Panorama in Lightroom automatically being stitched - Help!

[Fishman Dan]

I'm not a big fan of DJI drones panorama's - my Mini 3 Pro takes a clutch of photos (and I can't change settings), but more importantly is that when I import my photos into Adobe Lightroom, the software is automagically stitching the images together. The result is an awful, warped scene that looks nothing like it should.

Does anyone know how I can find the original images, or do I need to re-import them?

Previously I've taken control and selected just the images I want to stitch and it comes out really well, but I'm having difficulties locating the original images.

Edit: It's worse than previously explained ... I'm looking to import the original images in Lightroom from the card and it appears that the drone has already stitched the image together.

As a technical person, I'm actually dumbfounded about how stupid technology can be sometimes.

Does anyone know any workarounds?

 

[Smokeshow]

the photos are found in a different folder. I like to use photoshop or ptgui as it gives better results.

 

[Fishman Dan]

the photos are found in a different folder. I like to use photoshop or ptgui as it gives better results.

Thank you ... yes I found the Panorama folder. Pulling the relevant images together isn't going as hoped. I took 2 pano's with the drone so it's a bit of a jumbled mess.

Normally when shooting a bracket with a camera I'll take a photo of the ground so I have a 'divider' photo, so I can tell when the bracket starts and ends.

In fact the timestamp on the images are the import time, not capture time.

Will try in Photoshop now. I've seen reference to ptgui but also that there's a cost associated.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Thank you ... yes I found the Panorama folder. Pulling the relevant images together isn't going as hoped. I took 2 pano's with the drone so it's a bit of a jumbled mess.

Normally when shooting a bracket with a camera I'll take a photo of the ground so I have a 'divider' photo, so I can tell when the bracket starts and ends.

In fact the timestamp on the images are the import time, not capture time.

Will try in Photoshop now. I've seen reference to ptgui but also that there's a cost associated.

If you like open source: try Microsoft's ICE v.2. A standalone pano stitcher that is fast, accurate, incredibly versatile and gives you a good selection of alternative projections. The results can be outstanding. I use this to stitch sequential planar 'super-resolution' shots taken with my Mavic 2 zoom (ending up with a panorama composed from other panoramas) and the '48mp' shots from my mini 3 pro. The final output detail still takes me by surprise.
Word to the wise: don't bother trying to stitch the DNG's with ICE v.2 - the JPG's work best. Output from ICE as a TIFF and the final stitch can be edited almost as well as a RAW.

 

[PanoVolo]

I never heard of LR stitching automatically, you have to do Photo merge -Panorama on selected images . The source images are in the panorama folder, as others have said.

That being said we have a dedicated product - PanoVolo - for drone panorama stitching, give it a whirl and see if you like it.

www.panovolo.com

 

[MS Coast]

Edit: It's worse than previously explained ... I'm looking to import the original images in Lightroom from the card and it appears that the drone has already stitched the image together.

As a technical person, I'm actually dumbfounded about how stupid technology can be sometimes.

That's the way it works. The drone creates a merged panorama. And it saves the constituent files, too.

I took 2 pano's with the drone so it's a bit of a jumbled mess.

The constituent files for each panorama are stored on the media in the drone (internal memory or SD card) in separate folders for each panorama. If they're a jumbled mess, it's likely that you copied them to your computer with software that didn't maintain the file folder structure.

In fact the timestamp on the images are the import time, not capture time.

The timestamps on the panorama files do reflect the capture time. If they're different on the file copies on your computer, it was done by your import process.

 

[PanoVolo]

That's the way it works. The drone creates a merged panorama. And it saves the constituent files, too.


The constituent files for each panorama are stored on the media in the drone (internal memory or SD card) in separate folders for each panorama. If they're a jumbled mess, it's likely that you copied them to your computer with software that didn't maintain the file folder structure.


The timestamps on the panorama files do reflect the capture time. If they're different on the file copies on your computer, it was done by your import process.

if we are talking about LR imports, they often mess up the order of images when you import multiple panoramas into LR catalog. And then it's very difficult to tell which image belongs to which panorama. It was one of the biggest motivators for me to start the PanoVolo project - I tried LR and just decided that there should be a better way than manually counting the images in the LR image strip.

 

[waynorth]

That being said we have a dedicated product - PanoVolo - for drone panorama stitching, give it a whirl and see if you like it.

www.panovolo.com

Hello Panovolo, I see you have a 30 day trial version, that is great.
But if I decide to purchase a licence, does it need an internet connection to activate, or does the key activate it locally on my computer?
Or in other words: Can I install, activate and use Panovolo completely offline?

 

[PanoVolo]

Hello Panovolo, I see you have a 30 day trial version, that is great.
But if I decide to purchase a licence, does it need an internet connection to activate, or does the key activate it locally on my computer?
Or in other words: Can I install, activate and use Panovolo completely offline?

you need to have an internet connection to activate. After activation, the copy of the license is stored locally so can be used offline.

 

[Dale D]

I'm not a big fan of DJI drones panorama's - my Mini 3 Pro takes a clutch of photos (and I can't change settings), but more importantly is that when I import my photos into Adobe Lightroom, the software is automagically stitching the images together. The result is an awful, warped scene that looks nothing like it should.

Does anyone know how I can find the original images, or do I need to re-import them?

Previously I've taken control and selected just the images I want to stitch and it comes out really well, but I'm having difficulties locating the original images.

Edit: It's worse than previously explained ... I'm looking to import the original images in Lightroom from the card and it appears that the drone has already stitched the image together.

As a technical person, I'm actually dumbfounded about how stupid technology can be sometimes.

Does anyone know any workarounds?

Isn't there a folder with all of the images, either .jpg or .dng (raw) images.?? Open up every folder, not just the one with the synthetically made pano.

 

[I_Fly_Air_2]

When I took my first (4 shot) pano recently I just aimed the drone where I wanted to start. Took a shot, yawed a little to the right, took a shot, and continued for 4 shots.... when I was done, I imported them into Adobe Camera Raw and it stitched them together nicely. I didn't let the drone do it.

 

[Dale D]

When I took my first (4 shot) pano recently I just aimed the drone where I wanted to start. Took a shot, yawed a little to the right, took a shot, and continued for 4 shots.... when I was done, I imported them into Adobe Camera Raw and it stitched them together nicely. I didn't let the drone do it.

I do all panos manually with Photoshop. I submitted this 20 image pano a few days ago to this forum. It was totally edited in Photoshop manually

 

[I_Fly_Air_2]

I do all panos manually with Photoshop. I submitted this 20 image pano a few days ago to this forum. It was totally edited in Photoshop manually

Saw this... beautiful shot!!

 

[Dale D]

Saw this... beautiful shot!!

I'd be happy to go over my technique with you on private conversation if you need. I never use the drone-generated pano. It is awful most of the time.

Dale
Miami

 

[Fishman Dan]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll try and address each point made.

- I found the Panorama folder, but I previously thought I had put them together (previous drone - Mavic Pro Platinum). I don't do them all the time so I'm not losing a lot of sleep over it, and the main content I was after has been given to the client as single images. The pano was a bit of a 'because I can' exercise.

- I will give it a go putting them together in Photoshop. The biggest issue I will face is separating the 2 pano's I took - the content is very similar (farms and paddocks). This is why I was reliant on capture time, because the 2 pano's were taken about 15-20 minutes apart.

Overall while I love the Mini and how versatile it is (I have an ongoing job near an airfield so I can use this Excluded Category drone), as a photographer I feel really constrained with some of the settings locked down.

I've previously used Lightroom with a selection of source files for a coastal panorama that worked really well - so I know it's possible!

 

[Dale D]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll try and address each point made.

- I found the Panorama folder, but I previously thought I had put them together (previous drone - Mavic Pro Platinum). I don't do them all the time so I'm not losing a lot of sleep over it, and the main content I was after has been given to the client as single images. The pano was a bit of a 'because I can' exercise.

- I will give it a go putting them together in Photoshop. The biggest issue I will face is separating the 2 pano's I took - the content is very similar (farms and paddocks). This is why I was reliant on capture time, because the 2 pano's were taken about 15-20 minutes apart.

Overall while I love the Mini and how versatile it is (I have an ongoing job near an airfield so I can use this Excluded Category drone), as a photographer I feel really constrained with some of the settings locked down.

I've previously used Lightroom with a selection of source files for a coastal panorama that worked really well - so I know it's possible!

You many enjoy this video. I have been following Colin Smith for years and he is easy to understand. Here is his video on Lightroom and Photoshop panoramas.

Dale Davis

 

[Dale D]

You many enjoy this video. I have been following Colin Smith for years and he is easy to understand. Here is his video on Lightroom and Photoshop panoramas.

Dale Davis

 

[Fishman Dan]

Lightroom does not automatically stitch any panorama files. I have imported, stitched and finished hundreds of panos in Lightroom and what you are describing does not happen.

Are you for real right now?

Whether it's the drone itself or Lightroom is somewhat irrelevant if you actually spend 5 minutes reading this thread.

I've used Lightroom for years and have stitched countless panoramas, many of which i've gone on to sell commercially. However having pre-compiled panoramas in my library immediately after importing threw me, especially given that I believe that this never happened when using the Mavic Pro Platinum (which you would have known if you read other comments).

Just read the comments before going off.

 

[Dale D]

Lightroom does not automatically stitch any panorama files. I have imported, stitched and finished hundreds of panos in Lightroom and what you are describing does not happen.

I hope I did not say automatically. I, personally use Photoshop, and have explained the steps elsewhere in this forum several time. I believe the same process applies in Lightroom. Essentially, I used Bridge. I selecte4 all of the frames in bridge ( 1st and shift/Click last). I select all>right click on any frame>all frame are then merged into panorama. After the merge, I can open in ACR and edit.
See my post #12 in this thread for an example.

It is 10PM- bedtime.

Dale

 

[Dale D]

Are you for real right now?

Whether it's the drone itself or Lightroom is somewhat irrelevant if you actually spend 5 minutes reading this thread.

I've used Lightroom for years and have stitched countless panoramas, many of which i've gone on to sell commercially. However having pre-compiled panoramas in my library immediately after importing threw me, especially given that I believe that this never happened when using the Mavic Pro Platinum (which you would have known if you read other comments).

Just read the comments before going off.

I agree- but stated it in another way- see post #20.

Dale