I don’t understand how these images are created. At first I figured it was a series of camera shots overlayed, but that’s illogical based on some of the photos I’ve seen in that style. Then I figured they had some sort of camera in place, resting on some sort of pole, which rotated quickly and took many pictures (which would be pieced together later by computer).
Does anyone know for certain how this kind of thing is made?
Your first idea was right. It’s a series of camera shots overlaid. They start with a bunch of pictures from various angles from a tripod in the center of the card. They warp the pictures so they match up and join them so they get a long panorama. Then you can convert the panorama to a Quicktime VR file, which lets you view it like the one on the page you linked.
Here’s some software that does the trick: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtvr/authoringstudio/stitcher.html
There are other ways of doing this than QTVR. My friend had my tape 12 pictures of my bedroom to produce this.
… had me take …
My best friend is a grad student working with Kodak to develop a camera that takes a 360 picture all in one shot. It’s basically the same idea as above, except the patching is done on a hardware level.
There are 360 panoramic cameras around. Most were made a long time ago (>75 years). Spring wound, the lens rotated around, etc. Note that the image on the film at any instant during the shot is a thin vertical slit for obvious reasons. The film wound past the shutter in gear-sync with the motion of the camera.
I’ve seen several such “old-time” images. A typical shot was a standard “1st and Main” image of a small town’s center with the local citizens standing around. Since the camera took time to slew around, there were always local jokers who stood near where the shot started and then moved over to where the shot ends to get in the picture twice.
Once saw a report on a Seattle TV station about a professional photographer who still took these kind of pictures with an antique camera. Lot’s of outdoor scenes.
Like I said, old cameras, very $$$, for pros only.
FtG aka GLP
Can’t see a d**n thing on the web page cited.
Here’s another: http://www.pixaround.com/index.asp
You can download a free trial version.
Actually it is pretty easy to do. I use a Kodak DC290 and a really good tripod that allows me to position the lens over the nodal point (dead center of the rotation axis) to lessen the amount of distortion with the photos. I shoot between 12 and 18 shots of a room for a full 360. Then back to the office to stitch with a software package called “photovista”. The package will allow me to stitch the 360 and save it in any number of forms including creating the html file to go along with it.
If the photos don’t need any retouching it takes less than 30 minutes to stitch the photo, edit the files for size, ftp to the server and post the links. One of the easier parts of my job and fun too!
If you are interested in the finer details just drop me an e-mail and I can give you some tips and pointers on creating your own.