Panoramas

I have been experimenting with making 360° panoramas using our digatal camera and some free software called Panorama Tools. The product is a screen in which you can view a part of the scene, and using the mouse you can scan from side to side, and zoom in and out. Very cool! I want some of the folks who view our page to see the panoramas, i think they're worth the time they take to view! The technology is very simple, if it's explained clearly. I'm going to try to make a clear explaination:

Your computer uses a program called a "browser" to view the internet. This browser can display text and some types of photos, but can not display movies or other advanced items.

If you want to see something that your browser can't show you, you can give your computer a helper program called a "plug-in". A plug-in is a small program that allows your browser to display movies or other advanced items that the browser alone can not display.

There are many types of plug-ins, and your browser already has some. Plug-ins always live in the same place on your computer. They must be in a folder called "plug-ins" (who would've guessed?) The plug-in folder is located inside your browsers folder. If you usually use Netscape, on your hard drive you can find a folder called "Netscape Communicator Folder". If you open this folder, you will find a folder called "plug-ins". Open this folder and see which plug-ins you have.

To see the panoramas i made, you need a plug-in called "QuickTime". If your computer doesn't have it, don't worry, you can easily get it. It is available for free from Apple. If you click on the link to the left, you will goto a web page made by Apple that allows you to download the QuickTime plug-in. You can follow the instructions at their web site, but basically, you tell them a little info about you, and choose which type of computer you are using, and it should automatically be downloaded to your computer. Once the plug-in is in your computer, you must put it in your browsers plug-in folder. On a Macintosh computer, the plug in will be saved as an installer. You open this installer, and tell it which browser to install the plug-in for. I'm not sure how it works on a Windows computer, but i'm sure it's similar. (please mail me with details!!)

Once you've installed the QuickTime Plug in, come back to this page, and you'll be able to view the panoramas below!

Below are small images from the panoramas. Beware that the panoramas are a little large, so may take a couple minutes to load.

Temple near our house 380 k	Temple near our house in snow 304 k	Our living room and kitchen 780 k