Quick and Dirty Panoramic Photos on the Cheap

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I gave a lightning talk at this year's WhereCamp on "Are you jealous of people with wide-angle high-resolution cameras?  Use your crappy camera cell-phone and make your own wide-angle photos using entirely free software"  It was perfect ordering that I was immediately followed by GigaPan's Nano-Pan on "How we make fantastic non-crappy panos using the best equipment!"
  1. Take a video with your flip or cell phone. If you can't take videos, take lots of 1/2 overlapping photos and skip to step 3.  But video is easier and faster even though it adds a step.
  2. Export the video to individual frames using VirtualDub.


    • Trouble opening? If you have a fancy camera that records high-def video, install ffdshow and open the file using the "File type: DirectShow input driver"
    • You might also have to "de-interlace" – at that point, stop using video and take regular pictures.
    • Under the "Video" menu change the frame-rate to 10x whatever it is (~300) but below that convert it back to the current value (~30) so you only are exporting 1 of each 10 frames.
    • Export as "Image Sequence"

  3. Stitch the photos
    • Drag the whole batch of images on Microsoft ICE and wait.
    • Click on the little cube in the ICE menu and straighten out the pano.
    • You can also use Hugin (more control), AutoStitch (less control but more automatic) – all free!
  4. Export, save, upload to your friends!
This took less than 20 seconds to shoot, and less than 5 minutes to stitch.





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