Photosynth released by Microsoft
Comments(0) I first saw this software program when I worked for PBL’s myhome.com.au and Microsoft was a shareholder, they gave us a demonstration of this product about 12 months ago, and what a fantastic product it is. It has taken Microsoft about that long to get the program from taking a day and a half to process the synths to today where it takes a moderately powered computer about 5 mins to calculate a synth of about a dozen photos, matching elements they have in common to reconstruct the subject. Essentially the software arranges photo sets in their real-world, 3-D context and allows people to navigate smoothly around the canals of Venice, for example, or zoom in to read the serial numbers on the space shuttle’s heat shields.. Imagine what it could do for the average real estate home photos. You could open the door of the house or apartment for the first time and fully experience every element of the design and architecture. This program is already finding it’s way into the commercial real estate industry with one New York based Realtor using the program to showcase high end properties to out of town clients who can’t personally make the open home.
To get started all you need is a Microsoft Windows Live ID to create a free account and then to create and view the “synths” you’ll need to download an 8mb piece of software. From there you just create your “synth” and add copyright to your photos if needed.
To Shoot:Use any off-the-shelf digital camera, shoot lots of overlapping photos of an object or scene, specifically for Photosynth. Don’t just throw every photo on your computer into the system. Start with wide-angle shots, moving around to cover the whole subject. Then take closer, detail images. Subjects with lots of texture do best.
The web site has experienced large traffic volumes since launch last night and has temporarily shut down, however you can still visit and get a rough idea of how it all works, so for you all here’s the web address and once they get the site up and running again, I’m sure we’ll all have a load of fun.
