Gigapan Panoramic Photography Operating Guide

Overview

The Gigapan is used for making panoramas. It is a robotic pan and tilt tripod attachment that triggers a camera to take pictures that can later be used in software to make a panorama or 360 degrees image by stitching each photo together. It is designed for photography and not video because it stops for each photo to take and has no ability to make smooth programmed movements for video. It works with the Canon Rebel cameras and many others. You do not need to take any proficiency to use this equipment. A copy of this information comes with the kit.

Precautions

• Do not force the pan or tilt of the device.
• Only use the buttons to adjust the pan or tilt.
• Install onto secure tripod before putting the camera on and operating.

Set up

1. Put the Gigapan on a secure tripod.
2. Put the camera on the mount plate and screw it in. Instal so that the back of the camera is facing the same directions and the Gigapans controls.
3. Hold the power button on the right to turn on.
4. The screen will provide you with prompts and the ability to use arrows to make choices and the select/power button to choose. You will likely want to choose “New Panorama” and “Panorama” as opposed to 360 Panarama.
5. When asked to find the top left and bottom right of the panorama, it will tell you how many pictures it needs to take horizontally and vertically. Use the arrows to move the camera pan and tilt. It will take pictures that will fill the whole rectangle from top left to bottom right, taking multiple rows if needed.
6. You can trigger the camera with 1 of 2 options, A or B. A; the shutter release module that physically presses the cameras shutter release, or B; a cable plugs into the cameras trigger socket.

• Shutter Release Module: It is the small black box which attaches to the slot on the end of the camera mount plate. Connect its cable to the connector at the top of the Gigapan's base. Adjust the modules position so that it can press the camera's shutter release button when the Gigapan is programmed to.
• Cable to Camera Option: The cable plugs into the same connector on top of the base of the Gigapan (so you may have to unplug and uninstall the shutter release module to use this cable). From there, it plugs into the camera's 2.5mm jack for triggering the camera shutter release (acting as if it’s pressing the shutter release without physically touching it).

Software

Once you have your photos, upload the image files to a computer and use Adobe Photoshops panoramic photo stitching function in either the on campus Digital Imaging Studio (DIS) or Multimedia Lab (MML) .