Rendering a Panorama

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In addition to rendering image files and animations, you can render a three-dimensional panorama. The panorama actually consists of a flat bitmap that encloses the scene, but when viewed with the Panorama Viewer, the view appears to be 3D.

Set up the scene:

From the \tutorials\radiosity directory, open library_with_radiosity.max.

Render a panorama:

Choose Rendering > Panorama Exporter.

Autodesk VIZ displays the Utilities panel, with the Panorama Exporter rollout active.
On the Panorama Exporter rollout, click Render.

The Render Setup dialog appears. Settings on this dialog are similar to those on the regular Render Scene dialog.
On the Interactive Panorama Exporter Common Parameters rollout, click to set the solution to 1536x768.

Unless you are creating a quick, low-quality test, we recommend you render a panorama with high resolution. The default resolution of 512x256 is very grainy indeed.
Make sure Camera.View.P1 is the active Viewport (in the list at the lower-left of the dialog), and then click Render.

Important: This drop-down list shows only cameras. A panorama is always based on a camera view. If no camera is in the scene, you can't render a panorama.

Autodesk VIZ renders the panorama in multiple passes, and then displays the Panorama Exporter Viewer.

Even at the high resolution, the panorama is not as detailed as a still-image rendering.

Tip: Before you render, you can save the panorama to a file. On the Interactive Panorama Exporter Output rollout, find the Render Output group and click the Files button. Enter a name for the file, and choose one of the image file formats. The panorama is a single bitmap, but distorted for viewing in 3D.

Flat view of a rendered panorama

View the panorama:

Move your mouse near the center of the Panorama Exporter Viewer window, and hold down the left mouse button.

The panorama rotates, as if the camera were panning or tilting.

You can control the direction of the pan or tilt by dragging the mouse in that direction.
Experiment with navigating the panorama. You can right-click and then drag to rotate or tilt the camera. If your mouse has a middle button or wheel, you can use this to zoom in or out.

Note: The Panorama Viewer is modal. When it is displayed after rendering, you can't close the Render Setup dialog until you close the Viewer. You can also open the Viewer by clicking Viewer on the Panorama Exporter rollout on the Utilities panel. Use the Viewer's File menu to open a rendered panorama file.

Summary

The Panorama Exporter is a Autodesk VIZ utility. Based on a camera view, you can render a 3D panorama and view it interactively using the Panorama Exporter Viewer.