here is their website http://tourtechnologysystems.com/

--
tom_a_sparks "It's a nerdy thing I like to do"
Please use ISO approved file formats excluding Office Open XML -
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html
3 x (x)Ubuntu 10.04, Amiga A1200 WB 3.1, UAE AF 2006 WB 3.X, Sam440 AOS 4.1


________________________________
From: Ben Kreunen <ben@...>
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, 1 May 2011 6:09 PM
Subject: Re: [PanoToolsNG] Re: ivrpa patent fund



I think my favourite item that I've seen on this is the summaries over on Apple
from a couple of years back.

http://lists.apple.com/archives/quicktime-vr/2010/Aug/msg00005.html

At least IPIX produced something, TTS don't even seem to have a website?

This has very little to do with panoramic photography, it's all about extorting
money via crappy US patents.  We've been there before, and even if this goes
away there'll be another one later on.

Perhaps you should be going after the US Patent Office for not exercising due
diligence in issuing patents? ... Loss of income pertaining to spurious patent
claims?... or push for making it illegal to selectively target individuals for
patent infringements WHILST ignoring large companies who do exactly the same
thing? 

Hi Aaron,

	 Well clearly the IVRPA legal team should have told them to NOT publicly discuss
ANY of the case, ask for refunding etc but that's too late now. Basically this
has exposed every US panoramic photographer, tour provider, publisher etc to
wilful patent infringement. This is a much more serious issue than accidentally
infringing a patent.

	 Wilful infringement occurs after a potential infringer has been made aware of
the patent. I'd say everyone on this list and most related forums now know about
the patent. Wilfully infringing a patent opens you up to MUCH larger damages 
and other consequences.

	 Basically anyone on the list now has to carry out their own due diligence to
determine the validity of the patent and any possible infringement. Legally I'm
not sure how you'd back this up but I guess it will cost money.

	 If the IVRPA take this to court and LOSE the consequences for those not
prepared are far greater then having ones client sent a letter.

	 You have to keep in mind that the burden of proof required to overturn a patent
is massively greater than that needed to prove infringement. Personally I think
there has to be a better way to resolve the issue.

	 I think the IVRPA should create a no to patent '400 pack that members and non
members a like can use to circumvent these spurious letters. The pack could
content letter templates, website content etc. I think hitting this head on out
of court and in a more intelligent way can only serve to strengthen the
community. A court case will be a waste of money and very likely end in tears
for all involved, except the lawyers of course.

Matt

On 30 Apr 2011, at 23:36, aaronmspence wrote:

> Matt,
>
> Your interest and time spent on this is appreciated, but if I was still on the
Ivrpa Bod I would defer to American Patent Lawyers advice over yours.
>
> The issue is NOT the patent, we know it's rubbish. The issue is the real
damage being done with the patent.
>
> If I had $3000 worth of virtual tours on my site as a client, and a received a
demand from a patent owner covering virtual tours what would I do? Drop the
virtual tours or gear up for a big legal battle because my photographer says the
patent is rubbish? Anyone who understands the cost in time and money of the
legal process (even when you win) will drop the $3000 worth of tours, and that's
what has happened.
>
> As we've mentioned many times now, this open forum is not the place to discuss
the patent situation. To put our info and strategy online for the trolls to view
is foolish. Please continue your questions on the google groups forum.
>
> Aaron Spence.
> Http://panedia.com
>
> --- In PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com, Matthew Rogers - 360Precision
<matthew@...> wrote:
> >
> > So what was the reply to your rebuttal letter ?
> >
> > Matt
> >
> > On 30 Apr 2011, at 15:02, Henry Woodman wrote:
> >
> > > David,
> > >
> > > Your assessment is well done ... And, sadly, the situation we find
ourselves in. Thanks for putting some perspective into the discussions.
> > >
> > > Henry Woodman
> > > ICE Portal
> > > Sent from my iPad
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

That's fascinating.

Game technologie is actually making a round trip with all this VR stuff in movie
production now. In fact, I have a few other semi-interactive VR pieces, derived
from panos and video inserts.

With semi-interactive I mean, it's not prepared for the web but rather for an
on-stage live recording. Sort of like the virtual set in a weather studio: a
gyro sits on the camera, and a secondary webcam is looking at tracking marks.
Focus and zoom have snap-on sensors, as well. All that is realtime connected to
a box with the VR engine running. It can deal with 4 HD video streams, and that
can even be cut up and cloned in the 3d world. In one extreme case I had
production shoot 20 audience members, then make 400 out of them, in a giant
gladiator arena. The show just aired last week, so I guess it's not a secret
anymore... already showed up on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyPJp65jwTQ

Blochi


On Apr 26, 2011, at 2:04 AM, jan.vrsinsky wrote:

> Amazing animations! I love it!
>
> It would be great to be able to have this in a pano. I was a co-author of a
computer PC game back in 1998 and it used panorama-like viewer of pre-rendered
3D scenes and we used animated sprites to add torches on walls or running water
in the scene. I'm imagining that something like this could be easily added to
today's technology panoramas. After all, some of the cameras we all use to
capture panos can record video so imagine some scene where objects don't move
from a photo to photo - otherwise the stitching would be impossible - and you
just capture the pano the way you are used to except it's a video for each shot
and some miraculous technology stitches your video into a pano-video. Krpano can
easily play video these days (flash video youtube-like format) so the viewing
technology is not the limitation. It's the stitching that might be a bit
difficult. The shooting remains virtually the same. And of course this could be
used only in certain types of settings/scenes.
>
> I would love to see links of this being tested and if somebody is planning to
try it please let me know - I'd like to help if I can.
>
> Jan
> --
> janvrsinsky.com / twitter @janvrsinsky / 360cities.net/profile/jan-vrsinsky
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

2011/4/30 jrgen_schrader <panorama@...>

>  Haha,
>
> isn't this Matthias in the second picture from Tom Mills?
> (Must be, as the assistant is using some decent climbing equipment
> to stabilize his camera on the pole, hehe.)
>
> The one from AP could have been an excellent, once-in-a-lifetime picture if
> it wasn't so badly framed and poorly presented. What a waste fom such a
> unique vantage point.
>
> Jürgen
>

You got me. Seems like you can't even go to a wedding without beeing
disturbed ;)

Fun aside: I was shooting exclusively for the collection magazine, see
http://www.the-collection-magazine.com/ . There will be an update available
about the wedding by today/tomorrow that includes two panoramas. I did also
one very close to the balcony in front of Buckingham Palace.


Matthias

--
Matthias Taugwalder
matthias.taugwalder@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

LOL, so next time you want to hide better use a mirror ball and especially avoid
Dyneema loops and Karabiners ^^



--- In PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com, Matthias Taugwalder
<matthias.taugwalder@...> wrote:
>
> 2011/4/30 jrgen_schrader <panorama@...>
>
> >  Haha,
> >
> > isn't this Matthias in the second picture from Tom Mills?
> > (Must be, as the assistant is using some decent climbing equipment
> > to stabilize his camera on the pole, hehe.)
> >
> > The one from AP could have been an excellent, once-in-a-lifetime picture if
> > it wasn't so badly framed and poorly presented. What a waste fom such a
> > unique vantage point.
> >
> > Jürgen
> >
>
> You got me. Seems like you can't even go to a wedding without beeing
> disturbed ;)
>
> Fun aside: I was shooting exclusively for the collection magazine, see
> http://www.the-collection-magazine.com/ . There will be an update available
> about the wedding by today/tomorrow that includes two panoramas. I did also
> one very close to the balcony in front of Buckingham Palace.
>
>
> Matthias
>
> --
> Matthias Taugwalder
> matthias.taugwalder@...
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Hi all

Sorry for jumping in this discussion so late, but I did not have time any
sooner. Note: The following remarks represent not an official, but my own
personal opinion.

Scott is not at all acting on his own or making this up. His is taking care
of this on behalf of the board of directors of the Internatioal VR
Photography Association (IVRPA). This includes among Scott also G. Donald
Bain, Willy Kaemena, Carlos Chegado, Jürgen Schrader, Jan van der Woning and
me, Matthias Taugwalder. See http://ivrpa.org/about/bod

Although the patent is valid only in certain parts of the US (ask Scott for
details), we felt that there is a need to support the affected
photographers. As Scott already pointed out the main problem is that client
with VR tours on their websites get these cease and desist letters. Then
even pay the requested fee or remove the tours from their website.

Yes, the patent is ridiculous - we don't have to discuss that. But it
somehow got approved, those letters are sent to clients and this is
affecting photographers in the US right now. Our intention is to show some
solidary with them and help to get rid of this patent.

Of course, if you have another opinion about this topic, feel free to post
it here in a objective and decent way - or just overread this thread. We
don't force anyone to participate.


Thank you very much to all that support our intentions and of course to
Scott for his continuous work on this topic.


Have a nice weekend and greetings from Switzerland,

Matthias Taugwalder
President of the International VR Photography Association (IVRPA)

--
Matthias Taugwalder
matthias.taugwalder@...


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On 29.4.2011. 15:48, Sacha Griffin wrote:
> Yes, ptgui masking is the feature of the year, especially when you combine
> it with the detail viewer to see how it will blend. You can do very complex
> viewpoint patches this way.

Just tried it, and yeah that's it. Very neat.
Though the mask drawing is stuttering if I have the detail window open.
I've running it on a 4GHz c2d, and it just seems wrong :|


>
> I ran a test with PTGui to try out its masking and I love it.
>
> http://www.bigben.id.au/image-stitching/ptgui/masking-with-ptgui
>
> I shot an extra row to add a little extra at the bottom so there was a lot
> of overlap. With 3-4 overlapping images where the people are I found the
> masking much easier in PTGui than struggling with a 12Gb multi-layered PSB.




--

Pano/VR/Gigapixel photography: http://robertlesac.com

Great job Ignacio ..fantastic ..

Fernando
Salvador Bahia
Brazil


2011/4/29 Ignacio Ferrando Margelí <fotografia@...>

>
>
> Hello,
>
> I'm proud to show you one of my last projects, I have participate on a
> project to show the archives of Coca Cola on Atlanta, I had gone with a
> spanish team to shoot 14 sphericals and a lot of stills and video..
>
> you can see the final web there
>
> http://www.theverybestofcocacola.com/home/
>
> regards
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> Ignacio Ferrando Margelí
>
> 976 297980 / 646154023
>
> Abaco Digital
>
> http://www.abaco-digital.es
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Mathew,

You have obviously spent a lot of time pouring over this patent, which
is appreciated. You have your interpretation but as you can see from
discussions here (not just with me) those interpretations are anything
but certain no matter how sure you may be of them yourself. None of us
are patent lawyers, although David clearly has the most real world
experience with patents. Personally, I'm more willing to go with the
studied opinion of well respected patent lawyers than anyone here,
including my own.

You continually suggest better, cheaper solutions like an informative
website and a form letter from a lawyer. All this has been thoroughly
evaluated and often tested, such as the lawyer letter. It doesn't work
nearly as well as you think or as we hoped. No matter how reasonable,
logical or obvious the alternatives may seem, the real world experience
demonstrates that. One reason it took so long getting to this point was
because of our due diligence exploring the alternatives.

You still seem to think we are making some uninformed knee jerk
decisions without considering alternatives. I hoped my and other's
contributions would have demonstrated the contrary. I'm sorry it hasn't,
but I'm getting the impression there may be nothing that can convince
you otherwise. Is that correct?


Regarding the single fisheye video surveillance, you are probably right.
It apparently was two fisheyes and mentioned as an application so it may
not have much applicability to the iPix patent I was thinking of. (It
has been nearly a year since I read this through myself.)

In the end, arguing the merits of the patent is counter productive. It
is how the patent is being used and the effect that is having and will
continue to have on our industry and incomes that matter. That is why it
needs to be dealt with.

--
Scott Witte

<http://www.scottwitte.com>
<http://www.tourdeforce360.com>
414.345.9660
Member, IVRPA



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Scott,

	 I chatted for 3-4 hours today with a patent lawyer who plays on the same
cricket team. He agrees on the premise that it will be extremely difficult to
invalidate the patent. Personally looking at the patent I can see how it's
methods are different enough from all previous patents in the same area.

	 The Ipix patent for example has no mention of removing radial distortion from
the image nor does it mention seam blending options. These differences are far
more than needed to make the '400 patent valid based on any pre-existing patent.

	 Half the problem seems to be a large number of people responding have a
fundamental lack of understanding of why the patent system exists. This in
itself is very worrying.

	 The patent system was created to offer inventors government protection for
their inventions. In return the inventor would publish in the public domain the
specifications, methods or processes within the invention.

	 One of the MAIN purposes of having these in the public domain was to ENCOURAGE
and ALLOW other inventors to improve on existing inventions. From reading
existing patents and looking at the prior art unfortunately it seems like the
'400 patent is an improvement on what went before. Just because patent '400 has
fisheye input and cubic output doesn’t mean it infringes on anything.

	 What becomes difficult is providing the correct prior-art to debunk the patent.
Simply coughing up QTVR images from 1995 proves nothing. What you need is
interface examples and applications proving the existence of multi-band blending
and error corrected blending. Thinking back to 2001 the only blending I can
remember for spherical output was basic feather blending and pixel value
averaging.

	 Unfortunately I think the only way to get one up on these guys is to force
their hand somehow and have them take someone to court for infringing the
patent. This will NEVER happen as they know their claims are bogus.

	 In the UK the letters that they're sending would be classed as harassment and
you could in-turn take them to court. It seems like this isn't the case in the
US.

	 I have one more email to compose later on regarding the claims these guys could
make and win. After that I'm done.

Matt

On 1 May 2011, at 19:08, Scott Witte wrote:

> Mathew,
>
> You have obviously spent a lot of time pouring over this patent, which
> is appreciated. You have your interpretation but as you can see from
> discussions here (not just with me) those interpretations are anything
> but certain no matter how sure you may be of them yourself. None of us
> are patent lawyers, although David clearly has the most real world
> experience with patents. Personally, I'm more willing to go with the
> studied opinion of well respected patent lawyers than anyone here,
> including my own.
>
> You continually suggest better, cheaper solutions like an informative
> website and a form letter from a lawyer. All this has been thoroughly
> evaluated and often tested, such as the lawyer letter. It doesn't work
> nearly as well as you think or as we hoped. No matter how reasonable,
> logical or obvious the alternatives may seem, the real world experience
> demonstrates that. One reason it took so long getting to this point was
> because of our due diligence exploring the alternatives.
>
> You still seem to think we are making some uninformed knee jerk
> decisions without considering alternatives. I hoped my and other's
> contributions would have demonstrated the contrary. I'm sorry it hasn't,
> but I'm getting the impression there may be nothing that can convince
> you otherwise. Is that correct?
>
> Regarding the single fisheye video surveillance, you are probably right.
> It apparently was two fisheyes and mentioned as an application so it may
> not have much applicability to the iPix patent I was thinking of. (It
> has been nearly a year since I read this through myself.)
>
> In the end, arguing the merits of the patent is counter productive. It
> is how the patent is being used and the effect that is having and will
> continue to have on our industry and incomes that matter. That is why it
> needs to be dealt with.
>
> --
> Scott Witte
>
> <http://www.scottwitte.com>
> <http://www.tourdeforce360.com>
> 414.345.9660
> Member, IVRPA
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Patents being valid just because they are patents, is a myth.

Australians in particular should know that.
http://www.ipmenu.com/archive/AUI_2001100012.pdf

Trausti


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Am 01.05.2011 20:52, schrieb Matthew Rogers - 360Precision:
> What becomes difficult is providing the correct prior-art to debunk
> the patent. Simply coughing up QTVR images from 1995 proves nothing.
> What you need is interface examples and applications proving the
> existence of multi-band blending and error corrected blending.
> Thinking back to 2001 the only blending I can remember for spherical
> output was basic feather blending and pixel value averaging.

The Burt-Adelson multi resolution blending algorithm on which enblend
and enfuse base was published in 1983. References on how to find the
transition line are from 1998 and 2000. See details on
http://enblend.sourceforge.net/details.htm

--
Erik Krause
http://www.erik-krause.de

I'm planning to exhibit several panoramas at an art show.

I want the viewers to be able to control movements, zoom the pano, and to be
able to load the next panorama or go back to the last one only.

No other controls (the computer will be in a locked compartment under the
display, just mouse and display showing).

Is there any "slide show" program that can display Flash panos in succession?
or, is there a way to do this in html? Any suggestions?

On a Mac there is a perfect solution  by using  cubic navigator.
  The screen is locked out by password
the  viewer can play with the pano and continue  to the next
  after stopping, the pano will continue to move on a pre defined path and switch
to the next.
input  are  QTVR files or equirects

it is a very old program but still working today on the latest OS

Willy






On May 1, 2011, at 22:48, Uri wrote:

> I'm planning to exhibit several panoramas at an art show.
>
> I want the viewers to be able to control movements, zoom the pano, and to be
able to load the next panorama or go back to the last one only.
>
> No other controls (the computer will be in a locked compartment under the
display, just mouse and display showing).
>
> Is there any "slide show" program that can display Flash panos in succession?
or, is there a way to do this in html? Any suggestions?
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> At least IPIX produced something, TTS don't even seem to have a website?
>
> here is their website http://tourtechnologysystems.com/

Thanks Tom

And this just reinforces that this is nothing to do with panoramic imaging. 
Perhaps they're waiting for Sony's patent to expire this year before they
actually publish anything? 10 years after filing a patent and they only have a
screengrab and no corporate information.

If the computers have Windows, an option is DevalVR. You could add two buttons
in the screen with a simple script for next/back functions. Another solution is
to use a 3DConnexion mouse (for example SpaceNavigator model), this is a very
robust device for exhibitions. You could configure the two buttons of the device
for next/back functions.

best regards!



--- In PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com, "Uri" <uri@...> wrote:
>
> I'm planning to exhibit several panoramas at an art show.
>
> I want the viewers to be able to control movements, zoom the pano, and to be
able to load the next panorama or go back to the last one only.
>
> No other controls (the computer will be in a locked compartment under the
display, just mouse and display showing).
>
> Is there any "slide show" program that can display Flash panos in succession?
or, is there a way to do this in html? Any suggestions?
>

Matt,

Thanks for putting so much time into this and thank your lawyer from us
as well. I will certainly pass on the comments to our lawyers.

My take, echoing what Trausti lauded to, just because a dependent claim
or a method supporting that claim may be valid, does not automatically
make the parent valid. Independent Claim 1 is light years broader in
scope than how to remove radial distortion. David has already presented
an excellent explanation of how all this fits together. Feel free to
present that to your lawyer for comment. I would be interested in his
perspective.

Scott


On 5/1/2011 1:52 PM, Matthew Rogers - 360Precision wrote:
> I chatted for 3-4 hours today with a patent lawyer who plays on the
> same cricket team. He agrees on the premise that it will be extremely
> difficult to invalidate the patent. Personally looking at the patent I
> can see how it's methods are different enough from all previous
> patents in the same area.


--
Scott Witte

<http://www.scottwitte.com>
<http://www.tourdeforce360.com>
414.345.9660
Member, IVRPA



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Matt
Wouldn't it then be Handal's burden of proof the images one of us provided a
customer used a method included in his patent.

How can he prove that without knowing the workflow and software each  of us
uses?

Say Henry's images of the two hotels for instance? How does he know how
ICEPortal made the images and with what software?

His letters seem to take the position that any "virtual image" violates his
patent

Doug Aurand
Albuquerque, NM

--- In PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com, Scott Witte <scottw@...> wrote:
>
> Matt,
>
> Thanks for putting so much time into this and thank your lawyer from us
> as well. I will certainly pass on the comments to our lawyers.
>
> My take, echoing what Trausti lauded to, just because a dependent claim
> or a method supporting that claim may be valid, does not automatically
> make the parent valid. Independent Claim 1 is light years broader in
> scope than how to remove radial distortion. David has already presented
> an excellent explanation of how all this fits together. Feel free to
> present that to your lawyer for comment. I would be interested in his
> perspective.
>
> Scott
>
>
> On 5/1/2011 1:52 PM, Matthew Rogers - 360Precision wrote:
> > I chatted for 3-4 hours today with a patent lawyer who plays on the
> > same cricket team. He agrees on the premise that it will be extremely
> > difficult to invalidate the patent. Personally looking at the patent I
> > can see how it's methods are different enough from all previous
> > patents in the same area.
>
>
> --
> Scott Witte
>
> <http://www.scottwitte.com>
> <http://www.tourdeforce360.com>
> 414.345.9660
> Member, IVRPA
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

That's not what Im saying.

On 1 May 2011, at 20:13, Trausti Hraunfjord wrote:

> Patents being valid just because they are patents, is a myth.
>
> Australians in particular should know that.
> http://www.ipmenu.com/archive/AUI_2001100012.pdf
>
> Trausti
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The problem is you guys are taking it as though you are infringing the patent.
Of course you're not and if you were he would have taken court action by now.

But you're correct Doug, his assumptions based on a finished image are
groundless.

He can say whatever he wants in the letter, so what.

Matt

On 2 May 2011, at 02:41, djaurand wrote:

> Matt
> Wouldn't it then be Handal's burden of proof the images one of us provided a
customer used a method included in his patent.
>
> How can he prove that without knowing the workflow and software each of us
uses?
>
> Say Henry's images of the two hotels for instance? How does he know how
ICEPortal made the images and with what software?
>
> His letters seem to take the position that any "virtual image" violates his
patent
>
> Doug Aurand
> Albuquerque, NM
>
> --- In PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com, Scott Witte <scottw@...> wrote:
> >
> > Matt,
> >
> > Thanks for putting so much time into this and thank your lawyer from us
> > as well. I will certainly pass on the comments to our lawyers.
> >
> > My take, echoing what Trausti lauded to, just because a dependent claim
> > or a method supporting that claim may be valid, does not automatically
> > make the parent valid. Independent Claim 1 is light years broader in
> > scope than how to remove radial distortion. David has already presented
> > an excellent explanation of how all this fits together. Feel free to
> > present that to your lawyer for comment. I would be interested in his
> > perspective.
> >
> > Scott
> >
> >
> > On 5/1/2011 1:52 PM, Matthew Rogers - 360Precision wrote:
> > > I chatted for 3-4 hours today with a patent lawyer who plays on the
> > > same cricket team. He agrees on the premise that it will be extremely
> > > difficult to invalidate the patent. Personally looking at the patent I
> > > can see how it's methods are different enough from all previous
> > > patents in the same area.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Scott Witte
> >
> > <http://www.scottwitte.com>
> > <http://www.tourdeforce360.com>
> > 414.345.9660
> > Member, IVRPA
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Scott,

	 Can you please post a link to the file wrapper for the patent application. Once
I've read that I can discuss this with my friend.

Matt

On 2 May 2011, at 00:35, Scott Witte wrote:

> Matt,
>
> Thanks for putting so much time into this and thank your lawyer from us
> as well. I will certainly pass on the comments to our lawyers.
>
> My take, echoing what Trausti lauded to, just because a dependent claim
> or a method supporting that claim may be valid, does not automatically
> make the parent valid. Independent Claim 1 is light years broader in
> scope than how to remove radial distortion. David has already presented
> an excellent explanation of how all this fits together. Feel free to
> present that to your lawyer for comment. I would be interested in his
> perspective.
>
> Scott
>
> On 5/1/2011 1:52 PM, Matthew Rogers - 360Precision wrote:
> > I chatted for 3-4 hours today with a patent lawyer who plays on the
> > same cricket team. He agrees on the premise that it will be extremely
> > difficult to invalidate the patent. Personally looking at the patent I
> > can see how it's methods are different enough from all previous
> > patents in the same area.
>
> --
> Scott Witte
>
> <http://www.scottwitte.com>
> <http://www.tourdeforce360.com>
> 414.345.9660
> Member, IVRPA
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Life has been difficult in Japan recently, although mercifully my
wife and I are far enough away from the disaster area to be only
indirectly affected.

We got back today from a couple of days at Hakone, a lakeside
hot-springs resort in the caldera of a long-dead volcano. We
were blessed with one day of Japan's rare blue skies, and I took
a few panoramas. The next day we were caught in a cable car
while a gale was blowing. That was less fun!

As I was preparing one this afternoon I recalled much of what I
have learned here on the list. Using vertical line control points
to straighten the panorama. Using the panorama editor to roughly
position recalcitrant shots. Using PTgui's detail viewer to
move seams away from problem areas. Using pseudo HDR techniques
to boost shadow detail. Correctly positioning the crop circle.
Eliminating control points that are not at ground level when
using perspective correction for the nadir shot... and from clouds
in the zenith shot (and wherever else a cloud appears). The list
goes on and on. Any one of these, if ignored, could have spoiled
the panorama. So thank you, list members!

I've put a 5MB equirectangular file in my public dropbox. The
subject is a truly fascinating open-air museum that specializes
in modern sculpture. Unfortunately the statues are rather far
apart, so a panorama tends to show mostly distant views, but
if you are interested, take a look.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22568011/_Hakone_01_Compressed.jpg

Taken with my Peleng 8mm and the cute little Pentax K-x on a
monopod using a plastic ring mount made by Bo Sorensen.

Roger W.

--
Business: www.adex-japan.com
Pleasure: www.usefilm.com/member/roger

Hi,



I thought I'd share with all of you how I'm choosing to mark this day.



http://virtual-travels.tumblr.com/



Mark

www.virtual-travels.com <http://www.virtual-travels.com/>

www.northernlight.net <http://www.northernlight.net/>

www.pinnacle-vr.com <http://www.pinnacle-vr.com/>





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

That  are real memories !!  A pity that in 2000 our digital cams and lenses 
were  not so good as of today
I have been myself on the  WTC in April 1990  here my footage: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Gv3TO3oHM

Willy


On May 2, 2011, at 14:34, Mark D. Fink wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I thought I'd share with all of you how I'm choosing to mark this day.
>
> http://virtual-travels.tumblr.com/
>
> Mark
>
> www.virtual-travels.com <http://www.virtual-travels.com/>
>
> www.northernlight.net <http://www.northernlight.net/>
>
> www.pinnacle-vr.com <http://www.pinnacle-vr.com/>
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Yes, how quickly our technology and capability changed. Only three years
later, I was doing this type of work:

http://www.360cities.net/virtual-tour/les-olivettes-lourmarin-france?view=si
mple

I wish I had my humble 10D and Sigma 14mm three years earlier...

Thanks for sharing your video!

Mark

> -----Original Message-----
> From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com [mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com] On
> Behalf Of Willy Kaemena
> Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 9:25 AM
> To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [PanoToolsNG] OT? Marking this day
>
> That  are real memories !!  A pity that in 2000 our digital cams and
> lenses  were  not so good as of today
> I have been myself on the  WTC in April 1990  here my footage:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Gv3TO3oHM
>
> Willy
>
>
> On May 2, 2011, at 14:34, Mark D. Fink wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I thought I'd share with all of you how I'm choosing to mark this day.
> >
> > http://virtual-travels.tumblr.com/
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > www.virtual-travels.com <http://www.virtual-travels.com/>
> >
> > www.northernlight.net <http://www.northernlight.net/>
> >
> > www.pinnacle-vr.com <http://www.pinnacle-vr.com/>
> >
> >
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> --
>
>
>

Make the detail viewer window smaller until the performance becomes
acceptable.







From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com [mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Robert Lesac
Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2011 9:57 AM
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [PanoToolsNG] Re: Masking out unwanted content (people) in panos
(manually)?





On 29.4.2011. 15:48, Sacha Griffin wrote:
> Yes, ptgui masking is the feature of the year, especially when you combine
> it with the detail viewer to see how it will blend. You can do very
complex
> viewpoint patches this way.

Just tried it, and yeah that's it. Very neat.
Though the mask drawing is stuttering if I have the detail window open.
I've running it on a 4GHz c2d, and it just seems wrong :|





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Amazing how quickly other peoples' situation goes to the back of our minds.
The international news no longer concentrates on the efforts of the brave
folk who still battle with the nuclear plants in your country. But thank
goodness you still have somewhere like this to "rest and renew"



My question, and admiration for your pan is how you manage to set it so
there is no distortion when moving up or down. In most pans a building will
"bend" towards the centre as you move higher up. In this everything remains
vertical. How?



Regards, Briar.



From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com [mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Roger D. Williams
Sent: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:10 p.m.
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [PanoToolsNG] Learned from the List





Life has been difficult in Japan recently, although mercifully my
wife and I are far enough away from the disaster area to be only
indirectly affected.

We got back today from a couple of days at Hakone, a lakeside
hot-springs resort in the caldera of a long-dead volcano. We
were blessed with one day of Japan's rare blue skies, and I took
a few panoramas. The next day we were caught in a cable car
while a gale was blowing. That was less fun!

As I was preparing one this afternoon I recalled much of what I
have learned here on the list. Using vertical line control points
to straighten the panorama. Using the panorama editor to roughly
position recalcitrant shots. Using PTgui's detail viewer to
move seams away from problem areas. Using pseudo HDR techniques
to boost shadow detail. Correctly positioning the crop circle.
Eliminating control points that are not at ground level when
using perspective correction for the nadir shot... and from clouds
in the zenith shot (and wherever else a cloud appears). The list
goes on and on. Any one of these, if ignored, could have spoiled
the panorama. So thank you, list members!

I've put a 5MB equirectangular file in my public dropbox. The
subject is a truly fascinating open-air museum that specializes
in modern sculpture. Unfortunately the statues are rather far
apart, so a panorama tends to show mostly distant views, but
if you are interested, take a look.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22568011/_Hakone_01_Compressed.jpg

Taken with my Peleng 8mm and the cute little Pentax K-x on a
monopod using a plastic ring mount made by Bo Sorensen.

Roger W.

--
Business: www.adex-japan.com
Pleasure: www.usefilm.com/member/roger





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

It's a JPG photo; there is no program that is performing pitch adjustment on
it when you scroll the photo to look down.

You probably have not seen an original equirectangular photo before. They
are the standard container format for all spherical panoramic images before
moving on to greener pastures as multi-resolution tiled cubical images.



From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com [mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Briar
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:48 PM
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [PanoToolsNG] Learned from the List





Amazing how quickly other peoples' situation goes to the back of our minds.
The international news no longer concentrates on the efforts of the brave
folk who still battle with the nuclear plants in your country. But thank
goodness you still have somewhere like this to "rest and renew"

My question, and admiration for your pan is how you manage to set it so
there is no distortion when moving up or down. In most pans a building will
"bend" towards the centre as you move higher up. In this everything remains
vertical. How?

Regards, Briar.

From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com> ]
On
Behalf Of Roger D. Williams
Sent: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:10 p.m.
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [PanoToolsNG] Learned from the List

Life has been difficult in Japan recently, although mercifully my
wife and I are far enough away from the disaster area to be only
indirectly affected.

We got back today from a couple of days at Hakone, a lakeside
hot-springs resort in the caldera of a long-dead volcano. We
were blessed with one day of Japan's rare blue skies, and I took
a few panoramas. The next day we were caught in a cable car
while a gale was blowing. That was less fun!

As I was preparing one this afternoon I recalled much of what I
have learned here on the list. Using vertical line control points
to straighten the panorama. Using the panorama editor to roughly
position recalcitrant shots. Using PTgui's detail viewer to
move seams away from problem areas. Using pseudo HDR techniques
to boost shadow detail. Correctly positioning the crop circle.
Eliminating control points that are not at ground level when
using perspective correction for the nadir shot... and from clouds
in the zenith shot (and wherever else a cloud appears). The list
goes on and on. Any one of these, if ignored, could have spoiled
the panorama. So thank you, list members!

I've put a 5MB equirectangular file in my public dropbox. The
subject is a truly fascinating open-air museum that specializes
in modern sculpture. Unfortunately the statues are rather far
apart, so a panorama tends to show mostly distant views, but
if you are interested, take a look.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22568011/_Hakone_01_Compressed.jpg

Taken with my Peleng 8mm and the cute little Pentax K-x on a
monopod using a plastic ring mount made by Bo Sorensen.

Roger W.

--
Business: www.adex-japan.com
Pleasure: www.usefilm.com/member/roger

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I downloaded it to my computer, then viewed it using Deval Player just as I
would with my own pans. You are correct in that I have not tried multi-res
pans yet.



From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com [mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Sacha Griffin
Sent: Tuesday, 3 May 2011 8:11 a.m.
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [PanoToolsNG] Learned from the List





It's a JPG photo; there is no program that is performing pitch adjustment on
it when you scroll the photo to look down.

You probably have not seen an original equirectangular photo before. They
are the standard container format for all spherical panoramic images before
moving on to greener pastures as multi-resolution tiled cubical images.

From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com> ]
On
Behalf Of Briar
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:48 PM
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [PanoToolsNG] Learned from the List

Amazing how quickly other peoples' situation goes to the back of our minds.
The international news no longer concentrates on the efforts of the brave
folk who still battle with the nuclear plants in your country. But thank
goodness you still have somewhere like this to "rest and renew"

My question, and admiration for your pan is how you manage to set it so
there is no distortion when moving up or down. In most pans a building will
"bend" towards the centre as you move higher up. In this everything remains
vertical. How?

Regards, Briar.

From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com> ]
On
Behalf Of Roger D. Williams
Sent: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:10 p.m.
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [PanoToolsNG] Learned from the List

Life has been difficult in Japan recently, although mercifully my
wife and I are far enough away from the disaster area to be only
indirectly affected.

We got back today from a couple of days at Hakone, a lakeside
hot-springs resort in the caldera of a long-dead volcano. We
were blessed with one day of Japan's rare blue skies, and I took
a few panoramas. The next day we were caught in a cable car
while a gale was blowing. That was less fun!

As I was preparing one this afternoon I recalled much of what I
have learned here on the list. Using vertical line control points
to straighten the panorama. Using the panorama editor to roughly
position recalcitrant shots. Using PTgui's detail viewer to
move seams away from problem areas. Using pseudo HDR techniques
to boost shadow detail. Correctly positioning the crop circle.
Eliminating control points that are not at ground level when
using perspective correction for the nadir shot... and from clouds
in the zenith shot (and wherever else a cloud appears). The list
goes on and on. Any one of these, if ignored, could have spoiled
the panorama. So thank you, list members!

I've put a 5MB equirectangular file in my public dropbox. The
subject is a truly fascinating open-air museum that specializes
in modern sculpture. Unfortunately the statues are rather far
apart, so a panorama tends to show mostly distant views, but
if you are interested, take a look.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22568011/_Hakone_01_Compressed.jpg

Taken with my Peleng 8mm and the cute little Pentax K-x on a
monopod using a plastic ring mount made by Bo Sorensen.

Roger W.

--
Business: www.adex-japan.com
Pleasure: www.usefilm.com/member/roger

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I see.

Then Roger isn't going to be able to control your deval player's choice of
projection via any embedded xml data from his jpg image.

That would be interesting though.



As to why, you'd have to contact the author of deval vr.

Fiero.



From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com [mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Briar
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 4:17 PM
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [PanoToolsNG] Learned from the List





I downloaded it to my computer, then viewed it using Deval Player just as I
would with my own pans. You are correct in that I have not tried multi-res
pans yet.

From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com> ]
On
Behalf Of Sacha Griffin
Sent: Tuesday, 3 May 2011 8:11 a.m.
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [PanoToolsNG] Learned from the List

It's a JPG photo; there is no program that is performing pitch adjustment on
it when you scroll the photo to look down.

You probably have not seen an original equirectangular photo before. They
are the standard container format for all spherical panoramic images before
moving on to greener pastures as multi-resolution tiled cubical images.

From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com> ]
On
Behalf Of Briar
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 3:48 PM
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [PanoToolsNG] Learned from the List

Amazing how quickly other peoples' situation goes to the back of our minds.
The international news no longer concentrates on the efforts of the brave
folk who still battle with the nuclear plants in your country. But thank
goodness you still have somewhere like this to "rest and renew"

My question, and admiration for your pan is how you manage to set it so
there is no distortion when moving up or down. In most pans a building will
"bend" towards the centre as you move higher up. In this everything remains
vertical. How?

Regards, Briar.

From: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
[mailto:PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com> ]
On
Behalf Of Roger D. Williams
Sent: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:10 p.m.
To: PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com <mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
<mailto:PanoToolsNG%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [PanoToolsNG] Learned from the List

Life has been difficult in Japan recently, although mercifully my
wife and I are far enough away from the disaster area to be only
indirectly affected.

We got back today from a couple of days at Hakone, a lakeside
hot-springs resort in the caldera of a long-dead volcano. We
were blessed with one day of Japan's rare blue skies, and I took
a few panoramas. The next day we were caught in a cable car
while a gale was blowing. That was less fun!

As I was preparing one this afternoon I recalled much of what I
have learned here on the list. Using vertical line control points
to straighten the panorama. Using the panorama editor to roughly
position recalcitrant shots. Using PTgui's detail viewer to
move seams away from problem areas. Using pseudo HDR techniques
to boost shadow detail. Correctly positioning the crop circle.
Eliminating control points that are not at ground level when
using perspective correction for the nadir shot... and from clouds
in the zenith shot (and wherever else a cloud appears). The list
goes on and on. Any one of these, if ignored, could have spoiled
the panorama. So thank you, list members!

I've put a 5MB equirectangular file in my public dropbox. The
subject is a truly fascinating open-air museum that specializes
in modern sculpture. Unfortunately the statues are rather far
apart, so a panorama tends to show mostly distant views, but
if you are interested, take a look.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22568011/_Hakone_01_Compressed.jpg

Taken with my Peleng 8mm and the cute little Pentax K-x on a
monopod using a plastic ring mount made by Bo Sorensen.

Roger W.

--
Business: www.adex-japan.com
Pleasure: www.usefilm.com/member/roger

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]