Long time Google Streetview contributor here. My focus is on trail and public parks.
I started with Samsung Gear360 version 1 in 2016 producing blue line like this
The work flow back the was:
-Take Single JPG photos pacing 10 full strides between them
-Transferring photos to an android phone
-Uploading to the street view app
-move the photosphere to the correct location, manually connect them and and orient them. then choosing the connections for each photo.
-Watch the google software run after the upload and celebrate when it made blue lines and cry when it made a mess of blue dots.
This was too slow, it was not enough BLUE LINES!
Glory was the day in May 2021 when I took delivery of a Theta Z1 with native video mode with the street view app. The new work flow was:
-Power up the Camera and android phone
-Enable Full Force GNSS in developer options
-Open the street view app and connect the camera
-Walk and take a max 3 min clip
-repeat for up to 45~ of hiking, (keeping a faster pace for more blue per trip)
-download all the clips via the app (continue for round 2 of another 51g of video if desired)
-go home and upload them through the app
AND BOOM, BIG LONG BLUE LINES!
I could get 3-4 miles of hiking trail in remote area’s in a day, no problem. An example of a day project here
138 miles done since May 2021. So many Blue lines into the wilderness!
I am crushed that this is not longer supported (streetview app fully disabled it last week). The reason I bought the Z1 is just gone. poof…
I find the ideas of how to still use the Z1 like @newchel describes in this post to be inelegant and time consuming.
I find the output of 8k 2fps ok a Theta x and shown here to be far below the image quality I was getting from my workflow with the Z1.
Questions
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Do you find my theta Z1 work to be better than the 8k2fps Theta X output?
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Will I have to suffer inelegant workflows with my Z1 or will Ricoh add GPS data to video?
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What is the best camera to switch to produce good quality streetview images while hiking?