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j1vvy
Up and Coming
January 24, 2014

Experimenting in Panoramic Stereoscopic 3D video

I have a 360° Panoramic stereoscopic 3D multicamera video rig using 14 cameras.
http://photocreations.ca/3D/mobius_camera_rig.html

I have added a new S3D panorama of the sun setting.
http://photocreations.ca/3D/index.html
Unfortunately two of the cameras did not record. The faulty cameras were the left and right view of the exact spot where the sun was going down. The -20°C cold weather meant the cameras did not record as long as I hoped. record time were between 20:48 and 53:50, averaging 37:30 minutes. I compressed the usable 20 minutes footage into a 1 minute timelapse.

I was also testing the quality of locking the white balance of all the cameras; in this case to cloudy. I corrected for the changes the cameras make because of autoexposure but even with whitebalance locked, I should have also corrected for differences in whitebalance.

I have got much better at the aligning and stitching of the videos.

My new interest in 3D panoramic video led me to go back and render in higher resolution my first interactive panoramic video I have published. I shot it in April 2006 before I had any way of showing it.

It is a poker game with the camera positioned over the center of the table. I used my full frame fisheye on my Nikon D70s. I shot my VR video by pointing my camera in different directions for each sequence. I tethered the camera to my computer capturing a jpg image as frequently as I could, every couple seconds.

I published a smaller interactive version in 2008. Over the years I have been told that it has inspired others in the panoramic photography community to create interactive panoramic video. Every time I watch it I want to make it again with a proper video camera and better actors.

To watch it, get the full story, and see how it was made see my site.

http://photocreations.ca/mff2008_wpt2006/index.html

    29 replies

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    nosys70
    Up and Coming
    January 14, 2015
    to get nadir view in stereo, would it not be enought to add a ring of cam pointing up ?
    this way you would get at least a pair in the correct direction.
    j1vvyAuthor
    Up and Coming
    January 15, 2015
    There is no, single ideal rig. It is about finding the right computerize for the situation.

    The worst thing about multicamera panoramic video is that there are seams where the images join together. Most of this can be hidden, and made nearly invisible, if the camera rig is stationary and nothing passes the seam. The next best thing is to have fewer seams. Fewer seams means fewer cameras. And working with 16 cameras I currently use is a pain.

    With more cameras the higher the chance something is going to go wrong with one of them. If one fails then the whole thing fails.

    If the goal is to have the best possible 3D quality in the entire scene from zenith to nadir then yes use more cameras. Three or four cameras pointed up in a little circle in landscape mode. The left of each camera to make the left pano and the right of each to make the right pano.

    The phrase fade to 2D is not quite right. The sides are in stereo and the zenith in mono and I am blending from one to the other. With distant subject or at least no depth in the zenith it does no mater that it is mono.
    j1vvyAuthor
    Up and Coming
    January 22, 2015
    I have updated the Fireworks S3D Panoramic video. It should be easier on the eyes.
    I processed the raw footage again to create new 3D videos. I improved the stitching alignment from the cameras. Corrected the 3D convergence. Corrected the sync problems that was at the end. Lessened the color discrepancy between left and right eye.
    http://photocreations.ca/3D/index.html
    TheSplash
    New Participant
    January 24, 2015
    RE: It took a few things to get VRPlayer to work on my PC but since then tracking has been working without issue.

    I just got VRPlayer installed on my system (DK2). Can't get tracking working for me. Could you post what you did to get it working for you?
    nosys70
    Up and Coming
    January 24, 2015
    working with so many cameras is a pain because it is unmanaged cameras (you have to stitch everything)
    Samsung has a prototype of camera based on the same arrangement you have, the only difference is they stitch the camera "on board", so you directly have the sterescopic stream.
    I made some calculation and using mobius cam with 150 deg lens , you can drop a pair (only 12 cameras) or going with 170 deg lens you can probably drop another one (10 cams).
    I also made a drawing with 14 cams (65mm IOD), and checked you can get a very compact design.
    j1vvyAuthor
    Up and Coming
    January 24, 2015
    I got VR Player working by following the instructions here.
    viewtopic.php?f=29&t=112&start=200
    It is opensource so anyone could add improvements to make it better.

    Stephane is currently concentrating on the Android version where he can get some revenue for his efforts.

    There are a few other S3D 360° video players for the PC that are dedicated to the Rift and full spherical video. Try LiveViewRift. I like VR Player because it was the first player and it has so many options for input sources and output viewing. I wish more people showed more support of it.
    j1vvyAuthor
    Up and Coming
    January 24, 2015
    When Samsung announced Project Beyond it was a nice justification of my design. Quit a few felt they copied my design but I think it was just a natural method of arranging the cameras. Even so I am sure they were aware of my design.

    Definitely the best would be to use as fewest number of cameras as possible. Fewer cameras means fewer seams. I always wanted to find a lens that would allow 5 pairs but when drawing this up on paper it looks like the lenses of one pair would interfere with the vision of the adjacent pair.

    Six pairs should work. It is a matter of using the right lens.

    I hoping for a camera control that would allow one set of buttons for all cameras.

    When Samsung has a consumer version of Project Beyond I don't think it will be inexpensive. I also don't like the idea of having prestitched images. I have been stitching panos together since 1997. There is an art to getting good seams from multiple cameras and I think I can do a better job than an automated process.

    My goal with the experiments with the Mobius was to find a design that offered a low cost to allow more people to try. But also to experiment with the layout to prove the design before committing to more expensive cameras that offered more features. Global shutter and gen lock being most important for stereo work.
    nosys70
    Up and Coming
    January 24, 2015
    i think the guys from mobius could provide a way to get one carde slaving all others (one clock, one start, one stop).
    That would make a great base for any developpment and the insurence to sell a lot of cameras.
    ErikCaretta
    Participant
    January 28, 2015
    It took a few things to get VRPlayer to work on my PC but since then tracking has been working without issue.

    Whirligig and LiveViewRift both work for me.

    On my 6 year old PC with new graphics card, I am limited to about 2.7k stereo. In mono I can not play 4k.

    I have not tried virtual desktop, which I believe supports hardware rendering for video.

    On my 2 year old Android phone with VRPlayer I can not play 2k stereo but can play 1k stereo. I have not experimented too much with different sizes. GearVR can handle even more and smoother.


    I took the time to make them work, and bot Whirligig and LiveViewRift are working well now.
    Anyway I discovered a terrible performance-killer: aero themes on win7. Once disabled, I can run 4k stereo without (almost) any problem, and 3k perfectly smooth.
    So I managed to make some tests, I will post my first video on another treadh.


    There is an art to getting good seams from multiple cameras and I think I can do a better job than an automated process.

    Agreed. Since it's mathematically impossible to get rid of the seams in automatic way, I think the difference between good and poor panoramas will be the quality of post-production.
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