Panoramas: Software

Currently these are the packages I use:

Panorama Tools
There are several versions of Panorama Tools out there. The original version created by Helmut Dersch is no longer supported by him but the original homepage and software package are mirrored around the net.
- Max Lyons, the author of PT Assembler has created a windows version with installer that is quite popular. His version includes some of the patches that were floating around on the net. There are later versions of the software out there though.
- Sourceforge hosts an initiative to continue development on Panorama Tools.
- Jim Watters continues development on Panorama Tools and on his page you can find new versions of pano12.dll as well as information about the patches he has applied to it.
- The Yahoo group is where Panorama Tools are discussed. Note that since mid-2006 this is a new list.
Graphical user interfaces
- PT Assembler is a great shareware program that provides an easy interface to Panorama Tools. It also supports the plugins Enblend and Autopano (see below) for easy stitching and great results.
- Hugin, the open-source alternative to PT Assembler has great potential but is yet in the beta stage. Although I have been trying it out I find PT Assembler more stable and reliable.
Additional plugins
- Autopano by Alexandre Jenny uses the SIFT algorithm to find keypoints in sets of images and matches these together. It is quite reliable and yields excellent results in my tests. Sometimes you have to tweak the results, but most often not. This tool makes it possible to create a panorama with just a few mouse-clicks in a couple of seconds! (Of course, the stitching process that follows might take a while...)
  The current version of Autopano doesn't handle 16-bit TIFFs properly. The solution I use is to create 8-bit versions that I use for keypoint detection and substitute these files for the 16-bit versions when stitching.
- Enblend creates smooth transitions between images which might be necessary when exposure is uneven.
Other software
- AutoStitch is really impressive. It is even easier to use than PTAssembler with Autopano. The drawback is that you have very little to say, it does everything for you. You can tweak some settings but you have nowhere as strict control as in Panorama Tools. Also, it has not got the splendid blending of enblend and it is demo software. You can only import JPEG and there is no guarantee that demo versions will be available in the future. But it is so fast and makes very nice panoramas "out-of-the-box". Try it. Lately I have been to lazy so I just throw the images at AutoStitch and let it do the rest.