Easy great panoramans with free Hugin 0.7 beta 4

Hugin 0.7 beta 4 (http://hugin.sourceforge.net/) is quite stable and has
a new Assistant (Wizard) tab that automates most common panoramas into a
simple 3-step process (that can still be refined as desired). For best
Hugin results:

* Also download and install Autopano-SIFT
(http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~nowozin/autopano-sift/), which automates
the matching of images (creation of control points).

* For difficult (or even "impossible") panoramas, try smartblend
(http://smartblend.panotools.info/) instead of the usual enblend
(configured in Hugin Preferences).

Output quality from Hugin (based on Panorama Tools) is excellent, as
good or better than other panorama software.

Here's a comparison of a 3-shot panorama taken with my Panasonic
DMC-FZ8...
Panarama Maker 3 (bundled with Panasonic digital cameras):
<http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1087/stitched001wk2.jpg>
Hugin (enblend) with Autopano-SIFT (cropped afterward to largest
rectangle):

<http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3452/p1030391reducedjf4.jpg>
<http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9814/p1030392reducedgk8.jpg>

Here's another panorama, Hugin vs Autostitch (also free)...
Autostitch (cropped and resized):
<http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/7500/autostitchuf1.jpg>
Hugin (cropped and resized):
<http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9441/huginxe9.jpg>
Originals (compressed with quality 45):
<http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/6489/p1030396reducedmd5.jpg>
<http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7549/p1030399reducednk7.jpg>
<http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/6821/p1030400reducedll4.jpg>

 

FWIW - I've also had good results, a lot easier, with the 'pandora'
plug-in for GIMP.

 

What makes it a "lot easier" than the simple 3-step process in Hugin?
According to the documentation: "It does not find image matches
automatically..." Hugin (with Autopano-SIFT) does. Pandora actually
looks a lot harder to me. Also a lot more limited. What am I missing?

 

I seems a lot easier to me - it's a simple one step operation. You simply
open the pandora dialog, select the photos - in order left to right
(somewhat limited there, I admit); and it produces the panorama picture.
Maybe you should try it.

 

I did.

 

Yet another new version of my hugin installer just posted, and may be
freely downloaded from http://www.mediafire.com/?6yz9otexmmo

Notable changes:

1. GNU GPL cleaned up

2. Fine granularity of shortcut control, with separate options under
Desktop Integration for:
a) Start Menu Group
b) Desktop Shortcut
c) Quick Launch Shortcut

3. New shortcut control granularity can of course be modified with
Change after installation, or restored with Repair.

4. Shortcut names cleaned up.

5. Install directory for embedded Enblend can now be changed (just like
for hugin), and is tracked by auto-configuration of Registry settings
for Enblend.

 

I'm continuing to post new versions of my hugin 0.7 beta 4 installer to
<http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=7814de75d2a4340991b20cc0d07ba4d23ed6fdb5c6ab3d83>