Tutorials

In today’s video, we will present the Nodal Ninja Online Shooting Pattern Calculator and the MECHA equivalent preset settings on the User Interface.

We have already demonstrated in another video how to use MECHA Controllers as tools for creating presets. These presets can be executed both using MECHA Controllers, motorized rotators, and support rails, and also manually with classical panoramic heads and rotators.

Nodal Ninja users who don't have a MECHA Controller can use the Nodal Ninja Online Shooting Pattern Calculator to produce a script that can help them shoot partial as well as full spherical panoramas. PTGui template and Map files can also be produced and downloaded.

Access the website www.nodalninja.com and click the 'Shooting Pattern Calculator' link. By submitting this form, you will obtain the script and PTGui files we mentioned earlier if this checkbox is checked before clicking the CALCULATE button.
The only required field is the focal length; all other fields will be automatically filled in with their default values if left blank.

Horizontal Index and Vertical Index relate to classical rotators with detent plungers, indexing rings, or click stops, and they are used only on the Online Shooting Pattern Calculator. All other fields can be found on the MECHA User Interface, on the Row and Configuration pages.

Sensor Height and Sensor Width can be set on the Configuration page, and usually there is no need to change them. All other settings can be found on the Row page. Additionally, a factory preset can be loaded to simplify the process of creating a preset. These settings are:
1. Vertical Overlap
2. Horizontal Overlap
3. Vertical Angle and Horizontal Angle can be set using the two-axis slider.
4. Crop Factor
5. Script Type can be either py or TxN. The "enumerated py" option is available only on the Online Shooting Pattern Calculator. Click the label below the Script Type field for information about py and TxN scripts. More details can be found in the MECHA C1 and C2 User Guides.
6. Mapping Type
7. Camera Orientation
8. Row Order
9. Zenith and Nadir Shots.

There are also other settings that can be adjusted before creating a preset on the MECHA User Interface. Here, the focal length can be specified using the Custom option selected from the Shots list. Then, MECHA creates a script based on the settings specified beforehand. Usually, the script type can be changed if needed. We will not go into all the details now.

On the Online Shooting Pattern Calculator, the script is produced when clicking the CALCULATE button, as we mentioned. The PTGui files can be downloaded if the form is submitted with the corresponding checkbox checked.

On the MECHA User Interface, the PTGui files can be downloaded by clicking the MAP, Probe, and Template buttons. These files can also be opened with Hugin. Additionally, any preset can be saved using the save buttons, and the preset execution can be previewed using the two-axis slider.