How should two static cameras be positioned for the easiest stitched view of a sports court?
Asked 3/22/2013
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I’m using two fixed cameras to cover a sports court and want to stitch their views into one wider image. The cameras will be mounted close together and angled inward, so I’m trying to decide between two arrangements: either each camera points toward the opposite half of the court, or each camera points toward the half on its own side. Which arrangement gives the best stitching results, and what factors matter most? I’m interested in how camera spacing, lens focal length, overlap, and viewing angle affect distortion and parallax.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
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How can I compute which solution is the best, depending on the angle between the two cameras, the focal length of the lenses, and the size of the cameras?
It seems unlikely to matter which of the two setups you choose. Consider this:
pick one of the configurations you describe above
swap the positions of the two cameras, keeping the orientation of each camera the same
At this point, you will have recreated the other configuration. The only difference between the two is that the position of each camera in space changes by 6 or 8 inches. You can achieve exactly the same exchange of relative positions by moving each camera forward or backward along their respective optical axes.
The angle between the cameras and the relationship of each camera to the plane of court and the court's center line will be much more important than which camera ends up on the right and which on the left.
Originally by user4262. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4262
13y ago
0
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For stitching, the key issue is not which body is on the left or right, but how close the two lenses’ entrance pupils (often called the nodal point in practice) can be placed. The best setup is whichever arrangement lets those points be closest together, because that minimizes parallax and makes stitching easier. For many typical camera/lens combinations, that may mean crossing them so the right camera covers the left side and vice versa, but it depends on the physical size of the cameras and lenses.
In practice, if the cameras are close together relative to the distance to the court, the difference between the two arrangements is usually small. More important factors are:
- keep the cameras as near each other as possible
- use enough overlap between the images
- avoid relying on the extreme edges of the lenses
- if possible, move farther back and use a longer focal length, which reduces edge distortion and narrows the angle between views
So there usually isn’t a big theoretical advantage to one "V" orientation over the other. Choose the one that places the lenses’ entrance pupils closest together, then fine-tune overlap experimentally.
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