Photosynth uses lots of photos to put you amid a 3D scene
— -- First there was the snapshot, and then came video. Now comes Microsoft Photosynth, kind of something in between.
That's how Microsoft is marketing this brand-new visual medium, which launches Thursday. It's way premature to think Photosynth might someday have the long-lasting impact of still photography and movies. But the promising, if not quite polished, online service is fun and worth keeping an eye on — even with a few important drawbacks.
Photosynth is better seen than described. It aims to take panoramic stitching to a whole new level. The basic idea: automatically stitch together a collection of digital photos you took touring, say, Times Square or Tiananmen Square and transform them into a three-dimensional, 360-degree online experience called a "synth." Synths are meant to place you at the center of a "reconstructed" scene: You use the mouse or keyboard to move around. Unlike with video, you choose where to go next.
Say you snap a batch of pictures at the Grand Canal in Venice. Upload them to the service where the synth is automatically created (it may take awhile). Then you can pan up, down, right, left, as well as zoom in or out with images staying sharp.
Photosynth examines photos for similarities with each other and determines the vantage point they were shot and estimates the shape of the subject.
The free (for now) service was born out of Microsoft's Live Labs research. I enjoyed exploring "synths" created by Microsoft, National Geographic and others, as well as creating my own, despite prelaunch bugs. You'll need a Windows Live ID to get started. Here's a closer look:
•Taking pictures.
Shooting pictures for a synth is different from the way you'd otherwise capture images. More time consuming, too. Things that make pretty pictures do not necessarily synth well. Shooting water is problematic. Same goes for something shiny or smooth. Photosynth analyzes textures.
Microsoft says to snap two to three times the pictures you think you'll need, up to 300. Twenty pictures is the minimum. You're supposed to capture the boring bits around an object along with the presumed masterpiece. The order in which you shoot pictures doesn't matter.
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