“Greg Downing’s broad expertise in spherical panoramic imaging and 3D modeling will fill the gaps in your understanding and practice of creating spherical panoramas. Then go further with his Essentials and Advanced Image Based Modeling DVD's.”
- Jook Leung of 360VR
Greg Downing recently returned from a whirlwind trip to Europe, where he spoke about his panorama techniques at Imagina 2005 in Monte Carlo on the Architectural Visualization panel, and lectured at VRMMP (Virtual Reality and Multimedia Park) in Turino, Italy. The in-demand Downing followed that up with an appearance at the Gates Planetarium in Denver, where he unveiled his panos on the huge dome to an awestruck, sold-out audience.
Apart from his lecture and demonstration commitments, Downing also receives a ton of email from people asking him questions about panoramic photography and Image Based Modeling. “I always felt that the one or two pages that I could write them back was painfully inadequate for learning how to do these things,” he says. “This is part of what made me think that a DVD on this would be helpful.”
That idea crystallized into three professional instructional DVDs, totaling thirteen hours of lectures complete with diagrams to explain spatial and conceptual understanding, and step-by-step demonstrations both with a camera and in software. “I think that it’s now much more likely that people will be able to expand their creative skills, both with the panoramic photography they are already doing and new techniques like Image Based Modeling,” Downing says.
Downing, an acknowledged expert and respected member of the panoramic photography and animation communities, has taken his years of experience, talent for teaching, and work on cutting-edge techniques, and distilled them into an impressive collection of lectures that should prove invaluable for beginners and even those at more advanced levels. He collaborated with Gnomon Workshop to produce a series of three DVDs: Spherical Panoramic Photography, Image Based Modeling: Essentials, and Image Based Modeling: Advanced.
Each of the DVDs run from three to five hours in length and is broken into relevant lectures, along with short lecture notes and list of resources. At times Downing speaks directly to the camera, such as when he’s introducing a project or demonstrating basic panoramic equipment, but most of the screen time is filled with step-by-step demonstrations enhanced with graphics and real life problems and examples Downing has encountered.
The DVDs are extremely professional and it’s apparent that a great deal of thought and effort has gone into the production. Downing’s teaching experience is evident in his easy, insightful manner and streamlined lectures; the result feels like an interactive one-on-one tutorial with a knowledgeable master. In the Spherical Panoramic Photography double DVD set, you’ll learn such things as a quick technique for getting rid of lens flare and an easy way to get a straight pan out of your pano and put it on video using QTVR2MOV. There’s also a lesson on the new panoramic viewer SPi-V where Downing demonstrates various elements, such as ‘throbbing’.
“[The series is] an invaluable DVD-based training resource for VR photographers and 3D artists covering the basics to the really advanced stuff, “ states VR photographer Jook Leung. “The panorama photographer will gain insights into applying VR photography for image based modeling projects such as virtual fly-throughs and environment recreations. Gaining such skills will put you at the doorstep of new clients who need advanced imaging projects.”
Downing’s work has been displayed in prestigious museums and galleries; he also worked in development at Realviz on ImageModeler, Stitcher and Sceneweaver and in film production as a technical director for Rhythm & Hues Studios in Los Angeles. He is an experienced teacher, having taught similar courses at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood, CA and is a specialist in image-based 3D technologies.
A couple years ago Alex Alvarez, the director of Gnomon, invited Downing to teach a three-week course in Hollywood; later, he moved to Los Angeles to work at Rhythm & Hues and expanded the course to ten weeks. Downing explains that “after teaching a class on these subjects a number of times I had a pretty good idea about where people got tripped up and where there needed to be clear visuals to explain the concepts in addition to seeing step-by-step how effects are achieved in software.” He also knew that he would have a broad audience, with some coming from 3D training and others from photography, so it took some time to design diagrams and instructions that would fill in the gaps. The two Image Based Modeling series give more guidance with the 3D concepts and software for those who, like Downing, come from a photography background.
Downing: "The Spherical Panoramic Photography DVD went pretty quickly, after producing hundreds of panoramas it was very easy to come up with good demonstration material.” There are clear examples of both clever photography tips and the possible pitfalls, with clear instructions on how to best work around these problems. The Image Based Modeling DVDs were a bit more involved, he notes. “I decided that I wanted to do all new material for the photogrammetry and advanced photogrammetry titles, something that reflected some of the true potential and incorporated new ideas about how to achieve some really good results. The modeling of the Mogul tomb Safdarjang was a very big project. I probably spent a month just creating the model because it was so detailed, and I had to train myself in that type of modeling. "
Spherical Panoramic Photography: Creating Compelling Environments with Greg Downing (2 Disc Set) $69
Using a film or digital camera and Realviz Stitcher, this five hour DVD set is a complete guide to image stitching, culminating in some exciting ways to use your panoramas for 3D, visual effects, print or the web.
Introducing panoramic photography, Greg Downing walks you through a step-by-step process for creating high-resolution omni-directional panoramas. This highly detailed lesson starts with an equipment survey, revealing all relevant photography instructions and demonstrations. It continues with removing parallax for both panning and tilting movements, determining the number of shots you need based on your camera’s focal length, shooting panoramas, and processing images before stitching, including batch processing RAW files from your camera to fine-tune the exposure and white balance. It moves on to importing images, calibration, moving images, stitching and working around problems, closing the panorama, and winds up with tilted rows and caps, which give you an omni-directional panorama. And that’s just the first part of this two DVD set.
Disc 2 covers photographing and assembling high-resolution omni-directional panoramas, starting with the stencil tool, which allows you to add or remove moving subjects (such as traffic or people) and is useful for fixing any little stitching artifacts. Downing goes on to cover repairing light fall-off for skies, defining the horizon, and rendering options, including rendering for QuickTime and additional rendering formats. He shows you how to create custom Photoshop layers, change projections using Realviz Stitcher or Flaming Pear’s Flexify plug-in for Photoshop, and even includes a lecture on SPi-V, Aldo Hoeben’s great new interactive hardware accelerated panorama viewer for the web. Next, he demonstrates how to remove troublesome lens flare and discusses two methods to convert a panorama to a linear movie for transfer to video or film. Finally, he shows you how to easily create omni-directional QTVRs of 3D scenes in your 3D program of choice, including instructions on using the CreateQTVR_Rig Mel script.
Image Based Modeling: Essentials $69
In this first DVD of the image modeling series, you will learn how to transform your film or digital photographs into highly realistic 3D models using techniques employed in movies such as the Matrix series (where the bullet sequences used photographs taken in 3D) and Panic Room. Image modeling, known as photogrammetry, is a general tool that is useful for visual effects, videogames, visualizations that require digitizing real sets, props or in some cases, characters. Once the objects are image modeled, any 3D manipulation is possible: adding, removing or destroying parts of a scene, adding effects such as fog, or camera moves that would be impossible with a real movie camera. Over 222 minutes of lectures, you’ll learn how to photograph for photogrammetry and introduced how to calibrate, model and texture with Realviz ImageModeler. Finally, Downing will show you how to import the textured models into the 3D application of your choice.
Image Based Modeling: Advanced $79
In this second disc on image modeling, Downing covers more advanced photogrammetry techniques in 167 minutes of lectures. This lesson teaches you how to perform image based modeling and texturing within Maya using cameras calibrated for Realviz ImageModeler. Learn how using panoramas for photogrammetry allows you to construct a location with a minimal number of images. Downing illustrates how to calibrate those panoramas in Realviz Image Modeler for modeling and texturing within Maya.
This DVD assumes a basic familiarity with polygonal modeling, and though the examples are demonstrated within Maya, the workflow is applicable to any 3D package.
You can purchase any one of Downing's DVDs online at the GnomonWorkshop
Gnomon
The Gnomon (pronounced with a silent ‘g’) School opened its doors in 1997 to provide a solution for the lack of well-trained digital artists. In conjunction with several major studios across Los Angeles, Gnomon's curriculum and facilities have been designed to constantly evolve to reflect any new demands that may arise from the entertainment industry. Directors and instructors work and consult for studios such as DreamWorks, Disney, Rhythm & Hues, Industrial Light & Magic, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Interactive, Digital Domain, Zoic Studios, Pac-Title/Mirage, Rock Star Games, and Blizzard.
The Gnomon Workshop is a sister company to the Gnomon School that produces art-training DVDs for the visual industries. Created by professional artists who work in all areas of the visual effects industry, including many of our favorite films, games, product design and fine art, these DVDs give artists the real information they need to succeed in the visual arts industry. With titles in both digital and traditional disciplines, the Gnomon Workshop catalogue covers everything from robots to cars, to creatures and environments. The Gnomon Workshop has released seven new leading edge DVDs covering photogrammetry, digital set design and ZBrush techniques.
If you’re in the area, there’s a free event at Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood on April 14th, 2005. It will be an evening dedicated to Image Based visual effects, with Paul Debevec (Institute for Creative Technology, Eric Hansen (Gnomon, formally from Digital Domain), Greg Downing (Rhythm & Hues) and Temis Nunez (Realviz).
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Gates Planetarium in Denver
