05. Who is that masked man?
Autopano Giga’s Mask tool allows you to indirectly control which parts of your images are stitched into the final pano. It can be extremely useful for solving difficult stitching problems. A mask allows us a way to decide which camera should take precedence for each point on the image. When the mask tool is open, you can add or remove special markers that influence the final masking algorithm. Let’s look at how it works.
First, click the Mask button on the Autopano Giga toolbar.
Click the Mask button to open the mask editor.
You’ll see the Mask options window appear on the left. From here, you have four options for modifying your mask markers:
The mask options window allows you to switch your selected masking tool
If you hover over your realtime preview window, you’ll see the current seam between the images. It’s important to note that your cutting mode determines the default seams. For example, the Iso cutting mode will give you a sinusoidal cut pattern that maximizes the center content from each image.
Iso cutting will give you a smooth mask that maximizes the center content from each image.
Alternatively, the smart cutting algorithm will give your images a more irregular, natural seam.
Smart cutting gives you an irregular seam between your images
Unfortunately, the Smart Cutting algorithm doesn’t work with motion compensation. So, you can only use it if your video was shot from a tripod or other mount. For this high-motion footage, we’ll have to use Iso cutting.
For objects or artifacts you don’t want, you can put a red marker on either that image, or multiple images in the stack (you may sometimes have the same object in 3 or more videos depending on your setup). You’ll get the best results by also putting a green marker in a similar place on the image you do want to take precedence.
Use mask markers sparingly. You only need one or two to define a large area. Remember, they only influence the final mask. They are not a direct control.
Use mask markers sparingly to define a region to keep or remove.
For each point, you ideally want to have a red marker on one video clip, and a green marker in the same spot on the other clip along that seam. As you mouse over the screen, you will see the image you are currently marking, with other images greyed out.
Again, take your time here - put in as many markers as necessary so that the boundary of your scene looks right. Once you’re happy, click the check mark to apply your changes.
Click the green arrow to confirm your mask changes