I have been wanting to test the Mini 3 Pro for a while to do Mosaics. Mosaics unlike panoramas rely on the stitching software to stitch images taken metres apart. Classic case is a tree lying in a river I can take just one shot using 48MP mode or I can switch the long edge of sensor around to match the short edge of the image I'm taking then keeping parallell to the tree fly over taking images as I go. Rather than just one image I now have 5 or 6 that I can stitch together to make a higher detailed image.

Normally panoramas are taken from the same spot and the camera raws or changes pitch but in this case the camera stays put and the drone moves laterally over the subject.  Case in point (not you won't see any quality differenc here as images are too low res but full size images are here...  Fullsize images

So here is the single tree shot...  (note all images have had no processing done accept for downsizing to fit here)



Now lowering the drone. I could have gone lower to match up the longest edge of the sensor with the short edge of this image but was a little woried about flying over water. So final image could have been even higher quality... Here are 5 shots moving along the trees total length...











The images are then loaded into PTGUI using these changes...

So to stitch mosaics, proceed as follows:

• Start a new project and load your source images
• Switch PTGui to Advanced mode using the Advanced button in the side bar
• Go to the Lens Settings tab and set the Lens type to Rectilinear. Set the Focal Length to a high value (e.g. 1000mm).
• In the Control Points menu choose 'Generate Control Points'
• Go to the Optimizer tab. Deselect the 'Optimize lens focal length' checkbox. At 'Minimize lens distortion', choose 'Heavy'.
• Press the Run Optimizer button (at the bottom)   When it asks if you want to run "Initialise and Otimize" don't!
• Now go to the Panorama Editor window by pressing Ctrl+E (Windows) or Command+E (Mac). First press the Center Panorama button, then press the Fit Panorama button.
  

Your mosaic is now ready to be stitched at the Create Panorama tab.



And the result...

Final

If you compare the fullsize images you'll see a nice difference in quality. The magic of stitching software allows you to do this and DAFlys reports you can do in Lightroom also. I would avoid subjects that are moving (though the water was moving here), subjects that have considerable height (parallax will eventually get you!) and just don't go too close. If you have masking functionality in your stitching software it's pretty easy to correct any small issus that may arise e.g a twig moving in the water being hard to join properly.

That looks great! Did you have any parallax issues when stitching the images?

forbsie Posted at 8-1 17:51
That looks great! Did you have any parallax issues when stitching the images?

Thanks Forbsie amazingly not really, only thing I had to do was paint mask in one of the tips of the tree as was moving. It baffles me how the software can do it!

Same technique applied here...



Original of this just under 8000 pixels (Mini 1)

Very effective. You seem happy with a great result    Some powerful software at work.  I couldn't justify myself the cost of PTGUI for my dabblings - and I wouldn't have the patience to go to all that trouble for a shot. I guess I'm just a lazy point-and-press guy

Blériot53 Posted at 8-1 22:23
Very effective. You seem happy with a great result    Some powerful software at work.  I couldn't justify myself the cost of PTGUI for my dabblings - and I wouldn't have the patience to go to all that trouble for a shot. I guess I'm just a lazy point-and-press guy

Indeed... you should talk to DAFlys he said he does something similar in lightroom? Cheers Bussty

Bussty Posted at 8-1 22:55
Indeed... you should talk to DAFlys he said he does something similar in lightroom? Cheers Bussty

Again, it's the patience I lack and the concentration makes my brain ache
I'm in regular contact with David, he is pretty knowledgeable

Blériot53 Posted at 8-1 23:10
Again, it's the patience I lack and the concentration makes my brain ache
I'm in regular contact with David, he is pretty knowledgeable

Makes my brain aches too sometimes, so not alone

Bussty Posted at 8-1 23:11
Makes my brain ache too sometimes, so not alone

Great example Bussty,   I just posted a version I made with Lightroom over in the works section.

Blériot53 Posted at 8-1 22:23
Very effective. You seem happy with a great result    Some powerful software at work.  I couldn't justify myself the cost of PTGUI for my dabblings - and I wouldn't have the patience to go to all that trouble for a shot. I guess I'm just a lazy point-and-press guy

You could always try ICE from Microsoft its free.

https://web.archive.org/web/2019 ... -64-bit-Windows.msi

DAFlys Posted at 8-1 23:29
You could always try ICE from Microsoft its free.

https://web.archive.org/web/20190223050207/https://download.microsoft.com/download/7/3/9/73918E0B-C146-40FA-B18C-EADF03FEC4BA/ICE-2.0.3-for-64-bit-Windows.msi

Thanks for the link David.
I had that on one of my old computers that went to the Bitlocker in the Sky
Didn't have much joy with it trying to stitch 180 panos.
I'll download it to this laptop for a few more experiments

Blériot53 Posted at 8-1 23:36
Thanks for the link David.
I had that on one of my old computers that went to the Bitlocker in the Sky
Didn't have much joy with it trying to stitch 180 panos.

Well,  just start small and see how you go.

DAFlys Posted at 8-1 23:40
Well,  just start small and see how you go.

Indeed Bleriot you have got this!!  

DAFlys Posted at 8-1 23:40
Well,  just start small and see how you go.

Next time I can get out, maybe.
Have an earworm   

Bussty Posted at 8-1 23:43
Indeed Bleriot you have got this!!

Im sure @Blériot53 will have a go as soon as the rain stops.

Bussty Posted at 8-1 23:43
Indeed Bleriot you have got this!!

Well thanks for the encouragement guys.
Now I just need the rain to STOP !!

Blériot53 Posted at 8-1 23:48
Well thanks for the encouragement guys.
Now I just need the rain to STOP !!

What about a wet suite for the drone - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184575377085

DAFlys Posted at 8-1 23:48
Im sure @Blériot53 will have a go as soon as the rain stops.

Noted

DAFlys Posted at 8-1 23:49
What about a wet suite for the drone - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184575377085

It's me that would need the wetsuit at the moment

Bussty Posted at 8-1 18:02
Thanks Forbsie amazingly not really, only thing I had to do was paint mask in one of the tips of the tree as was moving. It baffles me how the software can do it!

Same technique applied here...

That's very impressive, I will have to give it a try .. I actually thought parallax would have caused problems with stitching in the tree image, but not so much at higher altitudes. I have Lightroom and a couple of other application that stitch images, so you've given me a new project ;)

forbsie Posted at 8-2 00:52
That's very impressive, I will have to give it a try .. I actually thought parallax would have caused problems with stitching in the tree image, but not so much at higher altitudes. I have Lightroom and a couple of other application that stitch images, so you've given me a new project ;)

Nice! Good luck and make sure you show us :-)

Cheers

Bussty

Magnificent work, Bussty! Thanks for sharing this with us.

Great shot Bussty.    Thanks for sharing your process for the mosaics.  

Blériot53 Posted at 8-1 23:47
Next time I can get out, maybe.
Have an earworm   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUDPWiv28MI

Oh no you didn't just plant this earworm.  

Now I'll be hearing that all morning.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 8-2 05:26
Oh no you didn't just plant this earworm.  

Now I'll be hearing that all morning.

I do like to sew a little mischief here and there

Blériot53 Posted at 8-2 05:30
I do like to sew a little mischief here and there

    You sure do.  

DJI Paladin Posted at 8-2 02:03
Magnificent work, Bussty! Thanks for sharing this with us.

Thanks DJI Paladin :-)

DowntownRDB Posted at 8-2 05:22
Great shot Bussty.    Thanks for sharing your process for the mosaics.

Thanks Downtown, even though the Mini 3 Pro has a fairly small sensor being able to place it anywhere means we can build up really top quality shots in some cases

Bussty Posted at 8-2 15:51
Thanks Downtown, even though the Mini 3 Pro has a fairly small sensor being able to place it anywhere means we can build up really top quality shots in some cases

My pleasure Bussty.  

No doubt about the Mini 3 being a small but very capable drone.  

Bussty Posted at 8-2 15:39
Thanks DJI Paladin :-)

Always my pleasure, Bussty. Have a nice day ahead.

Very interesting to see!

Montfrooij Posted at 8-16 00:04
Very interesting to see!

Thank you! Doesn't work on all subjects if you are too low or the subject is quite high stitching can be tricky but you have a particular subject and you need to go big is a handy technique

Bussty Posted at 8-16 01:38
Thank you! Doesn't work on all subjects if you are too low or the subject is quite high stitching can be tricky but you have a particular subject and you need to go big is a handy technique

Yeah, I have to give it a go!