PhotoWarp has introduced many new capabilities and improvements with each new version. Here is a record of the most important changes:
PhotoWarp 2.5 includes support for the following one shot optics:
All of these source formats use a calibrated optical profile to ensure the most accurate geometry possible for each lens. Often, this profile is even more accurate than the original software that came with the optic.
FlashVR is a perspective-correct panorama viewer written in Macromedia Flash. As more computers today have Java applets disabled or unavailable in their browsers, this is an attractive way to deliver interactive panoramas to an Internet audience.
Some users may like to manipulate the faces of a QuickTime VR Cubic image in an external program before generating their final panorama. This might be useful for composing multiple shots for a "full cubic" pano, or for hot spot generation tools. The Cube face images format will generate six image files for the faces of a cube for easier editing.
Thumbnails always used a cylindrical projection in earlier versions. Now, you can choose a cylindrical, spherical, or perspective projection for the thumbnail.
A simple checkbox on most output formats, auto levels will adjust the contrast of the image to fill the entire dynamic range from black to white. This has identical functionality to the Photoshop function of the same name, and is useful to enhance images and bring out small details.
A preview window generates low resolution QuickTime VR movies as sources are manipulated. This gives an accurate preview of the results without unwarping. The preview can be used to precisely set the default view of panoramas as well.
Initial setup of PhotoWarp has been simplified with the new Setup Assistant. The assistant guides new users through entering a license key, software registration, and essential preferences.
PhotoWarp 2.5 includes a scripting dictionary to automate with AppleScript. You can create a script to make new jobs, add sources and change their formats, unwarp jobs, and more.
Previous versions of PhotoWarp would always downsample source images to 8 bits per channel for unwarping. In 2.5, PhotoWarp can preserve the full dynamic range of source images throughout processing. If an output format is selected that supports 16 bits per channel, the full range of the source will be emitted.
PhotoWarp 2.5 has the fastest unwarping engine available in any application. PhotoWarp is fully optimized for multiple processors, G4 and G5 processors with Altivec, and Intel processors with MMX, SSE or SSE2.
Rather than unwarping all the sources in a job, the Unwarp Selection command in the File menu will unwarp only the current or selected sources.
A draggable proxy icon for the currently visible image file is shown in the Job window. This can be used for easy access to the original file for editing or reference.
A new algorithm is made available in PhotoWarp 2.5 for detecting the position of a mirror in a one-shot image. The new technique is extremely fast (under half a second per image), and more accurate than the previous technique for the most common image. The new algorithm supports all one-shot optics available in PhotoWarp.
PhotoWarp 2.5 interprets image files to group photographs likely to have identical mirror positions. PhotoWarp will take the best position match within a group and apply it to all the images in the group to improve mirror detection in batch jobs.
Image files can be manipulated and saved in Photoshop or another image editor that is an active source in PhotoWarp. Once PhotoWarp is reactivated, the display will update automatically to reflect changes in the file
For 360 One VR lenses, a mirror distance
parameter records the distance in millimeters between the apex of the mirror and the camera's focal point. PhotoWarp 2.5 uses a ray tracing algorithm and the precise geometry of the mirror to deliver an extremely accurate unwarped image. Previously, unwarping images taken at a significant offset from the base of the optic resulted in some bending
of lines in resulting panoramas. This is eliminated with this new control.
PhotoWarp 2.5 allows the user to customize the view constraint parameters manually for each source. By default, PhotoWarp will intelligently select constraints for the source, which can be easily overridden for any purpose.
PhotoWarp 2.5 offers an auto-rotate
capability for all interactive panorama output formats. This uses the built-in facility for PTViewer and Zoom viewers, or generates a custom wired sprite for QuickTime VR movies.
The view knob for sources with PhotoWarp 2 was restricted to the horizon. In 2.5, the knob will stick
to the horizon, but can be moved to any tilt position. Holding the alt key while dragging will disable the sticky horizon.
Sources, when unwarped to a cylindrical or spherical format, will be split consistently at the same angle in PhotoWarp 2.5. This split line
position is displayed on the source pane directly opposite the view knob, and can be moved by dragging the view knob.
By clicking the arrow buttons above the Unwarp button, you can switch between sources in a batch job without accessing the source list.
You can now select one or more sources in the source list at the same time. Once selected, you can unwarp, remove or change the type of all the selected sources at once.
Below the resolution slider for cylindrical and spherical image formats, the Dimensions indicator shows the exact dimensions of the image file that will be generated. The value changes live as the resolution slider is changed.
A target file size
can be indicated. PhotoWarp will automatically adjust compression settings to meet this file size as closely as possible.
The output pane will now display web pages using Safari on Mac OS X or Internet Explorer on Windows.
The interface of PhotoWarp 2 has been redesigned to accomodate a professional workflow, while maintaining the simplicity of the original.
PhotoWarp 2 accepts one or more source image files which will be unwarped sequentially into one or more output formats. This is a tremendous time savings compared to the one source to one output format model used in the original.
PhotoWarp 2's optimized unwarping engine is considerably faster than the original PhotoWarp, and by far the fastest available. Coupled with batch processing, PhotoWarp can produce hundreds of panoramas in minutes.
PhotoWarp supports several output formats, each having many settings to tailor the output to your needs. These settings can be saved as a format template in the Templates palette for re-use in other jobs.
Output formats are shown as icons in an expanding Tray. The formats can be repositioned, copied to or from the Templates window, and renamed just like file icons
A job consists of all the sources, output formats and settings used when unwarping. Jobs can be saved for later reference or to repeat the same unwarping process later on. You can save, load and change job files just like any kind of document.
Job templates are simply job files with the sources removed. They can be saved into a Job Templates
folder and reused by choosing File → New Job from Template...
. This preserves all the formats and settings used.
You can examine the settings and file information for sources, formats and outputs using the new Inspector (Mac) or Details (Windows) window.
The inspector will show EXIF tags from source images, so you can examine camera settings and other valuable information encoded in the image files.
PhotoWarp can maintain a log of all unwarping activity in the program. The log is also useful for tracking problems and errors that may have occurred during the unwarping process.
In addition to images photographed with the 360 One VR, PhotoWarp 2 accepts any of these formats as sources, which can be unwarped into any of the desired output formats.
When source images from 360 One VR are loaded, PhotoWarp uses an algorithm to automatically locate the position of the mirror in the frame. This is a big time savings for batch processing jobs.
The source pane displays a view knob that controls the default viewing direction of the panorama when opened.
In addition to the traditional cylindrical QuickTime VR movies, PhotoWarp 2 can unwarp into the new QuickTime VR Cubic format.
By popular demand, PhotoWarp 2 supports two of the most popular Java®-based panorama viewers in addition to QuickTime VR.
Image files can be emitted using any file format QuickTime supports. This includes JPEG, TIFF, Adobe Photoshop, and many other popular formats.
PhotoWarp 2 allows most any codec to be selected to compress QuickTime VR movies.
Based on Movie
For QuickTime VR output formats, generated VRs can be based upon another movie file to copy advanced QuickTime capabilities. For instance, a based on movie
can provide a watermark overlay, a movie skin, or an auto-rotate sprite.
Web Scripts allow automatic generation of web pages from PhotoWarp jobs. Web pages for individual panos as well as an index page for all the panoramas in a job, complete with thumbnails, can be created. Web Scripts automatically can generate JavaScript® code for seamless fallback from QuickTime to Java-based panorama viewers. You can create web page templates using the popular PHP scripting language.
PhotoWarp runs on all the most popular operating systems and platforms today.
PhotoWarp unwarps
images photographed with the 360 One VR panoramic optic quickly and accurately. The result is high-quality interactive panoramas in seconds!
PhotoWarp has an amazingly simple, single-click interface to unwarp images. PhotoWarp and 360 One VR received the Best of Show
award at Macworld Expo San Francisco 2002, and a four-mice rating from Macworld magazine.
PhotoWarp can generate QuickTime VR movies for the highest quality panoramic viewing experience available.
PhotoWarp can also generate JPEG or TIFF image files with these traditional image projections for use with image editing applications, or to support other panoramic image formats such as Java viewers.
PhotoWarp can automatically generate small, fixed-size cylindrical image thumbnails for a panorama.
PhotoWarp shows generated image files and QuickTime VR images for your review after unwarping.