Re: Stitching Software

["William G. Lea" <wglea1@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi;

I had the same problems. I tend to stitch large files ~ 115 meg to large
output files.  I use PhotoVista works fine. Well, I've some problems
with
parallax but...

I like Panorama Factory also and put the question to John straight. He
gave me a very detailed answer which you may find helpful and everyone
will probably find interesting.  I find it amazing and refreshing to
find some one who understands his product and thinks enough of his
customers to give them meaningful answers to these complicated
questions. Here is the E-mail he sent me:

"

Hi Bill,

Once again, sorry for the delay in responding to your question.

You wrote:
>Out of memory when stiching two 115 meg files
[snip]
>What kind of limits does your software have on file size?

The image size limit seems to depend on which version of Windows you are
running.  The limit is one imposed by Windows 98 on the maximum single
memory (RAM) allocation.  The Panorama Factory is designed to store
images
in a single memory block and so it bumps into this Windows limit.

I cannot blame this completely on PF or on Windows.  Although this is a
Windows limit, PF could have been designed to work around the Windows
limit
by breaking up large images into smaller "tiles."  Unfortunately, the
cost
of retrofitting a change like this is prohibitive at this time.

So anyway, here's the answer as best as I can understand it:


WINDOWS 98 and WINDOWS ME

It appears that under Windows 98, The Panorama Factory has the following
limits (Windows ME is probably the same as Windows 98):

    1. Maximum image size for 48-bit images -- approximately 44 million
pixels (approximately 254 MB).
    2. Maximum image size for 24-bit images -- approximately 67 million
pixels (approximately 254 MB).
    3. Maximum image output from the resize command for both formats --
approximately 44 million pixels.
(The limit on the resize command is imposed by intermediate storage used
during the resizing function).


WINDOWS NT and WINDOWS 2000

The limit is higher under Windows 2000 (Windows NT is probably the same
as
Windows 2000):
    1. Maximum image size for 48-bit images -- approximately 162 million
pixels (approximately 930 MB).
    2. Maximum image size for 24-bit images -- approximately 244 million
pixels (approximately 930 MB).
    3. Maximum image output from the resize command for both formats --
approximately 162 million pixels.



I'm not sure from your trouble report whether you are using 48-bit mode
(also called 45-bit mode) or 24-bit mode.  You can check this in the
Project
properties dialog -- File menu.

If you are willing to use 24-bit images (you can change this in the
Project properties dialog -- File menu), you'll be able to stitch images
that are half-again as large.  But you'll lose the ability to use the
Color
tool.

If you are willing to convert to Windows 2000 you'll be able to stitch
images that are approximately 4 times as large.

Of course if you could also scan at a lower resolution (just kidding!).

I wish the answer were better -- sorry about that.

Regards,
John

"

Hope this helps the group!
Bill