Question about cubicpanoout.rb

miikka1978

I have been using this great ruby for many times. But, when I use the ruby I get gray transparent "sections" on the screen, which are annoying when modeling again. Is there anybody who knows how to get rid of these sections (probably something in the camera settings)?

tomasz

http://www.smustard.com/script/fixAspectRatio

Fix aspect ratio - should help if I understand right.
Tomasz

miikka1978

Works perfect, Thanks!

azilker

I just started attempting to use these two together but cannot seem to get the workflow right. Since I installed "FixAspectRatio" I now show the gray boxes that seem to frame a square. I have tried to export via "CubicPanoOut" - but I still getting gray boxes.

Can anybody assist me with the workflow to get clean cubic images? Much appreciated!

Gaieus

Hi azilker (and welcome),

Are you saying that with CubicPanoOut, you can export the images but not at 1:1 aspect ration but you SU window ratio with those grey bars on the (probably) sides?

azilker

I guess I'm not sure of the overall workflow. Do I have to set my viewing window to eliminate the gray bars and then initiate CubicPanoOut? What I did was 1) set my view 2) click on fix aspect ratio 3) cubic pano out - seems like the results still have the gray

Gaieus

You do not need the fix aspect ratio plugin for this. Just CubicPanoOut.

You would need Fix aspect ratio only if later you wanted to remove those grey bars.

When the six images export, do they have the grey bars?

azilker

Yes it seems like I am always getting the gray bars - what I'm looking to do is get a 360 (cubic) pano out of SU8. Many Thanks for your input.

otb designworks

John knows all about this as I have been in communication with him since ver 7, which is when this weirdness with the grey bars started.

I guess it was something in the Sketchup code that was changed that has made the plugin unusable, at least for me (on a mac). It has nothing to do with the aspect ration, as far as I know.

It works perfectly in ver6 however, so, when I need a QTVR, I save the model out as a ver6 and do my cubicpanoout's in 6.

A bit annoying, but still definitely worth the effort.

I talked to John a couple of weeks ago and, I think, he was going to work up a test version for me to check out, but he also mentioned that work was very busy right now, so I am not bothering him about it.

Gaieus

I don't know guys but for me it works as it should; exporting the six images perfectly square without any grey bars.
(I do not have FixAspectRatio installed at all however; may there be some conflict?)

Azilker, how big is your file (i.e. could you attach it here?). If you set the first view, I could try to run the plugin for you. Note that shadows should be turned off (but you can have shadows on faces etc.)

otb designworks

Maybe a mac thing, I guess.

Also, it is important to have "use sun for shading" on or the 6 images won't blend together correctly.

otb designworks

Here is a sample image from when I run the plugin in ver8

azilker

I am using a MAC - I think I'll try the version thing and then PC. I'll let you know. THANKS.

Chris Fullmer

There is a known Mac bug with those grey bars. I've come across it while working on a camera plugin recently. This looks like the known bug to me.

Chris

Gaieus

That indeed looks ugly, Chuck.

I do not use the plugin too much for native SU exports nowadays; just to set up those 6 scenes and then export the pano using either Twilight (perfectly matching the cameras in SU) or Thea (needs a bit of work on the camera settings but Tomasz said he put the issue on the wish list for the exporter).

Both can export full spherical images, too, but using the cubic output, I can render bigger panoramas on my 32 bit OS (you know, memory...)

Here is one (Twilight) that is pretty big actually (was not meant for online watching originally but for a presentation):
http://www.gaieus.hu/Panoramas/Park/Park.swf

Now of course, using a render engine will eliminate all shadow issues (and of course, any grey bar problems inside SU itself)

valerostudio

This is an old posting but seems to be an issue in 2017. Anyone have a solution for this?

filibis

@valerostudio said:

This is an old posting but seems to be an issue in 2017. Anyone have a solution for this?
If you are experiencing 'grey bars' problem, try using these resolutions: 1020, 2040, 4080 etc... (multiplied by two)
I don't know why but it works that way.

Also check this plugin for a better version with additional WebGL features: WebGL Cubic Panorama