When I first reviewed Stitcher 3.0 several years ago, I was blown away by the impact this application has on the web creation, animation, and digital content fields.  Recently I received the latest upgrade (4.0) and gave it a whirl.

If you haven’t checked out a demo version of REALVIZ Stitcher 4.0, you really need to stop reading now, get over to their site, and download the app right away.  Targeted to anyone creating panoramas, QuickTime VR, or image maps for 3D applications, web sites, film, or still photography, Stitcher 4.0 simply does an amazing job.

For most users, the first use for Stitcher 4.0 will be in creating dramatic panorama shots to hang on their wall, create interesting desktop backgrounds (they look wonderful on an Apple Cinema Display), or even backdrops for websites.

One of the first problems I had with Stitcher 3.0 was in the creation of panorama photos.  With the old version, getting the horizon line perfectly aligned was a constant problem.  Stitcher 4.0 fixes this in several ways.  The first is by using the Distortion Tool.  This should really be called the Undistort Tool as it ensures that lines that are curved caused by lens distortion corrected to ensure a perfect stitch.

The second way Stitcher 4.0 has fixed the horizon line problem is by using the Align Panorama tool that allows you to set the horizon line in the program.  I found this feature to be of great use when creating several panorama shots of a local park.

In this image it is clear that the horizon isn't level.

The final new feature for helping with problematic panoramas is in the render option.  In previous versions you had to manually zoom out to get the entire panoramic view, render it, and then go in and crop all the black areas out.