How to make a 360 degree panorama in Hugin

Panoramas are a great way of showing more than just an average photo, but most panoramas are just a horizontal view, not a full 360 degrees.

Using a simple program, you will be able to create panoramas to make a complete sphere of images, and be able to create the effect of a planet (see below)

You will need:

• A fairly good digital camera
• A Computer
• Hugin (download Here)

Step 1 Taking the photos (stage 1)

You will need to take lots of photos for this. For a reasonable panorama you will need at least 50, and maybe up to 150, if you choose to zoom.

I recommend taking photos along the horizon first. You should try to keep as level as possible ( it makes it easier). Make sure there is a good overlap between photos. This will make them easier to stitch (join) together, and will give a higher quality panorama.

Do this all the way around.

Comments

[laynein]

You can do that in Photoshop using Fliters-distort-polar coordinates

I heard Hugin by Flickr groups, and Acropano picked by Giveawayoftheday. And I think hugin is good for professional users, on the contrary Acropano is designed for beginners.

http://hugin.sourceforge.net/
http://www.acropano.com/

[stuuf]

Another cool way to view 360° panoramas is with an immersive viewer: http://sac.user.atomicradi.us/ptviewer/view.pl?file=/pan360/forecastle4k.jpg&title=Intrepid+Forecastle

I have some more examples of what hugin can do in capable hands: http://sac.user.atomicradi.us/home/Photography/Panorama360 http://sac.user.atomicradi.us/home/Photography/PanoramaGallery

Also, when you re-orient the panorama for the stereographic view, it seems to work more accurately by doing a numerical transform to pitch -90 and roll 180, if you can't find the nadir precisely enough by hand.