Stitching 360 Photos in Post from the Mavic 2 Zoom

[harrisonmg]

Hey,
I've had my Mavic for a few months now and how been loving the panorama function, as I'm a top 360 photographer for Google and have my own 360 camera as well. I have, so far, seen rather outstanding results with a couple of the JPGs coming out with small blemishes or easy exposure imperfections. However, for one reason or another, out of the last 10 or so panos I've taken, only 2 or 3 have come out well. In addition to this, I want more resolution out of my 360s, so I tried (well actually again) with stitching the RAW files myself. Here's the problem -- I've tried 7 different applications, for hours, and NOTHING HAS WORKED!!!

Basically, Lightroom will say "unable to merge", so will MS ICE, Hugin will say it needs 7000 more control points, ptGUI claims the same, Photoshop gives me a jumbled mess.......you get the point. Even the DJI Media Maker (meant to stitch together panos) gives me error as well! (And yes, I've tried exporting the RAWs to JPGs first with all of them).

I'm stuck. I've read all these forum posts where people just stick it in Photoshop or Lightroom or ptGUI or whatever, and BAM they have a 360. Mine is just NOT WORKING!

I've attached one of the JPGs from the drone.

Here's my google profile:
Contributions by Harrison Gordon

 

[Hummingbird.UAV]

Looked at your photo and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of detail to stitch the pics. I see on your Goggle Maps photos you have many nicely stitched panoramas.
Here is a bunch of my Panos shot with a Mavic Air.

1 Port of Amsterdam, Holland https://goo.gl/maps/KcoP6qYZdn62 https://goo.gl/maps/3F49cJqCD2Q2 2 Cologne, Germany https://goo.gl/maps/VvSyB8UXyZp 3 Asbach Bad Rudesheim, Germany https://goo.gl/maps/8ojntmPXB1m 4 Staustufe Krotzenburg, Germany https://goo.gl/maps/PUuHti7deEv 5 Wertheim, Germany https://goo.gl/maps/CRkZrtUZrY72 6 Wurzburg https://goo.gl/maps/eQgw4qtpYJM2 7 Kitzingen https://goo.gl/maps/x4q5Tc6CmXC2 https://goo.gl/maps/hCG8jJBbYeD2 8 Hafen Bamburg https://goo.gl/maps/KWHenm9TBpC2 9 Schleuse Bachhausen, Germany https://goo.gl/maps/sSiPaykVr5x 10 Wernstein, Austria https://goo.gl/maps/aT9yqxd5f7B2 https://goo.gl/maps/EBcFsSaTM4r 11 Vienna, Austria https://goo.gl/maps/M8Y7NsXDnm12 https://goo.gl/maps/keHqopxnW7s 12 Budapest https://goo.gl/maps/foZr4cZDZtC2 13 Bolyki Pincészet and Vineyards https://goo.gl/maps/yCRqCv1JcU72 https://goo.gl/maps/ERiBeAnqnZG2 14 Osijek, Croatia https://goo.gl/maps/gnqLXZibPEm 15 Imanje Goldschmidt https://goo.gl/maps/vGqrHxK2DZk https://goo.gl/maps/2teqLvnydHk 16 Belgrade, Serbia https://goo.gl/maps/UDvSekbSkYF2 17 Ethno Park, Serbia https://goo.gl/maps/kim8Ws9odJ22 18 Donji Milanovac, Serbia https://goo.gl/maps/Y7VJ1JetUqA2 19 Novi Sip, Serbia https://goo.gl/maps/UizeWkJ8dMy 20 Vidin, Bulgaria https://goo.gl/maps/ne1Z2XPJ5jn https://goo.gl/maps/UPdrx9QF1mR2 21 Belogradchik Fortress (Red Rock), Bulgaria https://goo.gl/maps/U3Td5FirHe62 https://goo.gl/maps/ySLjM9daGAv 22 Giurgiu, Romania https://goo.gl/maps/Ch9pDnBSKdD2 23 The Clock Tower, Romania https://goo.gl/maps/WVrk2bGMSvH2 24 Sighisoara City Hall, Romania https://goo.gl/maps/VTv4P2rK6Ly 25 Bran Castle Transylvania https://goo.gl/maps/B3CsCR1CzA32

 

[Meta4]

Basically, Lightroom will say "unable to merge", so will MS ICE, Hugin will say it needs 7000 more control points, ptGUI claims the same, Photoshop gives me a jumbled mess.... Mine is just NOT WORKING!

Photo stitching works with the software identifying and matching common points between overlapping image pairs.
You have to give the software something to match.
In a large, all-blue sky there's no way to match a blue pixel in one image with the same blue pixel in the next image.
The water surface is even worse because the wind ripples mean the surface is changing all the time making point matching impossible.
If you had land detail with blue sky above, the software could match the land detail and approximate the blue sky above but the image you posted just isn't stitchable.
Try some different subject matter.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Hey,
I've had my Mavic for a few months now and how been loving the panorama function, as I'm a top 360 photographer for Google and have my own 360 camera as well. I have, so far, seen rather outstanding results with a couple of the JPGs coming out with small blemishes or easy exposure imperfections. However, for one reason or another, out of the last 10 or so panos I've taken, only 2 or 3 have come out well. In addition to this, I want more resolution out of my 360s, so I tried (well actually again) with stitching the RAW files myself. Here's the problem -- I've tried 7 different applications, for hours, and NOTHING HAS WORKED!!!

Basically, Lightroom will say "unable to merge", so will MS ICE, Hugin will say it needs 7000 more control points, ptGUI claims the same, Photoshop gives me a jumbled mess.......you get the point. Even the DJI Media Maker (meant to stitch together panos) gives me error as well! (And yes, I've tried exporting the RAWs to JPGs first with all of them).

I'm stuck. I've read all these forum posts where people just stick it in Photoshop or Lightroom or ptGUI or whatever, and BAM they have a 360. Mine is just NOT WORKING!

I've attached one of the JPGs from the drone.

Here's my google profile:
Contributions by Harrison Gordon

The odds of all that software not doing the job would lead me to believe that the camera may be the issue. Try taking a Super Rez picture and see how well it puts together as that should be flawless, I also like the idea of new subject matter that is not so dense in separation as noted above.

 

[harrisonmg]

Photo stitching works with the software identifying and matching common points between overlapping image pairs.
You have to give the software something to match.
In a large, all-blue sky there's no way to match a blue pixel in one image with the same blue pixel in the next image.
The water surface is even worse because the wind ripples mean the surface is changing all the time making point matching impossible.
If you had land detail with blue sky above, the software could match the land detail and approximate the blue sky above but the image you posted just isn't stitchable.
Try some different subject matter.

Maybe it wasn't the best example just given alone....there is a largeish strip of land most the way around, but it cut nearly all of it out! Yes, I get what you're saying about the water, that is likely quite problematic. But i've taken other panos over the water before and not had issues.....wonder why now I'm here and it is different.

I have other examples I can attach. There is one where it isn't over water for the most part, and the stitching itself is ok i guess, but it decreased the exposure post-capture on all of the areas except the central focal point, so what's up with that? It shows up in different ways in many panos, usually making it look like the drone is some giant mile-wide UFO over the world.

Thanks!

 

[Meta4]

The odds of all that software not doing the job would lead me to believe that the camera may be the issue. Try taking a Super Rez picture and see how well it puts together as that should be flawless, I also like the idea of new subject matter that is not so dense in separation as noted above.

It has nothing to do with the camera and everything to do with the image that's being stitched.

 

[harrisonmg]

The odds of all that software not doing the job would lead me to believe that the camera may be the issue. Try taking a Super Rez picture and see how well it puts together as that should be flawless, I also like the idea of new subject matter that is not so dense in separation as noted above.

Oh.....I took a super res one time and it came out all messed up so I never did it again! Maybe there is something wrong with the camera -- actually, (and i believed this would be irrelevant to 360 panos at widest angle) when I zoom in, the autofocus about 60% of the time, doesn't work.....contacted DJI and after a few weeks they said to make a case and send it in, which i will do once I get back from vacay. I will try more super res tomorrow since i;ve only done it once.

Fingers crossed, then, that after I send it in all my problems will be solved.

 

[harrisonmg]

This is what part of the first pano i posted was supposed to look like--as far as I could get with LR.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Oh.....I took a super res one time and it came out all messed up so I never did it again! Maybe there is something wrong with the camera -- actually, (and i believed this would be irrelevant to 360 panos at widest angle) when I zoom in, the autofocus about 60% of the time, doesn't work.....contacted DJI and after a few weeks they said to make a case and send it in, which i will do once I get back from vacay. I will try more super res tomorrow since i;ve only done it once.

Fingers crossed, then, that after I send it in all my problems will be solved.

meta 4 might be sure its not the camera , but I am not convinced untill i see a beatiful Super Rez as you can tell a lot from that.
Dont throw the idea of the camera not being good until you have some really nice proof .

 

[Phantomrain.org]

This is what part of the first pano i posted was supposed to look like--as far as I could get with LR. View attachment 79125

So for me this entire pic is out of focus and i dont see any quality at all in the picture but it could be low rez.

 

[Meta4]

Maybe it wasn't the best example just given alone....there is a largeish strip of land most the way around, but it cut nearly all of it out! Yes, I get what you're saying about the water, that is likely quite problematic. But i've taken other panos over the water before and not had issues.....wonder why now I'm here and it is different.

Again ... those are horrible examples to stitch.
Give your software something it can work with instead of impossible images.
Something like this:

Or this ... give it some detail to work with

 

[Phantomrain.org]

This is what part of the first pano i posted was supposed to look like--as far as I could get with LR. View attachment 79125

If your working with impossible images you need a good camera not better scenery when you have a job to do.
Just take the time to get some nice shots so you can identify that the camera is blessed or cursed. lol So far for me and all the notes your adding its cursed.
[/QUOTE]

 

[harrisonmg]

So for me this entire pic is out of focus and i dont see any quality at all in the picture but it could be low rez.

Yes, just low rez its a screenshot because I'm in the middle of a big export in LR. in reality its 15k px wide and you can keep zooming in and in. sorry for the confusion!

 

[harrisonmg]

Again ... those are horrible examples to stitch.
Give your software something it can work with instead of impossible images.
Something like this:

Or this ... give it some detail to work with

You're right I have probably just been too ambitious with those ones and expected it to figure everything out from the land around the horizon. Just become overconfident in DJIs stitcher after many great ones. So in the mornin ill try some super rez and 360s over land instead. Thanks!

 

[rhberg]

I agree with Meta4 that there is not enough detail to stitch the photos. I use PTGui lots and when there is a lot of water it does not stitch well. Also, I avoid using autofocus--for drone photography with the wide angle M2P camera everything is essentially at infinity focus. Also, with PTGui exposure settings using dng images, I "optimize" so that the software can adjust the exposure of individual images a bit to match the others, especially in the sky regions.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Photo stitching works with the software identifying and matching common points between overlapping image pairs.
You have to give the software something to match.
In a large, all-blue sky there's no way to match a blue pixel in one image with the same blue pixel in the next image.
The water surface is even worse because the wind ripples mean the surface is changing all the time making point matching impossible.
If you had land detail with blue sky above, the software could match the land detail and approximate the blue sky above but the image you posted just isn't stitchable.
Try some different subject matter.

Please listen to Meta4, instead of arguing with him!
He knows what he is talking about!
I have hundreds of spherical panoramas shot with the M2P.
Those with only ocean and sky on one side won't stitch.
Not even the best stitching programs can stitch a bad subject for stitching!
Garbage in, garbage out!
Instead of blaming the camera or the stitching program, find a better subject, or change your panorama to 180° instead of 360°.