I have recently upgraded to Pano2VR Pro version 4.5 and I have successfully updated a number of single flash/html5 panoramas using multiresolution. However, I have come across the following problems when attempting to update a virtual tour which has 11 panoramas.
When using the standard non-multiresolution mode, there are no problems with the flash virtual tour, but each panorama in the html5 virtual tour shows a vertical black line in the exact position where each panoramic image would wrap around to join up together. In order to identify the cause of the problem, I have created flash and html5 output files in separate folders and I have copied the flash output files over to the html5 folder in case the images in the html5 folder are defective. I still get the same vertical lines in each panorama when playing the html5 virtual tour.
I have tried creating a single output folder using the flash multiresolution mode with the same html5 multiresolution settings and generation of files turned off. There are no problems with the the flash virtual tour, but each panorama in the html5 virtual tour shows a number of dislocated tiles. Given this problem, I have then created a separate output folder using the html5 multiresolution mode. There are now no problems with the html5 virtual tour. The vertical lines have disappeared and there are no dislocations of tiles.
Using multiresolution mode with separate output folders for flash and html5 has eliminated the above problems, but the size of the virtual tour using the recommended multiresolution settings is now 358 MB which is almost twice the size of a single output folder used by both flash and html5. The size of a problem free standard non-multiresolution virtual tour would be about 20 MB.
Can anyone suggest the cause of the above problems? My operating system is Vista 64.
Problem with vertical lines in HTML5 virtual tour
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360Texas
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Just a thought... lets say your panorama is 6000 wide. You decide to edit in PHOTOSHOP the panorama and inadvertently save the panorama at 5999 wide. When viewing that will create a 1 pixel vertical line in the projection.
The 11 panoramic images that I have used in my virtual tour are not the cause of the problem. I have used the same images with no problems in three earlier versions of Pano2VR and they work OK in the flash mode of Pano2VR Pro 4.5. As an aside, I use FSPViewer64 to quickly check the quality of my panoramic images - no problems with the images.
It has occurred to me that the html5 multiresolution mode has eliminated the vertical lines in my multiple panoramas because it has overlapped adjacent tiles by one pixel. The standard non-multiresolution mode when processing multiple panoramas has resulted in one or two pixels short of a full wrapping around.
I have now ignored the recommended multiresolution settings and have used my own settings to reduce the size of the html5 output folder. This time I have created the html5 output first and I have have tried using the same output folder for flash by using the same settings with generation of tiles turned off. Each panorama in the flash virtual tour shows a magnified and distorted image of the panorama, so I have created a separate flash output folder. Both the flash and html5 virtual tours play with no problems and the size of the virtual tour is now down from 358 MB to 56 MB. Further tweaking may reduce the size even further.
I would expect no vertical lines in a multiple panorama html5 virtual tour (I didn't get any vertical lines when updating a number of virtual tours with a single panorama) and I suspect this problem may be due to a bug in Pano2VR Pro 4.5. Fortunately, the multiresolution mode is a workaround. I do not understand why I am unable to to use the same output folder for both flash and html5 virtual tours.
It has occurred to me that the html5 multiresolution mode has eliminated the vertical lines in my multiple panoramas because it has overlapped adjacent tiles by one pixel. The standard non-multiresolution mode when processing multiple panoramas has resulted in one or two pixels short of a full wrapping around.
I have now ignored the recommended multiresolution settings and have used my own settings to reduce the size of the html5 output folder. This time I have created the html5 output first and I have have tried using the same output folder for flash by using the same settings with generation of tiles turned off. Each panorama in the flash virtual tour shows a magnified and distorted image of the panorama, so I have created a separate flash output folder. Both the flash and html5 virtual tours play with no problems and the size of the virtual tour is now down from 358 MB to 56 MB. Further tweaking may reduce the size even further.
I would expect no vertical lines in a multiple panorama html5 virtual tour (I didn't get any vertical lines when updating a number of virtual tours with a single panorama) and I suspect this problem may be due to a bug in Pano2VR Pro 4.5. Fortunately, the multiresolution mode is a workaround. I do not understand why I am unable to to use the same output folder for both flash and html5 virtual tours.
Hi Dave,
I stand corrected. The 11 panoramas of my virtual are among the earliest of my virtual tours which are not 360 x 180 and I stitched these panoramas using Autostitch. The pixel sizes of each panoramic image vary and are not in a 2:1 ratio. My more recent panoramas are 360 x 180 and I have used PTGui Pro to stitch the photos into 2:1 ratio equirectangular panoramic images. It is possible that Pano2VR has been more forgiving when generating flash virtual tours using non 2:1 ratio images, but html5 virtual tours have more exacting requirements. I will try updating a more recent multiple panorama virtual tour with 2:1 ratio panoramic images to confirm whether my above panoramic images are the cause of the problem or not.
The lack of a 2:1 ratio of pixels in my panoramic images may also be the reason why I have been unable to use a single output folder for both flash and html5 virtual tours.
Thank you for your suggestion of the possible cause of my problems.
I stand corrected. The 11 panoramas of my virtual are among the earliest of my virtual tours which are not 360 x 180 and I stitched these panoramas using Autostitch. The pixel sizes of each panoramic image vary and are not in a 2:1 ratio. My more recent panoramas are 360 x 180 and I have used PTGui Pro to stitch the photos into 2:1 ratio equirectangular panoramic images. It is possible that Pano2VR has been more forgiving when generating flash virtual tours using non 2:1 ratio images, but html5 virtual tours have more exacting requirements. I will try updating a more recent multiple panorama virtual tour with 2:1 ratio panoramic images to confirm whether my above panoramic images are the cause of the problem or not.
The lack of a 2:1 ratio of pixels in my panoramic images may also be the reason why I have been unable to use a single output folder for both flash and html5 virtual tours.
Thank you for your suggestion of the possible cause of my problems.
Both the problems described above are resolved when using 2:1 ratio rectangular panoramic images. Vertical lines no longer appear in standard non-multiresolution html5 based virtual tours and flash/html5 based virtual tours using multiresolution can make use of the same images in a single tile folder.
My above postings describe a workaround to create flash/html5 virtual tours when available panoramic images are not in a 2:1 ratio rectangular format.
My above postings describe a workaround to create flash/html5 virtual tours when available panoramic images are not in a 2:1 ratio rectangular format.
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JimWatters
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Good to hear you got it figured out.
When using the same folder for both Flash and HTML5 multiresolution you need to make sure that you are using the same file naming convention. Best to copy and paste from one to the other.
Also need to make sure both are using the same preview.
An easier way to get both HTML5 and Flash multiresolution is to generate HTML5 multiresolution then on the HTML tab check "Flash fallback player:" and leave "Flash fallback file:" empty. Both HTML5 and Flash will use a single xml file to describe how the images go together. There is no need to generate a Flash output.
Whenever changing tile sizes or file naming schema before generating new tiles delete the folder of old tiles. You may have a bunch of tiles from previous test that would not be used and just add to the size of your upload.
When using the same folder for both Flash and HTML5 multiresolution you need to make sure that you are using the same file naming convention. Best to copy and paste from one to the other.
Also need to make sure both are using the same preview.
An easier way to get both HTML5 and Flash multiresolution is to generate HTML5 multiresolution then on the HTML tab check "Flash fallback player:" and leave "Flash fallback file:" empty. Both HTML5 and Flash will use a single xml file to describe how the images go together. There is no need to generate a Flash output.
Whenever changing tile sizes or file naming schema before generating new tiles delete the folder of old tiles. You may have a bunch of tiles from previous test that would not be used and just add to the size of your upload.
- Jim Watters
http://photocreations.ca
http://photocreations.ca