lets the operator choose how a panorama is structured based on a prior panorama project. Select the desired setting from the list to adjust the current panorama to those settings. If you choose to add a new preset setting based on the settings in your current panorama project, choose the plus sign button and name the new preset. After doing this, this setting will be added to the list and available for further use in other projects.

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What is the advantage of enabling the Dual Resolution check box in the Compress Panel?

2008-06-16T13:47:17.986-04:00

Enabling this option creates a second video track in the QuickTime VR movie that contains a low resolution rendering of the panoramic image. The low-resolution video track is 25% the size of the standard video track. The purpose of a low-resolution video track is to allow the QuickTime VR movie to be played in low memory conditions. The QuickTime VR media handler will always attempt to use the high-resolution (standard) video track. If it cannot do this because memory is low, it will attempt to load and display the low-resolution panorama.

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What is the Dicing Group and what setting should I use?

2008-06-16T13:46:50.661-04:00

Before a panoramic image can be compressed, it is divided up into tiles, each tile representing a small area of the panoramic image. To determine the size of each tile and the number of tiles the panoramic image will be divided into, the dimensions of the tile array must be specified. The tile array is expressed in terms of rows-by column. The size of the tile and the dimensions of the tiling array can have a great effect on the performance of the QuickTime VR panorama, as the viewer is interacting with it. It can also have a significant impact on the RAM requirements of the panorama. For example, a case where a 2400 x 800 pixel panorama is divided into a 1 x 24 tile array. The width and height of each tile is 100 x 800, respectively. If the playback window is 320 x 240 pixels and the viewer is zoomed out as much as possible, four tiles representing 16.6% of the image data will have to be loaded into memory and decompressed to display the panorama.

The drawback to having more tiles is that a greater emphasis is placed on disk input and output, since more tiles will have to be retrieved and displayed while interacting with the viewer. It also results in less efficient compression ratios and hence a slightly larger file size.

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How many hot spots can I create in one QTVR movie?

2008-06-16T13:46:12.698-04:00

You can create up to 254 hot spots. This also includes multi-node movies.

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How do I change the hot spot name so that when I roll over the hot spot the my description appears in the controller bar?

2008-06-16T13:45:12.748-04:00

After you draw your hot spot, double-click on it to open the hot spot properties dialog box. Type in your description or new name in the Name field.

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All the tabs in the Hot Spots Properties dialog box are grayed out except for URL?

2008-06-16T13:44:47.273-04:00

If you are creating a panorama or an object movie, the only types of hot spots you can create in these two modules are URL hot spots to link you to a web site and "place holder" hot spots (which can be referenced in other multimedia applications). If you need to link your VRs together with linear footage or stills, you will need to create a Scene project. In the Scene module you can add all your media and link them together using all hot spots.

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What is a hot spot?

2008-06-16T13:43:50.973-04:00

A hot spot is a region that acts as a button that can trigger an event such as, display a picture, take a viewer to another object movie, take the viewer to another panoramic movie, linear movie or a URL.

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After editing my flat panoramic image in Photoshop, how do I import it back into the VR Worx?

2008-06-16T13:43:19.587-04:00

If you open a flat panoramic image in your image editor to make changes and then want to import this image into VR Worx, create a new panoramic project file. In the Setup Panel, change the Source Format to Single Panorama. Then go to the Acquire Panel (PC) or Blend Panel (Mac) and click on the Import button. Locate your image and import it and proceed in rendering your QTVR panoramic movie.

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Why do I get banding in the blended image?

2008-06-16T13:42:18.948-04:00

If your camera has a manual exposure setting, use it instead of shooting in automatic. Estimate the aperture and shutter speed appropriate for the lighting available in your panorama. Set it and lock it. This will insure that all your images are equally exposed and give you a much better blend. In addition to learning how to use the camera's exposure control features, avoid shooting in the early morning or late afternoon when shadows abound. Shooting close to local noon as possible will ensure that the light on the entire scene is the most even. It will also help keep shadows out of the picture.

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How do I export my blended panorama out of VR Worx and into PhotoShop for editing and printing?

2008-06-16T13:41:48.485-04:00

VR Worx has a built-in image editor to perform basic image corrections but you also have the option to choose an external image editor. To do this, on the menu bar go to Edit, Preferences (PC) or VR Worx, Preferences (Mac) and scroll down and select the Image Editor option. Click on the Browse button and find the image editor executable file. Exit from the Preferences dialog box. Now, after you have blended the stitched images, you can export your flat image into Photoshop or any other image editing application by clicking on the Edit button in the Blend Panel. This will launch your image editor and a temporary image. Make all your changes and then Save. This will automatically update the changes to the image in VR Worx. Return back to VR Worx and proceed with the project. If you save a second time in your image editor, it will save an actual image file to your hard drive for later use.

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What is the tolerance button and when should I adjust this?

2008-06-16T13:41:17.061-04:00

The exact offset from one frame to the next can be calculated through the frame count, field of view and image size, which is the predicted offset of the source images. In reality, though, the predicted offset is rarely achieved. If this is the case, the Frame Offset Tolerance dialog can be used to instruct the program on how far it must search in order to position the offset between source images. To specify the tolerance of the source image offsets, the operator should modify the vertical and horizontal sliders located in this dialog.

Vertical Tolerance - Vertical tolerance is the range that adjacent images must be shifted up or down in order for stitching to occur. This can be caused by several factors, such as a bumped or windblown tripod or a camera that is not mounted perpendicular to its axis of rotation. The default settings used for the vertical tolerance should accommodate most source images that are not stitched correctly. In some instances, the vertical tolerance must be incremented to increase the vertical search range that is used when comparing adjacent images.
Horizontal Tolerance - The horizontal tolerance must be adjusted when the overlap spacing between adjacent images is inconsistent.One sure sign of the need to increase vertical or horizontal tolerance is a stair-stepped sequence of source images that do not quite make proper stitches. In this instance, increasing the tolerance one notch at a time and restitching may solve the problem. The process may be repeated, if necessary, increasing upward for vertical tolerance and to the left for horizontal tolerance. Once the correct tolerance settings have been found, those settings can be used for all future panoramas (assuming the source imagery is consistently stairstepped) by saving a stationery template.

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What is the difference between auto and manual correction?

2008-06-16T13:40:22.010-04:00

The auto correction lets the application analyze and make the lens corrections needed to make for a better stitch. In some cases, depending on the lens or lens adapter, you will have to use the "Manual" corrections option to fine tune the lens. H. Adjustment and V. Adjustment correct the warp in the image. Once the best settings have been entered in these fields to create the optimum stitch, you can save the project file as a template for future use.

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My stitch results are are off. What could be the problem and how can I correct it?

2008-06-16T13:39:51.004-04:00

There could be a problem with the settings in the setup panel. Make sure capturing the recommended amount of images for the focal length of your lens. See "How many shots...".

You may also want to choose an image in the Acquire Panel that is closer to the foreground and has more detail in it and click on the Make Origin button. This will give the application a better sample of images to analyze when the stitching process begins.

Also, if you are using a screw on lens adapter, it can cause an irregular amount of barrel distortion. The application will try to correct for this but there are times when you will have to use the "Manual" corrections option to fine tune the lens.

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I shot my images right to left and they're importing backwards. What should I do?

2008-06-16T13:39:18.698-04:00

If in capturing you images you shot right to left, import the images as you normally would. Then go to the Edit menu and select Reverse Frames or click on the Reverse button in the tool bar.

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What file format must the image be in before I can acquire it?

2008-06-16T13:36:19.160-04:00

You have many choices to choose from:

Apple QuickTime Image (*.qti)
CompuServe Graphic Interchange (*.gif)
Portable Network Graphics (*.png)
JPEG (*.jpg)
PhotoShop (*.psd)
Windows Bitmap (*.bmp)
Tagged Image File (*.tif)
Macintosh PICT (*.pct)
Truvision Targa (*.tga)
Mac Paint (*.mac)
Silicon Graphics Image (*.sgi)

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How can I find out what the focal length of my lens is?

2008-06-16T13:35:42.234-04:00

This information is usually found in your camera documentation or users manual under specifications. It will list the 35 mm equivalent of the lens on your digital camera. If you are using a digital SLR, it may have a lens conversion factor of 1.5 or more. If you are using an 18 mm to 55 mm lens, you would have to multiply the focal length of your lens you will be using times the conversion factor. So if you were going to use the widest focal length, 18 mm times 1.5 would give you a 35 mm equivalent of 27 mm. Then follow the "How many shots..." table located on this page to find out the number of recommended images to capture.

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How do I import a flat panoramic image to create a QTVR movie from it?

2008-06-16T13:34:40.422-04:00

You can import a flat panoramic image into VR Worx by setting the Source Format in the Setup Panel to 'Single Panorama'. Then going into the Blend Panel (PC) or Acquire Panel (Mac) and clicking on the import button. Find you flat image and import it into VR Worx. You can then add hot spots, compress the movie and export your QTVR panorama.

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What image size should I select?

2008-06-16T13:34:06.847-04:00

The smaller the image size the smaller the size of the movie once exported. If you are putting your VRs on the Web, then shooting super high resolution images may be overkill. If you are planning on shooting VRs for CD presentations or printing, then shooting in super high resolution may be desired. For the web, 480 x 640 or 768 x 1024 is usually sufficient. Ultimately the decision lies with each individual as to what is adequate enough to produce the quality VR they are looking for.

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How do I create a partial panorama?

2008-06-16T13:33:35.921-04:00

When creating a partial panorama, the only setting in the setup panel that needs to change is the Node Sweep. For example, if you normally shoot 18 images to create a full 360 degree panorama, but only wanted to create a 180 degree partial panorama, all you would have to do is change the Node Sweep to 180. The Acquire Panel show 18 slots for you images but only 9 are now expected to be imported. After importing your images, proceed as usual in creating your panorama.

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What is a nodal point and why is it so important?

2008-06-16T13:32:44.785-04:00

A nodal point of a camera is the exact point within the lens where the image inverts. It is the spot within the camera lens through which all-incoming light rays pass. Rotating the camera about this point when shooting for panoramas ensures that the relative positions of objects within your scene do not change from image to image, failure to do so results in ghosts or double images.

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How many shots do I need to capture to create my panorama?

2008-06-16T13:29:02.739-04:00

There are a couple of things to remember when taking panoramic images.

First, a rectilinearly corrected lens should be used to provide a minimum of distortion.
Secondly, the wider the field of view of the lens the fewer the number of shots needed.
As a rule of thumb this shot guide will help you in determining how many shots to take to create a panorama.

Focal Length (35mm equivalent)

14 - 15mm - 10 images - 36 degrees
18 - 20mm - 12 images - 30 degrees
20 - 24mm - 14 images - 25.7 degrees
27 - 32mm - 16 images - 22.5 degrees
35 - 38mm - 18 images - 20 degrees

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I don't see a camera template that matches my model. What should I do?

2008-06-16T13:28:31.209-04:00

If you don't see a template that matches your new digital camera, you can create your own.

If you are using VR Worx 2.5.3 or earlier:
By simply reading the specifications off your cameras accompanying literature, you'll be able to create one or more templates depending on your camera. All you need to know is the 35mm equivalent focal length of the lens and image size your camera can shoot in, for example, 480 x 640, 768 x 1024, etc. To find out how many images to capture, use the information in the table below (See How many shots do I need to capture to create my panorama?) Once all your settings are set, choose File, Save As and in the Save As Type drop down box choose The VR Worx Panorama Template. Name the file and save it to an easily accessible folder. The same principal can be applied to the Object module as well.

If you are using VR Worx 2.6 or later:
Use the Lens Tuner utility to create a custom preset for your camera/lens combination. The Lens Tuner empowers you to create your own preset regardless of what make or model camera or lens you use (with the exception of circular fish-eye lenses). Follow the tutorial on how to create a preset. Once the preset is saved, it will appear in the Setup Panel preset list.

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