Dual-fisheye Images With THETA V Plug-in

Live streaming should work with plug-in mode and we should be able to control the stitching in live streaming plug-in mode. However, I have not tested this yet.

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This is very cool, and as @xwindor says would be great help for time-lapse.

I wonder if it would be possible to pull the images off the camera via WIFI while this app shoots photos.

I think you can pull it off with WiFi. The camera can connect to a hotspot in client mode. Once connected to a hotspot, you can get the IP address with discovery and use another device to pull the images office.

This function doesn’t exist right now in the plug-in. We’d need to write the functionality, but it’s possible.

What would be ideal is if Ricoh could map the “RicNonStitching” parameter to the wifi OSC API “photoStitching” option refered to here. https://developers.google.com/streetview/open-spherical-camera/reference/options

That combined with the road-mapped cloud upload features would simplify timelapse things immensely, especially if sub second capture intervals were allowed.

Also, I’ve updated tlapser360 to support wifi client mode and the 2.1 API. I’m still testing, and will start a thread when it’s ready.

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FYI, Here’s how to get the images over wifi with curl.

List last 10 images.

curl -H “Content-Type:application/json” -d “{ “name”: “camera.listFiles”, “parameters”: {“fileType”: “all”,“entryCount”: 10,“maxThumbSize”: 640,”_detail": false} }" -D - --digest -u “THETAYLSerial num:password” -X POST http://192.168.5.50:80/osc/commands/execute

Download image using name from previous command.

curl -D - --digest -u “THETAYLSerial num:password” -s -O “http://192.168.5.50/files/550230525831427d420709249b037410/100RICOH/R0011711.JPG

Delete the file

JSON_DELIMG_REQ=$(< <(cat <<EOF
{
“name”: “camera.delete”,
“parameters”: {
“fileUrls”: [
http://192.168.5.50/files/550230525831427d420709249b037410/100RICOH/R0011711.JPG
]
}
}
EOF
))
curl -H “Content-Type:application/json” -d “${JSON_DELIMG_REQ}” -D - --digest -u “THETAYLSerial num:password” -X POST http://192.168.5.50:80/osc/commands/execute

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This is awesome. Thanks for posting it. I did some tests on how to find the IP address with dns-sd.

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Currently, the WiFi API only supports the videoStitching option.

An end-user can use the Ricoh desktop application to stitch a dual-fisheye video. However, there’s no official way to stitch a dual-fisheye image into an equirectangular image. Thus, even if Ricoh were to open the API for photoStitching, there’s limited value to end-users right now.

We’re working with Ichi to help him offer his stitching app and library to the public as a low-cost commercial offering. Once he finishes optimizing the app, people will have the option of a low-cost stitching solution for still images.

image

I just used my router to track down the IP, good to know there is an alternate method.

I think there are plenty of alternative stitching apps out there. I’ve personally been using Hugin for 10+ years. With only two images it should be able to stitch flawlessly, and I already have examples for incorporating it into workflows with my Kodak stereoscopic tests.

I’ll see if I can put together an example using the sample image above for post processing in Linux.

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It would be great if you could share an example of stitching images together with post processing Linux bash scripts or equivalent. I imaging that several businesses want to stitch these images in high volume.

Here’s another sample.

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I’m able to stitch it pretty well if I cut it into two images prior to importing into Hugin. That’s not ideal, so I’m still trying to get the single image cropping working right in Hugin.

Once that’s figured out it looks like there are now some tools available to convert a Hugin pto file to a ffmpeg remap filter. https://github.com/evertvorster/dualfisheye2equirectangular_ffmpeg_remap

This would further simplify the process as a directory of images could be remapped directly into equirectangular video with a single pass of ffmpeg.

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I’m also interested in somehow showing the a timestamp on the video. I think many companies use the 360 images for process optimization. For example, taking a picture of a factory over time or analyzing the foot traffic of a department store.

I wonder if there’s a way to map the individual images to a package of metadata attached to the video and then use another program to show the time stamp below the video? Is there a standard format to attach timestamp metadata to individual video frames?

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BTW, Ichi’s plug-in handles both a single dual-fisheye image as well as bracketing of 3 images. There’s also a setting in the code to change the number of images bracketed from 3 to a larger number. Theoretically, someone could bracket 10 dual-fisheye images together. The source code and apk are freely available as part of the free RICOH THETA V Plugin Application Development Community Guide. The stitching application will be available at a low cost soon.

Currently, there’s no workflow to process large numbers of images on a server or workstation. Ichi’s stitching app can work in an Android virtual machine.

It’d be good to have a number of workflows with different types of software to handle stitching, especially high-volume stitching.

The advantage of post-production stitching is that the person or script taking the picture can take a dual-fisheye picture every second compared to every 4 seconds.

Interesting i hate to say it but the absence of this function and savingimages with separate HDR or Bracketing expostures ,other Cams can shoot Time-lapse for days together with 0.5 sec interval :sleepy:

PTGui 11.2 are now full version and Batch Stitching hundreds of Spheres from a template are now Running like a charm on both Pc and Mac

Regards Svendus

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@Svendus, thanks for the tip on PTGui. I put your tip and the tip from @squizard360 into the Plugin Application Development Guide. BTW, people with a THETA V can sign up for the program and test out the dual-fisheye plug-in. Prior to the launch of the THETA Store, the only way to install a plug-in is with the SDK. However, there’s a pre-compiled application that works without development and can be installed with adb install -r name_of_app.apk. @jcasman is writing up a guide for both the plug-in and and the stitching app. The stitching app from Ichi only works on an Android mobile phone right now.

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Thank You @codetricity The THETA cameras are widely known for its almost perfect in Camera Stitching

Here are a small Screen cast how it can work Batch Stitching in PTGui 11.3 Pro

check the result Misphere MC Tour The map are a little small
so that it also can be seen on a Smart Phone
Regards Svendus

icons

@Svendus thanks for the information. I attributed the community tips to you and @squizard360. That’s a nice motorcycle tour. You live is a very beautiful place. It must be nice in the summer to get out on your motorcycle and see the glorious country. I just went to a neighborhood party this past weekend and we were talking about our younger days when I would travel through the US national parks on a motorcycle for weeks at a time. Do you have any long trips planned this summer.

BTW, have you tried PTGui with the THETA dual-fisheye image? I downloaded the PTGui software, but there are no presets for the THETA V. I was unable to use it.

What are the technical details of this great tour?

  • How many pictures are in the tour?
  • What frequency did you use?
  • Did you use stabilization?

This is the image I’ve been trying to use. I sent a note to the team that created PTGui to see if they can help.

1. 104 Photspheres shot 40 to 60 km p/h
2. no frequency shot with a Bluetooth shutter the camera are set to pick the GPS meta 1 Sec
3: no Stabilization some images one or two was off role but it is easy to open the saved PTGui project file again and fix it
the Tour are Created in Pano2VR it has acturally auto leveling
So untill PTGui add TETA V images to the lens Libery you can Stritch the image in this way

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Thanks for all the great information. It looks pretty difficult for me to stitch the images. I will need to study your video more.

thank you.

Testing Ichi’s mobile app.

Original

Equirectangular

Using THETA Desktop Viewer

One Time Callibration

Selected Points

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Wow, that is some very good looking stitching. I don’t see the line!

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