[NIKLI]

I´m trying to do a Quicktime VR within Maxwell studio although I have the problem that I can´t type in the camera rotation to excact 90 degrees. Nor does it seems to be possbile to ratate the camera with the rotation function, just objects will rotate.

Is there anyone that have made quicktime VR with Maxwell studio that have som tips for this?

/ Niclas

[ingo]

Hi Niclas, thats a bit complicated to do. Can't you just prepare the camera(s) in your main program and import them into Mx Studio ? If not prepare everything in your 3D program and write down the needed numbers and type them in in MXStudio. Afaik the focal length could be 13,3 mm for a camera with a fov of 90 degrees.

[NIKLI]

It might work but unfortually I´m using Rhino which has poor camera functionality and i have almost the same problem there but I might be able to do some saved views that could work. It´s a little bit annoying since in Blender it´s so easy to do it....

Thanks a lot...

/N

[Leonardo]

It might work but unfortually I´m using Rhino which has poor camera functionality and i have almost the same problem there but I might be able to do some saved views that could work. It´s a little bit annoying since in Blender it´s so easy to do it....

Thanks a lot...

/N

In Rhino
select the perspective view and press F6, you should be able to position your camera using the other views (top, front, right) with pinpoint accuracy

[fuso]

Hi everyone,

That's quite funny, I am dealing with exactly the same issues right now and tried to work out a way of getting this
done. I really think this should be a function you should be able to use from within any platform/plugin as well as inside
Studio. With quite an effort I managed to work around it, so here it goes...

First, I am using 3dsMax 2009 with Maxwell 1.7.1. For creating QTVR's I'm using the Cebas maxVR.qt 2.0 plugin.
http://www.cebas.com/products/products. ... -788&PID=9
I am not sure if it would work in the same way with the built-in 3dsMax panorama exporter.

In your 3d viewport you have to choose the camera which you want to use for the QTVR. In the 3dsMax render
settings I had to disable all forms of output (image, mxs and mxi) in order to prevent having a file exported and 6 times
overwritten straight away. More importantly, you'll have to set the vignetting value to 0, otherwise you'll see the
seams of the 6 rendered views after they've been stiched together. I suggest a few test renders as I find it difficult to
edit a QTVR in post production.

When you hit 'render active' the plugin will automatically export 6 mxs files which will start rendering immediately and
simultaneously (make sure there are enough linceses and you have a strong box under your desk)! Actually when you
stop all the 6 render views one by one 3dsMax intends to crash because the plugin cannot complete writing the final
QuickTime QTVR movie (I guess even if you'd let them finish to render).

Those 6 mxs files are normally named in chronological order and will be saved in your local temporary folder. From there
you can move, edit and rename them as you wish. Conveniently you can edit each of the 6 mxs as to change
resolution (keep it square), target sampling level, etc. Just be aware of all the output paths when you load them in a
queue to re-render.

Suggestion:
1. QTVR-entrance_0.mxs > QTVR-entrance_0.mxi > QTVR-entrance_0.tif
...
6. QTVR-entrance_5.mxs > QTVR-entrance_5.mxi > QTVR-entrance_5.tif

I'm suggesting this because if you use the free version of this image stitching software, you would have a straight
forward workflow. http://www.pano2qtvr.com/

Unfortunately it's all a bit manual work and slightly annoying but at the end it did work for me, looked rather nice and
was well worth the effort. I hope this was helpful or inspired the one or the other for even more adventurous ways of
doing this. Hopefully we'll see that function in Maxwell 2.0! (all fingers and legs crossed)

All the best of luck. Cheers,

Jost

[oz42]

don't forget to turn vignette down to zero or you'll get dark patches when you stitch the six views back together (I use MakeCubic on the Mac).

[NIKLI]

Thank you very much for your answer guys, I thought that I was alone out here.....

Since the plugin maxVR.qt 2.0 won´t work with Rhino I made a work around.

I have used a floating window in Rhino which was set to same LxB. Placing a camera as the first shot would be.

Then i maxwell render changed/double checked film aspect to 35 mmm and focal length to 16 (that might have been wrong compared to the 13.3 stated below, have to check with renderings). Actually I thought the focal length was suppose to be 35 divided by 2 to get a 90 degree view but I hasn´t figured out if the stiching program crops the images. I Blender, with 35 mm film, the focal length is set to 16 thats where I have it from.

In order to rotate the camera within Maxwell studio I have put the target in the same spot as the camera coordninates although one of the targets coordninatas x, y,z, parameters is set to camera coordninates + 2 m, for example x +2. After rendering the picture the taget coordninate is set to x-2 m rendering opposit picture and the same is made for the other cordinates.

A litlle bit of hand work but I belive thats not the time consuming part of the process.

After that I have use Gocubic to stich the images.

Although I didn´t know that I wa able to adjust the vinjettering, so thanks alot for that. so my stiching turn out to be worng I I have to do the process once more....

Thanks once more for all tips.

[ricardo]

You can do it with drag snaps on Rhino 5:

http://screencast.com/t/jjnwXyF70

Plese disregard the out of square point on -Y. And picking the right point can get boring...

[NIKLI]

I have tried almost the same thing in Rhino but oriented the camera to 3 planes that crosses each other in center. Although sometimes the camera tilt and then it is difficult to get it exactly leveled again. And I can´t find out why its tilts since it seems to be randomized.

I shall try this metod and see if it can avoid the problem.

Thanks

/N

[NIKLI]

Ok thanks a lot for all your answers. I believe that is works right now and below is how it is done. I hope you have some use of it the one that have read this.

In the 3D program (In Rhino or other cad program)

Set up your scene and locate the camera to the picture you would like to have as the first picture.
With camera view selected go to view -> viewport layout -> floating viewport (Rhino Command).

Set the size of the viewport as desired as long as the Length and Breadth are exactly the same. This is important else it won´t function for example Length x Breadth corresponding to 520 x 520.
The size of the viewport can be checked within viewport properties under the View menu (Rhino Command).
If your program uses 35mm film by default set the focal length to 17.5 in order to see what will be included in the picture. This can be changed later on in Maxwell Studio.
Write the scene and open up in Maxwell studio.

Settings within Maxwell Studio.
Under Render Options/SimuLens be sure to set the Vignetting to 0 (default 1000)

Now it is time to set up the camera properties to match QuickTime.
Select the camera that you set up for the first picture.
Under Camera Parameters/Resolution check the Film Back size. If you have as standard 35 mm film it should be Width and Height equal to 0.035. If Width and Height isn´t equal then the size of the view in the 3D program probably wasn´t equal to.
Under Camera Parameters/Optics set the Focal Length to half the length of the film x 1000. Since I have standard 35 mm film it would be 0.035/2 x 1000 = 17.5. This step make sure that the actual pictures are taken with 90 degree angle.

In order to render the pictures we will work with the camera position under camera parameters.
Adjust the target position to be equal to the camera except for one position the one you would like to have as the first picture
For example:
Camera 5,7 1,7 -0,2
Target 7,7 1,7 -0,2

Tips: In Maxwell Studio the camera shows blue or red if the objects are not within the focal distance. One the Camera and target position is set up it is possible to play with the focal distance in order to get a “clean shot”.

Render The first picture (make sure in render output to set the picture name to xxxxx 01 or similar)

For the 3:rd picture (2:nd will come soon) change the x coordinate for the target position to a value below the camera value.
For example:
Camera 5,7 1,7 -0,2
Target 3,7 1,7 -0,2
Render the picture. This will be the 3:rd picture (i.e. picture name xxxx 03 in render output menu).

Set up the camera to render the picture that is to the right of the first picture. In other words to rotate the camera clockwise from the 1:st picture and set the x coordinate for the target to the same as for the camera and set the z coordinate to a value larger than the camera value. For some reason the z-value in my scenes does not corresponds to the vertical movement. That might be other for you scenes.
For example:
Camera 5,7 1,7 -0,2
Target 5,7 1,7 2,2
Render the 2:nd picture (i.e. picture name xxxx 02 in render output menu).

For the 4:th picture change the z coordinate for the target position to a value below the camera value.
For example:
Camera 5,7 1,7 -0,2
Target 5,7 1,7 -2,2
Render the 4:th picture (i.e. picture name xxxx 04 in render output menu).

Return to the position of the 1:st picture in order to get the 5:th and 6:th picture right when you turn the camera.

Now we come to what seems to be a bug within Maxwell Studio. The most reasonable thing to do would be to set the x and z values of the target as the same as the camera and change the y value larger than the camera value. Although then the camera jumps tight of to the middle of nowhere so we must do a little trick. Set the target value for the x coordinate a little larger than the camera x value and then also increase the y value to match the desired focal distance.
For example:
Camera 5,7 1,7 -0,2
Target 5,701 3,7 -2,2
Render the 5:th picture (i.e. picture name xxxx 05 in render output menu).

Use the same setting for the 6:th and last picture but change the target y value to a value lower than the camera value.
For example:
Camera 5,7 1,7 -0,2
Target 5,701 0 -2,2
Render the 6:th picture (i.e. picture name xxxx 06 in render output menu).

Know you should be able to stitch the pictures together with Gocubic.

That´s all folks...

/N

[ingo]

See how easy it works Camera movement in MxStudio is a nightmare thats for sure. I just had to place a camera into a room for a quick preview, but ended up working on it for nearly 15 minutes until it fits, next time i'll do that in FormZ and export it. Why the heck cant you simply rotate the camera ????