A Lightweight, Free, & Open Source Panorama Viewer for The Web

Pannellum

About

Pannellum is a lightweight, free, and open source panorama viewer for the web. Built using HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and WebGL, it is plug-in free. It can be deployed easily as a single file, just 21kB gzipped, and then embedded into pages as an <iframe>. A configuration utility is included to generate the required code for embedding. An API is included for more advanced integrations.

Getting started

Hosted examples

A set of examples that demonstrate the viewer's various functionality is hosted on pannellum.org. This is the best place to start if you want an overview of Pannellum's functionality. They also provide helpful starting points for creating custom configurations.

Simple tutorial and configuration utility

If you are just looking to display a single panorama without any advanced functionality, the steps for doing so are covered on the simple tutorial page. Said page also includes a utility for easily creating the necessary Pannellum configuration.

Local testing and self-hosting

If you would like to locally test or self-host Pannellum, continue to the How to use section below.

How to use

1. Upload build/pannellum.htm and a full equirectangular panorama to a web server or run a development web server locally.
   • Due to browser security restrictions, a web server must be used locally as well. With Python 3, one can use python3 -m http.server, but any other web server should also work.
2. Use the included multi-resolution generator (utils/multires/generate.py), the configuration tool (utils/config/configuration.htm), or create a configuration from scratch or based on an example.
3. Insert the generated <iframe> code into a page, or create a more advanced configuration with JSON or the API.

Configuration parameters are documented in the doc/json-config-parameters.md file, which is also available at pannellum.org/documentation/reference/. API methods are documented inline with JSDoc comments, and generated documentation is available at pannellum.org/documentation/api/. For the standalone viewer, configuration parameters are preferably specified using a location hash instead of a location search query, e.g., pannellum.htm#panorama=... instead of pannellum.htm?panorama=..., since this does not unnecessarily send the query parameters to the server.

Using a minified copy

For final deployment, it is recommended that one use a minified copy of Pannellum instead of using the source files in src directly. The easiest method is to download the most recent release and use the pre-built copy of either pannellum.htm or pannellum.js & pannellum.css. If you wish to make changes to Pannellum or use the latest development copy of the code, follow the instructions in the Building section below to create build/pannellum.htm, build/pannellum.js, and build/pannellum.css.

Using generate.py to create multires panoramas

To be able to create multiresolution panoramas, you need to have the nona program installed, which is available as part of Hugin, as well as Python 3 with the Pillow and NumPy packages. The pyshtools Python package is also recommended. Then, run

python3 generate.py pano_image.jpg

in the utils/multires directory. This will generate all the image tiles and the config.json file in the ./output folder by default. For this to work, nona needs to be on the system path; otherwise, the location of nona can be specified using the -n flag. On a Unix-like platform, with nona already on the system path use:

$ cd utils/multires
$ python3 generate.py pano_image.jpg

where pano_image.jpg is the filename of your equirectangular panorama. If nona is not on the system path, use:

$ cd utils/multires
$ python3 generate.py -n /path/to/nona pano_image.jpg

For a complete list of options, run:

$ python3 generate.py --help

To view the generated configuration, run:

$ cd ../..
$ python3 -m http.server

This goes back to the root directory of the repository and starts a local development web server. Then open http://localhost:8000/src/standalone/pannellum.htm#config=../../utils/multires/output/config.json in your web browser of choice.

Bundled examples

Examples using both the minified version and the version in the src directory are included in the examples directory. These can be viewed by starting a local web server in the root of the repository, e.g., by running:

$ python3 -m http.server

in the directory containing this readme file, and then navigating to the hosted HTML files using a web browser; note that the examples use files from the src directory, so the web server must be started from the repository root, not the examples directory. For the example-minified.htm example to work, a minified copy of Pannellum must first be built; see the Building section below for details.

Additional examples are available at pannellum.org.

Browser Compatibility

Since Pannellum is built with web standards, it requires a modern browser to function.

Full support (with appropriate graphics drivers):

• Firefox 23+
• Chrome 24+
• Safari 8+
• Internet Explorer 11+
• Edge

The support list is based on feature support. As only recent browsers are tested, there may be regressions in older browsers.

Not officially supported:

Mobile / app frameworks are not officially supported. They may work, but they're not tested and are not the targeted platform.

Translations

All user-facing strings can be changed using the strings configuration parameter. There exists a third-party respository of user-contributed translations that can be used with this configuration option.

Building

The utils folder contains the required build tools, with the exception of Python 3.2+ and Java installations. To build a minified version of Pannellum, run either build.sh or build.bat depending on your platform. On a Unix-like platform:

$ cd utils/build
$ ./build.sh

If successful, this should create build/pannellum.htm, build/pannellum.js, and build/pannellum.css, relative to the root directory of the repository.

Tests

A minimal Selenium-based test suite is located in the tests directory. The tests can be executed by running:

python3 run_tests.py

A Selenium-driven web browser (with a Chrome driver, by default) is created, and screenshots are generated and compared against previously generated ones in tests. For example, to regenerate the screenshots one can run:

$ python3 tests/run_tests.py --create-ref

And to simply run the tests to compare to, eliminate that argument. By default, a random port is selected, along with other arguments. One can see usage via:

$ python tests/run_tests.py --help

Continuous integration tests are run via Travis CI. Running the tests locally requires Python 3, the Selenium Python bindings, Pillow, NumPy, and either Firefox & geckodriver or Chrome & ChromeDriver.

Seeking support

If you wish to ask a question or report a bug, please open an issue at github.com/mpetroff/pannellum. See the Contributing section below for more details.

Contributing

Development takes place at github.com/mpetroff/pannellum. Issues should be opened to report bugs or suggest improvements (or ask questions), and pull requests are welcome. Please make an attempt to write in grammatically-correct English on the issue tracker; using the results of machine translation is acceptable if one in not fluent in the language, and attempts to work past language barriers will be made. When reporting a bug, please try to include a minimum reproducible example (or at least some sort of example). When proposing changes, please try to match the existing code style, e.g., four space indentation and JSHint validation. If your pull request adds an additional configuration parameter, please document it in doc/json-config-parameters.md. Pull requests should preferably be created from feature branches.

Credits

• Matthew Petroff, Original Author
• three.js r40, Former Underlying Framework

If used as part of academic research, please cite:

Petroff, Matthew A. "Pannellum: a lightweight web-based panorama viewer." Journal of Open Source Software 4, no. 40 (2019): 1628. doi:10.21105/joss.01628

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Download Details:

Author: mpetroff
Source Code: https://github.com/mpetroff/pannellum 
License: MIT license

#javascript #webgl #library 

What is GEEK

Buddha Community

An Open-Source Book About the Open Source World

Open source today is a word that often include a lot of things, such as open knowledge (Wikimedia projects), open hardware (Arduino, Raspberry Pi), open formats (ODT/ODS/ODP) and so on.

It is a world of opportunities that can be difficult for newcomers but also for intermediates. This article will help you discover how to approach specific roles, activities or projects/communities in the best way.

Everything Started with “Coaching for OpenSource Communities 2.0”

I decided to write a book in my personal style about my experience in the last 7 to 8 years in open source. I was surprised when I reached 100 pages about various different topics.

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As a contributor and developer, I prefer to have real cases to study, because best practices are useful, but we need to learn from others and this world is full of good and bad cases to discover.

In 2019, I started writing a book after Fosdem 2019 and after 2 years inside the Mozilla Reps Council. In that Fosdem edition, I had a talk “Coaching for Open Source Communities 2.0” and after the feedback at the conference and my thoughts in various roles, activities, and projects, it was time to write something.

At the end it wasn’t a manual but a book that included my experience, learnings, best practices and so on in Localization, Development, Project Maintainer, Sysadmin, Community Management, Mentor, Speaker and so on. It contains the following sections:

• Biography - This choice isn’t for self promotion but just to understand my point of view and my story that can be inspiring for others
• Philosophy - Not the usual description of Open Source or the 4 freedoms, but just what Open Source means and how you can help
• How to live inside the Open Source - A discovery about communications and tools, understanding the various kind of people and the best way to talk with your community
• How to choose a project - Starting with some questions to yourself and how to involve more people in your project
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There are also three appendices that are manuals which I wrote throughout the years and gathered and improved for this book. They are about: community management, public speaking, and mentoring.

The book ends with my point of view about the future and what we have to do to change opinions about those topics.

I wrote this book and published in October 2019, but it was only possible with the help of reviews and localizers that improved and contributed. Yes, because this book is open source and free for everyone.

I picked the GPL license because this license changed the world and my life in the best way. Using this license is just a tribute. This decision usually is not clear because after all this is a book and there are better licenses like Creative Commons.

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Top 8 Java Open Source Projects You Should Get Your Hands-on [2021]

Learning about Java is no easy feat. It’s a prevalent and in-demand programming language with applications in numerous sectors. We all know that if you want to learn a new skill, the best way to do so is through using it. That’s why we recommend working on projects.

So if you’re a Java student, then you’ve come to the right place as this article will help you learn about the most popular Java open source projects. This way, you’d have a firm grasp of industry trends and the programming language’s applications.

However, before we discuss its various projects, it’s crucial to examine the place where you can get those projects – GitHub. Let’s begin.

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Did Google Open Sourcing Kubernetes Backfired?

Over the last few years, Kubernetes have become the de-facto standard for container orchestration and has also won the race against Docker for being the most loved platforms among developers. Released in 2014, Kubernetes has come a long way with currently being used across the entire cloudscape platforms. In fact, recent reports state that out of 109 tools to manage containers, 89% of them are leveraging Kubernetes versions.

Although inspired by Borg, Kubernetes, is an open-source project by Google, and has been donated to a vendor-neutral firm — The Cloud Native Computing Foundation. This could be attributed to Google’s vision of creating a platform that can be used by every firm of the world, including the large tech companies and can host multiple cloud platforms and data centres. The entire reason for handing over the control to CNCF is to develop the platform in the best interest of its users without vendor lock-in.

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Hacktoberfest 2020: Let’s Get Hacking

It’s October and we’re calling all programmers, designers, content writers and open-source contributors to join Hacktoberfest 2020. This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to open-source or try your hand at something new.

For those who are new to programming or open-source, you may be wondering what is open-source or Hacktoberfest.

_Open source_refers to source code that is publicly accessible and allows anyone to inspect, modify, or learn from it. Open source projects encourage collaboration and the freedom to use the software for any purpose you wish._Hacktoberfest_is a month-long celebration of open source software run by DigitalOcean and is open to everyonein our global community.

Seven years ago, Hacktoberfest kick-started the celebration along with 676 excited participants contributing to open source projects and earning a limited-edition T-shirt. Now, hundreds of thousands of developers participate in Hacktoberfest from 150 countries.

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Hacktoberfest is a month-long celebration of open source software sponsored by Digital Ocean, Intel, and DEV.

The goal of the event is to encourage participation in the open-source community all across the globe. The challenge is quite simple: open four high-quality pull requests in October on any open source project to get some swag.

Swag you say?

If you complete valid 4prs, you stand to get a T-shirt, some stickers and a cup coaster (I got one last year, I’m not sure if they’ll be doing it this year also).

They also introduced the option to plant a tree instead of receiving a T-shirt as a reward to reduce the environmental impact.

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Infographic: Open Source Web Application Development in Enterprises

Several large companies are opening up to the possibility of open-source software. Open Source web application development adoption in the enterprise depends on the strength and diversity of the open-source community. It is essential to get access to several other factors such as risks, organizational preparedness, compliance and governance. One of the biggest advantages of partnering with an open source development company is the ease of development and improved cybersecurity.

The open-source software allows anyone to use, modify or distribute software without restrictions. It is beyond doubt that open source web application development services are set to grow in the coming years, many open-source developers still find the lack of training opportunities to be a significant challenge due to the constant changes in the area.

Open source has evolved ever since its inception strengthening the foundation of the IT evolution in the enterprises.

At the crux of this revolution of the open-source revolution is the concept of robust and secure software that is backed and supported in a way that makes it easier for enterprises to utilize the software in a predictable manner.

Here is why Open Source Web Application Development is gaining popularity

High-quality Software

• Several open-source solutions such as blogging, content management, ecommerce are helping enterprises move ahead and take a leap ahead

Security

• With a large community of developers working on Open Source, it is easy to offer testing and bug fixing that most proprietary software can’t provide.

Identify Loopholes

• The availability of source code makes it relatively easy to overcome shortcomings and provide the enterprise with the flexibility to run their systems.

Extensive Customization

• Open Source development offers extensive customization to quickly implement new features based on business requirements.

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