Dual-fisheye Images With THETA V Plug-in

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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Yeah, it looks good in the THETA Desktop app too. Configuration is easy. If people are part of the partner program and can put the THETA V into developer mode, I think they can use both the plug-in, which is open source and the stitching app, which is a trial version. How is the community user guide coming along for the plug-in?

I have a trial version of the stitching app from Ichi for the dual-fisheye plug-in for the RICOH THETA V. It will time out at the end of July. If anyone wants a copy of it, please post here and I will send you a copy. It only works on Android mobile phones. There is no iOS version.

Remember that to install the dual-fisheye plug-in right now, you need to join the partner program to put your camera into developer mode. According to people that joined recently, I believe there is no charge to join the partner program. The dual-fisheye plug-in is available for free on this this guide, both as a pre-compiled apk and as source files.

I received a note from the team at PTGui.

I wasn’t able to get a real good result, attached is a PTGui Project file. I’m not sure if it’s parallax or something else. Do you have any images taken outside? This would eliminate most of the parallax.

And I thought the Theta would only output equirectangular images; how did you get the dual fisheye images?
Also EXIF data is missing, was this stripped while uploading to the forum? If you have one with EXIF data I can add automatic recognition to PTGui.

Here is the PTGui project file that was sent to me.

20180608103246 Panorama.pts (41.9 KB)

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Hi, @codetricity I succeeded in installing Dual-fisheye Images into my THETA V. I’ve tested it on my desk, because today it is raining heavily here.

pluginapp

It’s not possible to use THETA app for the remote shutter during the plugin mode. Am I right?

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@Juantonto thanks for this report back. Good job.

By remote shutter, do you mean the special USB cable attachment that Ricoh sells? Or, do you have a Bluetooth clicker?

The plug-in stops access to the main camera application (the default one from Ricoh) during the time the plug-in is in use. While the plug-in is running, you can’t use the main camera function. However, the plug-in developer should be able to trigger the picture taking from an external input.

This could be a good feature request for a developer.

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@codetricity thanks, RICOH cable switch CA-3 is available for the plug-in mode?
BTW, I want to connect THETA V over wifi and BT to use the preview and settings, while the plug-in is running.

Hi, @codetricity
Today, I tested Dual-fisheye plug-in again outside. In my test, some of images were generated as equirectangular. It may not work well while plugin is running in HDR mode.

IMG_4293
[Caption; Plug-in is running in HDR mode now.]

I’ll show you the stitched file with PTGui later. It is great.

Thanks,
Toyo

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Thanks for your help. We’ll share this with the developer.