Gigapan Workflow

This is a Gigapan image. Drag the image to pan, double click to zoom in, shift double click to zoom out, or open full screen viewer or view on gigapan.org
Gigapan Workflow Putting it all together (copied From GigaPanWiki pre it going away) In Photography 'Workflow' is the word used to describe the whole process of (possibly :-) planning a photo shoot, taking images, capturing extra information about your subject (for ex. getting signed releases from your subject), loading the images into your computer, backing up the originals, adding titles and notes to the images, doing any image cleanup/photoshop type work, backing up your work, and finally producing required output-uploading the image to Gigapan.org or creating prints.

(it is exhausting even to think about!)

Please modify this list as you see fit...this is just one person's (developing) gigapan workflow.

  1. Plan your shoot. I usually just grab my gear and explore, taking pictures is part of my process of experiencing a new place. But there are times when you want to generate 'complete' coverage of a location. Planning your shoot in advance can make sense, and allow you to get far more and better shots.
  2. Check and Pack your gear see the pre shoot checklist
  3. Pick your spot and set up your gigapan and tripod. You need to think about the power of the image you are creating. Once you get past the initial excitement that yes, you can zoom in until you can count the leaves in that tree, you (hopefully) realize that adding pixels to a boring subject just gives you more pixels celebrating a boring subject. With conventional photography you look through a viewfinder (or look at ground glass or an LCD :-) and frame your subject. Everything which makes its' way into your frame is your responsibility. With a gigapan the process is identical, except that you have dozens or hundreds of images to manage. (there is more on this subject, such as dealing with the distortions in the image introduced by your particular stitching software...). Remember: you will not get a good gigapan by plonking the camera down at random and shooting a 360 panorama!
  4. Set or check your white balance, ISO, exposure, and focus. (I _think_ there is a potential 'win' by using High Dynamic Range techniques here, but that is for later). The stitching software works best if you use the same white balance, ISO, and exposure for all of your images. I've also been setting the auto focus lock. There are good reasons to set that, but there may be alternatives. If you don't lock in your white balance and exposure your image color balance will shift from image to image. One example, for interesting optical reasons, when you take a picture of the Sky to the North is becomes intensly blue (okay, assuming it was a blue sky, and not cloudy :-).
  5. Make sure the camera is zoomed all the way out (or really, that it is zoomed the same amount as when you set up the gigapan's field of view!).
  6. Set the gigapan range-Top left and lower right corners, or in 360 mode the top and bottom of the image. As a shortcut: I manually move the camera position up and down until the image includes the highest item I want in the picture. I then move the camera manually (ie. not using the gigapan control buttons) to the left side of my desired image. Then set the lower right. You _must_ use the gigapan controls to adjust the camera to the lower right )or in the case of a 360 pano, for the top and bottom.
  7. Review the image to be taken with the gigapan. Or don't review it...and start shooting the panorama.
  8. Set a GPS waypoint for the panorama. (I use a single letter and a number...A1, B3, ... M14)
  9. Take one or more orientation photos with your second camera. Show the gigapan in the context of the scene being shot.
  10. Record details about the panorama in your notebook (presumable paper notebook...I use a Moleskine). I record the name of the GPS waypoint, the filename of the picture(s) taken with your alternate camera of the Gigapan in situ, and any comments I may have about the location.
  11. Wait for the gigapan to finish. Use your alternate camera to take images, including an image of your gigapan taking images. Consider carrying a trash bag and using some of this waiting time to clean up. Scout location of your next gigapan.
  12. Pack up...move to your next spot and repeat 1-10. (please elaborate on the following...I know I'm missing steps!) After the shoot -start batteries charging -copy images from cameras -back up images -'log' your gigapans (tk: notes on extracting exif data and automatically generating a list of images which are likely gigapans.)

    -organize/capture metadata: transcribe notebooks, write up any additional information from memory, load GPS tracks and waypoints.

    -do any image clean up: adjust exposure, white balance, remove cars, do HDR work, etc.

    -create the .gigapan files -start stitching... -optionally export to Tif -upload your gigapan -add metadata: name, description, tags, location to your gigapan.