QuickTime VR Object capture

Written by Paul Bourke
May 2010


The following is a first pass at capturing QTVR objects. The difference and complexity here is that the objects in question cannot be placed on a turntable, the usual method for capturing QTVR object movies.

Initial test set-up

Note the subject matter (a stacked pair of data projectors) is artificial, but chosen to be about the same size of the intended instruments and black, again a prevalent colour of the intended objects.

Test QTVR Objects

This first example is rather large, each frame is 3000 pixel wide but it does therefore allow a decent range of zooming to see the finer detail. There are 95 frames and in this examples there is only one row captured but the option exists to mount the camera at different heights. Note that the room is visible so one gets the clear impression of spinning around the room rather than rotating the object. The sense of rotating the object can be achieved by using a green (say) screen opposite the camera and on the table, this will allow the background to be removed.

This second test is a lean version with frame sizes of 800 pixels.

User interface

The user navigation for Mac OS-X is given below, differences for MSWindows is given in brackets.

  • control key: zoom out (ctrl for MSWindows)
  • shift key: zoom in
  • mouse drag: spin, in these examples only horizontally
  • option - mouse drag: pan around (ctrl and alt keys for MSWindows)

Improvements required for version 2

  • Autofocus needs to be disabled as it results in slight zoom changes depending on what the automatic focus chooses to focus on.

  • Need a more precise way of choosing the rotation axis and aligning the ring to that.

  • The tripod legs need to be more rigid, there is variation in their spread due to the relatively high weight of the camera.

  • The markers on the ring could be engraved so the wheels lock into precise angle steps.

  • The ring needs to be created in pieces (2, 3, or 4) that can be assembled. In the intended exercise the object will have limited access in the rear and only 180 degrees (or less) needs to be captured.