3D Panoramas (Panoramae?) in Maya

[Koetsu]

Does anyone else that uses Maya have any idea how to do a 360-degree render? All I've been able to find is this, but I'd like to think there's a somewhat more straightforward solution.

[mercedes]

Is it imperative you use Maya--or will any other software help..? I see what you mean...there are hardly any that are straight forward..

Here's a couple i found...for Maya..I have no idea if they're any good though...You may have already seen them as well..~

http://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/plugins/rendering/mental_ray/3759.html


Here's a good tutorial made with Bryce
http://www.adventuremaker.com/help/360_degree_panorama.htm

You could try stitching photos together in photoshop..

Peace

[Koetsu]

I don't seem to be able to look at any of the links, but I'm behind a filter, so I'm pretty sure they're all just blocked. I'll take another look when I'm back home.

I wouldn't mind switching to another program, but I and two others would have to spend time learning how to use it... usually not a problem, but not the fastest thing to do in the middle of a project. Bryce could be worth looking into in the future, though. Still, I would think that Maya should be able to handle something simple like a 360-degree FOV...

[mercedes]

Ok i have searched high and low...I don't think u can get any easier then watching a 1 minute video..By the way there are tons of tutorials on this page for Maya.. I just hope the one playing will do the trick..~:D
Strangely wasn't easy to find...

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/41035_autodesk-maya-rendering-images.htm

Might be something here..
http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/61/859159

Peace

[Koetsu]

I can probably use any of these solutions easily to make a single panorama, but our maps are very, very large and have anywhere from ten to sixty nodes... Whatever we come up with has to be easy to duplicate, easy to render, re-render, and batch render, and completely invisible so it doesn't show up in other shots. It's probably a lot to ask from Maya, but that's our only option other than not using panoramas.

...I suppose we could also just buy caffeine pills and antidepressants in bulk, too.

[mercedes]

Well...that tutorial showed a single panoramic--but i gathered it would be the same way...You would just have to put all pictures on screen..and go to the same menus..I would think..

Another solution..I"ve often done this..Photoshop
Photoshop is one of those applications that i find are consistent with others..
In other words...I've often followed one of their tuts...and used it in my applications--whether it be gimp or whatever..Or perhaps another software..did u look at the Bryce tut..maybe its along the same lines..?


I learned how to draw from ZW[A Member] online thru emails--Him using photoshop...and me using whatever..gimp or photoimpressions.. He'll give me a point for point on what to do..and believe it or not..it works..lol..I can't promise you that this would be a solution..but it might be worth a shot..

Peace~

[Koetsu]

It looks like Bryce just has a button for panoramas... Maya doesn't have any way of doing it at all.

You know, I wonder if there's a way to take four shots in four directions at each node (Which I can do, easily), put them in sets, and automatically stitch them together? Manually would be a bit much, but if there's a way to put together large numbers of panoramas at once, it wouldn't be much more work than just having Maya do it.

[mercedes]

Yes i believe there is a way to stitch photos together..Do u have anything in any of the menus called photomerge..anything like that..Or merge anything..

http://www.phong.com/tutorials/photostitch/

Here is a tutorial done in photoshop..lol..might help ?

Just look for similar options in the menus..Hopefully that'll help..There are tons of stitching software or tutorials..But i always seem to fall back on Photoshop[ZW] lol..
..I find GIMP--which is what i use..somewhat confusing--the menus..So for me to look in them..There are about 100 different ways of doing the exact same thing.. And most tuts i find in gimp are somewhat long winded as well...

[Koetsu]

Bleh... I can't stand GIMP. It's everything I disliked about Linux, distilled into a graphics program.

Photomerge should work, though. It's a bit of work, but that's much, much better than I was expecting. The perspective thing wont even be an issue, since I'm not working with actual cameras. Thanks for the help.

[mercedes]

Np...Glad I could help..

Later~:D

[Imari]

Hi Koestu,
Wow, you're lucky to have Maya, what a terrific program! I did find one work-around for shooting a panorama in Maya, though I am not sure if it will give you a good cylindrical panorama or not. The fellow who wrote this tutorial seems to be making a baked texture and using it as a panoramic image. It might be worth testing.
http://fyuri.deviantart.com/art/Rendering-panorama-in-Maya-77099383

Failing that, Vue d'Esprit makes a version called X-stream that acts (as I understand it) as a plug-in for Maya. It's expensive, but it does do cylindrical panoramic images. You can read about it here. --->
http://www.e-onsoftware.com/products/vue/vue_7_xstream/

Best of luck with your project and good to see you back.
~C

Edit -
I took the picture from that tutorial and tried it with AM's cylindrical plug-in and (other than AM's usual pixelation of the image) it works fine. I'd recommend setting the camera a bit lower in the scene though, as eye level is somewehe above the top of the bookcases.

[Koetsu]

Sadly, the $1495 (Come on, just put it at $1500, who're you fooling?) price tag is a bit off-putting. We'll try the method in that tutorial though, and see if it's any faster than our current method. What we've been doing for a night or two is making easily-duplicated "pods" of 4+ cameras, that can be pasted anywhere we need a node. This way, we can render all of the cameras at once and autostitch them, without many misalignments or errors since the cameras are in the same angles and positions each time.

EDIT: Plus, this way we can use our already-owned copies of Photoshop. Which is a massive plus, given our budget of $Whatever-Coins-Happen-To-Be-In-Our-Pockets

[Imari]

You can have multiple cameras in Maya? I'm jealous.

Just in case your pod idea does not pan out to suit you. I use Vue Infinite (not X-Stream) to make cubic panoramas, but I think that you might use a variation for the segments of your cylinder.

I set my camera FOV at 18mm/90 degrees. I then set up a six second animation at the rate of one frame per second and rotate the camera from a single POV (one turn per second) to get the six sides of the cube. (Make sure the sun/light does not follow your camera's movement.)

I hope that we'll get to see some of your results.

[Koetsu]

When I'm back at my workstation, I'll try and post some screenshots and a list of steps. It'd be kind of a jerk move to go "HEY GUYS, FIGURED IT OUT BUT I'M NOT TELLING". Hopefully though, you'll be seeing quite enough of our work when we've finished the site for it.