Photo Retouching - - Filling an empty part of a panorama shot

kuwaiti · #1 01-09-2008, 10:46 AM

I have made a Panorama shot with CS3's Photomerge but i ended up with a large empty area at the top of the shot (where the sky should be). I want to fill it and blend it perfectly with the rest of the sky.

I've tried couple of things but couldn't really blend it well with the rest of the sky.
ANY IDEA's ?

p.s: tried to attach the shot but couldnt resize for under 900k which exceeds the attachment limit of retouchpro

Frank Lopes · #2 01-09-2008, 11:05 AM

Could be because the camera was not leveled or did you change the focal length as you shot the sequence?

Take a look at the original images... can you post the last 4 shots so I have a better idea what took place?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuwaiti

I have made a Panorama shot with CS3's Photomerge but i ended up with a large empty area at the top of the shot (where the sky should be). I want to fill it and blend it perfectly with the rest of the sky.

I've tried couple of things but couldn't really blend it well with the rest of the sky.
ANY IDEA's ?

p.s: tried to attach the shot but couldnt resize for under 900k which exceeds the attachment limit of retouchpro

pixel_monkey · #3 01-09-2008, 11:07 AM

Make a smaller version of the pano or just the cropped section under 100k so we can get a better idea of what you're talking about.
You can also use Auto-Align Layers and Auto-Blend Layers that are new in CS3 to stitch your panos. They behave just like Photomerge, except that you can only merge 2 images at a time. You'll get more control over the blending and it's much more accurate doing it this way. I stitch all my panos this way since I don't use a tripod.

pixel_monkey · #4 01-09-2008, 11:19 AM

That's pretty normal. Copy the left section of the sky and flip it to the other side. Auto-Blend Layers will take care of that for you fairly easy.

kuwaiti · #5 01-09-2008, 11:52 AM

thanks for the speedy reply

Frank, I used a tripod and did my best to level it, but i still got this space.

pixel_monkey: I tried couple of things, I selected the empty area and tried to use the patch tool, but it doesnt seem to work on a transparent area.

i also tried to copy the lest side of the sky and then drag it to the empty area but auto layers blend is not highlighted and thus cant be selected! any idea how to make it selectable ?

pixel_monkey · #6 01-09-2008, 12:21 PM

You need to select both layers to activate the features. Look for the video titled "Auto Blending Magic" at the below link. Russell Brown gives a great explanation of how those features work.

http://russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html

kuwaiti · #7 01-09-2008, 12:28 PM

thanks a mil

I'll look at it and i'll post the final image

thanks again

Frank Lopes · #8 01-09-2008, 05:58 PM

I believe you did your best to make it level, but looking at the image, it seems like you have much less to work with from to horizon to the top of the image compared with the images on the left side of the panorama.

As pixel_monkey recommended, you can "patch" it after the assembly process. The trick is not to have to do it afterwards.

I also noticed on the left side of the panorama, the silver car is heavily distorted: looks distended. I could tell by looking at the wheels, they are not round. Were at least some of the images resized before being assembled?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuwaiti

thanks for the speedy reply
Frank, I used a tripod and did my best to level it, but i still got this space...

Alison · #9 01-09-2008, 06:13 PM

Hi Kuwaiti,

May I also suggest that you get the uprights, upright, before you use photomerge. Some of the buildings have an interesting lean going on.

Stephen A · #10 01-09-2008, 06:38 PM

You should give ptgui a try.

kuwaiti · #11 01-10-2008, 10:56 AM

Frank, thanks for the tips.. and no i didnt resize any of them i imported the RAW as is files to photoshop and photomerged them.

Alison, you are right but i look at the pictures and i see the buildings are upright, appearantely photomerged had to adjust them to make them fit.
Stephen, i remember downloading it but couldnt figured it out, i still get better results from photoshop, does correct lens distortion automatically?

anyways thanks to all of you, this is the link of the final shot from my flickr page : http://www.flickr.com/photos/q8awi/2181129485/ if you guys have pages there let me know so i can check them out

thanks

kuwaiti · #12 01-10-2008, 10:58 AM

Frank about the car wheels, they are round, but i think the picture attached is distorted because of the extensive resizing i performed.