Import & Display 360° Images (Beta)

Import 360° images in Cintoo Cloud provided that those 360° images have been geolocated and are in the same coordinate system as the 3D scans.

Beta feature

This is a beta feature starting Dec 14th, 2020. Being a beta feature:

• The access to it is valid for all Cintoo Cloud subscribers.
• The 360° images do not count as scans in scan count.
• The maximum number of 360 images that could be uploaded to Cintoo Cloud is limited to the number of scans included in the subscription.
• For example, for a subscription for 5,000 scans, it's possible to upload up to 5,000 
  360° images.

Warning: 360° images are 2D only, so it's not possible to use them to add annotations (that are linked to a 3D point) or to make measurements. They are used for display only.

Step 1 – Prepare 360° Images

360° images must be stored in a single folder together with a CSV file containing the information about the location and orientation of each panorama. The expected formats are the following:

All the 360° images will need to be spherical images in JPEG or PNG. Example spherical image:

The same folder will need to include a CSV file that contains 360° image name (with extension), location and orientation, for each 360° image.

The CSV file will need to be as follows:

• Use comma (,) as column separator
• The column for the file name must be named filename
• Filenames should have their extension (.jpg or .png)
• For the position, name the columns as x, y and z
• x, y and z values must be in meters, in the same coordinate system as your scans.
• The orientation needs to be given as a quaternion or as a simple heading

Note: since both quaternion notation and heading are supported as orientation, it's not possible to have heading and quaternion in the same CSV. It is either one or the other, otherwise Cintoo Connect will reject it.

Using quaternions for the orientation:

• Name the columns as qw, qx, qy, qz
• That way, the first column should look like (the order doesn’t matter): filename, x, y, z, qw, qx, qy, qz
• It would be qw = 1 and qx = qy = qz = 0 for no rotation with quaternions.
  

Using a heading value for the orientation:

Create a column named heading in the CSV file.

The heading parameter represents the angle in degrees, a rotation around Z axis. From the top view, a positive angle represents a rotation in the clockwise direction (towards east).

Note: when using heading there will be no rotation applied around X or Y axes. We assume that the 360 images are well aligned vertically (the plane crossing the "equator" line must be parallel to the XY plane), otherwise the image will look as it is not straight (example: a straight building would look like it has some slope).

The angle takes as reference the middle of the image and the north direction:

• Heading set to 0 degrees means that the user will see the middle of the image when looking towards north (+Y). 
• Heading set to 90 degrees means that the user will see the middle of the image when looking towards east (+X).
• Heading set to 180 degrees means that the user will see the middle of the image when looking towards  south (-Y). 
• Heading set to 270 degrees means that the user will see the middle of the image when looking towards west (+X).

Note: Navigation Map at the bottom right corner can help to find out which direction the user is facing currently.

Step 2 – Upload 360° Images using Cintoo Connect

Use Cintoo Connect to upload 360° images.

Click on Download Cintoo Connect in the drop-down Add menu on the top right or use the following link to download the latest version of Cintoo Connect.

This beta program starts with Cintoo Connect version 1.12.

1. It's advised to create a specific Work Zone. Click Work Zone from the drop-down Add menu on the top right to do that.

2. In this Work Zone, open Data tab and click Prepare & upload on the 360 Images tile, or click 360 Images from the drop-down Add menu on the top right. Cintoo Connect will launch.

3. In the opened 360 Images tab in Cintoo Connect click Select 360 Images. Select the CSV file that lists spherical images. 360° images subscription capacity is displayed on top. 

360° Images Display

360° Images will be displayed in the DATA tab with a dedicated icon:

In the Overview Map, the 3D View and the Navigation Map, 360° Images will appear with green icons:

It's possible to navigate from a scan to a 360° image, a 360° image to a 360° image or a 360° image to a scan.