Digital Photo Manipulation/Digital Stitching - Incontext Solutions
For just about three years, I have been working as a Contracting Digital Photo Stitcher for a company in Chicago, IL. called Incontext Solutions.
To be brief, ICS is a digital market research leader in virtual reality (VR) solutions for retail, dedicated to providing decision-critical insights powered by 3D virtual shopping simulations. In order to provide companies with the optimal business experience, 3-D virtual stores are created to provide experience and feedback from consumers.
As a Digital Photo Stitcher, my job is to create multiple "seamless panorama" images/product aisles for use in 3-D digital environments. In doing this, I aid a team of 3-D modelers and photographers.
To be brief, ICS is a digital market research leader in virtual reality (VR) solutions for retail, dedicated to providing decision-critical insights powered by 3D virtual shopping simulations. In order to provide companies with the optimal business experience, 3-D virtual stores are created to provide experience and feedback from consumers.
As a Digital Photo Stitcher, my job is to create multiple "seamless panorama" images/product aisles for use in 3-D digital environments. In doing this, I aid a team of 3-D modelers and photographers.
Step 1: The process begins with our team of photographers (at times, myself included) going on location to a location where a vendor/client will have their specific product sold or on display. Once there, the entire store is meticulously photographed...every aisle, ceilings, floors, light fixtures, storage, everything. Once this happens, the giant raw untouched digital photographs are distributed to me in whatever fashion they were taken.
STEP 2: I take the raw photographs, separate them into specific aisle folders, representing the entire store...sometimes this could mean 40 folders, other times it could be 100 + folders. Each folder contains roughly 12-45 photographs, which need to be digitally retouched: color correction, color balance, fixing continuity, sizing, adaptive lighting/correction, overlapping/creation of new assets. In the end, these photographs need to become gigantic seamless panoramic files that will be used to populate the digital environment.
STEP 3: Once completed, the team of 3-D artists (who have been creating a digital first person environment of the store that was photographed) will upload/assign the aisles that I have created for them, into the actual environment. There are specific naming conventions and protocols that are followed, so these "skins" are placed into the correct area of the store.
Once fully completed, the environment/complete with fully realized and created aisles is ready for the client, company and consumers to explore and test.
Along with the aisles, there are times where "signage" that gets cut-off from pictures or that was never originally in the server needs to be created...and then put into the stores as well. Some signs are more specialized or specific than others.
