Adding a figure to an existing pano image set in Autopano Pro or other software

[Asher Kelman]

With AutoPano Pro, one can prevent ghosting where there are two instances of a person. One simply erases the extra person from one of the images in the images set and saves it as a .PNG and then APP assembles the stitched images without ghosting.

If one has no person in the Pano set but one then has a model in that location, APP does not seem to want to use that extra image data! I don't want to go to the trouble of identifying every railing or step that the model is now covering on 4-5 different images of the original set. So how does one get this added figure to be fitted into the existing set?

Of course, I can reshoot the model on a green screen but am looking to use the pictures I already have!

Any ideas?

Asher

 

[Daniel Buck]

I believe if you just use the "smart blend" algorithm for the blending of the render, it'll probably take care of that for you. I'm not entirely sure though. I don't think autopano has any 'masking' (I could be wrong though), you can export it as a photoshop file with layers, and edit the blend masks, painting black in the mask of the person you don't want.

 

[Asher Kelman]

I believe if you just use the "smart blend" algorithm for the blending of the render, it'll probably take care of that for you. I'm not entirely sure though. I don't think autopano has any 'masking' (I could be wrong though), you can export it as a photoshop file with layers, and edit the blend masks, painting black in the mask of the person you don't want.

Hi Daniel,

It's not the issue of getting rid of a person, rather it's the task of adding one with parts of stairs, railings and trees of the surroundings included. The software just ignores/ghosts the person even with smartblend. What I want is the parts of the stairs and posts the model covers to be dropped out!

The pano is of an ampitheater from the top looking down and at a model leaning on one of the rails on the steps several levels below us. So there are slight perspective changes that APP would automatically give to the image if it would be incorporated into the pano image set.

Asher

 

[Daniel Buck]

ooh, I see what you mean now. sorry

Hm... was the image taken from the same perspective as the rest of the images? I wonder if there is a way to give that image "higher priority" than the other images?

Still however, you can stitch the image, then save it out as a layered photoshop file, and then you can paint white in the blend mask to make the person not fade out, if I understand you correctly. Or you can duplicate that layer and put it on top of the collapsed panorama, if it's to heavy for your machine to work with all those layers un-collapsed. Just working with the collapsed layer, and the duplicated layer with your person on it, should be a simple mask to paint, since the background should still be lined up from the stitching.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Daniel,

Thanks for the idea of painting white in a post APP rendering.

I just need to somehow persuade APP to not ignore it!

I'll have another go and see if it adjusts that image even tough it doesn't use it!

Asher

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Do this the whole time Asher in APP. The image below (which never made the cut but that's something else) is a prime example. The trick is to make sure that the part that has the person in is not shown in any of the other frames, i.e crop the other frames so that the only one with 'image' at those co-ordinates is the one with the person in.

 

[Michael Fontana]

Asher
can't you output the pano as a multilayer file, with every image on a single layer? Adding a mask will help to paint the person back in the pano again.

I don't recall for sure if APP can, but PTGui does.

I use that tecnique quite often, when doing panos with people in very high contrast:

- 3 bracketing exposures - whithout people stitched and enfused to a decent image.

- the capture of the people is done separatly, in the middle exposures of the bracketing shots, only. That stitch is saved as multilayer, and only the layer with the people is applied in the enfused pano.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Thanks Michael and Daniel,

I have tried to do exactly that. However, so far I can't for some reason I can produce TIFF files or the program crashes with .psb or .psd output.

It could be that my boot drive needs more free space. I have not used PTGUI yet. I'm going to have another try with APP and first excise essential prices of railing and stairs so that the extra piece with the woman is absolutely needed to complete the pano.

I wrote to Lionel of Kolor, one of the two designers of APP and they are very busy getting out the APP 2.0 and AutoPano GIGA. That itself is exciting news.

After that I'll try other stitching programs!

Asher

 

[Daniel Buck]

Thanks Michael and Daniel,

I have tried to do exactly that. However, so far I can't for some reason I can produce TIFF files or the program crashes with .psb or .psd output.

hm... is it photoshop that is crashing while trying to open the files? or is it autopano that is crashing trying to write them?

One way around this (if your machine can't handle the entire panorama as a layered photoshop file) would be to write out your entire pano as whatever file you like, without layers (.tiff or whatever) and then go back and re-render the pano again (with a different name!) and just render out a small cropped region of the panorama that contains the area where you want the person, as a layered photoshop file.

Then you could just line it up by hand in photoshop (this should be very easy) and then you can blend in the person it by hand And not have to worry about the huge panorama file with all of it's layers. All of the layers will be in just the small cropped version which will be much much smaller in file size, so it will be much easier on your machine. (both reading, and writing)

 

[Asher Kelman]

Daniel,

It gives layered TIFF files with no problem. I just need to it not reject my extra pic with the woman. I'm going to work on that.

My son is doing a major recording so I have to rebuild a sound wall for him. Was demolished in water damage. So will work on the pano later today.

Thanks for the ideas!

Asher

 

[nicolas claris]

Hi Asher
have you tried to check the "Force to use all images in the panorama" in the preferences of APP ?

 

[Asher Kelman]

Thanks Nicolas,

When I tried that, APP simple superimposed the image and made me some modern art, LOL! I think that I have to simple remove the parts of railings and stairs in the original set so that to complete the pano, APP has no choice but to work with those component from each side of the extra picture with the model.

I have been rebuilding the last was after our flood so that Emil'es studio is back on line. Today the plaster is drying and I'll go back to APP. Photoshop could nt even stitch the original set! what else do you use to stich with the Mac. I'm thinking of running my Macbook Pro or Wendy's iMac in Parallels and then use Max Lyons' program.

Asher