5.3. Stage 3

5.3.1. Assembling the pictures

Once you've shot all the pictures, the assembly work can begin. After trying various software programs, I decided that RealViz's Stitcher was by far the simplest and most professional, and it produced the most beautiful results.

Loading the photographs

After loading the pictures in Stitcher, drag one of the photographs from the horizon row into the Stitching Window. You can then set the program's parameters for the focal length used when you took the pictures. Depending on your camera, it may take several tries to get optimal results. For example, even though my digital camera indicates a focal length equivalent to 35mm, I get better results if I enter 38.1mm in Stitcher's Properties window.

Now drag picture number 2 onto number 1, and overlap the parts they have in common. If you have to rotate a picture so it matches the adjacent one correctly, pivot it around a specific point, such as the corner of a window.

Once the second photograph is properly in place, stitch it to the first photo by pressing the Enter key. The Stitching Window will center on the second photograph, which is now placed in the middle of the workspace. Follow the same steps with the other pictures until the horizon row is complete and has looped back on itself. If you can align the last photograph of the series with the first one on your first try, congratulations—you're a master! Otherwise, select the final photograph and press the Close Panorama button. When the screen turns blue, align the last photograph with the first one.

5.3.2. Completing the panorama

When the panorama of the horizon-row pictures is finished, use Stitch→Adjust All Images to determine the series' optical distortion and focal length.

You can then run an initial verification rendering by pressing Ctrl-R (CommandR on the Mac). This opens the Render dialog box. Choose Cylindrical for the format type and an output width of 3000 pixels. Then click Preview to make sure there is no distortion.

Next, load all the pictures in the rows above and below the horizon line, one after the other. It's a good idea to do an overall adjustment from time to time, again using the Adjust All Images command. When all the pictures are in place, the effect is a bit like being inside a ball.

Before generating the final render, the colors must be equalized. This is something that Stitcher does very easily, and in spectacular fashion. Go to Render→Equalize All Images. Pick an image on the horizon row that will serve as a center around which the panorama will be calculated, and press Enter. (Write down the name of your chosen photo; if you have to run another rendering and you don't start from the same image, the result won't be the same.) Then, output the render in TIF format (Ctrl-R), with Spherical as the export type. The output resolution will depend on the power of your computer; a width of 10,000 pixels produces very handsome results.