APhoto - Anyone know how to use the panorama transform source image tool?

[nwhit]

Trying to do a complex rectilinear panorama (300 pics) and some of the pics are not aligned correctly (mostly rotation). I see from an Affinity video that the panorama transform source image tool supposedly allows for movement of each pic, but I can't see how to use it (no instructions in the online manual or Help), and I don't see a rotate cursor when I try to use the tool. 

Sure could use some guidance on how to align images within the Panorama editor, and really wish Affinity would publish something on this. The examples they have in their vids are extremely simple panos and they really don't go into any real detail on how to edit complex panos. 

(An interesting aside is that while it takes terribly long for Photo to create the panorama (15-25 minutes), it does a significantly better job on this complex mapping panorama than my normal PTGui pano software. )

[nwhit]

Just found out how to rotate (not intuitive or consistent with normal GUI) -- grab a corner and it will rotate, but cursor doesn't change. Still welcome some suggestions on how to get better alignment refinement after the initial render. I have also been playing with the Develop/Lens Distort and Mesh Warp tools after final rendering of the pano, but really need to be sure I am getting as much refinement within the pano editor before finalizing that part.

[Dan C]

Hi nwhit

11 hours ago, nwhit said:

Just found out how to rotate (not intuitive or consistent with normal GUI) -- grab a corner and it will rotate, but cursor doesn't change

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, I'll log this as a bug with our developers now as I believe the cursor should update when resizing or rotating.

In regards to alignment, I would personally say that manual alignment is the best option here, although time consuming I find it always produces the best results!

[nwhit]

9 hours ago, Dan C said:

Hi nwhit

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, I'll log this as a bug with our developers now as I believe the cursor should update when resizing or rotating.

In regards to alignment, I would personally say that manual alignment is the best option here, although time consuming I find it always produces the best results!

Can you help me with another item in Panorama editing where there is no explanation in the documentation? There is a tool along the top contextual toolbar within the Cropping tool called Straighten. I can see from trying that it has some type of line drawing, but I have no clue on how to use it. Plus it seems there might be another "straighten" function available with that tool, but no instructions on what it does or how to use it.

I'm also demoing the 1.7 beta but I don't see any real difference there in the Panorama editing. In fact, it seems to take longer to generate the original panos than it does in 1.6. It would be really nice if Affinity could do a bit more extensive tutorial on this otherwise nice feature/tool (Panoramas). And the Help section should actually include what the tools do and how to use them. 

Thanks.

[R C-R]

13 hours ago, nwhit said:

There is a tool along the top contextual toolbar within the Cropping tool called Straighten. I can see from trying that it has some type of line drawing, but I have no clue on how to use it.

With the Crop Tool selected, click the "Straighten" button & draw a line along something that should be vertical or horizontal in the image, like the horizon in an outdoor shot or the edge of a wall or floor in an indoor one.

[Dan C]

You can find out more about straightening here - 

https://affinity.help/photo/English.lproj/index.html?page=pages/SizeTransform/cropping.html?title=Cropping and straightening

15 hours ago, nwhit said:

Plus it seems there might be another "straighten" function available with that tool, but no instructions on what it does or how to use it.

What other function are you referring to here please?

15 hours ago, nwhit said:

 I'm also demoing the 1.7 beta but I don't see any real difference there in the Panorama editing. In fact, it seems to take longer to generate the original panos than it does in 1.6. It would be really nice if Affinity could do a bit more extensive tutorial on this otherwise nice feature/tool (Panoramas). And the Help section should actually include what the tools do and how to use them. 

We're working on a new set of tutorials for version 1.7 and I'll make sure our documentation team are aware of your request

I recommend posting any feedback regarding the betas processing speed in the relevant section of our forums, so our team can investigate this for you!
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/34-photo-beta-on-windows/

[R C-R]

8 minutes ago, Dan C said:

You can find out more about straightening here

For what almost nothing it is worth, in that video at about 22 second in the narrator says a "ruler-like" icon will appear. It is that, but if you look closely it looks a lot like a one bubble version of a "torpedo" spirit level, shown below at 2X magnification.

It's a nice little detail, easy to overlook. 

[Dan C]

I'll try and get this corrected in the updated video, thanks R C-R

[R C-R]

3 minutes ago, Dan C said:

I'll try and get this corrected in the updated video, thanks R C-R

There is no need for that because it is a ruler-like icon. I just thought it was a detail worth mentioning because I appreciate the effort the icon designer put into creating an icon that suggests its function.

[nwhit]

Thanks! I had not thought of looking at the normal Crop tool info, thinking perhaps the Pano editing tools might be different. For much of my work in photo processing, I have always used the Develop Persona's Rotate and Scale to get things level. But I may have to look at the Crop and Straighten tools. The problem in 1.6 has always been that none of the crop settings are sticky (Constrain, Darken, etc.), so if processing a few hundred pics, using cropping I always have to click the Constrain to Original Ratio and Darken buttons every time. With Develop, no need for that. 

The "extra" tool I was referring to was the level/ruler icon, which I thought might be a different function from the main drawing of a line. When I had tried it, I had about 300 pics in the pano, so the icon was delayed past the first line drawing, so thought maybe it was a different function. 

On the beta 1.7, I'll do a bit more testing as time allows to see how it does compared to 1.6 on complex panos. I think I'll reduce the number of pics involved so as to speed up the testing. I was "dreaming/hoping" that maybe 1.7 was going to really advance pano work, but it seems to be pretty much the same results, so thinking not much changed there. 

Thanks for the assistance!