Panoramas of sites around the world

Photosynth is a digital Rumpelstiltskin -- spinning an ordinary bunch of photos into a golden “synth” of cinematic art in 3-D.

What’s hot: Seeing the intimate details of a particular place, item or person’s space at a particular point in time. Trusting your creative side, use the search box to roam the globe for synths from a destination or topic you already know you love. First-timers might want to check out the “greatest hits,” where I found the Great Pyramid of Giza and Old Town Square in Prague, Czech Republic. Don’t just play the slide show; make sure you use your mouse and interact with the photos. You can click to rotate what’s inside the photo using the arrows inside the photos.

What’s not: After watching the “How to Shoot” video and discovering that the process is best if you take a gazillion pictures of one room or one detailed object (careful -- water is not advised as a great subject), you’ll want to plan your next trip to be “photosynth” friendly rather than uploading 100 photos from your most recent trip. I didn’t like searching for Taj Mahal and finding some entries with only two photos. Sorting your results to “Best Synth” will help bring the most “synthy” projects to the top of the page.

-- Jen Leo