Pi Technology for Beginners
, founded in 2012, is one of the earliest teams in China to engage in embedded panoramic algorithm research and development, and is also the panoramic algorithm supplier with the largest market share in the world. The company has successively launched Pilot Era and Pilot One, integrated smart screens and smart panoramic cameras that support one-click high-definition panoramic live broadcast, bringing users an immersive 8K high-definition live broadcast experience in real time.
Pilot Era is used as a demonstration here. There is not much difference between the two. Pilot Era is a portable professional-grade panoramic camera. 8K real-time stitching of pictures and videos, no computer required for in-camera stitching. It comes with a touch screen, what you see is what you get, and the user experience is as simple as a mobile phone.
Various parts and buttons of the Pilot Era camera body
1. Basic operations
When the camera is turned off, press and hold the Home button for 3 seconds to turn it on.
After turning on the phone, tap each application icon to open the app;
within the app, tap the Home button to return to the main interface;
press and hold the Home button for 1 second to turn off the screen.
Press and hold the Home button for 3 seconds to turn off the phone.
After entering each setting interface in the App, slide right with one finger to return to the previous interface.
2. Camera introduction and operation: Turn on
the panoramic camera and enter the system, click on the camera.
①. Take panoramic photos
1. In photo mode, there is an HDR button above the preview interface, which can turn on HDR to improve the imaging quality of the photos.
2. The camera automatically turns on real-time video preview. Real-time preview supports asteroid, immersion, fisheye, tile and other modes (Pilot One does not have this function). Touch the icon in the upper right corner or double-click the middle area of the screen to switch to preview mode.
3. Set parameters such as shooting exposure and shutter.
4. In the lower right corner is the setting button option for the current mode, which can be used to set the ground logo and other settings.
5. Shoot the shutter button.
6. The album icon in the lower left corner allows you to jump to the album to view photos/videos.
②. Shoot high-quality panoramic videos
1. There are several shooting modes in the lower operation area: photo, unstitched video, real-time spliced video, Pilot roaming, time-lapse photography, and Google Street View video. Swipe or tap the mode picture to change the shooting mode.
2. The camera automatically starts real-time video preview. Real-time preview supports asteroid, immersion, fisheye, tile and other modes. Touch the icon in the upper right corner or double-click the middle area of the screen to switch to preview mode.
3. Set parameters such as shooting exposure and shutter.
4. In the lower right corner is the setting button option for the current mode, where you can set the ground logo and other settings.
5. Shoot the shutter button and click to start recording.
6. The album icon in the lower left corner allows you to jump to the album to view photos/videos.
3. Panoramic video stitching.
The original fisheye videos recorded by Pilot can be stitched directly in the gallery. The unstitched original fisheye video has a corner marker in the upper right corner of the cover.
In the playback interface of the original fisheye video, tap the fragment button directly below to start splicing. The splicing time is generally twice the length of the original video.
The original fisheye video playback interface during stitching will display the progress of the stitching, and there is also a progress prompt on the cover of the photo list. Videos in the process of splicing cannot be deleted. They can be deleted only after pausing the splicing or after the splicing is completed.
Note: Stitching consumes performance, so when Pilot enters camera, live broadcast, gallery video playback and other working states, video splicing is paused. It is recommended to stitch fisheye videos when you have free time. When starting video stitching, if photo stitching is being done at this time, the photo stitching will be paused. Photo stitching will automatically continue after video stitching is paused or video stitching is completed.
4. Turn on timed shooting and image stabilization settings
①. Photo stabilization settings
Touch the settings button in the lower right corner of the camera to enter the photo/video setting interface. If it is currently in photo-taking mode, the setting options related to taking pictures will be displayed; if it is currently in video-recording mode, the setting options related to video-recording will be displayed. Turn on image stabilization. When the camera is tilted or inverted, the picture will always be vertically upward; it is recommended to turn it on.
②. Stabilization settings for recording and live streaming.
It is recommended to turn on PilotSteady stabilization in recording mode. PilotSteady is a technology that keeps video stable and reduces picture jitter. When shooting sports scenes or mobile live broadcasts, turning this function on will have better results. PilotSteady can be turned on when the camera records real-time stitched videos and unstitched videos, as well as live broadcasts. The operation to enable video stabilization is as follows: open the camera, select live video or unstitched video, stabilize, and turn on PilotSteady stabilization. The operation to enable live broadcast stabilization is as follows: open live broadcast-Settings-PilotSteady stability, and turn on PilotSteady stability.
Note: PilotSteady's screen orientation has two methods: fixed and following camera orientation.
If you select Fixed, the direction of the picture will always be fixed no matter how the camera rotates or moves. If you choose to follow the camera, the direction of the picture will change according to the direction of the camera.