Mainly technical news from me today. This morning, Microsoft added a "Content Delivery Network" to their Virtual Earth maps. I've already updated the EcoMap Costa Rica maps to use this. The changes aren't noticeable here in Texas, but should be quicker for other parts of the world (Microsoft claim up to 80% faster). Of course we have been using our own "Content Delivery Network" since April for the ASTER satellite image and the aerial photograph, so Microsoft are a bit slow in this department!! (we are using Amazon's CloudFront service for these aerial photos, and the larger downloads such as student reports and the panoramic photos)
I've dusted off the camera attachments to take the panoramic photos. We will use the same procedure as before: Taking 16 photographs at 30deg intervals using a Panosaurus panoramic head, and a Canon EOS with 20mm lens.
This year we have the comparison tool (which I see Katheryn mentioned yesterday) that allows us to fade from one image to another. A big problem is going to be image alignment. Last year's images were marked with the "North" direction, so lateral alignment should be straightforward. Vertical (azimuth) alignment will be more difficult. Also we are going to have to be careful to choose the exact same spots. We have the coordinates (good to 6m), our memories, and printouts of last year's photos.
For the photography, I am also going to try Microsoft PhotoSynth. This is a sort of pseudo 3d photo technology. Here is an example of our back yard. It takes a bit of practice, and the back yard example could be done better. We may have a lot of trouble with the forest. PhotoSynth does not work well with lots of similar objects - so teak plantations are probably not going to work. I also suspect loreals are going to give trouble. However we could try creating a PhotoSynth for specific areas such as around the cabins, or around the main house. The limited back yard example took over 100 photos. Are there any snap-happy students who would like to help?
I've dusted off the camera attachments to take the panoramic photos. We will use the same procedure as before: Taking 16 photographs at 30deg intervals using a Panosaurus panoramic head, and a Canon EOS with 20mm lens.
This year we have the comparison tool (which I see Katheryn mentioned yesterday) that allows us to fade from one image to another. A big problem is going to be image alignment. Last year's images were marked with the "North" direction, so lateral alignment should be straightforward. Vertical (azimuth) alignment will be more difficult. Also we are going to have to be careful to choose the exact same spots. We have the coordinates (good to 6m), our memories, and printouts of last year's photos.
For the photography, I am also going to try Microsoft PhotoSynth. This is a sort of pseudo 3d photo technology. Here is an example of our back yard. It takes a bit of practice, and the back yard example could be done better. We may have a lot of trouble with the forest. PhotoSynth does not work well with lots of similar objects - so teak plantations are probably not going to work. I also suspect loreals are going to give trouble. However we could try creating a PhotoSynth for specific areas such as around the cabins, or around the main house. The limited back yard example took over 100 photos. Are there any snap-happy students who would like to help?
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