Best way to make pano 360 images?

TerKelDing · Apr 5, 2018

Hey everyone,

Just starting to work on more photo stuff and I’m trying to find a good, reliable and not too complex way to create those interactive 360 images like on FB. I have looked at a bunch of options (Hangar360, etc) but not settled on one I like yet. Just wondering what everyone else is having success with and would appreciate any suggestions on software, techniques, etc!

Thank you!

ICHOTT · Apr 5, 2018

I’m interested in exactly the same info. Hangar360 is brill when it connects and sets the gimbal properly!

Kilrah · Apr 5, 2018

I've come across half a dozen threads asking the same question in the past couple of weeks, a little search might help.

TerKelDing · Apr 5, 2018

Ic_hoTT said:
I’m interested in exactly the same info. Hangar360 is brill when it connects and sets the gimbal properly!

Thanks Ic... I have played with Hangar360 some but I'm not too happy that they retain the rights to your imagery. If I am doing something for a client, or want to retain ownership myself, that could be a problem. Otherwise, it looks really good.

TerKelDing · Apr 5, 2018

Kilrah said:
I've come across half a dozen threads asking the same question in the past couple of weeks, a little search might help.

Actually, "a little search" did not turn up the answers I was looking for. You could be a little more helpful and post some links if you know of something otherwise - since you did take time out to comment at all.

lisadoc · Apr 5, 2018

TerKelDing said:
Thanks Ic... I have played with Hangar360 some but I'm not too happy that they retain the rights to your imagery. If I am doing something for a client, or want to retain ownership myself, that could be a problem. Otherwise, it looks really good.

Litchi has a great automated pano control. You can change several panoramic functions, while you retain the images on the SD card. It's not as "no brainer" as Hangar360 (you still have to work to stitch them together and upload them if you want), but you retain your rights and control over your photos, as Litchi only automates the process of taking them.

TerKelDing · Apr 5, 2018

lisadoc said:
Litchi has a great automated pano control. You can change several panoramic functions, while you retain the images on the SD card. It's not as "no brainer" as Hangar360 (you still have to work to stitch them together and upload them if you want), but you retain your rights and control over your photos, as Litchi only automates the process of taking them.

Thank you lisadoc! I just bought Litchi so I will give it a try. Do you recommend any desktop software for stitching the images from the SD card?

lisadoc · Apr 5, 2018

TerKelDing said:
Thank you lisadoc! I just bought Litchi so I will give it a try. Do you recommend any desktop software for stitching the images from the SD card?

Hugin (Hugin - Panorama photo stitcher) and Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor - Microsoft Research) are two free programs that will work for most options. There are better paid programs that have more refined control, but those two are free to use.

TerKelDing · Apr 5, 2018

lisadoc said:
Hugin (Hugin - Panorama photo stitcher) and Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor - Microsoft Research) are two free programs that will work for most options. There are better paid programs that have more refined control, but those two are free to use.

I just gave Hugin a spin and it is great! I use Macs and I found Hugin nicely featured and does the job fairly easily. Thank you again for your suggestions and help - pointed me in the right direction for sure!

LivinLarge · Apr 5, 2018

Here is a simple tutorial for creating 360 panos with Microsoft ICE. It includes how to fill in the sky and change fie properties so that the image is recognized as a spherical panorama. The video was made for the Typhoon H but works for any group of images.
With ICE, you can even create the panos from a video file rather than separate still images.
Here is a 360 pano made from video:
Lake Pano from video

TerKelDing · Apr 8, 2018

LivinLarge said:
Here is a simple tutorial for creating 360 panos with Microsoft ICE. It includes how to fill in the sky and change fie properties so that the image is recognized as a spherical panorama. The video was made for the Typhoon H but works for any group of images.

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With ICE, you can even create the panos from a video file rather than separate still images.
Here is a 360 pano made from video:
Lake Pano from video

Thank you LivinLarge! I use Macs so I guess ICE doesn't work for me. It looks really good though! Might have to get a cheap PC just for this at some point! For now, Hugin works great though.

I appreciate your great reply too!