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One Shots: On Beacon's Perch
Ah, to escape to cold, frosty mountains! For many of us it's the dead heat of summer, so snow looks especially inviting. Today's One Shots comes to us from Reggie A, who stumbled across this area in Guild Wars while out exploring and made an incredible mini-panorama from three screenshots of the area. We'll let him fill you in on the specifics: I was running my new Elementalist in Guild Wars to Lion's Arch when I noticed a path I had never taken before. At the top of the peak one can look down and see almost all of Beacon's Perch, so with the help of 3 screenshots and some minor Photoshop work, I put together this minor panorama of the view. Beacon's Perch marks the starting point for the famous -- or infamous -- Droks Run; a task suited only to the incredibly skilled or the insane. Considering the area was flooded with people I don't know how I managed to get the shot without a single person in it!Have you tried your hand at making panoramics of a particular area in your favorite game? If so, we'd love to see them. All you have to do is attach them to an email and write up a quick blurb on what we're seeing, then email it to us at oneshots AT massively.com. Easy, no?%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: Not a warm summer screen
As many of us enjoy very warm weather for the upcoming holiday weekend, we thought we'd flash back to a cold holiday of yesteryear. Today's Guild Wars One Shots screen comes to us from Eugaet, who created this during the 2005 Guild Wars holiday event. Eugaet writes: I had planned on creating panoramas for every location in the game, including 'holiday' versions...but I ended up not having much time to devote to the project. Even so, they're still lovely panoramas to look at -- especially the full-size version!If you're heading out in your favorite virtual lands to enjoy the celebrations, snap some screenshots of what you and your friends are doing. We'd love to show off some of the things going on this weekend, but we need your help! So snag those screenshots and send them to us at oneshots AT massively.com along with a quick blurb as to what we're seeing. %Gallery-9798%
One Shots: The sky is on fire
Today we bring you the follow-up panorama to the last one that we got from eugaet. Today's Guild Wars One Shots is from a few years ago according to eugaet, who said that the above shows off a view of post-sear Ascalon City in Guild Wars. While we can't show it full-size in the column, we can offer it for anyone who wants to see this image in all its glory -- be sure to check out the full-sized panorama!Do you have any interesting screenshots from quite some time ago that show what your favorite game used to look like? Have there been lots of graphical changes since then? If so, we'd love to see what they look like. Just send those to us here at oneshots AT massively.com. We're looking for lots of screenshots from any MMOG out there, so don't be shy!%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: By the cliffs
Today's One Shots is the final of three gorgeous panoramic screenshots that were compiled and sent in to us by Adrian (Asarja) from Romania. This image is also from Guild Wars: Nightfall, and as before we know very little other than that. If you check out the full-size screenshot, you'll see lots of little scaffolds near what appears to be a cliff, ruined ships, a dockyard, and a bridge in the background. It is a really lovely area.Do you have any panoramas you've created in your favorite game? Perhaps you just know a lovely spot to hang out in? Whatever the case, we'd love to see your screenshots! Mail them, along with a short description of the image, to us here at oneshots AT massively.com and relax. We'll do the rest.%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: Motu Teya panorama
Today's One Shots comes to us courtesy of a person that many Second Life folks know and love -- Torley! Originally he contacted us to tell us he really enjoyed looking at the One Shots gallery, but he also linked in his own awesome gallery of panoramic Second Life shots in the mail. We couldn't resist featuring some of his gorgeous panoramic screenshots here! Of this one (which you really should see full-size to appreciate) Torley said, "Bruce Patton is so nice, he came up with this project and... it made a dream of Philip's come true in Second Life -- golf!"Do you have some great panoramic screenshots that you made from your favorite game or virtual world? Perhaps you caught a fantastic sunset that just made everything look fantastic. Whatever your story or screen, we want to see them! Send them to us here at oneshots AT massively.com, along with whatever information you'd like to give us about them.%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: Tribal lands
As mentioned the other day, we recieved several fantastic One Shots panoramas from Adrian (aka Asarja) from Guild Wars. Today's screenshot is from Nightfall, although we know very little else of this particular area. If you like looking at lovely scenic shots, you should definitely check out the full-size image. And if you can tell us anything about this area, please be sure to leave a comment!Do you like to combine lots of different screens into panoramas? Maybe you're a game or content designer who is particularly proud of a specific area that you designed and you'd like to give us back-story on it. (Hey, it could happen!) Whatever your story, we want your screens -- just email them to us at oneshots AT massively.com! %Gallery-9798%
One Shots: Desert temple panorama
When we saw this mail come in, we were blown away. You see, Adrian (or Asarja) creates lovely panoramic screenshots from compiled screens in Guild Wars. We already knew Guild Wars was a beautiful game, but seeing the panoramic shots is really quite impressive, giving you an idea of just how lovely that world can be! (And lucky for all of us, Adrian sent along a couple more that we'll be featuring in upcoming days, too!) If you really want to see this in all its impressive glory, be sure to check out the full-size version.Do you like to combine screenshots into panoramas? If so, we'd dearly love to see them. We've featured them before, and welcome anyone else who'd like to try their hand at it! Just send your screens to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com. We'll be looking forward to seeing more!%Gallery-9798%
Around Azeroth: The edge of Terokkar
Reader Michaud of Army of Mulgore on Kul'Tiras sends in this larger than life vertical panorama taken out on the very edge of Terokkar Forest, out on the floating islands off of the bone wastes. And other than a description of its location, I think this oversized shot really speaks for itself. Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
E3 panoramas are 360 degrees of rotating fun
If you haven't stopped by Xbox.com for a while we sincerely recommend that you check out the E3 panoramas they've created and posted for you to enjoy. These 360 degree rotations allow you to view all kinds of fun E3 locations like Microsoft's E3 conference stage, behind the scenes action, the always interesting E3 crowd and the oh-so-large Santa Monica ferris wheel. Everyone knows that playing with virtual panoramas is amusing, so quit depriving yourself and rotate the day away!
Hugin panorama photo maker
In a previous Ask TUAW we covered a few of the panoramic photo stitching options available for the Mac. Now another tool for doing this has come to my attention and is probably worth a look for anyone interested in making panoramic pictures from multiple photos. Hugin is a cross-platform GUI for the Panorama Tools open source project created by Professor Helmut Dersch. It has many detailed options for stitching photos together exactly the way you want it done. As such it's probably not the easiest panorama tool to use, but by the same token it looks quite powerful. You may want to check out some of the tutorials available to get a sense of what it can do.Hugin is a free download from sourceforge.[via Cool OSX Apps]
Don't look now, but that Nokia in your pocket means you're over the hill
A survey of cellphone users in Australia, conducted by Panorama and released by Nielsen Media Research, has proved what pretty much everyone already knew: people are likely to base broad, stereotypical assumptions about you on your cellphone, just like they do with everything else you use and wear. We're guessing this breaks down a bit differently in Aussieland, but here's how mobile users tend to associate down under:Nokia: Family-minded, middle aged managers, balance seekers, health consciousMotorola: Fashion conscious, under 24, fun seekers, individualisticSony Ericsson: Ambitious young men, professionals, success driven, individualisticLG: Favorite of mums, stay-at-home parents, success driven, harmony seekersSamsung: Young women, career focused, success driven, fun seekersThe upshot of this research is that since most phone service providers rate the same, people are for the most part picking a carrier based on phone selection -- again, we're not exactly floored by the analysis here. Now all that's left is how to pigeon hole HTC and Palm users. We're thinking "good looking, fun loving, Engadget reader" would be a nice start.[Via textually.org]
Gigapan robot snaps panoramic views, assembles results
We're absolutely certain there's a vast array of naturally gifted photographers out there that don't need a robot to do a man's job, but for those of us who can't hold our elbows perfectly still and snap a dozen or so photographs in a panoramic pattern without ruining the entire shot, Gigapan's got you covered. The robotic shooting platform was developed by Carnegie Mellon University and the NASA Ames Intelligent Robot Group, and can manhandle almost any digital camera in order to capture a wide-angle view of any particular scene without the breaks we humans often inject. The robot will click away depending on a timer and the number of snapshots that users program in, resulting in a very high resolution, widescreen image of a crime scene, vacation overlook, or your entire basement wall of Transformers posters. Moreover, the team has developed accompanying software to "piece together" the resulting images, leaving a nearly flawless reproduction of a panoramic view with an immensely increased level of detail. Expected to cost "around $200 or less," the Gigapan could be in civilian hands as early as next month, after which we'll have to start an entirely new photo contest devoted to cramming as many miles as possible into a single, uber-wide shot, but for now, be sure to click on through for a small taste of what this monkey can do.[Via Primidi]
Envive announces Panorama platform for media servers
It's already busted out a new high-end, Vista-running media center PC at CES, but the folks at Envive have also taken the opportunity to unveil its new Panorama software platform that'll be giving a boost to its E-Center line of home media servers. The company's keeping a lot of the hard details under wraps for the time being, but it has announced that there will be three separate incarnations of Panorama: the Panorama Cinema Server, Panorama Total DVR, and Panorama Complete Home. First up, the Cinema Server will let you store lossless copies of CDs and DVDs on an E-Center server and access 'em from anywhere on your home network, and while it apparently won't support it right off the bat, Envive is promising future streaming support for HD-DVD and Blu-ray movies. Next up, the Panorama Total DVR's fairly self-descriptive, giving you full ATSC and NTSC TV recording with support for up to eight tuners, as well as remotely accessible PVR functionality, including playback of recorded TV. Rounding out the lineup, Panorama Complete Home adds some home automation to the mix, with support for security camera monitoring and recording, HVAC, and lighting controls, among other couch potato solutions. Look for the Panorama Cinema Server to launch first, shipping sometime in the first quarter of this year on Envive's E-Center Media Servers (also available as an upgrade for existing users), with Panorama Total DVR to follow sometime in Q2, and the Panorama Complete Home system set to make its appearance by the end of the year. [Thanks, dark54555]
Kodak quietly releases 6.1-megapixel EasyShare C653
Another month, another ho hum offering from Kodak. This time around it's an addition to the already loaded EasyShare lineup, as the 6.1-megapixel C653 joins the fray. Sporting a (somewhat) compact 3.5- x 2.6- x 1.4-inch enclosure, the point-and-shoot boasts a 2.4-inch LCD monitor, mediocre 3x optical zoom, 32MB of built-in memory, SD / MMC expansion slot, three pre-selected scene modes, panorama functionality, up to 1,250 ISO, and automatic red-eye reduction. Additionally, you can capture VGA movies at 10fps or QVGA clips at 20fps, and Kodak's Perfect Touch technology supposedly clears up your photos without a lot of effort on your part. You'll also find USB 2.0 connectivity and the company's EasyShare software bundled in, which supposedly helps the technologically disabled share and email photos without pulling what's left of their hair out. While there's clearly not a whole lot here to be proud of, at least the price is fairly reasonable, and those scouting a very run-of-the-mill shooter can pick up the C653 now for $129.95.[Via PhotographyBlog]
Found Footage: iPod Panorama
I stumbled across this video on YouTube, which shows a cool panoramic scrolling effect on an iPod. It comes from website Ben+Marc, which offers a complete write up on how they created the effect. They set up a camera on a tripod and took a series of pictures, snapping each one with about a 5 to 10% overlap to build a 360-degree revolution. After, on their computer, they edited the photos to create the near-seamless joins. Cool stuff. Enjoy the video.
PNY and Olympus team up to release 2GB xD-Picture Card
If you've been holding off on picking up Fujifilm's 2GB xD card in hopes of future competition driving prices down, you're in luck. PNY is teaming up with Olympus to release a 2GB xD-picture card which can house "one thousand digital shots with a camera resolution of eight megapixels." It also touts compatibility with the "exclusive Olympus panorama option," but we're sure they're just stretching for reasons to pick this up over the much more abundant SD and CF alternatives. Regardless, if you're still in need of high-capacity xD storage, you can pick up the PNY xD-Picture Card Type M now for £61.00 ($117).[Via Camborg]
