Keyshot VR - 360 Panoramic format - Spherical JPG

Started by Archaine, October 03, 2016, 06:31:13 AM

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Archaine

Can anyone assist me in exporting a 3d Panoramic as a single spherical jpg?

I keep getting a directory full of small shots that are used by the html, but these are useless to us.   We have to put the project in a phone app that requires a 360 spherical jpg.   We just purchased the VR addon so we can produce one of these, but I see no way to get the format I need. 

Please! Anyone! this has to be completed in a week, and I do not have time to re-work it in vray or another renderer that can produce the format I need.   

I tried to stitch them in Photoshop, but it does not produce an acceptable result.

bdesign

#1
Hey Archaine-

I'm not sure if this is the best way, but I've done some experimenting and have come up with a technique which hopefully can help you. I have to agree that the PS PhotoMerge command does not produce very satisfactory results, especially with the "Spherical" option. There is a cool freeware program from Microsoft Research called ICE (Image Compositing Editor) which is very intuitive, straightforward, and produces very nice stitching results- quickly and easily. Here is the link: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/ice/ . For my test, I created a simple scene with a circular array of seven cubes, placed a camera at the center, and applied a Panorama animation node- 9 seconds in length, full 360°, at 1 (one) FPS. Image resolution set to Portrait, 1:2 aspect ratio. HDRI Environment. A lot of frames aren't necessary; just a good percentage of overlap. Open ICE: Import the 10 frames, Stitch, Crop, Export as JPEG. Open panorama in PS. The remaining steps in PS are:

1. Enlarge canvas size height to a 2:1 ratio.
2. Duplicate original panorama layer, then Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates>Rectangular to Polar.
3. Elliptical selection of empty sky area then, Edit>Fill>Content Aware.
4. Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates>Polar to Rectangular.
5. Duplicate original panorama, then Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical.
6. Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates>Rectangular to Polar.
7. Elliptical selection of empty ground area then, Edit>Fill>Content Aware.
8. Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates>Polar to Rectangular.
9. Edit>Transform>Flip Vertical, then snap to bottom of canvas.
10. Merge sky and ground layers.
11. Additional touch-up with Spot Healing Brush.

Corresponding images below, along with an example animation of the panorama mapped to the inside of a rotating sphere. Let me know if this helps you out. 

Eric
https://vimeo.com/185673637

INNEO_MWo

Thank you Eric for this tutorial. This is very helpful!

Archaine

#3
bdesign,

Thank you!  I will give that a try today,.

I hope the dev's might still chime in with some magic beta plugin that will let Keyshot do this Native with no muss no fuss, otherwise we have no need for the VR addon.

Thanks again
Archaine

PS: I have a question regarding the top and bottom zones.   I will have a medallion with text on the floor below and a light fixture on the ceiling directly above the camera, and want to look up and down to see these elements,  I assume this is not possible in your method as those zones are filled in content aware?


INNEO_MWo

The image composing editor can work with video files too. So you can use a regular camera animation (panorama) and use the frames or video file as well.
I tried it and it worked well!

bdesign

#5
Quote from: MWo on October 04, 2016, 04:00:47 AM
Thank you Eric for this tutorial. This is very helpful!
You're welcome, MWo :)
Quote from: MWo on October 04, 2016, 06:26:17 AM
The image composing editor can work with video files too. So you can use a regular camera animation (panorama) and use the frames or video file as well.
I tried it and it worked well!

Yeah, I was just checking that out myself, MWo...it's a really cool little application! Looks like it has lots of possibilities :)

Quote from: Archaine on October 04, 2016, 06:18:40 AM
bdesign,

Thank you!  I will give that a try today,.

I hope the dev's might still chime in with some magic beta plugin that will let Keyshot do this Native with no muss no fuss, otherwise we have no need for the VR addon.

Thanks again
Archaine

PS: I have a question regarding the top and bottom zones.   I will have a medallion with text on the floor below and a light fixture on the ceiling directly above the camera, and want to look up and down to see these elements,  I assume this is not possible in your method as those zones are filled in content aware?


You're welcome, Archaine :) . I've just started experimenting with the ICE program myself...it does offer some more advanced capabilities for setting up custom grids from which to create a panorama, and as MWo pointed out, you can create panos from video files as well. Since you can create KeyShot VRs with vertical frame motion, it might be possible. So, you have a light fixture 90° straight up above the camera, and a medallion 90° directly below the camera? I'll see what I can figure out. You should definitely download it if you haven't already  ;) . Can you by chance share an image of your scene setup, or a mock up of some sort for a visual?

Eric

Archaine

The first image is the failed photo merge.
Image 2 is looking at the area where the camera is located,  it will be in the center of the rotunda.
The third is just a view in one direction from the rotunda,  though the floor pattern will need to blend image to image.

If I had a dirt floor and a sky ceiling this would be less painfull.

bdesign

Can you post a screen shot of all your Camera tab settings?

Eric

Archaine

The Cam Tab as requested.

I have ice downloaded and am working through your process right now.

Thanks again
Archaine

Archaine

Progress!...   It appears we will have to trial and error the magic amount of images to get acceptable blending.   My final product has to be to Perfection, so the in-congruent beam seen in this stitching will not fly.


bdesign

Quote from: Archaine on October 04, 2016, 08:29:09 AM
Progress!...   It appears we will have to trial and error the magic amount of images to get acceptable blending.   My final product has to be to Perfection, so the in-congruent beam seen in this stitching will not fly.


Excellent! Glad to hear that. Keep pushing it, you'll get there. Was this done with individual frames, or did you use a video to extract the pano?
I'd love to give it a shot with the actual file, but I imagine you can't share it. Keep updating with your progress, Archaine :)

Eric

Archaine

I used Keyshot VR to render 8 images Horizontally and 5 frames vertically,  though I only used the middle 3 frames (24) total images.   I am trying one now with all frames to see how it handles the straight up and down viewing.

The bip is 30 megs, I am happy to share but I do not have a way to upload it.

Archaine

bdesign

Quote from: Archaine on October 04, 2016, 10:13:35 AM
I used Keyshot VR to render 8 images Horizontally and 5 frames vertically,  though I only used the middle 3 frames (24) total images.   I am trying one now with all frames to see how it handles the straight up and down viewing.

The bip is 30 megs, I am happy to share but I do not have a way to upload it.

Archaine
I look forward to seeing your results :) FileDropper.com is free, 5GB upload, no registration required.

Eric