Historical:Partial Panoramas using ROI in PTViewer

Partial Panorama�s using ROI in PTViewer

If you have a panorama that is not fully 360�x180�, and you still want to use PTViewer to immerse your audience into your panorama, there are a few methods to do that.

You can expand your Panorama with blank space around, and use the normal way of displaying a panorama in PTViewer. The disadvantage of this is that if you put this picture online, the download times can be significantly longer because of all the blank space.

To avoid this, it is possible to use a Region Of Interest picture (ROI) to display the panorama. This will only download the partial panorama. We will have to tell PTViewer where to place the picture, and how far the user may pan left and right, and how much they can tilt up and down.

== Gathering Information

From the ROI picture we need to get some basic information :

• Width in pixels (ROI Width) 800 px
• Height in pixels (ROI Height) 541 px
• Position of the horizon from the top of the picture (Horizon pos) 227 px

From the sticther we should be able to get the Horizontal Field of View (HFOV) 160�

From these 4 numbers we should be able to calculate the parameters necessary for PTViewer to display a partial panorama.

Calculating the parameters for PTViewer

Since we know the ROI Width of the picture as well as the Horizontal Field of View (HFOV), we can calculate the field of view for 1 pixel. In this case 180� / 800 pixels = 0.2�/px

With that we can calculate the Vertical Field of View (VFOV) VFOV = 541 px * 0.2�/px = 108�

The objective is to place the ROI picture inside the 360�x180� panorama with the horizon in the ROI image over the horizontal 0� line, and the middle of the ROI image at compass-angle the picture was taken as (or in the middle of the panorama if compass-direction is not important).

pwidth and pheight

To do that we first need to calculate the total size of the panorama image, of which the ROI image is a part of. The calculation is similar to the previous calculation but then the other way around. Since we know the degrees, we can calculate the number of pixels. Panorama Width (Pwidth) = 360� / 0.2�/px = 1800 px Panorama Height (Pheigth) = 180� / 0.2/px = 900 px

x and y offset

To calculate the x and y offset of where the picture needs to be placed we calculate the following

We know that the horizon in the large panorama is halfway. 900 px / 2 = 450 px By subtracting the horizon position we end up with the Y offset. Y Offset = 450 px � 227 px = 223 px

Similarly we can calculate the x offset. In most circumstances, you either don�t know, or don�t care about the direction the picture was taken. In that case it is good practice to place the ROI in the middle of the large pano where 0� is the middle of the picture. You can do this by taking half of the total panorama width 1800 px / 2 = 900 px And subtracting half the size of the picture (in this case 800 px / 2 = 400 px) X Offset = 900 px � 400 px = 500 px

== panmin, panmax, tiltmin and tiltmax To limit the freedom the user has in moving around your pano, you want to restrict the pan and tilt angles.

To calculate this is relatively easy with the information we have gathered above. The pan and tilt angles are calculated in degrees.

Because the ROI is horizontally in the middle, you may pan half the width of the image to the left and right, converted to degrees. Minimum pan = -800px/2 * 0.2�/px = -80� Maximum pan = 800px/2 * 0.2�/px = 80�

The minumum tilt is calculated as the position of the horizon, converted to degrees. Minimum tilt = -227px * 0.2�/px = -45.4� => 45� The maximum tilt is calculated as the height of the ROI minus the position of the horizon, converted to degrees. Maximum tilt = (541px � 227px) * 0.2�/px = 62.8� => 62�

Because the ptviewer does not take fractions of degrees, you throw away the fraction.

Using these numbers in PTViewer should give you a good partial panorama. If you see blank space at the sides of the panorama, you may want to make a 1 degree change to the minimum and maximum pan and tilt untill it does not show up anymore.

Good luck.