For those of use who have been eagerly waiting for this release, our wait is over. Timecode Support, GoPro VR Player Live, Frictionless Nuke /Autopano Video Pro Workflow and fo GoPro Omni owners, the slightly mysterious D-Warp. How many bugs will be found in the first days? The betting parlors in Las Vegas probably wouldn’t touch those odds. But the Kolor Team have an excellent reputation for staying on the job till all those pesky bugs are gone. I’ll be reporting more soon since my first project with the new software will begin as soon as this is posted!
Here is the official release information.
Video-stitching software: Autopano Video Pro 3.0 Alpha 1
The Kolor team is delighted to announce that the first Alpha version for Autopano Video Pro 3.0 is now available.
All registered Autopano Video Pro 2.x users can try this new version for free and without watermarks for a limited period of time. Simply enter your Autopano Video Pro 2 license key in the registration window and you’ll be good to go!
This new version of our leading video stitching software is packed with new features, see the video below for a quick presentation of what’s new in AVP 3.0:
We’re sure that you have many questions on AVP 3.0, so to help you understand how to use the new features we’ve created a series of Quick Tip videos:
More info on the new features coming with AVP 3.0:
D.WARP
D.WARP technology offers a new way to stitch footage from the GoPro Omni rig and dramatically reduces the need for post-processing. Just click on the D.WARP button and many stitching errors due to parallax will be removed. It works for both static and moving shots!
If you have questions about D.WARP make sure you check out our FAQ below.
Timecode support
This new version supports timecode which allows videos from any genlocked rig to be directly imported into Autopano Video Pro without the need to synchronize the videos again. On the export side of things, you can either choose your start time in the render box or pass-through the source timecodes. The burn-in function will also help you work with proxy files in post-processing. This feature works with solutions offered by 3d-party companies like Timecode Systems, and results to a faster and more precise workflow.
GoPro VR live preview
You can now preview the 360 video you’re working on in GoPro VR player, our free MacOS / Windows VR player.
GoPro VR player is compatible with the Oculus and HTC Vive and will allow you to preview your footage in a VR headset without exporting your video or leaving Autopano Video Pro!
Frictionless Nuke / Autopano Video Pro workflow
Whenever a user imports an Autopano Video Pro project into Nuke, their nodes will be created automatically, providing a seamless workflow they can immediately apply to Cara VR. With a robust bridge between the two apps, Foundry and GoPro customers can access the right tool for the job, at every stage of their workflow.
FAQ:
Autopano Video Pro 3.0 license
How can I try Autopano Video Pro 3 Alpha?
If you are a registered Autopano Video Pro 2.x user you can use your AVP 2.x license key available in your customer account to register AVP 3 Alpha – and all further pre-release versions that will be available soon. Note that the registration is temporary: when the final version will be released, the Alpha/Beta/RC versions will stop working.
If you don’t have an Autopano Video Pro 2.x license key then you can try AVP 3.x thanks to the trial version that comes with a few limitations.
What if I buy an Autopano Video Pro license today?
Starting today, May 17, 2017, all Autopano Video Pro licenses purchased from our store or our authorized resellers will give access to every version of Autopano Video Pro 2 and Autopano Video Pro 3.
What happens with Autopano Video Standard (AV – Non Pro )?
Stitching videos requires a lot of processing power. To deliver an enjoyable user experience and satisfactory rendering time, Autopano Video needs to use the processing power of the graphics processing unit (GPU). Autopano Video 1 and 2 were only using the central processing unit (CPU) which leads to suboptimal and sometimes frustrating user experience and performances.
We thus decided to stop selling a CPU only version of Autopano Video: as of today it is not possible to purchase Autopano Video 2 licenses anymore.
What is the price to upgrade to Autopano Video Pro 3?
We took the decision to offer a unique upgrade price whatever the version you currently own. To upgrade to Autopano Video Pro 3.0 from either Autopano Video standard or Autopano Video Pro, 1 or 2, the unique price is 269,00 € before taxes.
You will be able to upgrade from your customer account in a couple of weeks.
I own a GoPro Omni rig, how can I get Autopano Video Pro 3.0?
Your GoPro Omni rig has been delivered with an Autopano Video Pro 2.x license, you can thus register AVP 3.0 Alpha and use it without limitations or watermark for a while. You will then have to upgrade to use the final AVP 3.0 version. You will pay the same price as customers who purchased the license separately – see previous paragraph.
What if I buy a GoPro Omni today?
If you buy an Omni on or after May 17 your Omni will be delivered with an Autopano Video Pro 2 license and a free upgrade to Autopano Video Pro 3 when it is released.
D.WARP
What is D.WARP?
D.WARP is Kolor’s answer to stitching issues. It is a parallax compensation algorithm. This means that computer vision automatically fixes the viewpoint differences between two videos. It goes beyond just fixing parallax, it also helps with synchronization issues and rolling shutter glitches.
We believe D.WARP will also allow to fix most of the stitching issues coming from your shots and this will dramatically reduce the time needed to fix stitching issues during post-production.
Will it fix any parallax?
The amount of parallax it can fix (closest object distance) highly depends on the size of the overlapping area. In shots made with Omni, we can correct objects that are at least 60cm away. Again, we expect this algorithm to work on many cases but not all cases. All feedback on failure cases will help us improve D.WARP.
Does it work with moving camera?
Yes, D.WARP works for both static and moving shots. Later we will add some settings to tune the D.WARP algorithm that will enable you to get even better results for all situations.
Is D.WARP a motion flow stitching algorithm?
Not really. Motion flow based algorithms are computing a complete motion flow on the images, which is costly and can fail when there is no solution (something visible in one camera can be masked in the other one).
D.WARP is smarter than that. It only examines the overlapping areas between cameras and computes a deformation in source image so that both images fit at the seam.
This approach has 2 advantages, the first one is that the deformation (or warp) of source images is smoothly diffused toward the center of images, avoiding too much pixel stretching like what is sometimes visible on some motion flow implementations. The second is that the approach is time-coherent which makes the algorithm relevant to moving cameras or subjects. Simple motion / optical flow approaches fail in both areas.
Is D.WARP compatible with any rig?
Currently D.WARP only works with the OMNI rig for the follwing reasons :
– The geometry is known
– The synchronization is perfect
– The overlaps are big enough for D.WARP
Omni was the first choice for D.WARP but our aim is to make D.WARP compatible with more rigs. Stay tuned for future updates.