fieldOfView | SPi-V devTimelapse extension+ wait loading message and rotation scriplets + bad display on intel Mac
Hello Aldo + Forum,
I use the most recent version of the timelapse extension for displaying timelapse panoramas.
Although the Timelapse extension works fine it lack some features f.i, the ability to manually stop the play, go back, go forwards in time.
Q1) Can this issue be solved with some extra code (if so please provide the script because I have 2 left hands for xml scripting ;-) or perhaps there is an enhanced version of the timelapse extension that provides the extra functionality.
My most recent timelapse contains 56 equirectangulars size 3400x1700 px, total 35 MB.
No need to say that loading took ages so I used the wait message scriplet. This scriplet displays a message and stops displaying long before the play starts, so perhaps it is synchronized with loading but not with the play.
Q2) Can this issue be solved so the message stops displaying when (and not before) the timelapse is ready to play ?
The timelapse is most attractive when it is rotating with a certain speed that keeps up with the speed of the sun moving in the scene. Although it is simple to set the wait time before rotation starts and to set the rotation speed I only can get a pretty good synchronized rotation speed for 1 machine, when viewing on another computer the synchronzing between rotation and the sun in the scene is gone.
Q3) Is it possible to get a synchronizing that works on all systems ?
I have 2 Mac computers, a iMac (G5) and a MacBookPro (intel).
Although the MacBookPro is much faster then the iMac and contains 4 times as much VRAM the display quality is not half as good on the MacBookPro that displays a blurry not sharp image, I tried several browsers and they all dispayed the same bad quality.
Q4) Is there anything I can do to improve the quality on the MacBookPro ?
For the brave one with lots of patience here is an online link to the timelapse:
http://www.dmmdh.nl/panos/timelapse_19122007/timelapse_19122007_SPiV.htm...
All the best,
Wim
PS, I use a Seitz VR drive and a Canon timer with a custom made drive connector to make the timelapse, each pano of the timelapse is made of 3 roundshots (EOS 5D+ shaved Tokina 10-17@11mm) and all panos are batch stitched in PTGui-Pro.
Re: Timelapse extension+ wait loading message and rotation scrip
Q1: interface
Yes, an interface can be coded in XML, including a seekbar. However: no, I don't have sample code ready.
Q2: waiting until all the frames have loaded.
This too is possible, with some XML. You will have to add a behavior to the timelapse node, listening for the event 'ready'. The loader script you use listens to the 'ready' event of the scene node, which is fired after the first frame has loaded. The 'ready' event of the timelapse node fires when all frames have preloaded.
Q3: getting the same panspeed/framespeed on different systems.
In a word: no. You can increase the minimal pause between frames to something your slowest system can keep up with. Other than that, it's not possible.
Q4: downscaled panoramas
I have uploaded a newer version of the timelapse extension, which has marginally better memory support and should not start downscaling the panoramas as eagerly as the previous version.
Note that the timelapse extension is meant to display a sequence of a 'handful' of images with a configurable pause. It is not meant to display panoramic video, and it is not suitable for large numbers of high resolution panoramas; the extension is limited by system memory.
On my systems, with 2Gb of memory, the extension starts failing after preloading about a gigabyte worth of frames. This is easy to calculate: width*height*4(bytes per pixel)*number of frames. There is very little that can be done about this, other than switching to a video container instead of separate images.
Your set fits my system memory at the current resolution, but I thought I'ld let you know before you got your hopes up.
Re: Timelapse extension+ wait loading message and rotation ...
Hello Aldo,
I wish you and your lady a very good 2008.
I read on your Wrinkle In Time page that for sure it will be an exiting year for you both :-)
Thanks you for your help and I hope to see you in Prague this year.
Best,
Wim.