In perusing some travel sites on the Internet we encountered some that offered 360 degree panorama views. We were intrigued with this technology and wondered if we could create panoramas for our own use. As we conducted further investigation we discovered several websites that offered step-by-step directions and even shareware software for our use.
To create the panorama above, we set up a digital camera on a tripod in the center of the worship center. Starting with the view of the altar area (and assuring it was perfectly level), we snapped a picture, rotated the camera approx. 30 degrees, making sure that the second image overlapped the previous image to a certain extent, and then snapped another picture. We continued in this way until we had taken nine pictures in sequence and completed a full circle.
We then used a shareware program called "Panorama Factory" which we had downloaded from the Internet (http://www.panoramafactory.com). We loaded the nine pictures into the program and followed the on-screen directions. The program automatically "stitched" the photos together and output a Quicktime VR-compatible file.
Since we write all the code in our church website in HTML using Microsoft Notepad, it was relatively easy for us to create a new page and put in the line of code that calls the Quicktime program and loads the panorama file for viewing. You have seen the results. You can find the HTML code at http://www.panoramafactory.com or http://www.panoguide.com for their helpful instructions.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to email us at pastorsteve@newsongsurprise.org