Far Cry 2 - Microsoft PhotoSynth

[GPFontaine]

I have been trying to make a Photosynth using Far Cry 2 screen shots.  For some reason I haven't been able to get 100% of the results I am looking for, but I have made progress.

Synth #5:
http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=8c18f195-1cc9-4d91-92dc-d92b7f4e0222

I capture the screenshots using the standard PrintScreen button.  Then I automate a color adjustment, cropping, and saving to jpeg using Photoshop CS4.  From there Photosynth does the rest.  It is mostly accurate, however I haven't found out how to get it to pivot exactly how I want quiet yet.  I'll keep trying until I get some better ones, but for now, this is what I have been working on.

[deadman1]

That was cool  :-X  :)

[Art Blade]

haha, interesting   ;D Kind of a 3D panorama... reminds me of that google maps feature when you can click a city and go down into it for a street view  :-X

[KingRat]

That was cool  :-X  :)

Yep, well done  :-X

[PZ]

Nice w@&k GPFontaine, looks like a winner  :-X

[Art Blade]

Heh, that would be awsome, have the entire FC2 world (Bowa, Leboa) mapped like that  ;D ;D ;D (that is NOT a request, GP, you can resume breathing now  ;) )

[GPFontaine]

Heh, that would be awsome, have the entire FC2 world (Bowa, Leboa) mapped like that  ;D ;D ;D (that is NOT a request, GP, you can resume breathing now  ;) )

Microsoft only gives you 20GB of space and it takes an exponentially longer time to build each time you add an image.  This is because it has to check each image against each point, and as you add more, you add more points.  I can't even imagine how long it would take.  I bet the worlds best super computers would have a better chance of figuring out how to do time travel before they could do all of Bowa.  He he he.

On that note, I do think there are some cool things we could try with it.  For example, a path to a difficult diamond or a mission with limited motion.  It wouldn't be too 3Dish, but it could potentially be similar to a video experience.

[Art Blade]

I think FC2 hasn't got that much to offer that needed that kind of visual guide, and diamonds are easier to understand watching a video.

I think that technique would be more suitable for something like a cave with tunnels, ie. a maze, where you could show both the right path through it and where deviations lead, respectively see which paths you better don't take.

A shame, really, that this rendering consumes such vast amounts of computing time. Maybe we should opt for time travel, instead.  ;D

[Dweller_Benthos]

Pretty cool.

I know when I did those panoramas, I had better luck getting a good stitch when I set my game resolution to 1024x768 instead of widesreen like I normally have it. I never got around to using a mouse emulator to map to the arrow keys on the keyboard, that would eliminate having to keep your mouse movements exactly in a horizontal plane.

[GPFontaine]

A fun way to do real world synths is to take a video and move at a smooth pace.  Then just use a video to image batch conversion and get rid of 90% of the frames.

[Art Blade]

 ;D That sounds like a pretty cool idea and way to do that  :-X