Panorama Photos Stitched Badly with no Wind? Part 2

[TheRock]

I saw this thread in January but it turned into a thread about stitching programs. I, too, had no problems until the start of the year. Is there a glitch in the latest rounds of software or something? I send the bird up on virtually windless days and still get horizons like this and it was never this bad. Yes, I can re-do it in PtGUI but with both my Plat Pro and now the Mav 2 I started to have stitching problems with panos and spheres that were not there before. Is it my Smart Controller, the newer software updates. something else?? I think since the stitching used to work, it must be something in the updates or in the way the controller handles panos.

 

[dirkclod]

I get that sometimes with the Go app but found it only did it
with mine if I was shooting in the direction of the sun.

 

[TheRock]

Yes, this is with the sun behind the drone. I have lots of examples. Trouble is, it is a consistent thing and I think it has to do with the software as opposed to the stitcher not finding matching points.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Frankly, given that the automatic stitching is being done within the camera itself, it's amazing that it is as accurate as it is. If you looked more critically at the prior images that you believe were perfect, you'll find the same imperfections. Some of the stitching glitches are just more noticeable than others.

 

[TheRock]

Agreed, but even when my Plat Pro back in mid-2018 I didn't have anything as obvious as what I get in the last 9-10 months. Controller? Newest Software?

 

[Cymruflyer]

Try to manually take your shots and overlap by at least 20% between each shot and then use a stitching software and you may well have much better results.

 

[Meta4]

I send the bird up on virtually windless days and still get horizons like this and it was never this bad. Yes, I can re-do it in PtGUI but with both my Plat Pro and now the Mav 2 I started to have stitching problems with panos and spheres that were not there before. Is it my Smart Controller, the newer software updates. something else?? I think since the stitching used to work, it must be something in the updates or in the way the controller handles panos.

Stitching software needs to be able to identify and match common points in adjacent images.
That's really difficult when there are large areas of water with a moving surface pattern.
What happened to your sky colour? Which planet is that?

 

[TheRock]

I am trying to steer this away from the direction the first thread took. As I stated, I have all the stitching programs. I know how to manually shoot and stitch images. The question is, does anyone think this problem is a newer one. I don't know if it is the updates or the software on the Smart Controller, but it was much more accurate right out of the camera/drone a year ago than it is now. Has anyone else noticed this? Point Zero had this same question and the whole thread devolved into a discussion about stitching software. He and I have apparently noticed the same thing going on with our in-camera shots. I am wondering are we the only two seeing this? We can discuss sky color some other time. What does that have to do with stitching in-camera? I'd like to stay on topic please.

 

[Meta4]

I am trying to steer this away from the direction the first thread took. I have all the stitching programs. I know how to manually stitch and images. The question is, does anyone think this problem is a newer one. I don't know if it is the updates or the software on the Smart Controller, but it was much more accurate right out of the camera/drone a year ago than it is now. Has anyone else noticed this?

The problem is that you've given the software a very difficult image to stitch.
Try an image where it has something solid to match and the results should be quite different.

 

[TheRock]

OK, I will send a couple more, however, the surfline should match up and not be difficult and should the horizon. It isn't seeing it at all. PS and PtGUI would easily see that and I did not have that problem with horizons a year ago. This is a recent development.

 

[Meta4]

OK, I will send a couple more, however, the surfline should match up and not be difficult and should the horizon. It isn't seeing it at all. PS and PtGUI would easily see that and I did not have that problem with horizons a year ago. This is a recent development.

Stepped horizons are a common problem with ocean panoramas with some software.
There just aren't any fixed points for the software to match.

 

[tesohn]

I am trying to steer this away from the direction the first thread took. As I stated, I have all the stitching programs. I know how to manually shoot and stitch images. The question is, does anyone think this problem is a newer one. I don't know if it is the updates or the software on the Smart Controller, but it was much more accurate right out of the camera/drone a year ago than it is now. Has anyone else noticed this? Point Zero had this same question and the whole thread devolved into a discussion about stitching software. He and I have apparently noticed the same thing going on with our in-camera shots. I am wondering are we the only two seeing this? We can discuss sky color some other time. What does that have to do with stitching in-camera? I'd like to stay on topic please.

I believe it is the Sept. update software. Yes I admit on panos where there is lots of sea on the horizon it is more likely to glitch. Also I too thought it was when the sun was a certain direction in my pano or it was too windy, however I have looked back and found my panos with the sun behind the drone, wind was 20mph, and most of my panos have horizon full of the sea, that are perfectly stitched. Yes we could all take individual pics and stitch them together ( spend all day post production ) but this 360 pano operation on the DJI M2P works and is supposed to accomplish this operation.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I believe it is the Sept. update software. Yes I admit on panos where there is lots of sea on the horizon it is more likely to glitch. Also I too thought it was when the sun was a certain direction in my pano or it was too windy, however I have looked back and found my panos with the sun behind the drone, wind was 20mph, and most of my panos have horizon full of the sea, that are perfectly stitched. Yes we could all take individual pics and stitch them together ( spend all day post production ) but this 360 pano operation on the DJI M2P works and is supposed to accomplish this operation.

I think you are expecting far too much out of a tiny camera processor. The resulting in camera stitch is more of a preview of what you will get, when professionally stitching the images together on a full sized desktop with the original images. Yes, it is usable, and it may be good enough for many, but the best results will still be from professional stitching software. As to the September software update, I have not updated the GO 4 app since May, and am still on the M2P .100 FW version, and I still have the exact same issues you do with ocean horizon lines. Just not enough detail to create alignment points natively. The desktop pano stitching only takes a minute or two per pano, once you have the workflow set up properly, with the original 26 images.

 

[TheRock]

Well, here are land horizons too not lining up with a 360 shot. I think it has been screwed up for about 6 months or more. I had much better results before the last 2 updates. But I also got a new MP2 and then shortly after the Smart Controller. So I really don't know what to blame. But I can look back at my shots and see the stitching was much better with the Platinum Pro and when I first got the MP2, which would have been end of Nov 2018 or so. I mean, I am totally impressed that it does what it does, but I think it has lost some of its accuracy and I am trying to pinpoint where. I am very curious to see if Point Zero gets a reply from DJI on this.

 

[Meta4]

Well, here are land horizons too. I think it has been screwed up for about 6 months or more. I had much better results before the last 2 updates. But I also got a new MP2 and then shortly after the Smart Controller. So I really don't know what to blame. But I can look back at my shots and see the stitching was much better with the Platinum Pro and when I first got the MP2, which would have been end of Nov 2018 or so.

You've been told what the reason is but it's not the answer you want to hear.
It's not any firmware update, it's not the model drone and it's not the smart controller.
The built-in stitching is pretty basic and if you give it crappy raw materials to stitch, you won't get great results.
Even good dedicated stitching software can have trouble with something like your example above, particularly with sea horizons.

 

[TheRock]

You've been told what the reason is but it's not the answer you want to hear.
It's not any firmware update, it's not the model drone and it's not the smart controller.
The built-in stitching is pretty basic and if you give it crappy raw materials to stitch, you won't get great results.
Even good dedicated stitching software can have trouble with something like your example above, particularly with sea horizons.

Yes, you are correct I am not accepting your theory. Why did it work much better a year or so ago? I am asking if anyone has experienced this degradation in the stitching with any of their drone/controller/update combinations. If you haven't, then I appreciate the fact that you believe it is totally due to sea horizons, but that is not what I am asking for. Would rather get some replies and take it from there. So far, I see that the September update seems to be one cause but I think it goes farther back. So I'd like to hear from others.

 

[Meta4]

Yes, you are correct I am not accepting your theory. Why did it work much a year ago?

So you don't want to listen to anyone that actually knows what they are talking about and are hoping to find someone who backs up your ideas?
Take a look at the panoramas that worked and those that didn't and see if you can spot a pattern.

 

[TheRock]

So you don't want to listen to anyone that actually knows what they are talking about and are hoping to find someone who backs up your ideas?
Take a look at the panoramas that worked and those that didn't and see if you can spot a pattern.

I want to hear from someone who may have a similar problem, like the guy that started the first thread. I know how to stitch, I know how to shoot panoramas, I have PS, Lightroom, PtGUI, etc. I ONLY want to hear from someone experiencing the same thing I am over a period on the last few updates. I didn't ask anyone to "back up" any of my ideas. I just want to poll this large forum and see if anyone is having similar problems. It's a simple request. Is that OK with you?

 

[Meta4]

I want to hear from someone who may have a similar problem, like the guy that started the first thread. I know how to stitch, I know how to shoot panoramas, I have PS, Lightroom, PtGUI, etc. I ONLY want to hear from someone experiencing the same thing I am over a period on the last few updates. Is that OK with you?

So having trouble with sea horizons using dedicated software isn't good enough experience to answer your query?
Good luck working it out yourself when you won't listen to people that know.

 

[TheRock]

So having trouble with sea horizons using dedicated software isn't good enough experience to answer your query?
Good luck working it out yourself when you won't listen top people that know.

I didn't ask about sea horizons. I asked about stitching problems. I did show a sea horizon, yes. Sorry to confuse you. Can you please drop this so I can hear from others? Thank you.