Aerial panoramas

[OldRoy]

I posted a link to this in connection with another thread but I feel it's worth repeating.
http://www.airpano.com/
These are the most stunning examples of VR panos I've ever seen - and I've seen a few.
Roy

[cybis]

Amazing. Thanks for the link!

[John Nollendorfs]

Those Russians are amazing! Too bad they don't go into technical details on how they are doing it!

[marcmccalmont]

Those Russians are amazing! Too bad they don't go into technical details on how they are doing it!

At least they show pictures of cameras mounted on RC helicopters, which can be gyro stabilized these days
Marc

[OldRoy]

I wonder where the funding's coming from? The range of locations is astonishing. Of course the costs involved wouldn't make a dent in an oligarch's laundry bill.

No-one's complained yet that they're a bit over-sharpened: so I'll get that in first. I've been looking hard to see where the zenith's been patched (makes a change from the nadir being the problem) and it's very hard to detect. And of course with everything in these shots at least half a mile distant you can almost certainly get away with big notional parallax errors. Given good light and high shutter speeds stability might be less of a problem than one might first assume.

I've passed their site on to English Heritage as they're trying to get permission to shoot Stonehenge. They are requesting help for other locations too, if anyone feels they can assist.

Terrific stuff though. I hope it might get this technique seen as less of a poor relation.

Roy

[Peter McLennan]

Incredible.  The Taj imagery looks like it was shot from a hundred feet or so.  RC helicopter, according to the accompanying article, and they had their hands full with Indian Bureaucracy getting permission.  Considering that they won't even allow tripods, this is an achievement in itself.

The Bryce Canyon shot is absolutely delicious. 

"Oversharpened" ?  Please.  It's the web.

[OldRoy]

Incredible... they had their hands full with Indian Bureaucracy getting permission.  Considering that they won't even allow tripods, this is an achievement in itself.

"Oversharpened" ?  Please.  It's the web.

In relation to this achievement please note my observation about funding. Anyone who has spent much time in India will understand... on reflection this isn't exclusive to India, simply that in India the mechanisms involved are more honest.
I should have put a  after the "over-sharpened" comment. I too think these look near faultless.
Roy

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I posted a link to this in connection with another thread but I feel it's worth repeating.
http://www.airpano.com/
These are the most stunning examples of VR panos I've ever seen - and I've seen a few.
Roy

Hi Roy,

Indeed, they are beautiful and generally very well executed. Of course the subjects they have chosen are nice to look at as well, and the aerial perspective helps to see these sites with, well, a new perspective ...

Thanks for posting the link.

Cheers,
Bart

[Petrus]

A colleague has one of those RC helicopters. It is quite amazing, it can carry a 5DIII with WA lens, it is stable, flying route and camera angles can be preprogrammed with GPS or adjusted in real time, there is a video feedback etc. And it costs only about 2000€ fully equipped (minus camera, of course). In Finland at least it needs no permits of any kind, as long as it is flown in full sight and not too high (200m or so).

[kaelaria]

NICE!  It's actually very easy to capture, with a variety of platforms.  I'm playing with a basic one now for an idea I have for weddings!  This type of work just requires a remote gimbal mount add-on!  You can do it for well under a grand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmQxaUv9M6w&feature=youtu.be

[OldRoy]

NICE!  It's actually very easy to capture, with a variety of platforms.  I'm playing with a basic one now for an idea I have for weddings!  This type of work just requires a remote gimbal mount add-on!  You can do it for well under a grand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmQxaUv9M6w&feature=youtu.be

The demo flight is some way short of the kind of control you'd need to shoot a sharp stitch-able 360x180 deg pano. And there's the issue of how to patch the zenith convincingly.
Roy

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

The demo flight is some way short of the kind of control you'd need to shoot a sharp stitch-able 360x180 deg pano. And there's the issue of how to patch the zenith convincingly.

The zenith shot can be taken from the ground in many cases.

Cheers,
Bart

[OldRoy]

The zenith shot can be taken from the ground in many cases.

Cheers,
Bart

This would be taking "viewpoint correction" to a new level! Although of course cloning mis-stitched sky is in some ways easier. Not much evidence in the shots I've looked at closely.
Roy

[kaelaria]

Well no duh, the youtube vid isn't meant to be a pano flight lol!  But I could easily strap on a P&S like a G series, put it in burst mode and you betcha I could stich a pano with it!  FYI my model is not meant for it, but you can put it in to flight modes very conducive to filming - there is even a dedicated flight path hands-off mode coming soon just for film production...lots of possibilities

[OldRoy]

http://www.airpano.com/Articles-AirPano.php?article=101606
I'd missed the "read more" link. This page gives a lot of detail about their hardware and techniques.
Roy
Edit: There are treasures all over this site. I particularly like this one.
http://www.airpano.ru/files/Millennium-UN-Plaza-Hotel-New-York/1-2

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

This would be taking "viewpoint correction" to a new level! Although of course cloning mis-stitched sky is in some ways easier. Not much evidence in the shots I've looked at closely.

A new level indeed , although solving for varying focal length and/or different viewpoints is part of the better pano stitchers' set of tools, e.g. PTGUI .

Cheers,
Bart

[BernardLanguillier]

Interesting, thanks!

Cheers,
Bernard