Monday, July 24th, 2017 Posted by Jim Thacker

Kolor releases Autopano Video 3.0


Kolor has posted a commercial release candidate of Autopano Video 3.0, the latest version of its software for stitching 360-degree video for virtual reality work.

The update boosts rendering speeds “up to 3x” on Nvidia GPUs, makes parallax compensation system D.WARP compatible with more camera rigs, adds timecode support, and improves workflow with Nuke.

Now GPU-accelerated on Nvidia cards
One of the big changes in Autopano Video 3.0 is raw performance: according to Kolor, thanks to GPU acceleration, the software now previews projects “up to 5x faster” and renders them “up to 3x faster”.

It’s based on CUDA, so you will need a compatible Nvidia GPU and, as of the release candidate, video rendered with the GPU doesn’t include audio – a “little issue” that “will be fixed shortly”.

Better parallax compensation, timecode support and Nuke workflow
Of the actual toolsets, D.WARP – the software’s parallax compensation system, which automatically resolves stitching errors – has been revamped to work with “all rigs with at least three cameras”.

However, there are limitations to the degree of parallax it can resolve: you can find details in Kolor’s FAQs.

New features include support for timecode, making it possible to import videos from any genlocked device without synchronisation; and to burn timecode data into rendered output, as shown above.

Output can also now be previewed in GoPro VR Player, Kolor’s free VR video playback software, enabling users to view footage using an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive headset, on Windows, macOS or Linux.

Workflow with Nuke has also been streamlined: on importing an Autopano Video project into Nuke, all of the nodes are now created automatically.

Pricing and availability
Autopano Video 3.0 is available as a release candidate for 64-bit Windows 7+, Ubuntu 16.04 Linux and Mac OS X 10.9+.

The new version is equivalent to the old Pro edition of the sofware, Kolor now having dropped all other editions, and costs €599 (around $700). Anyone buying now will get all future 3.x releases free.

Read more about the new features in Autopano Video 3.0 on Kolor’s blog

Visit the Autopano Video product website