absolutely
04-11-2006, 06:13 PM
Hi, MY questions relate to the CMotion Image Gallery (http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex4/cmotiongallery.htm).
Not sure how much you know about displaying 360 degree panoramic photographs on the web but basically the most popular way is using Quicktime. Recently QuickTime was updated to version 7 (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html) and the download is now a massive 34.7Mb. Now that is rather a large program to download for anyone, but of you have dialup then forget it.
You can get the oler versions of Quicktime if you look but they are also very large.
The other ways of showing 360 degree photos is with Java Applets, these need JavaVM (http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp) installing. This does not come as standard with Windows XP Pro so again it has to be downloaded. Also these applets do not always seem to work on all systems and browsers so not ideal.
The other option is to use Flash, the only problem with this is that you need to have a very fast system to cope with it and also most apps seem to need version 8 of flash. Flash panorama viewers are quite new at this time and need more work.
So I thought I would try and make a 360 degree photo viewer that does not need ANY plugins or downloads. After seeing the moded version of the CMotion Image Gallery that is endless here (http://home.comcast.net/~jscheuer1/side/cmotion_continuous.htm). I thought that is just the job for showing a 360 photo.
I have modified the script and you can see my result on my demo page HERE (http://www.absolutelyandy.com/demo/360s/viewer2006_1/). Click on one of the thumbnails to see the result.
The 2nd thumnail on the page will show a preloader before showing the 360.
I have created these viewers by taking my original very long rectangular photo and slicing it into 5 pieces using the Image Slicer in Paint Shop Pro.
I have made the 5 sections right next to each other and with no borders, this has the effect of making it look like a continous 360 photo.
If you have not seen a QuickTime 360 photo before then have a look HERE (http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/wwp905/html/GangLiu.html).
As you can see the effect is stunning. Notice how you can control the view by dragging the mouse.
My question is :
Can you make a script which will create the feel of control that you get with a Quicktime viewer.
I realise its not possible to create the warping of the image edges as this is too complex.
Also the dragging method of control may be difficult to replicate so what would be good is if you can make it so it only scrolls if you click with the mouse. As you can see on my demos the viewpoint changes just by hovering the mouse which is not quite as good.
Also the Zoom option you get with QuickTime is not possible and I dont think that is a requirment anyway.
Also I relaise it is only possible to cope with flat panoramic photos, in other words you cant look up and down. thats ok.
Please let me know what you think, would it be possible?
If not then perhaps let me know what I need to change on your cmotion script in order to make it only scroll when you click and that will be great.
Thanks in advance.
Andy
Not sure how much you know about displaying 360 degree panoramic photographs on the web but basically the most popular way is using Quicktime. Recently QuickTime was updated to version 7 (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html) and the download is now a massive 34.7Mb. Now that is rather a large program to download for anyone, but of you have dialup then forget it.
You can get the oler versions of Quicktime if you look but they are also very large.
The other ways of showing 360 degree photos is with Java Applets, these need JavaVM (http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp) installing. This does not come as standard with Windows XP Pro so again it has to be downloaded. Also these applets do not always seem to work on all systems and browsers so not ideal.
The other option is to use Flash, the only problem with this is that you need to have a very fast system to cope with it and also most apps seem to need version 8 of flash. Flash panorama viewers are quite new at this time and need more work.
So I thought I would try and make a 360 degree photo viewer that does not need ANY plugins or downloads. After seeing the moded version of the CMotion Image Gallery that is endless here (http://home.comcast.net/~jscheuer1/side/cmotion_continuous.htm). I thought that is just the job for showing a 360 photo.
I have modified the script and you can see my result on my demo page HERE (http://www.absolutelyandy.com/demo/360s/viewer2006_1/). Click on one of the thumbnails to see the result.
The 2nd thumnail on the page will show a preloader before showing the 360.
I have created these viewers by taking my original very long rectangular photo and slicing it into 5 pieces using the Image Slicer in Paint Shop Pro.
I have made the 5 sections right next to each other and with no borders, this has the effect of making it look like a continous 360 photo.
If you have not seen a QuickTime 360 photo before then have a look HERE (http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/wwp905/html/GangLiu.html).
As you can see the effect is stunning. Notice how you can control the view by dragging the mouse.
My question is :
Can you make a script which will create the feel of control that you get with a Quicktime viewer.
I realise its not possible to create the warping of the image edges as this is too complex.
Also the dragging method of control may be difficult to replicate so what would be good is if you can make it so it only scrolls if you click with the mouse. As you can see on my demos the viewpoint changes just by hovering the mouse which is not quite as good.
Also the Zoom option you get with QuickTime is not possible and I dont think that is a requirment anyway.
Also I relaise it is only possible to cope with flat panoramic photos, in other words you cant look up and down. thats ok.
Please let me know what you think, would it be possible?
If not then perhaps let me know what I need to change on your cmotion script in order to make it only scroll when you click and that will be great.
Thanks in advance.
Andy