Category Archives: How To

How to Shoot Spherical HDR Panoramic Photos using the GigaPan Epic Pro

Posted on by
Reply

Gearing up for tomorrow’s class, Digital Imagery for the Digital Dome, and the workshop I will teach at the IMERSA Fulldome Summit, I have revised our instructions for shooting a spherical HDR panoramic photo using the GigaPan Epic Pro and thought I would share this with you.

I am using a Canon T31 Rebel with an 18mm – 55mm lens. These direction are specifically  shooting exterior landscapes. Camera settings and Field of View settings in the GigaPan menu may need to be adjusted for other settings.

IAIA students using the Gigapan Epic Pro at Chaco Canyon, Summer 2012.

IAIA students using the Gigapan Epic Pro at Chaco Canyon, Summer 2012.

You should end up with around 56 sets of bracketed photographs. I use Photomatix and PT GUI to process the HDR and stitch the photos. If you use these direction, put your photos on 360 cities and share your link here. I would love to see what you create.

GIGAPAN SET UP

  1. MOUNT Gigapan on tripod
    1. make sure your tripod is sturdy and feet are at least 2’ apart
  2. Level using Gigapan level
  3. Go to OPTIONS MENU
    1. Set MULTI PICTURE to 1
    2. Set BRACKETS to 1
    3. Check BATTERY STATUS
      1. Note: this lies – always have a fully charged backup battery
  4. Go to EXPERT OPTIONS
    1. Set PICTURE OVERLAP to 25%
  5. MOUNT CAMERA on Gigapan
    1. Mounting plate words “ GigaPan Systems” should face the back of the camera
    2. Use the small metal lever on mount to lock mounting plate in place
    3. Use the MOVE CAMERA option under main menu to move mounting plate
    4. Adjust mount FORWARD/BACKWARD to reduce parallax – 18 – 55mm lens -= on slider (
    5. Go to CAMERA SETUP (Under Main Menu)
    6. Setup Field of View (FOV) – 18mm lens ~= 40 degrees +/-5


CAMERA SETUP

  1. CHECK MEMORY CARD SPACE
  2. CHECK BATTERY STATUS
  3. Set FOCUS
    1. set to MANUAL FOCUS
    2. Turn on LIVE VIEW
    3. ZOOM IN with the magnifying glass button
    4. ADJUST FOCUS at highest zoom level
  4. Set MODE to MANUAL (“M”)
  5. SET EXPOSURE until light meter reading is centered on bar
    1. For exterior/landscape shots make sure your F-stop is at 22
  6. SET ISO to 100 (outside sunny setting)
  7. MENU SETTING
    1. SET AUTO EXPOSURE BRACKETING (“AEB”) to 2 stops up/down
    2. SET ASPECT RATIO to 3:2
    3. SELECT FOLDER and create NEW FOLDER
    4. SET SHOOTING QUALITY to RAW
    5. TURN OFF IMAGE REVIEW
  8. CONNECT REMOTE CABLE – ensure it will not catch when Gigapan moves
    1. Note: If the camera begins to shoot when you hook up the cable, disconnect the cable, make sure your Gigapan is on and replug in the cable.
  9. REMOVE Camera’s strap to avoid it getting caught


SHOOTING

  1. SELECT NEW 360° PANORAMA on GIGAPAN MENU
    1. START 90° UP
    2. END 90° DOWN
    3. SKIP “SHOW PANORAMA”
    4. Follow the directions on the GigaPan and sit back while the robotic head does all the work.

Special thanks to Jonathan Strawn from UNM ARTS Lab for the first rendition of these instructions.

Problem Solving in the Dome – the HDR solution

Posted on by
2

When I first started working in the fulldome environment, one of my biggest frustrations in the dome was the inevitable washing out of images. At IAIA, our 24′ digital dome currently has 6 – PLUS U7 projectors. Each of these projectors has 3500 ANSI with a contract ratio of 2000:1. Add this low contrast ratio to the photon splash that occurs in a spherical theater and images that look gorgeous on a monitor become lifeless on the dome. High Dynamic Range (HDR) techniques solve the problem.

The average human eye sees at about 10,000:1 contrast ratio. A high end DSLR camera shoots a single image at around 2000:1 contrast ratio. Place this images in the dome with a projection system of 2000:1 and add photon splash and the image washes out to about 500:1 (just a guess, not an actual measurement). The details of the images are simply lost in translation. My first approach in attempts to solve this problem was to increase the contrast and the saturation of the image. Although this would help, it still left me completely frustrated.

While reviewing the materials for the highly anticipated xRez training session, I began to review the techniques they would be teaching. High Dynamic Resolution immediately caught my eye. While in Portland’s Powell’s Books, I picked up two books; Practical HDR by Jack Howard and Practical HDR by David Nightingale. Through these two texts I began to see the world and the images I shoot in a completely different light. Not only has this process saved my photographs for the dome, it has enhanced my overall photographic skills for all mediums.

After learning about HDR, I immediately began to shoot bracketed photos with my Canon x3i using the automated settings in the menu. I tried Photoshop’s Merge to HDR Pro with fair results. Then I downloaded a trial of Photomatrix Pro. Within 10 minutes I purchased the full version and was hooked.

My first HDR photo. Bagby Hot Springs, Oregon.

Some people say that HDR is just a fad technique and things look to fake and overly illustrated, but take this image and place it on a digital dome and it is an excellent solution. There are many variations within HDR tonemapping techniques from illustrative to realistic. My tastes tend towards more realistic results, but I find some images call for the more grungy illustrated look.

Single shot

HDR photo

Fall 2011, the first assignment my students tackled in the Digital Dome Production I course was shooting HDR photos using a Canon x3i and a Sunex 5.6mm f/5.6 Super Fisheye lens. The assignment taught students to begin to visual the sphere and understand placement of images on the dome. They experimented with angles, perspectives, and various subjects. At the same time, they were learning HDR and creating stunning images that popped on the dome.
IAIA Tutorial on shooting HDR

Student Images

IAIA Dorms by Bryan Akipa

Railyard by Fernando Charley

Bridge by Jessie Bennett

Wood by Louva Hartwell

Duck Pond by Joseph "Seph" Turnipseed

From this foundation, my student developed skills in 360° spherical panos and 360° horizontal panos all using the HDR process. I am very interested in exploring HDR video processes and am currently developing ways to increase contrast in video for the digital dome. Look for more posts in the future with these tests.

For more information on HDR, check out
Wikipedia
A Versatile HDR Video Production System
And you know a web search will find all kinds of wonderful information.

How to Install DigitalSky 2 on Dual Boot Macintosh

Posted on by
3

Here at the Institute of American Indian Arts, our students work on Macintosh work stations to create their art. When creating the Digital Dome Production course we ran into a major obstacle, how to run PC based software on a Mac. In the dome we run Sky-Skan’s DigitalSky 2 software, but Sky-Skan does not offer support for running the software on a Macintosh.

We had our trusty student intern, Joseph “Seph” Turnipseed at the helm of this task. After several attempts, Seph was able to successfully install Windows 95 using Bootcamp and install DigitalSky 2. A couple of tweaks later and now our students can preview their files before going into the dome to test. It’s a great way to get to know the software and learn scripting.

To access the how to document click here.

Stay tuned for more blog entries outlining specifics on how we access the Mac partition and Mac formatted drives from Window and techniques we use to create for the dome.