Removing and re-installing Theta will not affect warranty or lens calibration for Planix Pro, but lens alignment to Planix body will need to be performed in Survey from the Settings menu each time Theta is re-installed.
Ricoh plugins cannot be used by Planix due to limitations of Ricoh USB API.
Thanks Alex.
I do understand the USB bit. Just wanted to know if I could get the flexibility for other types of shots.
I’m wondering if there could be an option in the survey app to disable the usb on the Planix by a toggle switch and allow the camera to connect with the Z1 over WiFi to capture a higher quality pano.
Turn off planix. Turn on theta only. Connect to camera using app of choice. This is how I’ve been doing my scans. First the iGuide and then do my zillow 3D tour using same setup but with planix off.
To summarize some of this thread, am I to understand that there is a way of getting higher quality photos from the Theta than those taken through Planix, and without unscrewing the system?
If someone can lay out a step by step guide to doing this (I’m using an iPhone 11 Pro and no android devices) that would be HUGELY appreciated.
If you enable the WiFi of the Z1, the serial number is in the SSID of the broacasted WiFi signal.
Planix has made such an improvement to my workflow. I’m McLuvinit!
Alex,
Please investigate this further because the V2 version of the USB API for the Theta Z1 and Z1 51GB does support the control of plugins.
Integrating the the free Theta dual fisheye plugin into your capture process would significantly boost the photo quality of captured images and that would greatly improve the value of your service and further set it apart from your competitors.
For reference the following sections of the API provide the commands needed to start, stop and control plugins like the free Theta DFE plugin.
api.ricoh/docs/theta-usb-api/operation/get_plugin_state/
api.ricoh/docs/theta-usb-api/operation/plugin_control/
I am currently researching this and other alternatives and getting the DFE plugin working with your Planix system would definitely push me towards investing in your product.
THETA USB API will only allow to start/stop plugins, but there is no way to further control a plugin’s functionality, for example to tell a plugin to take a picture or save to Planix USB drive an image produced by the plugin.
On the the topic of HDR, existing Planix users would know that we recently released a firmware update which ported to Planix our own HDR processing using 3 brackets taken with THETA, the same HDR algorithm that was used in our previous generation IMS-5 camera. It does produce better looking windows, but at the expense of few extra seconds per pano.
Honestly, I thought Planix was already doing bracketing/HDR merging, as the quality of panoramas and dynamic range I was getting seemed better than Matterport in that regard. I will have to make sure I update to latest firmware and run some more tests.
IIn my first 2 Tours, I have noticed that my Z1 produces very good photos with the rear camera and very bad quality with the front one, as if it is blurred or out of focus, is it my camera or someone else having the same problem?