Panorama Tools Open GUI

This program uses Helmut Dersch's Panorama tools software packet. Panorama tools is controlled with text based files (human readable atleast for some). This program handles those scripts so mainly you do not need to write those scripts. There are cases where GUI does not yet make everything for you so basic knowledge of scripts will be useful. I use to set one or two parameter by hand to text file. New features to GUI code has been made in those cases when there has been help from those things.

Download and installing instructions.
Description and screenshots from used version.

Future plans & versions

There is project to make open source program to be used in multiple operating systems. Look current status of Hugin. Source code is in cvs. This uses wxWindows as it is more portable as BCB code. Mailing list is inherited from xpt project and look at mail archive and join to list.

Release notes for BCB project

Version 0.8.1

• Stitching can make basic automatic masking (by panotools) or this makes multiple images and you can later mask them on your own way. New button is 'One by one'. This method do not support colour and brightness correction.
• TIFF_mask and TIFF_nomask can be selected as output image type. Gimp (1.2) do not seem to handle properly alpha channel and you can "clear" it by ImageMagick command: convert +matte input_image.tif output_image.tif  In my test TIFF_nomask has not done what I expected and it might not work with all pano12.dll:s.
  

Version 0.8

• Rotate images +-90 and 180 degrees on screen (do not change source image).
• ImageMagick is used to read previously unsupported image types (means TIFF, PNG, ...). BMB and JPEG reading will be slightly faster than those that are read with ImageMagick routines.
  
• Current optimization result can be stored to memory. Swap changes values between current settings and memory settings.
  

Version 0.7.2 

• Control points can be disabled/enabled for optimization, used images are checked.
• New control point marks are shown and image scrolling changed in that case.
  
• Images can be selected for stithing with check boxes (still script can be edited).
  
• Radial correction (a,b,c,e,d,g,t) information is stored even if it is not used (there was one bug).
• Dialog to set panorama tools helper directory and test to check if pano12.dll can be found (by this program).
• Temporal script name ends always with '.txt' (checked when option is set).
• Image settings tab: numbers can be edited in grid.
• Control point type line implemented with checkings (check that there is control point pair for all lines, four marks)
  

Version 0.7.1

• Default directory is same as first image has when project is not saved
• Preferences added to Files-menu (same routines as Options - Other)

Version 0.7

• Helper program directory is defined in options form. Menu path: Options - Other
  
• Checkboxes to optimization tab, supports parameter linking
• Shear is supported in optimization (requires patched pano12.dll, date: 2002/03/16 or ML)
• Option for control point auto add added.

New working features for version 0.6.2

• Panorama tools scripts can be read and write.
• Image file types are: jpeg, tiff or bmp (tiff has still limited support).
  
• Control point data is shown. 
• Zoom image for control point is interpolated with selected interpolation (available: bilinear,bicubic,spline and sinc).
  
• Optimize can be executed from this program
• Image properties are shown in window and optimization parameters can be set there. Use mouse right click to see popup-menu.
• Little zoom window for control point fine tuning, finetune search with right click or Ctrl-F
  
• Old control points can be checked and edited
• Stitching is executed from this program
• Control point positions are floating point numbers (project and images can be scaled).

Short description

Some screenshots from working version. There are also some hints how to use this program.

Start with adding images to project. Program reads also PTGui or PTAssembler projects (some settings are skipped or a little text editing is needed but images and control points atleast remain unchanged). Second step is to set lens and horizontal field of view for images (landscape or portrait images are recognized, if this do not work properly send mail). 

Optimization parameters are set in image tab. Start with a few parameters. Use linked parameters when possible. (Means that same value is used for all that are linked together. In text window you can link to other images than 0 if there is need for it.) There is no use to optimize before you have at least one control point. Wrong optimization style quite often makes unexpected result. Read documents for panotools how to set them or quess it by an experiments.

Before optimization can be executed proper path to Panorama Tools program directory should be set (currently it is set in Options/Other menu but it'll moved to File/Preferences later).

Slice optimization starts from yaw. Second run is pitch, roll third... It optimizes all marked parameters on it's turn. If nothing is not marked, no optimization is executed. Slice optimization can be done in loop. It will optimize positions until there is not so much change in  This optimization might be sometimes useful if normal method do not make good result. This might be good as in start as this do not optimize many parameters at one time.

Control points tab need still some work. Main window shows numbers but... and bigger images cannot be zoomed properly... Mouse right click menu is available. What features to that menu? (Show-button can be found from there.)

Optimization can be done after every update for control points. Result is then always accepted. If you have mispositioned points then result could be weired -- correct positions or reduce optimization parameters or ?? Normally optimization works and it do not "get lost".

Set target image type in text window for stitching. Default type in Panotools is bitmap (.bmp).

If you see bugs that needs to be corrected make a note. Program is not best in userinterface but it should be reliable.

Settings: set PTOptimizer.exe and PTStither.exe directory. You will find place for this in Optimize-tab.

Install

Start installing from downloading Panorama Tools from http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/~dersch/ (original site is: http://www.fh-furtwangen.de/~dersch/) There are other places also if one is closed (search mirror page with www.google.com...). Patched DLLs can be found from  http://www.ueckermann.de/pano12/ or http://www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/pano12ml.htm. Linux installation example can be found from http://bugbear.blackfish.org.uk/~bruno/ptopengui/.

Program uses also ImageMagick. Installing is optional -- means that if ImageMagick is found it is used. I've used version 5.5.4-Q16 but it is not limited to that version (installed packet has name: 'ImageMagick-i686-pc-windows.exe'). Q16 means that 16bit/colour images are supported. Program seems to work with Q8 (does it? atleast 16bit/color images will not be opened as Q8 version do not support it). ImageMagick Q8 is faster and takes less memory than Q16 and so you might prefer it better.

When you are ready with Panorama Tools and ImageMagick you can start to test PTopenGUI program. The more you understand scripts for it the more you can have use for this GUI program at current state. It will be that PTAssembler or PTGui is easier to understand as you do not need to understand scripts. Control points is also one that you can test.

Default file extension for project is '.pto'. Assosiate this with program.

PTOpenGui download

Code and data can be downloaded from
Sourceforge: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ptbcbgui/
or from this local directory http://www.nic.fi/~juhe/ptbcbgui/files/.
Last updates and test versions are in this local directory.

DLL-files are needed, copy them to same directory with exe-file if thet are not already installed to your system. Download PanoTools and ImageMagick from sites referred above.

Support and new releases

Program is freeware and open source. Programming enviroment is Borland C++Builder 4 (abbr. BCB or BCB4). Code is mainly C++ but there are some Delphi components also.  Panorama tools-code is under GPL-license and so this one is also (you are free make changes to this program). If and when there are bugs write note to sourceforge or send mail directly to me.

If you think that there could be some new feature, it's easier to have them when you send source code or link to implementation with your suggestion :-) 
Future plan is to convert code from BCB enviroment to use wxWindows libraries so that it's not anymore limited to one operating system and one compiler. There is initial test for conversion but it seems that Hugin will be better platform for new project.

Documents, tutorials, links

Best documents are those that tell how Panotools can be used. Every panorama feature are made with that tool.

Yahoo! group for PanoTools is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PanoTools/.
Script language is explained in http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/~bernardk/tutorials/360/index.html
and http://www.bigbenpublishing.com.au/360/docs/tutorial/advanced/index.html.
Look at http://www.caldwellphotographic.com/index.html and you will see what is possible with Panorama Tools.
Links for tutorials of Panorama Tools are in http://philohome.com/panotutorial/tutlinks.htm.
Good tutorial by Thomas Niemann http://epaperpress.com/pano/.
Beginners guide for PTools http://www.htu.at/~sascha/ptguide/.

Links for panorama generally:
Panotools forum http://forum.funorama.de/ for Panofreaks (sleeping group).
Panoramas, tutorials, links http://homepage.dtn.ntl.com/j.houghton/   
Links to other programs http://bruno.postle.net/links/Brunos_Links/Panoramas/  
Stitching description http://www.stmuc.com/digicam/  

Examples

Result from my early stitchings and complete scripts can be found from here. You can test this program with packet: examplesWin.zip it is found from Helmut Dersch's www-page or mirrors.

If you have any comments send them to

Last change date 2003-9-4