Panorama Software Comparison

Had a play with something interesting? Got something that we all covet? Found a real lemon? Write a few lines about it, and share your experiences.

Moderator: Moderators

Forum rules
Please ensure that you have a meaningful location included in your profile. Please refer to the FAQ for details of what "meaningful" is.

Panorama Software Comparison

Postby leek on Fri Jun 10, 2005 1:58 am

I happened to be at Bondi Beach yesterday and took a series of 11 portrait orientation hand-held shots with a view to making a panorama...

Here are the results from 3 popular software tools:

First - PhotoMerge within Photoshop - very disappointing due to the banding and the lack of subtlety in the merging of the photos

Image

Secondly - the same shots with Autostitch - a few problems with exposure balancing, but not too bad...

Image


Thirdly - Panorama Factory... Not Perfect, but by far the Best...
Despite the additional cost, I think that I'll be buying this software soon...

Image

Any similar experiences???
Any contradictory views???
Any other pano software tools I should be trying out???
Anything I could have done better with the various tools???
Cheers, John
Leek@Flickr | Leek@RedBubble | Leek@DeviantArt

D700; D200; Tokina 12-24; Nikkor 50mm f1.4,18-70mm,85mm f1.8, 105mm,80-400VR, SB-800s; G1227LVL; RRS BH-55; Feisol 1401
User avatar
leek
Senior Member
 
Posts: 3135
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2004 4:46 pm
Location: Lane Cove, Sydney

Postby Onyx on Fri Jun 10, 2005 5:25 am

I vote for Panorama Factory too. With nothing fancy, just handheld clicks - I've managed to produce quite good multi-shot pano's using Pano Factory.
User avatar
Onyx
Senior Member
 
Posts: 3631
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2004 6:51 pm
Location: westsyd.nsw.au

Postby Killakoala on Fri Jun 10, 2005 6:50 am

I went down this road quite a while ago and came to the same conclusion.

Panorama Factory (PF) is the best stitching programme you can get (IMHO)

All the panos i have done are with PF. As you say, it's not perfect, i've had quite a few panos come out looking crap. But it is the best and if your original shots are good, then it will do a fantastic job of stitching.

Good Examples:
http://killakoala.smugmug.com/gallery/292396
Steve.
|D700| D2H | F5 | 70-200VR | 85 1.4 | 50 1.4 | 28-70 | 10.5 | 12-24 | SB800 |
Website-> http://www.stevekilburn.com
Leeds United for promotion in 2014 - Hurrah!!!
User avatar
Killakoala
Senior Member
 
Posts: 5398
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2004 3:31 pm
Location: Southland NZ

Postby Glen on Fri Jun 10, 2005 7:07 am

Thanks Leek, great example to show the comparisons, helps us all
User avatar
Glen
Moderator
 
Posts: 11819
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2004 3:14 pm
Location: Sydney - Neutral Bay - Nikon

Postby robw25 on Fri Jun 10, 2005 7:27 am

give paint shop pro photo album 5 a go ... i was impressed with it ... just drag and drop

cheers rob
User avatar
robw25
Senior Member
 
Posts: 886
Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 10:31 pm
Location: whyalla south australia

Postby sheepie on Fri Jun 10, 2005 8:03 am

I'm happy with Pano Factory :)
have I said that before? probably, and will probably say it again...

Image

in fact, here goes...
I'M HAPPY WITH PANORAMA FACTORY!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
*** When getting there is half the fun! ***
User avatar
sheepie
Key Member
 
Posts: 3029
Joined: Sun Aug 08, 2004 11:56 am
Location: Picnic Point, Sydney Australia *** Nikon D200/D70 ***

Postby Glen on Fri Jun 10, 2005 8:19 am

Leon, anyone would be happy with that pano :D :D :D
User avatar
Glen
Moderator
 
Posts: 11819
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2004 3:14 pm
Location: Sydney - Neutral Bay - Nikon

Postby boxerboy on Fri Jun 10, 2005 8:46 am

Another vote for Panorama Factory. I'm very impressed with both the ease of use and the price. I stitched together 19 photos for a 270° view of Mt Isa. It took probably 20 minutes to complete, but the result is excellent, no visible joins at all.

cheers
Peter
my karma just ran over your dogma
User avatar
boxerboy
Member
 
Posts: 336
Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:33 am
Location: Jimboomba QLD

Postby beej on Fri Jun 10, 2005 8:53 am

My PANO software setup:

3 programs based on this tutorial:

1. Autopano-SIFT
2. Hugin
3. Enblend

It's a very twiddly and a complex procedure, but it is by far the best setup i've used (very powerful). The best part? It's all free!

You can start by just using Hugin, which is a frontend for command-based tool called Panorama Tools.

There are a heap of tutes based on PT out there. Give it a shot, if you got the patience you won't be disappointed.

Cheers
- beej
Last edited by beej on Fri Jun 10, 2005 10:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
beej
Member
 
Posts: 109
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2005 6:40 pm
Location: Blue Mountains

Postby kipper on Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:45 am

I've done some quite good handhelds with pano factory. I think it does a pretty good with exposure balancing, image rotation and stitching.

Take a look at autostich and then take a look at pano factory. Autostitch didn't do a very good job with the horizon, it's like a wave. PF has done a pretty good job though keeping it straight and level.
Darryl (aka Kipper)
Nikon D200
kipper
Senior Member
 
Posts: 3738
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 9:23 pm
Location: Hampshire, UK

Postby stubbsy on Fri Jun 10, 2005 10:43 am

Need I add... Pano Factory. Looked what Beej suggested a while back, but I'm a lazy sod & the complexity put me off big time.
Peter
Disclaimer: I know nothing about anything.
*** smugmug galleries: http://www.stubbsy.smugmug.com ***
User avatar
stubbsy
Moderator
 
Posts: 10748
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:44 pm
Location: Newcastle NSW - D700

Postby ozimax on Fri Jun 10, 2005 11:00 am

sheepie wrote:I'm happy with Pano Factory :)
have I said that before? probably, and will probably say it again...

Image

in fact, here goes...
I'M HAPPY WITH PANORAMA FACTORY!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


Could you please say that again Sheepie?
President, A.A.A.A.A (Australian Association Against Acronym Abuse)
Canon EOS R6, RF 24-105 F4, RF 70-200 F4, RF 35mm F1.8, RF 16mm F2.8
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)
User avatar
ozimax
Senior Member
 
Posts: 5284
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:58 am
Location: Coffs Harbour, NSW

Postby tsanglabs on Fri Jun 10, 2005 1:58 pm

I would have to agree with most people here that I have not been disappointed by PF.

The PhotoMerge in Photoshop looks unusable.
User avatar
tsanglabs
Member
 
Posts: 166
Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2004 9:50 pm
Location: Melb, Vic

Postby Yedrup on Fri Jun 10, 2005 2:29 pm

Must admit to using only three methods in the past, they being Canon Photostitch, Photoshop and Panorama Factory.

Photostitch - good results, not great but good :) :)
Photoshop - must be to do with my proficiency with PS but not good result :cry: :cry:
Panorama Factory - very, very good results :D :D :D once I used this I stopped looking.


Cheers,
Terry
"Photography is not about cameras, gadgets and gismos. Photography is about photographers. A camera didn't make a great picture any more than a typewriter wrote a great novel." -Peter Adams, Sydney 1978
User avatar
Yedrup
Member
 
Posts: 108
Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 2:00 pm
Location: Narwee

Postby darb on Fri Jun 10, 2005 3:46 pm

ive always found autostitch to be the best, but can depend on the variables of the shot.
User avatar
darb
Senior Member
 
Posts: 1020
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2004 12:03 am
Location: allll ovvverr (live in perth)

Re: Panorama Software Comparison

Postby DanielA on Sat Jun 11, 2005 1:27 pm

leek wrote:Any other pano software tools I should be trying out???

I've used <a href="http://www.tawbaware.com/ptasmblr.htm">PTAssembler</a> which uses PanoTools, so I guess it would be similar to Hugin.

Are you source files available somewhere? I could run it through:
- Autopano
- PTAssembler
- Enblend
It only takes a couple of clicks.

Autopano does a awesome job. Enblend is alright, but I like to do the blending myself.

Daniel
Nikon D4, D2Xs, D70, Nikkors and Sigmas lenses from 10 to 400mm
www.DSAimages.com
User avatar
DanielA
Senior Member
 
Posts: 963
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: Adelaide, South Australia


Return to Equipment Reviews

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 46 guests

cron