Autopano Video Pro vs. Video-Stitch, which to buy?

In this blog I will talk about the differences between Kolor's Autopano Video Pro (AVP) and Video-Stitch (VS). The good news is you can't really go wrong, they're both great programs! If you're a professional, you might want to consider getting both and you'll understand why after you read this post. 

Also, it's important to note that while you can stitch video in both of these programs without further software, MOST people use other software to do the real stitching work. Kolor's best program is called Autopano Giga and Video Stitch uses PTGUI, so do your homework and be prepared before you make your purchase. For the purposes of this article, when I speak about AVP, I'm talking about the package with Autopano Giga and same for Video-Stitch with PTGUI.

In very broad terms, I think Autopano Video Pro is easier to learn and has some great features like smart iso, and the ability to key frame masking, etc. And Video Stitch (along with PTGUI) has a better way to find control points and stitch. So if we can't seem to stitch correctly in AVP, we can usually make it work better in VS, and if we are having issues at a particular seem in VS, we can usually make it better in AVP.

We'll start with Video-Stitch.

Video-Stitch has many great features and you can stitch video while never leaving the program, but you'll need PTGUI in order to do more advanced work. Ptgui has been around since 1996 and is still a wonderful panorama stitching program. When compared to Kolor's Giga, I find I can work much faster and do more in ptgui. They have shortcuts for everything which I find very useful and can allow you to work more efficiently.

The main advantage of Video-stitch over Avp to me, is the key framing ability for video orientation. For our Sailing with Dolphins video, we had to adjust the orientation every few frames and in VS, I was able to adjust at least 10 times faster than I am able to in AVP, literally saving me hours on one clip. I also find that you can more accurately straighten the video in VS and for AVP I always have to edit and go into Autopano Giga to get it correct.

I find that video stitch works faster on my system then autopano video, and I attribute this to their use of Nvidia technology. So if you have or plan to have an nvidia video card, that's something to consider for sure.

Lastly, VS has an interactive tab that allows you to look around to preview what your video will look like while dragging or looking around and I really love this feature.

Kolor is in excellent company and they have a lot of panoramic tools beyond video and photo stitching, including virtual tours (panotour) and play back (kolor eyes). They were recently acquired by GoPro so it will be interesting to see the future of the company and how it progresses, but I don't see them slowing down anytime soon.

For me, the main advantage of working in AVP is being able to key frame masks. This is not always important, but when it is, it's an invaluable tool.

Another great thing about AVP is one of their blending settings called Smart ISO. What it does is instead of stitching in straight lines, it figures out what's important and stitches around them. If you use this feature you can't key frame the masking or orientation, but for most static shots, you may not need to anyway, and then it becomes very useful. We basically start each project with smart iso and then decide later if we need the other options. Sometimes we find it more important to have the smart iso than to readjust the orientation. In that situation, we will export it with smart iso and then bring the file into After Effects with Mettle's SkyBox studio plugin to do the reorientation. More on this in a later blog.

I hope this blog is helpful for you, please feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments.