wwp@yahoogroups.com:
Re: selecting, copying, pasting images into source pano
Richard Crowest 2005-Oct-12 13:56:00
Hi Caroling -
> ?1. Has to do with selection, that is, in a graphics program, what
> are the techniques for selecting the actor image? Do you use the
> magnetic lasso? Wand? Some other technique? Are these methods
> described in Photoshop help?
For me with the multiple dogs, I really just used an extension of the
technique I use when stitching. I use PanoTools through PTMac and
output a Photoshop file with layers and masks - I like having the
flexibility to decide exactly where the seam goes and how soft it is,
especially for skies. For the multiFudge, I simply took multiple shots
with the camera in each position round the pano head, and pasted all
the shots from one position on top of each other in Photoshop. Then I
added layer masks to each one (set to hide all) and just painted with
a soft-edge white brush on the mask to reveal each copy of Fudge.
There was no need to be accurate with the edges, as the background
behind each one was exactly the same. As I mentioned in the equipment
section on the pano page, none of the images of Fudge has been moved,
which is why some parts of the garden are more doggy than others. The
only places where I had to be more careful were where two dogs
overlapped, when I used a much smaller brush to paint in exactly the
needed area.
I like layer masks because any changes you make are completely
reversible. If you select first and then paste, you can take bits
away, but you can't add anything back that you didn't originally select.
> ?2. I suppose you paste each actor into a base photo of that view
> before stitching. Or do you stitch each separate pano and then cut
> and paste from each source?
The former. With so many layers, it's much easier to have several
smaller Photoshop documents than one enormous one that takes several
minutes just to save.
I do the same thing when I take two different exposures of an interior
to get rid of bleached-out windows - layer in the relevant bits to
produce an optimised image first, then stitch. I'm about to try one of
those 360Precision heads for some new work, though, and I'm hoping it
might be possible to automatically stitch two complete panos with
different exposures, and then layer them. With only two layers, it
shouldn't slow things down too much.
Hope that helps. If you're not familiar with layer masks, I've just
done a quick Google and this seems to be a fairly good tutorial:
http://www.myjanee.com/tuts/layermask/layermask.htm
Rx