REALVIZ Stitcher Unlimited 5.6 Now Available
By Shutterbug Staff June 1, 2007 — REALVIZ has announced the availability of version 5.6 of Stitcher Unlimited. Stitcher enables the creation of high-quality panoramas and 360° virtual tours. Version 5.6, which is available from this week, introduces Mac Universal compatibility, as well as HDR capabilities. A Japanese-language version is also scheduled for release later this spring, in addition to the existing English and French versions of the software.

REALVIZ Stitcher is a photo stitching and image assembling software for the creation of professional-level panoramas and 360° virtual tours. Starting from digital images, the software's powerful central automatic stitching engine enables a diverse range of users to create high-quality panoramas and virtual tours. REALVIZ Stitcher has many potential uses, including the production of large-format prints, matte paintings, reflection maps and textures for film/television, as well as dynamic virtual tours for the real estate and tourism industries.

REALVIZ Stitcher Unlimited 5.6 now has full HDR compatibility for the very first time, enabling users to load, stitch, and save HDR (High Dynamic Range) images. With HDR imaging, users are able to create projects, which combine under- and over-exposed areas in the same harmonious panorama. A perfect synergy with the external tools available on the market for image tone mapping, such as Adobe® Photoshop®, Photomatix or HDR Shop, is ensured through compatibility with the most commonly used HDR image file formats: OpenEXR (.exr, 16 or 32 bits per channel), and Radiance RGBE (.hdr). The enhanced core engine of Stitcher Unlimited 5.6 makes all image processing operations available for images with 32 bits per channel. HDR panoramas produced with Stitcher Unlimited 5.6 can be used as a lighting environment map for 3D studios to obtain ultra-realistic 3D scenes, and to ensure consistent lighting of virtual objects placed in real environments.

Stitcher Unlimited 5.6 will also be available as part of the REALVIZ HDR Imaging Studio, which combines Stitcher, VTour 1.2 HDR and Photomatix Pro. REALVIZ VTour 1.2 HDR will be the only software available today for the creation of 3D HDR scenes starting from digital snapshots and panoramas. For the first time ever, users will be able to add depth information to their environment maps to dynamically light their 3D models. The REALVIZ HDR Imaging Studio will be available for PC from late May 2007.

REALVIZ Stitcher Unlimited 5.6 is available in English and French for Macintosh and Windows at the following prices:
Stitcher Unlimited: $580

Upgrade from Stitcher Unlimited 5.5 to version 5.6: $130

Option to buy Photomatix Pro (electronic version only) from the REALVIZ Web Store at $ 99 US(must be purchased at the same time as Stitcher Unlimited 5.6)

REALVIZ HDR Imaging Studio:
Includes Stitcher Unlimited 5.6 + VTour 1.2 HDR + Photomatix Pro: $2,580
Upgrade from Virtual Tour Studio to the HDR Imaging Studio: $1,580 US

The REALVIZ HDR Imaging Studio will be available in English for PC, from late May 2007.

For further details on REALVIZ Stitcher Unlimited, please visit: http://stitcher.realviz.com