Creating QTVR Panoramas from Bryce Landscapes

This document outlines the steps you'll need to complete Assignment 5.

I. In the beginning

1.1 Build a large exterior environment in Bryce that allows interesting lines-of-sight and has enough amplitude (size, range) so that objects may be placed at some distance from the camera. If you can, work from the landscape you built in Assignment 4 -- but remember to re-title the file so you don't overwrite earlier work.

As in Assignment 4, work on a macrocosmic scale, somewhere between 4-6 zooms out from the native 1:1 ratio. (If you're working from your Assignment 4 file, use existing scale settings.)

1.2 Introduce several objects into your landscape. They don't have to be anything too elaborate -- simple shapes will do, provided they are rendered in a material that stands out from the background. Scale these objects to somewhere between 1 and 2 times the size of the camera object.

II. Camera and document setup

2.1 Locate a point in your landscape that affords a good view of most or all the objects. Switch the view to From Top. Using the Location tool in Edit mode, move the camera to your chosen point. Switch to Camera or one of the side views and check the elevation of the camera. It's probably not a good idea to rest your camera on the ground; likewise you don't want to hang it too high in the air. Try to approximate human eye height.

2.2 Speaking of eye level, be sure your camera is level with the horizon -- failing to do this will ruin all further efforts. Find the Camera Options control in the main Bryce interface. This is the gray triangle immediately to the left of the working area at mid-screen. It is the third control from the top of the screen, the previous two being the circle that rotates the display and the other gray triangle that brings up the View Options menu. Click on the Camera Options triangle to reveal its menu. Select the third option from the top, Eye-level camera. You may see no visible change, but your camera will now be level with the horizon.

2.3 Go to the Edit menu at the top of the screen (it probably won't be visible until you move the mouse to the top lefthand corner of your monitor) and select the Document Setup option. You'll see an interface window like this:

On the left of this window is a long list of aspect options. Click on the radio button next to the last option in this list, Techniscope. Now on the right side of the window, under Render Resolution, select the option above the one currently selected: 1:0.50, or 432 x 184. Click the check button to lock in the changes. The working area will instantly re-size to reflect the new aspect ratio.

I've chosen this ratio because it gives a good balance between visibility and rendering time. You must use the settings above for this assignment because they match a pre-arranged output format. In general, though, if you shoot enough images, just about any aspect ratio will work.

III. Pan and shoot

3.1 Go to the Camera Options control again, activate the menu and this time select Edit Current Camera, the last option on the list. You will see a window like this:

3.2 Look at the three boxes to the right of the word Position. These give the location of the camera in an X-Y-Z coordinate system. Write down the values you see here. If you lose control of the camera for some reason, you can re-enter these values to return the camera to the shooting point.

3.3 Now look below the three position boxes at the three boxes to the right of the word Rotation. These indicate the current rotation of the camera in relation to the three axes. Set all three values to zero (0). You will probably see a change in the display when you do this.

3.4 Render the current image. When rendering is complete, select Save Image As from the File menu. Save this image as assn5.000.jpg (in Windows you only need to enter assn5.000, since the extension will be added automatically). Make sure you are aware of the directory to which you are saving your images, for instance your Zip disk.

3.5 Repeat Step 3.3, but this time enter 45 into the Y-rotation box. Leave the X and Z rotation set to zero and all other values unchanged. Repeat Step 3.4 (render and save), but this time save your image as assn5.045.jpg (or assn5.045 in Windows).

As you may have deduced, we are shooting eight images at 45-degree increments of rotation, using the following naming convention:

Image 1	0 degrees	assn5.000.jpg
Image 2	45 degrees	assn5.045.jpg
Image 3	90 degrees	assn5.090.jpg
Image 4	135 degrees	assn5.135.jpg
Image 5	180 degrees	assn5.180.jpg
Image 6	225 degrees	assn5.225.jpg
Image 7	270 degrees	assn5.270.jpg
Image 8	315 degrees	assn5.315.jpg

I recommend making a written checklist of your eight images and checking them off as you save them. It's surprisingly easy to become distracted even during such a simple process -- remember your experience making photo panoramas in Assignment 1.

IV. Stitch and deliver

4.1 Take your eight images into Spin Panorama or QuickTimeVR Authoring Studio and stitch them into a panorama as you did in Assignment 1.

4.2 Spin Panorama produces a QuickTime movie with a .mov extension; QTVRAS produces a .pano file. You'll need to change the .pano extension to .mov if you used QTVRAS. Name your movie assn5.mov. Upload this file to a new subfolder of your personal directory on Cow named Assignment5. Also upload your .br4 file for my reference.

4.3Go into the vWorldsShared directory on Cow and find the HTML document named assn5Final.htm. Copy this file to the Assignment5 directory in your personal folder. Using a text editor, change the relevant values in this file so that it embeds your .mov or .pano file.

4.4 You can test your work by connecting with a QuickTime-equipped Web browser to http://cow.ubalt.edu/students/[yourlastname]/Assignment5/assn5Final.htm.

V. A Word of Warning

Consider using it for your final project ONLY if you can find a way to eliminate the severe visual distortion (tunnel-vision effect). For more on this subject, see my detailed discussion of the QTVR export feature in Bryce.