Making VR output with 5.1 Pro

Q&A about the latest versions
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Hopki
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Hi,
This project shows how you can make a normal and cardboard output that will swop html pages but remain in the same node for a multi node tour.
With 5.1 and above you can change the name of the skin.js file so now you can have two outputs in the one output folder.
The attached project does this however there are a few things you must note such as skin element names, they must be unique to each skin.
As an example if you have an element in both skins with the same ID one will overwrite the other.

This project also uses Direct Node Access so if you are in say node two and switch to VR mode you open Node two with split screen and not open node one as before.

To start add your panos and then in the user data add the Node ID to the Source text filed. So for the first node you would add:

Code: Select all

#node1
The second node

Code: Select all

#node2
And so on.

To find your node ID first make sure you have this selected in the preferences/settings of pano2VR, found under the advanced tab:

Screen Shot 2017-05-10 at 17.01.10.png
Screen Shot 2017-05-10 at 17.01.10.png (19.01 KiB) Viewed 8124 times

Then just hover over the thumbnail in the tour browser, here you can see Node ID node2.

Screen Shot 2017-05-10 at 17.02.43.png
Screen Shot 2017-05-10 at 17.02.43.png (16.63 KiB) Viewed 8124 times

Also note you need to enter it with a "#" at the start.

Now add the hotspots and link up the tour as normal.
Add an HTML5 output as normal except you enable Direct Node Access under the HTML template.

Now add a second HTML5 output and make sure the folder is called output, right button click on the file path and select edit to change the name.
Select the cardboard skin and then under the HTML tab select the cardboard template, using the edit template button select Direct Node Access.
Change the name of the HTML page to:

Code: Select all

output/vr.html
Then under the Advanced tab change the name of the skin.js file to say:

Code: Select all

vr.js
Then set the output path to:

Code: Select all

output/vr.xml
When you publish the output folder it should look something like this:

Screen Shot 2017-05-10 at 16.32.24.png
Screen Shot 2017-05-10 at 16.32.24.png (36.42 KiB) Viewed 8124 times
The buttons in the normal output to swop to the VR output will have the action:

Code: Select all

Mouse Click => Go To URL => URL: vr.html$us
The button in the VR skin to come back will have the action:

Code: Select all

Mouse Click => Go To URL => URL: index.html$us
Note the button will open the desired node by using the node ID in the userdata.
So the actual path to go to the VR mode if you are in node two will be vr.html#node2, so Node two will open in VR mode.
Regards,
Hopki
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pmanix
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed May 20, 2009 1:19 pm

Hi Hopki.

Wouldn't it be more sensible if ALL skins had a dedicated button to switch into VR mode - just like Krpano has? Let's face it - it clearly is the future. I get massive interest from showing tours on cardboard! And it is going to be standard sooner than we think, especially with Daydream ready standalone, wireless dedicated VR devices from HTC and Lenovo, that have just been announced on Google I/O 2017.

In my opinion you should not make two different skins and make us output the tour into two different versions. Instead, EVERY skin should have a basic, clean VR mode embedded by default with a dedicated button - the same way as they have fullscreen mode now! Only after this, you would like to start developing a possibility to edit VR mode elements in the the skin editor and since you will probably want to give users full control over the skin, then the skin editor would eventually need to have a VR mode as well, to edit VR specific elements like floating menus and buttons to increase VR interactivity.

From reading some of your posts, I got an impression that you are not a big fan of VR, but please, think a couple of steps ahead. It would have been way easier to delete the VR button from a skin if one doesn't want it, then to do all of the steps you have just described here to enable the VR mode with a particular skin...

Best Regards
PM

PS. After 7yrs of using Pano2VR, I am confused and still trying to figure out a way to output to VR...
tom.ton
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2016 9:52 pm

I couldn't agree more with pmanix

You should take a look at what one of forum members is doing with his app for GearVR "VR Tourviewer" and start working together. This app takes viewing panoramas in VR to whole new level! Try it if you have access to gear VR setup.

Interactive panotour in VR is something that a lot of people want to see and Pano2VR has very good opportunity to deliver.
pmanix
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed May 20, 2009 1:19 pm

Fair enough if you look at all the big guys, to see where it (demand) is going - Facebook with VR version of platform, Oculus and developer funding, Google with Cardboard, Daydream, Android, Magic Leap and their own VR goggles, Samsung, HTC, Sony and hundreds of others - both capturing and viewing hardware manufacturers together with softwarehouses and my clients, who are so easily impressed by my phone put into cardboard displaying monoscopic imagery...

Please, consider this!
bkiter
Posts: 90
Joined: Mon May 09, 2016 1:36 pm

Yes please! More and more clients want/request to see the tours on VR headsets.

We need menus for vr

We need interactive hotspots that show 2d videos, pop-images inside the panos.

Interaction with bluetooth controllers


Stand-alone headsets ( Vive, Lenovo, Daydream) are around the corner, we need content for them.
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malaga360VR
Posts: 43
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 10:36 pm
Location: Spain / Málaga
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Hi

I think I am doing something wrong because I don’t get nice results on cardboard tour, when I test it on a Samsung Gear VR and S7.

First off al I was trying to make a standard + mono cardboard tour after that I would try the stereo version ( cardboard ).

But when I put Samsung VR I can see a non detailed image and also with image distortion.

I have made a stereo tour that I can see crisp on Gear VR - VR Tourviwer , it is a nice piece of software, this software allows to import projects done with Pano2VR , but I will like also to made the same tour hosted on Amazon S3, so I followed you in this thread to learn doing it, actually I am using Pano2VR 5.2 pro B 4

Maybe you can think that something is wrong with cardboard settings ..... you know that there is an app that allows VR Gear users to use Samsung Gear like standard cardboard viewer , and we must calibrate VR according to https://kunkunsoft.wordpress.com/cardboard/ so after that, I can see in nice VR mode with smooth transitions on krpano demo https://krpano.com/krpanocloud/webvr/?v=119pr10

So must be some image quality setting that I am forgetting , I hope .....

Image Image

Can you help me to improve results ???


https://goo.gl/ANCqg9

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hopki wrote: Wed May 10, 2017 6:10 pm Hi,
This project shows how you can make a normal and cardboard output that will swop html pages but remain in the same node for a multi node tour.
With 5.1 and above you can change the name of the skin.js file so now you can have two outputs in the one output folder.
The attached project does this however there are a few things you must note such as skin element names, they must be unique to each skin.
As an example if you have an element in both skins with the same ID one will overwrite the other.

This project also uses Direct Node Access so if you are in say node two and switch to VR mode you open Node two with split screen and not open node one as before.

To start add your panos and then in the user data add the Node ID to the Source text filed. So for the first node you would add:

Code: Select all

#node1
The second node

Code: Select all

#node2
And so on.

To find your node ID first make sure you have this selected in the preferences/settings of pano2VR, found under the advanced tab:


Screen Shot 2017-05-10 at 17.01.10.png


Then just hover over the thumbnail in the tour browser, here you can see Node ID node2.


Screen Shot 2017-05-10 at 17.02.43.png


Also note you need to enter it with a "#" at the start.

Now add the hotspots and link up the tour as normal.
Add an HTML5 output as normal except you enable Direct Node Access under the HTML template.

Now add a second HTML5 output and make sure the folder is called output, right button click on the file path and select edit to change the name.
Select the cardboard skin and then under the HTML tab select the cardboard template, using the edit template button select Direct Node Access.
Change the name of the HTML page to:

Code: Select all

output/vr.html
Then under the Advanced tab change the name of the skin.js file to say:

Code: Select all

vr.js
Then set the output path to:

Code: Select all

output/vr.xml
When you publish the output folder it should look something like this:


Screen Shot 2017-05-10 at 16.32.24.png

The buttons in the normal output to swop to the VR output will have the action:

Code: Select all

Mouse Click => Go To URL => URL: vr.html$us
The button in the VR skin to come back will have the action:

Code: Select all

Mouse Click => Go To URL => URL: index.html$us
Note the button will open the desired node by using the node ID in the userdata.
So the actual path to go to the VR mode if you are in node two will be vr.html#node2, so Node two will open in VR mode.
Regards,
Hopki
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soulbrother
Posts: 545
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:01 pm
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I agree!

It´s important and also my clients slowly but shurely aks more and more...

By the way some questions to the combination of Samsung Gear VR and S7:
Is it possible to simply use the html vr output and watch that panoramatour in a browser
and
have some sounds (mp3) in the tour and use bluetooth headphones.
Should such a combination work?

Next step: That tour on a S7 but with locally stored data - should it work (if yes, I guess with firefox only, right?)
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360Texas
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We also have the Samsung s7 curve. We use a flash drive and an ON THE GO male/female connector. The Android Yougart 7.0 'MyFiles' looks for and located all three (3) of my storage locations

LOCAL storage areas:
1. Internal Storage
2. SD Card and
3. USB 8Gb thumbdrive 080F-3F17 (flash drive) This drive contains the Pano2vr Tour

Yes it works with Firefox but maybe not other browsers.

See setup photo here:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10985&p=44792&hilit ... ve#p44792
Dave
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soulbrother
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Hi Dave,
thanks for your reply. Just one more question:
Does this locally stored data work also, if it is the "split-screen" of the HMD vr output (cardboard skin) in Firefox on Samsung S7 ?
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Hopki
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Hi Guys,
There are lots of feature requests for VR and the target is version 6.x.x, probably wont make the first couple of betas because of other projects.
Regards,
Hopki
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soulbrother
Posts: 545
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Hi again,
do you think, that the display of local data-storage on SD Card or USB stick (flashdrive via OTG Cable) will be more easy with V6 ?

At the moment I am total confused and disappointed of the "wonderful modern tools" (named: "mobile devices").

I have a tour, created with the cardboard output and I use the Samsung S5.
The same tour is stored on the SD Card and on an external flash-drive (via OTG cable).

When I open the html file, Firefox (54.0.1) is starting, but show an error message: "did not find the file"

When I open the same html-files (SD Card or Flashdrive) via another browser, the file is opened, but the usual message appears:
this content requires html5 .....

Could anyone confirm that FF 54 SHOULD still open locally stored p2vr tours?
Or any hint, what I can do, any workaround?
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360Texas
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I think when you get this message:
When I open the same html-files (SD Card or Flashdrive) via another browser, the file is opened, but the usual message appears:
this content requires html5 .....
it means your device default browser is not HTML5 content aware.

Most desktop modern browsers are HTML5 content aware because they are a full version browser. Maybe your smartphone default browser is a stripped down lite browser version ? meaning it is NOT HTML5 content aware.

With newer smartphones it is possible to smartphone browse to internet and download the full version browser. We did that with full version Google Chrome on our Samsung s7 curve.
Dave
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soulbrother
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Dave,
yes, that´s clear.

I just mentioned, that the browsers that I can use (additionally to FF) are Chrome and the "Samsung default browser".
Those don´t open local stored VR files.
Only FF did that, but on my S5 it shows that stupid message, that the (html) file is not found.
But the other browsers find that file and displays a message that "html5 blabla" - what is a proof that they can "find and read" the file.

So I do´t understand why FF don´t "find" it... :-((
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360Texas
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hmm it might be you s5 default browser is not HTML5 content. We too had an s5 that used their own older version of Samsung INTERNET browser by default. Suggest you on your s5 download and locate s5 under settings for BROWSER change to make Firefox your default browser.

Just thinking out loud.
Dave
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