PTMac

Name: PTMac
Price: 59.00 $
Rating: 4.875 (5 reviews)

4.1

25 July 2006

Create panoramic views.

Overview

PTMac is a simplified front end for creating panoramas using Panorama Tools. The user is taken through the panorama creation process one step at a time hiding the scripting language required by Panorama Tools. While the interface is simplified, the user still has total control over the process giving the most accurate results available. Users can make 360 x 180 degree panoramas, cylindrical and rectilinear panoramas from nearly any lens type including fisheye. Panoramas can be created from single or multiple rows of images. Supported input image formats include TIFF, PICT, JPEG, and PNG. The finished panorama can be saved in any of the input file types plus Quicktime cylindrical and cubic, multi layer Photoshop (one layer per input image) for easy editing in Photoshop and multi-image masked TIFF for editing in MacGimp. Color and brightness differences between the images can be automatically minimized with the check of a box as well as lens distortions common in wide angle lenses. Quicktime cylindrical and cubic panoramas can be made directly in PTMac.

What's new in PTMac

Version 4.1:

Bugfix: Double clicking on the warped image thumbnail to open the Panorama Editor no longer re-arranges the images.
Bugfix: The "Save" option is enabled after updating the panorama using the numerical transform function and deleting control points via the control points table.

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13 PTMac Reviews

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Is still PPC. User needs to specify Field Of View. Individual images get fish-eyed-blown in the panorama.

Like (1)

Version 4.1

As a Mac user and developer, I find this app's UI horrible. Examples: • A window called "Panorama Editor" gets its title bar stuck under the menu bar. This makes it impossible to drag it anywhere else. • Some scrollbar handles have the wrong size (i.e. always minimum size, not proportional to the amount the window shows), giving a wrong impression of the full size image behind the window. * Scrolling using the mouse's scroll wheel does not work (e.g. in the Source Images view) • When auto-finding control points, it creates some temp files in my original picture's folder. that's simply not the right way to do it (there are official OS-provided temp folders for this kind of business!) - what if that folder is write-protected? • Several annoyances with the Control Points editor: •• The list does not show a vertial scroll bar when it should. •• When selecting one point in the list, the actual points in the two pics are not shown in the zoomed views, making it hard to verify the points. Plus, there seems to be no way to hide the colored markers, making it again hard to verify the points. Functionally, I am sure that this app is doing a good job. But the UI is a pain in many aspects. I'll keep looking for an app with a better working UI.

Version 4.1

Hugin OSX provides more functionality, and it is free; for example, you can feed it a set of images and have autosift create control points for you automatically...and there is a preview window. You have to install mono (warning- the intel-native build is missing libraries) if you want to use autopano...and you need to run the included applescripts to "package" autopano (and enblend, which is highly recommended) into hugin.

Version 4.0v74

4 answer(s)

Tdaven

23 April 2006

PTMac includes a licensed SIFT feature to create control points automatically. The automatic control point generator is found on the Control Points tab. Press the "Auto match" button. PTMac can even automatically arrange your images, PTMac also has two preview options. You can use the panorama editor window for a rough preview and to edit windows or you create an interactive QTVR for previewing.

Version 4.0v74

Brett4

23 April 2006

PTMac's developer said: "PTMac includes a licensed SIFT feature to create control points automatically." Hugin gives a link to download the very same engine, for free (autopano-sift)- and it is seamlessly integrated into Hugin. It can create the control points and arrange the images automatically just like PTMac. PTMac's developer said: "PTMac also has two preview options. You can use the panorama editor window for a rough preview and to edit windows or you create an interactive QTVR for previewing. " Hugin also provides a preview window that (almost instantly) provides a preview; you can set it to update automatically or manually. So you don't get an "interactive" QTVR preview; you also don't have to fork over FIFTY BUCKS! I still say this software is a ripoff given Hugin is free and does -almost- exactly the same thing.

Version 4.0v74

Tdaven

27 April 2006

The difference is that the SIFT included with PTMac is licensed from the inventor. The SIFT linked from the Hugin site is only to be used for non-commercial work. My replies were to point out your errors claiming that no preview, etc. was available in PTMac. Somehow you seem insulted that I pointed out your mistakes but that is to be expected as a lot of your 'reviews' are off the cuff inaccurate postings to which developers need to clarify.

Version 4.0v74

Hank2

04 July 2006

This is an important point that should be put high up in the discussion -- if I'd known Hugin was available for noncommercial use, I would have used it at least for a while before considering purchasing PT. I didn't know about Hugin; I did purchase PT long ago. I don't do any commercial work, I thought PT was awfully expensive for what I needed. With a 900mhz G3 Pismo, it hasn't been easy enough or quick enough to get much use out of yet. I'm still hopeful. I'll try Hugin as well. I'm documenting 40 acres of restoration done on a forest fire site in my copious spare time -- everyone needs a hobby, this turned into a 200 year project. I've got an awful lot of pictures to deal with.

Version 4.1b8

Works now. Certainly for the more dedicated tweeker. There ar emany programs out there that are easier to operate, but few as thorough, powerful and inexensive. Need spherical 180º FE lens conversions, this is for you.

Version 4.0v69

PTMac is for sure the best application to make panorama images/movies on the Mac platform. I have been using it for a long time now and there are no other tools for me. I have made a workflow document. Visit: www.longfingers.com/download/workflow.html

Version 3.1 v60

Same experience...quits before it can bring up more than the "trial period expired" window (OSX v10.3.6). I had originally installed it many months ago, in order to try it, and never did. Tried throwing out any PTMac files I could find to get it to boot, to no avail. The RealViz 3.52 Stitcher version I bought only 7 months ago (and also never used) is not working properly under OSX 10.3.6 (let alone 10.3.7). Upgrading Stitcher - just to get it to work - would cost $200. So I thought perhaps I could gove this a shot. However, I am reticent to shell out $50 to see if this version of the PTMac program works with Panther 10.3.7. Time to patch up a new version people. One of the most stable of the (QT)VR programs was VR Worx (older v.2.1), but it didn't do conversions from already stitched wid format files. SIGH:::VR should be easier than it is...

Version 2.1 (v38)

1 answer(s)

Anonymous

15 June 2005

The current 3.0 version gives you a new 15 day trial period. After that, everything works but the file output options.

Version 3.0v55

This program didn't work for me, its really cryptic trying to figure out what to do and many things are decidedly non-obvious, for example the Panoram Editor sometimes shows one image, sometimes multiple - without changing any controls. Most of these I figured out, but the Control Point adder just plain doesn't work, it always gets the point on the second image as some small integer like 0,1 or 2,0

Version 2.1 (v38)

Anonymous cut off the sentence. I said PTMac is the only front end for creating panoramas **using the powerful GPL licensed Panorama Tools package**. The Canon Photostitch program does not use PanoTools.

Version 2.0v34b

PTMac

Overview

What's new in PTMac

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13 PTMac Reviews

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