Creating virtual photo objects

What is a virtual photo object

A virtual photo object is a set of pictures that can be viewed with the help of special software and which allows you to view the subject from different angles. Most often, virtual objects are used in the windows of online stores.

Examples of virtual photo objects

ggnome.com/object2vr/examples
krpano.com/examples/objects/#top
market.yandex.ru/model.xml?modelid=6988661&hid=91148 (click the 3D button)
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Classification of virtual photo objects

For myself, I made a small classification that I submit below.

Types of photo objects

Multi-row
Single row

In contrast to single-row multi-row ones, one can consider an object not only in the horizontal plane, but also in the vertical one.

By viewing angle

Limited
Full surround (360 degree)
Multicultural

Then I think everything is clear, no need to explain. Multi-circle allows to diversify the behavior of a non-static object.

By the size of the subject

Small items (toys, jewelry, electronics, ...)
People statues
Monuments, buildings, other objects

Small items are the easiest to shoot. It is more difficult to shoot large objects like large monuments or buildings.

Equipment for shooting

Object table (http://addspace.ru/spinpad.htm)
Rotating platform (chair)
Stationary platform with rotating camera
Rails or cable (camera trolleys)
Walking or shooting on a moving stand

Personally, due to budget constraints, I used an improvised fixed platform with a rotating bar to which the camera is mounted.

Problems with creating virtual photos of objects

Smooth transitions (number of frames)
Dynamic range
Borders between edges
Camera orientation (when shooting from the hands)
Camera orientation (when shooting around the site using a rod)

Soft

Convert video to image

FFMPEG
Avidemux
Virtualdub

Frame selection, rotation, cropping

XnView
FastStone Image Viewer

Color correction

Photoshop
Photoshop Elements
Gimp
Other graphic editors

Convert to Flash, MOV, HTML5

Object2VR
krpano
Unfreez

View

Normal browser with Flash plugin installed
HTML5 browser
Quicktime player

For a long time I had to use most of the programs listed in the list above.
However, to speed up the process of creating virtual photos of objects, I decided to write my application on Windows (C ++ Builder).

The main tasks that I solved

Storyboard storyboard
Rotate 90, 180 or 270 degrees
Cropping
Convenient finding of the first and last frame
More precise manual positioning of the center of the frame using key frame technology
Export the right amount of images

Here is a screenshot of the program