Stellarium landscapes

[lukebl]

Anyone else had a go at using your own landscape panoramas in Stellarium, so that you get a realistic view every time you open the program?

Here's a couple of screen grabs of Stellarium views with my own garden. I carefully oriented the panorama so that the cardinal points are accurate, and it gives a very accurate impression of what's visible from the garden. Really useful. (Please excuse the hideous trampoline and other kids paraphanalia! Fortunately they don't obscure the horizon too much).

The bright blue awning on the bottom 360-degree image is the roof of the obsy.

[The Sailor]

Well I never, I was just thinking about this the other night. Luke, what version can you do this on?

Jim

[Daz1969]

That is soooo cool!

[abumuhannadh]

i have been thinking about it. but not sure how i do it.

i know how to take Little Planet shots.

[brantuk]

Brilliant - I love it lol

[The Sailor]

Okay, everyone loves it, any chance of someone telling us how to do it?

Jim

Okay, not a problem, am Googling it now

[lukebl]

This is how I did it

1: Take 360 panorama. I had about 20 images stitched together in Photoshop CS3.

2: In PS, insert the image over the apollo17.png image from the Stellarium/landscapes/moon folder. Adjust size and position of horizon to match. I did this to ensure an image the correct size and orientation for the program.

3. Select and delete the sky area. Save as png file.You should get something like this:

4. Set up new folder in Stellarium/landscapes. Insert image file and edited landscape.ini file.

5. In Stellarium, go to Sky and Viewing Options/Landscape and select the landscape.

Might need jigging around a bit to get the horizon and cardinal points correct.

[The Sailor]

Thats good Luke, will give that a try, well done.

Jim

[Beulah]

That is awesome, Luke!

[The Sailor]

Luke, a question about your landscape photo, I see your shadow on the extreme right, no tripod? Also, you did not take the photo from the point of your telescope setup, just wondered about that. Thanks for those instructions, will have a go tomorrow if the weather is fine.

Jim

[lukebl]

Luke, a question about your landscape photo, I see your shadow on the extreme right, no tripod? Also, you did not take the photo from the point of your telescope setup, just wondered about that. Thanks for those instructions, will have a go tomorrow if the weather is fine.

Jim

No, not on a tripod. Standing on a chair! Just tried to keep the horizon in the middle during the panorama, then did an additional 360-degree series of images pointing downwards to get the ground, plus some more higher up to get the trees. Photoshop autostitch made sure they all joined up. If I were doing it properly I might use a tripod.

Incidentally, it's important not to have the lens set at too wide-angle. The temptation is to use a wide angle, but if you do that the individual images are distorted at the edges and don't join up well. I had my 18-55mm lens set at about 30mm. Also, use the same exposure throughout (I set the camera exposure to manual) to ensure that each image has the same tone.

And no, I didn't take it from the position of the scope as the scope itself would be in the way. Come to think of it, I might take the scope off the pier and have a go at that tomorrow. That way, I'll have an accurate view of the sky from inside the obsy. Good idea!

Thanks all for the nice comments.

[jaquesnoir]

What a great idea - Thanks.

BTW: If you don't have photoshop you can use Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor) to do the panorama. Its free and very easy to use.

I learnt about it at the SGL imaging workshop.

Download here: Image Composite Editor (32-Bit) - Microsoft Research

[The Sailor]

JN, thanks for that link

Jim

[jaquesnoir]

No Probs.

As I said - I was told about it at the SGL imaging day. It works like a dream and its FREE and so easy to use.

So, only fair to tell everyone else.

[The Sailor]

Just tried ICE, can't believe how easy it was, import files and wham!, a panoramic photo, how have I missed this .

Jim

[jaquesnoir]

Aptly named - Its cool.

BTW: Did you notice the link in the top right corner of the download page - A silverlight showing of 'The Feynman Lectures' - so all in all a pretty cool page . I take it all back Bill....

[Daggerstab]

Some guy at the Cloudy Nights forums managed to do a panorama with a home-made fish-eye lens (door peep-hole lens ):

Telescope Reviews: Stellarium landscape image of my back porch

Landscape types are described in Stellarium's user guide (the PDF), and there are instructions on how to orient a landscape to north without having to edit the image in the Stellarium Wiki:

Landscape Rotation - Stellarium Wiki

[lukebl]

Some guy at the Cloudy Nights forums managed to do a panorama with a home-made fish-eye lens (door peep-hole lens ):

Telescope Reviews: Stellarium landscape image of my back porch

Landscape types are described in Stellarium's user guide (the PDF), and there are instructions on how to orient a landscape to north without having to edit the image in the Stellarium Wiki:

Landscape Rotation - Stellarium Wiki

There's a challenge to while away the absence of dark nights! See who can get the coolest view of their garden in Stellarium.

[Michael Rapley]

Thanks for this I'll be trying this at the weekend

[russ]

Thats a great result...will be trying it too.

[The Sailor]

There's a challenge to while away the absence of dark nights! See who can get the coolest view of their garden in Stellarium.

Yes, , have been looking and picking up rubbish and SHMBO to get the photo just right

Jim

[yesyes]

... picking up rubbish and SHMBO ...

This could be misinterpreted...

[WayBig]

This is great, I think i'll have a go too.

I feel a separate thread starting up soon for us to compare stellarium garden panoramas

[Digz]

This is my next project whilst we have a run of cloudy skies.

I think its cool to be able to customise stellarium to show you accurately what you will see at your site. Im always thinking of something to see only to realise its obscured by one thing or another