Tutorials

When shooting a multi-row panorama, the camera is tilted up and down and also rotated horizontally (around a vertical axis). The names used in panoramic photography for these two angles are pitch (also known as tilt) and yaw.
Our motorized panoramic heads allow you to automate the entire shooting process. The camera is automatically tilted, rotated, and triggered based on preset settings.

In today's video, we'll show you how to convert your classical shooting pattern to a MECHA preset. This is helpful for users who have switched from a manual to a motorized panoramic head to automate their shooting process.

Let's look at an example of a partial panorama 90° wide and 120° high.
On the row at 0° tilt, there are 10 positions or photos.
On the first row above horizontal, at 15° tilt, there are 9 positions.
On the second row above horizontal, at 30° tilt, there are 8 positions.
On the third row above horizontal, at 45° tilt, there are 7 positions.
On the fourth row above horizontal, at 60° tilt, there are 6 positions.
Below horizontal, there is the same number of rows as above it, but with negative tilt values:
At -15°, 9 positions.
At -30°, 8 positions.
At -45°, 7 positions.
And at -60°, 6 positions.

First, we will write this shooting pattern as a script and save it as a MECHA preset along with other settings. Then, we will launch the preset and see how MECHA executes it.

After connecting to the MECHA's Wi-Fi network, access the Row page and select the Scripted option to show the script field if it isn't already visible. Here you will enter your script, which is a very important part of your preset because it has priority over other preset settings.

The first thing specified in a MECHA script is the starting position of the upper rail. It can be either Parked, Level, or Raised. For example, if you specify Level (SL), you must ensure the upper rail of your panoramic head is positioned in the Level position when launching this preset.
A MECHA script type can be either TxN, which uses tilts and the number of positions for each tilt, or py, which uses pitch and yaw values in degrees. Although tilt and pitch are equivalent words, for consistency, we use 'tilt' when referring to the TxN type and 'pitch' when referring to the py type.

We will begin with the TxN type.
The row at 0° tilt consists of 10 positions, so we will write this as: 0 x 10.
The row at 15° tilt consists of 9 positions: 15 x 9.
The row at 30° tilt consists of 8 positions: 30 x 8.
The row at 45° tilt consists of 7 positions: 45 x 7.
The row at 60° tilt consists of 6 positions: 60 x 6.
Similarly, for the rows below horizontal, we will simply copy the rows above horizontal and add a minus sign before the tilt angle: -15 x 9, -30 x 8, -45 x 7, -60 x 6.

Remember that we mentioned earlier that the script overrides, or has priority over, other preset settings.
When executing this preset, MECHA considers the starting position, row order, and number of shots specified in the script and ignores the equivalent values selected from the lists.

Anyway, you should pay attention to settings like camera trigger signals per position, the duration of the shutter button signal, and other settings not specified in the script. For example, the duration of the shutter button signal (E) plus the delay after each trigger sequence (A) should be at least equal to the exposure set on your camera.

MECHA only triggers a camera; it acts like a typical remote shutter release. Auto exposure bracketing is done by the camera.
If you select '1 TRG' here, MECHA will send one trigger signal at each position. In this case, for bracketed photos, you can set your camera to take the entire bracketed set of photos with a single press of the shutter.
You can control exposure by using MECHA only when Bulb mode is enabled on your camera.

Don't forget to save the preset. This is our preset with a script in TxN format.

Let's see how to write the same script in py format.
We will leave the starting position unchanged (SL) and specify pitch and yaw using the letters 'p' and 'y'.

The equivalent of a 0° tilt is a 0° pitch: p0.
Instead of specifying the number of positions, we will specify yaw values from 0 to 90°:
y0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Actually, you can specify as many yaw values as needed, and a value can be specified multiple times. For example:
y0 10 20 30 40 45 50 55 60 60 70 80 90
In this case, besides the usual values, we have two additional positions: one at the yaw of 45° and one at 55°. At the yaw of 60°, MECHA will send the trigger signal twice because 60 is specified twice.

Also, it is not required to specify the values in ascending order. For example, 90 can be before 20. So, after rotating with 10° for the second photo, MECHA will rotate the lower rail at the yaw of 90°, then at the yaw of 20°, and so on.
As you can see, the py format is more versatile than the TxN format.

Let's go back to our example, where the yaw difference between consecutive images is constant on every row.
Instead of writing all the yaw values, you can write only the first, the second followed by two dots, and then the last value. From the first two, MECHA will compute the rest of the yaw values, and the py script becomes more simple.
p0 y0 10..90

The row at 15° pitch consists of 9 positions. The first yaw value is 0, as before, and we will get the next yaw by dividing 90 by 8, where 8 is the number of positions (9) minus 1. So the first row above horizontal is:
p15 y0 11.25..90

Note that for a 360° panorama, the yaw difference between consecutive images can be calculated by dividing 360 by the number of images. However, in the case of a partial panorama, we divide its width by the number of positions minus 1.

The row at 30° pitch consists of 8 photos. The first yaw value is 0, and the subsequent yaw values increase by 90 divided by 7, where 7 is the number of positions (8) minus 1.
The second row above horizontal is:
p30 y0 12.86..90
Similarly, for the rows at 45° and 60° pitch:
p45 y0 15..90
p60 y0 18..90

The pitch values are negative below horizontal. Duplicate the rows above and add a minus sign before each pitch value.
You can add 'RT' at the end of the script to instruct MECHA to return to the starting position via the shortest path.

Alternatively, you can write your script in a text editor and then copy and paste it into the script field in the User Interface. MECHA will remove any extra new lines or spaces.

This is our preset with a script in py format, which is equivalent to the first preset with a script in TxN format.
We will launch the second preset by clicking the RIGHT button on the User Interface and observe how MECHA executes it.
We recommend testing any script without a camera mounted first to ensure it works as expected.