About the Tutorial
In Part 1. this tutorial takes you step-by-step through the process of calculating your multi-resolution tile and level sizes to create the perfect set of tiles for your project in Part 2. I look at extracting the high-resolution tiles, renaming them, and in Part 3. re-assembling them to restore your equirectangular image.
The tutorial is based on the Macintosh OS and shows a Mac-only program for renaming the tiles. I am still looking for a suitable Windows application and would appreciate any feedback or recommendations.
Update 27/02/18: Another stitching application has been brought to my attention, it's called Photoscape X. There is a tutorial on combining images on Youtube.
Note: After testing Photoscape X it is capable of stitching the tiles but it is a very slow process and user intensive.
Note: this tutorial assumes a working knowledge of Pano2VR V5.2.3
This tutorial is broken down into three parts. Part 3 is Reconstructing the Panorama. The other parts are;
Part 1. Create the Tile Size and Levels
Part 2: Extracting and renaming the Tiles
Part 3. Reconstructing the Panorama
Step 3. Reconstructing the Panorama
In this part of the tutorial, we will import our cube face tiles into an application, arrange them in rows and columns and save the final composite as a high-resolution tiff file. Then, we can open the cubes in Pano2VR and export them as an equirectangular image.
The workflow using the image application Fiji imagej was developed by Michael Buster
Fiji imagej
1. Download and install the Fiji imagej application from https://fiji.sc/. It's available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux (figure #1)
figure #1: OS options for Fiji imagej
2. Launch Fiji application
3. Select 'Menu/Plugins/Stitching/Grid/Collection stitching' (figure #2)
figure #2: Grid/Collection stitching
4. This will open the 'Grid/Collection stitching window' (figure #3)
figure #3: Grid/Collection stitching window
5. If it's not already set, select Grid: row-by-row - Order: Right & Down and select 'OK' (figure #4)
figure #4: Configuration settings
6. This will open the 'Grid Stitching' window (figure #5)
figure #5: default Grid stitching window configuration
7. In my example I have an 8 x 8 grid of 64 titles named cube1_01.jpg etc So my stitching configuration will look like this:
Grid size x = 8
Grid size y = 8
Tile overlap [%] = 0
First File Index = 01
Directory = /*yourlocation*/Cube1_l4 (Drag and drop the Cube1_l4 folder onto the 'Directory' field or browse to it)
File names for tiles = cube1-{ii}.jpg
Note: make sure to uncheck 'Compute overlay' as this will make the stitch fail (figure #6)
figure #6: 8 x 8, cube1 configuration
7. Enter your configuration
8. Select 'OK'
Note: the log window will track the progress of the fusing (figure #7) and at the end a 'Fused' window will open displaying the fused image (figure #8)
figure #7: Log file tracking the progress of the fusing
figure #8: Fused result
9. With the Fused window selected choose 'Menu/Image/Color/Stack to RGB' (figure #9)
figure #9: Stack to RGB
10. This opens the final Fused window (figure #10)
figure #10: Final fused RGB image
11. Save the file by selecting 'Menu/File/Save As' I'll save mine as Cube1.tif
11. Repeat steps #3 - #11 with the other 5 Cubes
Note: make sure that the First File Index = 01, drag and drop each folder, change File name for tiles to cube 2/3/4/5/6
Creating an Equirectangular from the cubes
1. Open Pano2VR V5.2.3 (figure #11)
2. In the Properties panel change 'Input Images Type:' from Auto to 'Cube Faces' and options to load the 6 cube faces are presented (figure #12)
figure #12: Input Image: Cube Faces
3. Click on the 'Front' folder and open Cube1.tiff, repeat for the other faces (figure #13)
figure #13: Cube faces loaded into Pano2VR
Note: once all the faces have been loaded you can pan the panorama in the 'Tour Browser' to see the complete panorama (figure #14)
figure #14: Panning around the panorama
4. To save the file as an Equirectangular select 'Convert Input', set the 'Type to Equirectangular', name the 'Output File' and select 'Convert' (figure #15)
figure #15: Convert Panorama settings
5. Locate your converted file and open to preview (figure #16)
figure #16: Final converted equirectangular image
You have now created a Pano2VR V5 project that allows you to recreate a copy of the equirectangular file the project was originally created from. So make sure you publish your project somewhere secure so we can all enjoy it and let's hope you never have to call on it as an 'Unexpected Benefit'
