Problem uploading panoramic images - being detected as 360

[Gary Cook]

Hi,

I'm having problems uploading some panoramic photos that are being automatically detected as 360 degree images and rejected (as 360 images need to be uploaded differently) but they are not 360 images - they are just standard panos, same as I've uploaded on many occasions before without problem. I've emails Alamy but unlikely to get any response soon - anyone got any ideas why these may be seen as 360 images by Alamy and what I need to do to overcome this.

I have never created a 360 image and wouldn't know how to ....

Thanks,

Gary

[Steve F]

Hi Gary,

Sorry, I can't help. But what field of view did you have/what's the width to height ratio of the finished image? I've uploaded some panorama photos recently with no problems.

Steve

[Gary Cook]

Hi Steve, not sure what field of view they are (or how to work it out) but i would guess around 90 - 120 degrees, certainly a lot less than 180 never mind 360. Ratio is 2:1 exactly.

Gary

[Steve F]

24 minutes ago, Gary Cook said:

Hi Steve, not sure what field of view they are (or how to work it out) but i would guess around 90 - 120 degrees, certainly a lot less than 180 never mind 360. Ratio is 2:1 exactly.

Gary

 

Ok, that's surprising. Mine are similar or wider. I did submit the panorama photos as part of a normal set of other photos. The panorama photos have the Lightroom automatically generated -pano tag in the filename. Can't think why this isn't working for you. Maybe someone else can help on this thread...??

Edited May 28, 2020 by Steve F

[Harry Harrison]

On 28/05/2020 at 10:05, Gary Cook said:

Ratio is 2:1 exactly

I don't think Alamy actually say what aspect ratio is required for an image to appear in the panoramic filter so I tried looking at the least 'panoramic' images in a general but wide-ranging search using that filter (UK landscapes I think), I came across one that was exactly 2:1 but none less than that so I suspect that is the threshold. However we can all upload images of any aspect ratio providing they are above 6MP so I don't think that can be associated with your problem. I've not uploaded any 360 degree images, or any panoramics come to that but I've just looked at the Alamy guidance page here:

 

https://www.alamy.com/contributor/how-to-sell-images/guidelines-for-submitting-images/

 

One of the criteria is that the images have to have an aspect ratio of exactly 2:1 so I wonder if you've fallen foul of some bug in their upload software. You'd think that it would look for 'Photosphere XMP metadata' first (whatever that is).

 

Quote:

 

360-degree spherical panoramic images

These images are usually several pictures stitched together to create a 360-degree, spherical image that is fixed around a central point. You can upload 360-degree images to Alamy, provided they fit the following criteria:

 

The images must contain Photosphere XMP metadata.

Projection type must be Equirectangular.

The image must have an exact 2:1 aspect ratio, as it’s uniformly mapping 360° horizontally and 180° vertically.

Maximum compressed file size of 200mb.

The image must be free of stitching errors and have little optical distortion, with uniformity in luminosity and colours.

Edited May 29, 2020 by Harry Harrison

[Gary Cook]

Hi, Looks like it might be a bug in the upload software - I've just tried changing the aspect ratio very slightly so they are not exactly 2:1 and they went through okay. Thanks.

[Harry Harrison]

13 minutes ago, Gary Cook said:

I've just tried changing the aspect ratio very slightly so they are not exactly 2:1

That's good to know, I was going to upload some 2:1 images so I'll do the same, might be good to email them again with your findings if you haven't already.

[meanderingemu]

i just uploaded a 2:1 ratio image and it went through no issue, so there must be another variable creating problems

[Gary Cook]

On 29/05/2020 at 12:05, Harry Harrison said:

That's good to know, I was going to upload some 2:1 images so I'll do the same, might be good to email them again with your findings if you haven't already.

.

I've emailed them. Maybe worth trying one or 2 images to see if you have the same problem

[Gary Cook]

On 29/05/2020 at 12:31, meanderingemu said:

i just uploaded a 2:1 ratio image and it went through no issue, so there must be another variable creating problems

 

Were yours exactly 2:1? What size? Mine were 8000 x 4000 pixels so fairly large.

[meanderingemu]

2 hours ago, Gary Cook said:

 

Were yours exactly 2:1? What size? Mine were 8000 x 4000 pixels so fairly large.

 

yes.  It was a crop of a regular shot so about 6000x3000 .  went through no issues.  so as i said there is some other variable. 

[Harry Harrison]

3 hours ago, Gary Cook said:

I've emailed them. Maybe worth trying one or 2 images to see if you have the same problem

Given that meanderingemu's pictures went up OK it's hard to think what this other variable might be since presumably yours don't have the Photosphere xmp data, don't show significant distortion or stitching errors and are 'Equirectangular'. Somehow I've managed to be given 5 star upload status so I'm reluctant to take any risks of having images rejected even by an error so hopefully you'll hear back from Alamy as to what was causing your initial rejection.

[meanderingemu]

1 hour ago, Harry Harrison said:

Given that meanderingemu's pictures went up OK it's hard to think what this other variable might be since presumably yours don't have the Photosphere xmp data, don't show significant distortion or stitching errors and are 'Equirectangular'. Somehow I've managed to be given 5 star upload status so I'm reluctant to take any risks of having images rejected even by an error so hopefully you'll hear back from Alamy as to what was causing your initial rejection.

 

if the problem as stated by @Gary Cook is in the upload it shouldn't affect your QC.  I've had file errors since getting 5Star rating and never was affected

[Harry Harrison]

2 minutes ago, meanderingemu said:

 

if the problem as stated by @Gary Cook is in the upload it shouldn't affect your QC.  I've had file errors since getting 5Star rating and never was affected

Yes, of course, thanks, wasn't thinking it through. Might try it in that case.

[Gary Cook]

4 hours ago, meanderingemu said:

 

if the problem as stated by @Gary Cook is in the upload it shouldn't affect your QC.  I've had file errors since getting 5Star rating and never was affected

 

Agreed - I've got 5 star rating as well and it doesn't seem to have affected it (as far as I can tell) - it's more of a technical issue rather than quality as it never reached QC and was rejected on upload.