SoC 2008/PanoramaViewing

Google Summer of Code 2008

QuickTime VR (panorama) Viewing

Also on this wiki: SoC_2008#QuickTimeVR_Playing

My Commitment

I'm committed to work at least 40 hours per week for 3 months on this project except for the first week in April when I will be busy with final exams.

Plan

This plan is based on the dates in the GSoC 2008 timeline

• March 31
• figure out what needs to be done
  • how to modify VLC to detect QTVRs
  • what needs to change in VLC to display QTVRs
  • figure out how to write codecs for VLC
    • User:dionoea mentioned that image handling modifications are required
• get an understanding of the QTVR format (possible start: http://developer.apple.com/documentation/QuickTime/InsideQT_QTVR/6Chap/chapter_6_section_1.html and the FreePV code)
• see how much of the FreePV code can be used
• make a list of QTVR functionality in the order of importance to organize the implementation steps
• think about turning FreePV into a library that can be used in VLC
• by now I should have a good idea of how things fit together
• write a bare-minimum OpenGL QTVR viewer for VLC
• July 14
• do some testing
• get feedback
• keep extending the basic functionality until time runs out
• August 18

What to do about plain image (JPG, PNG) panoramas?

• can't really detect that an image is a panorama without any hints
  • command line: let the user specify what type of panorama the supplied image(s) is(are) using a --panorama={equirectangular,cylindrical,littleplanet,...} switch
  • GUI a special open dialog for loading panoramas - the user specifies what type of panorama is expected using a drop down box