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Virtual Reality Panoramas from the Washington Cascades |
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360 degree virtual reality files from peaks in the central Cascade Range of Washington |
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Mt. Daniel from Mac Peak |
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What's on This Site: |
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These pages have links to high resolution 360 degree panoramas from the Cascade Range in Washington State in QTVR (QuickTime Virtual Reality) format, as well as recent experiments with Microsoft’s HD View technology, the newest version of which will also work on Mac and Linux machines. I’m in the process of updating the files. HD View has become my preferred VR format, unless the compass feature in the DevalVR viewer is needed.
I hope these images will give you a feeling for the views from a number of summits. HD View and QTVR files allow you to navigate right - left , up - down, and zoom in and out using the mouse and keyboard. You can pan around the entire horizon, zooming in and out when you want, almost as if you were standing on the summit looking at different features.
If you do not have the required browser plug-in installed, you should be guided to the install site. There is a workaround for Mac users and others who do not wish to install the DevalVR plug-in on the help page. Note: Jan 09: please use the latest version of the DevalVR plug-in; there was a bug in a previous version that locked the zoom .
How this all began: The first panoramas from Cascade peaks I did were just for me. They were field guides with peak labels included to compensate for the fact that I can't remember names. Friends at the USFS Cle Elum Ranger District encouraged me to make a few pans for the two remaining fire lookouts in the district, and then one thing lead to another. Better cameras for the purpose, and vastly improved software keep allowing me to do things I thought not possible.
OK, so what actually is here? The 360 degree labeled panoramas start with rather large tiff files (now up to 2 gigs) which are subsequently labeled ... or maybe not. The .tiff files are converted to QTVR format (.mov extension) or HD View format depending on the intended use. That's what’s here.
Who is this stuff for? An excellent question! Too bad I don't know the answer. One of my goals has been to document the Cle Elum Ranger District north of I-90 from a large number of vantage points within and along the boundary of the district. Along with the labeled panoramas in .pdf format from each of these locations, these images may be a useful tool for the district.
At a minimum, I'll try to make this a convenient resource for my friends in the FS. Just the nuts and bolts, no superfluous verbiage — like what I've just written.
Before you start: To view the DevalVR based panoramas, the DevalVR browser plug-in must be installed. Simply clicking on the file should lead you to the install page.
Once the DevalVR viewer loads the image file, click the little slide out control at the left lower corner and try the full screen button. If you have a decent size monitor you'll get the full effect. The escape key returns you to the window view. Try the magnifier too; it's very slick. The new compass feature is a big help; thanks Fiero!
July 2009: As much as I like the special features of the DevalVR viewer, like the compass, take a look at some of these pans using HD View from Microsoft Research. A very cool method. Again, just clicking on a file that uses HD View should take you to an installation page. Be sure to look for the yellow bar at the top of the window, blocking installation until you give permission. It’s OK to do this. Bill said so. :-)
If you can’t view the Deval VR files I’ve added a few caveats on the help page here.
Larry Robinson, February 21, 2010
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Last update: February 21, 2010 |
