SynthEyes 1702 Adds Direct 360°VR Solving

Plus Powerful New Lens Calibration System

* February 15th, 2017. For immediate release.

Andersson Technologies LLC (Phoenixville, PA) has released SynthEyes 1702, the latest version of its 3-D tracking and match-moving application for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

SynthEyes 1702 introduces two major new features: direct native omnidirectional 360°VR solving, and a new lens calibration system.

360VR solving is now integrated deeply into the SynthEyes solver, so that 360VR shots are solved without conversion to linear format. With the direct native approach, shots are tracked in the 360VR image format, and that omnidirectional data drives the solution. The long tracker lifetimes typical with omnidirectional tracking result in a solution that has less drift and is more stable, averaging all cameras of the 360VR rig. With the comprehensive integration, most things you can do with regular shots, you can now do with 360VR shots, including 360VR moving-object solving, tripod shots, seed points, etc.

The new lens calibration system offers the following features:

• Lens models including linear, inverse linear, anamorphic (except in Intro), and four fisheye variants
• Array of dots, checkerboard, line straightening, known XYZ, and random dot analysis modes.
• Extensive output format controls including 1-pass, 2-pass, and 360VR.

The random dot method is especially interesting, generating a very dense calibration data set for reference calibrations, without relying on a measured or structured environment.

SynthEyes 1702 includes a variety of productivity-enhancing improvements, often directly suggested by users:

• Delete-tracker mode from Tracker/Planar panel for faster cleanup.
• Hand animation of trackers via splines to create paths during occlusions
• UVMap/STMap/Image distortion maps can be read by the image preprocessor.
• Lens maps for 360VR setups, notably for fisheye to 360VR conversion
• 360VR support for texture extraction
• Computational Undo option on & for the Lens Workflow script
• Geometric Hierarchy Tracking improvements, especially for rig import and setup.
• Around 100 new features, improvements, fixes, and tweaks in all.

Seven tutorials on the new features can be found at https://www.ssontech.com/tutes/tutelatest.html

The free demonstration version of SynthEyes on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux can be downloaded starting at https://www.ssontech.com/regis.html SynthEyes runs on operating systems including Windows 10 and macOS 10.12 (Sierra); see the website for a complete list.

SynthEyes 1702 will be exhibited at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas from April 24th to 27th in the Virtual Reality Pavilion, booth N1011VR (North Hall).

* Pricing and Availability

The new version is available immediately. For in-support SynthEyes customers, the new version comes at no extra cost. Upgrade or renewal pricing for earlier SynthEyes customers varies depending on the details. Customers should use the online store to determine specific upgrade and non-USD pricing for all versions.

New licenses of SynthEyes Pro cost 499 USD. The cross-platform Pro license runs 599 USD. Floating Pro licenses are 699 USD each; there is a one-time per-site license manager/setup charge of 250 USD for floating licenses. For students and hobbyists, an entry-level Intro version (https://www.ssontech.com/introlim.html) is 299 USD. Purchasing is online or via listed resellers.

A one-year site license for qualifying educational institutions is 495 USD (https://www.ssontech.com/educate.html). Contact the company with particulars for information on volume licenses for student computers.