# Updates to the PanoramIX Authoring Tool

## Changes in the PanoramIX panorama editor release 0.1.4.95 (3/06/98)

1. Smart image matching for Load Edit List Function

   Enable edit list to be loaded even after new images have been added, old images deleted, images reordered. Previous versions required exact one-to-one match of current images with images in saved edit list file.

2. Bug fix to Save Edit List Function

   Corrected a formatting error when saving the edit list for a scene which included one or more sprites.

## Changes in the PanoramIX panorama editor release 0.1.4.92 (2/26/98)

1. Panorama Wizard

   A rudimentary Panorama Wizard has been added to the Options menu. This is far from complete or beautiful, but provides a convenient starting point for importing images.

2. QuickLink option for creating hot spots

   It is now possible to create simple rectangular hot spots without the use of an external image processing application. A button for clearing the current link map has also been added to make it possible to revise simple hot spots by erasing the current spot(s) and starting over.

3. Undo/Redo options

   Undo and redo functions have been added to the Edit menu. These allow one to step back through the previous 24 panorama editing operations for the current set of images.

4. Most recently used panoramas

   A list of up to ten most recently used raw panorama control files is maintained in the File menu.

5. AutoStitch dialog funtions Align Ends and Align All

   The Align All function in the AutoStitch dialog has been revised to start at the currently selected image instead of always starting at the first side image.

   A new Align Ends function has been added to the AutoStitch dialog. This is equivalent to the last step of the Align All function wherein the initial image is compared to the last image and all images are adjusted to bring them into alignment by skewing and changing the radius.

## Changes in the PanoramIX panorama editor release 0.1.4.54 (2/4/98)

1. The Hot Spot and Link Action dialog (formerly the Link Action dialog) had been revamped to provide full GUI support for panoramix link action options.

   Authoring tool users no longer need to learn complex link action option syntax rules and enter link action information by hand.

2. Interactive control of sprite properties:

   The Edit Sprites dialog has been enhanced to allow immediate response to changes in sprite position, size, and other properties. It is no longer necessary to select the "Apply" button to make the modified values take effect. In addition, the position and size of a sprite can be determined by dragging the sprite with the mouse or pointing device.

3. Save and Save As entries have been added to the File menu allowing the raw pan files to be saved.

   These options allow the information implied by importing images, setting camera properties, and entering link actions to be saved in a convenient form for resuming work on a panorama.

4. The Copy entry in the Edit Menu has been extended to copy the current panoramic image when the Image Edit window is not open.

## Changes in the PanoramIX panorama editor release 0.0.1.131 (8/27/97)

1. Out of bounds image editing is permitted.

   The image editing functions have been extended to allow the edited images to include areas outside the original images. Previous versions of PanEdit required the clipped images to be contained within the original images. The current version allows edited images to extend beyond the original images. This makes it possible, for example, to make a vertical shift to an image without first reducing the height to accomodate the vertical shift. Any part of an edited image which falls outside the original image is filled with black.

2. Non-blended panoramas can be affected by the cropping boundaries.

   In previous versions, the cropping boundaries affected only the blended panoramas and had no effect on panoramas composed without blending. If the cropping boundaries all fall outside the clipping boundaries, then the cropping boundaries still have no effect on non-blended panoramas. If the cropping boundaries fall within the clipping boundaries, then the portions of a clipped image which fall outside the cropping boundary are filled with black. This provides better consistency between blended and non-blended panoramas and allows the cropping boundaries to be used to suppress unwanted image data for non-blended panoramas as well as for blended panoramas.

3. Autostitch has been extended to support top images and bottom images.

4. Autostitch code for sides has been improved and some bugs have been removed.

   Handling of cases with tilt and/or skew has been improved, the pattern matching criterion has been changed from RMS to absolute value differences. The default pattern size has been changed from 16 by (height/2) to (height/6) by (height/3). The default search ranges has been changed from 9x9 to 21x21.

5. Autostitch for sides can reveal the pattern matching area.

   If the horizontal and vertical ranges are both set to 1, and the "Align" button is selected, the edit image and panoramic image will show the locations of the pattern matching areas used to align adjacent sides. Selecting the "Align" button a second time clears the pattern area indicators.

6. The Edit Panorama dialog has been extended to expose control for cropping and skewing of panoramic images.

7. The Blend Option has been extended to support blending the ends of a panoramic image.

   This allows seamless panoramas to be created for cases which start from a single panoramic image such as a panoramic photograph.

## Changes in the PanoramIX panorama editor release 0.0.1.20 (6/16/97)

1. Pick actions and Show Hot Links have been enabled.

   These functions are now similar to the corresponding functions in the browser and Netscape Navigator plug-in, except that hot links to another panorama are not performed. Cursor changes are supported and sprite controls are supported.

2. Link Actions dialog has been enhanced.

   The Link Actions dialog has Previous and Next buttons, link number and slot number values, Add, Delete, and Close buttons, as well as Copy Link Map and Paste Link Map buttons.

3. Link Map copy and paste operations have been implemented.

   These operations, which are accessible through the Link Actions dialog, make it possible to create hot spots using an image processing utility like Adobe Photoshop which supports the Windows clipboard.

4. Thumbnail window has been implemented.

   This allows all of the raw images and sprites to be viewed at once, and allows the ordering pd sides and sptires to be controlled.

5. Clipboard Copy and Paste functions have been implemented.

   The image shown in the Edit Image window can be copied to the Windows clipboard and the contents of the Windows clipboard can be pasted into the Edit Image window. This allows the images comprising a panorama to be exchanged with external image processing programs such as Adobe Photoshop, HiJaak Pro, Fauve Matisse, or any other program that supports copy and paste operations with the Windows clipboard.

## Changes in the PanoramIX panorama editor release 0.0.0.1 (6/4/97)

1. Side Image Synchronization Option

   The EditSides dialog has a new button located between the Previous and Next buttons. When this button is off (out), the main window and EditImage window are not advanced when the Previous or Next buttons are used to select the preceeding or following side images. This is the default condition. When this button is pushed in, then the EditImage is locked to the side image selected in the EditSides dialog, and the main window is rotated to show a panoramic view of the same area.

2. All/Next button states saved in edit list files

   The states of the All and next buttons seen in the EditSides dialog are saved in the edit list files and the ststes of these buttons are restoed when the edit list files are re-loaded.

3. When closing the EditPanorama dialog, the corresponding entry in the Edit Menu is unchecked.

4. If the current panorama is based on a panoramic input image, the Blend and AutoStitch entries in the Options Menu are disabled. These functions apply only to panoramas based on a set of flat side images.

5. The Delete function in the EditSprites dialog has been fixed to allow sprites to be deleted up to and including the last sprite. Previously, the tool would crash when the last sprite was deleted.

6. The Behavior type edit box in the EditSprites dialog has been implemented. Previously, this edit box was present, but there was no code to support it, so it was only decorative.

7. The EditSprites dialog has been extended to support 2d and 3d sprites. Previously, there was one edit box for the number of poses, and this was only decorative (no code). Now there are three edit boxes for the number of horizontal, vertical, and time steps.

8. The word "alignment" in the EditPanorama dialog has been changed to "properties". This is purely cosmetic.

9. The edited image width in the EditTop and EditBottom dialogs is limited to a maximum value determined by the original raw image. Previously, the tool would crash when this width exceeded this maximum value. The cause of these crashes has been eliminated.

10. The field of view angle indicated in the EditTop and EditBottom dialogs represents the horizontal dimension of these images as seen in the EditImage window. Previously, this initially showed a value appropriate for the vertical dimension, but this value was subsequently corrected. Now the correct value is shown from the beginning.

11. The GIF reader in the pix32 kernel has been revised to correct a problem which would cause it to fail for images with a width of more than 1024 pixels. This affects the file pix32.dll which is used by the browser and Netscape Navigator plug-in as well as the authoring tool.

Last modified February 27, 1998.
wluken@watson.ibm.com

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