Papywizard User Guide (subversion)

• Usage overview
• Advanced usage
  • Mosaic mode
  • Preset mode
    • Custom templates
• Reference manual
  • Main window
  • Configuration dialog
  • Shoot dialog
• Tips and tricks
  • Shooting direction
  • Home position
• Keyboard shortcuts

This documentation try to follow the developpement version of papywizard. It may or may not be up-to-date ;o)

Usage overview

papywizard is very easy to use, and I hope the GUI is intuitive enough.

The first thing to do is to edit the configuration, to reflect you camera/lens/head/hardware config. Basic settings are the delay to wait after moving (to let the head stop shaking), the delay to wait while shooting (camera Tv value), and the number of pictures to take at each position (bracketing). See below for specific mode settings.

Second, you need to connect to the hardware (Menu Hardware > Connect). If you use the bluetooth driver (default config), you need to enter the correct address of your adapter. Alternatively, you can get a list of all available bluetooth devices arround, and select the correct one.

Then, just move the head either using the big GUI arrows, or using the keys shortcuts (see below), and set the start/end positions.

Once it is done, just open the shooting dialog and launch the entire process. That's it!

Advanced usage

Papywizard has now 2 modes: Mosaic mode, and Preset mode. The first one is mainly used for partial panos, and is especially designed for hi-res panos, using a large tele-lens. The second one is designed for full-spherical panos, using a wide-lens or a fisheye.

Mosaic mode

The mosaic mode computations are based on the following parameters:

• minimum overlap
• camera orientation
• sensor coef. and ratio
• focal lens

So, these settings must exactly reflect your configuration.

It also needs the start/end positions, which are two opposite corners of the pano you want to shoot. It does not matter which corner you use for start or end, but it will influence the direction the pano will be shot. Note that, depending of the settings, papywizard can start shooting from the start position, or from the end position. This is usefull to avoid the head to go back to the opposite corner before shooting (which takes time and uses batteries).

It is also possible to choose the initial shooting direction. Using yaw will shoot row by row; using pitch will shoot column by column. Same, the head can go back to the begining of the row/column before shooting the next one (see Tips and tricks).

Preset mode

This mode is very simple, and does not use any particular settings; it just shoots at all positions defined in the selected template. The only thing to do is to define the home position of the head (origin), which will be the reference for the template positions (see Tips and tricks). In case the camera/lens can't be moved in all positions, it is possible to set some limits, to avoid potential colisions (limits are not saved in the current release, so they must be set each time the head is turned on).

Custom templates

Some default preset templates are provided with the software, but it is possible to add your own. For that, you need to create a xml file which describes them. The file must be named presets.xml and must be in ~/.config/papywizard/ on linux/Maemo, and in C:\Documents and settings\<user>\Application Data\papywizard on windows.

Here is the file structure:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<papywizard>
    <preset name="My cutom preset">
        <tooltip>
            20D + 50mm
            12 picts @ +55°
            20 picts @ +40°
            50 picts @  10°/-10°
            20 picts @ -40°
            55 picts @ -70°
        </tooltip>
        <shoot>
            <pict yaw="0." pitch="55." />
            <pict yaw="30." pitch="55." />
            <pict yaw="60." pitch="55." />
            <pict yaw="90." pitch="55." />
            ...
        </shoot>
    </preset>
    <preset name="Another cutom preset">
    ....
     </preset>
</papywizard>

Where:

• <preset> name attribute: name used to present the preset in the GUI
• <tooltip>: information for that preset (shown in the information presets template windows)
• <shoot>: list of all positions to shoot, described in yaw/pitch attributes of the <pict> tag (one tag per position)

To save time during shoot, take care of the order of positions. For example, don't ask the head to go back to the begining of the new row, it will take too long; instead, reverse the direction and go back for the next row.

If you add usefull templates, feel free to send them so they could be added as default ones.

Reference manual

Main window

Menus

• File > Quit: exit from papywizard
  
• Hardware > Connect: connect to the head hardware
  
• Hardware > Set limit...: set the selected limit to curent position
  
• Hardware > Clear limits: reset all limits
  
• Hardware > Reset: reset the head hardware
  
• Help > Manual: open this documentation (network connection needed)
  
• Help > View log...: open log window
  
• Help > About: show the about dialog
  

buttons

• Mosaic/Preset: switch between mosaic and preset mode

Mosaic mode:

• Yaw/Pitch/Both: set the start (end) shooting positions from current position
  

Preset mode:

• Template: template defining all positions
• Templates information: informations on available templates

All modes:

• Left/Right Yaw arrows: move head on yaw axis
  
• Left/Right pitch arrows: move head on pitch axis
  
• Set origin: set the current position as origin (yaw=0.0°, pitch = 0.0°)
  
• Configuration...: open the config. dialog
  
• Shoot...: open the shooting dialog
  

displays

Mosaic mode:

• Start: start shooting position
  
• End: end shooting position
  
• Total Fov: total shooting field of view
  
• Nb picts: shooting number of pictures
  
• Real overlap: real shooting overlap
  

Preset mode:

• Template:

All modes:

• Position: current position of the head
  

Configuration dialog

Shooting tab

• Stab. delay: delay to wait before shooting to let the head stablizing
  
• Overlap: minimum wanted overlap¹
  
• Orientation: camera orientation on the head¹
  
• Start from: start position¹
  
• Initial direction: initial moving direction¹
  
• CR: if set, go back to the start of the row/columns before starting a new one¹

¹: only usefull in mosaic mode.

Camera/lens tab

• Time value: delay to wait for shooting (Tv camera value)
  
• Number of pictures: number of pictures to take at each position (bracketing)
  
• Sensor coef.: ratio to 24x36 sensor size
• Sensor ratio: width/height sensor ratio
• Lens focal: real focal of the lens

Hardware tab

• Driver: hardware driver to use
  
• BT device address: bluetooth device address for 'bluetooth' driver
  
• Choose...: list all available bluetooth devices, and allow to select one
  
• Serial port: serial device port for 'serial' driver
• Auto-connect: if set, try to automatically connect to the head at startup

Misc tab

• Logger level: level of informations to log
• Data file format: format to use for the output data file name. The final name is papywizard_<format>.xml
  • %(date)s: expands to current date
  • %(time)s: expands to start shooting time
  • %(date_time)s: same as %(date)s_%(time)s
  • %(mode)s: expands to shooting mode

buttons

• OK: validate settings and close dialog
• Cancel: revert to previous settings and close dialog

Shoot dialog

buttons

• Manual shooting: if checked, automatically go to suspend mode at the end of each move, before shooting
  
• Data file enable: if checked, write a xml data file in the current directory (for APP)
  
• Start: start shooting process
  
• Suspend/Resume: suspend/resume shooting process
  
• Stop: cancel shooting process
• Done: close shooting dialog

displays

• shooting area: display the shooting position
• progress bar: shooting process progression

Tips and tricks

TODO

Shooting direction

Home position

When the Merlin/Orion head is turned on, its internal electronic sets the position of both axis to zero. Be aware that in preset mode, the pitch axis positions assume that the zero is the position where the camera is horizontal; if it is not the case, zenith/nadir won't be real zenith/nadir.

In order to set a correct zero, you should first put the yaw axis so the camera is horizontal, using a bubble level in the flash connector, and then press the Home button, to tell papywizard to use that position as origin.

Keyboard shortcuts

papywizard main target is Nokia Internet Tablets, so keyboard shortcuts are dedicated for that plateform (but works fine with normal PC). Here are defined shortcuts:

• In main window:

Nokia	PC	Function
	Right	Turn the head right (Yaw +)
	Left	Turn the head left (Yaw -)
	Up	Move the head up (Pitch +)
	Down	Move the head down (Pitch -)
	Home	Set current position as start position
	End	Set current position as end position
	Return	Open shooting dialog

• In shooting dialog:

Nokia	PC	Function
	Return	Start/pause shooting
	Escape	Stop shooting - Return to main window

• In all dialogs:

Nokia	PC	Function
	F10	Show menu
	-	Standard maemo behaviour
	F6	Toggle fullscreen mode (no more activated)