Coming back after some dark time those past weeks.

There has been a lot of posts here and elsewhere on the internet about Montreal famous Silo No.5. But this time I tried making it different with 360 views (link in the end).


Around 10 years ago, when I visited first Montreal, I saw that massive decayed concrete structure in the Old Port. Looking at it for a second, I thought that it would probably be better to be demolished and would have never imagined visiting it someday. When I arrived in Canada and in Montreal months ago, I was already practicing UE for years and started immediately doing some online researches. Not so surprisingly, the first result was this place, Silo No.5. After an unsuccessful first try during winter with a newly acquaintance, we finally managed to get there safely, weeks after our first try.


Let's put the light on Silo No.5. The building was built in 1906 and is one of the biggest in the city with 206 silos. The Silos were used to stock and offload grains mostly going to Europe via the Saint-Laurent River.

The inside of the building is very impressive. This was the very first time I would visit such a gigantic place. You need more than 5 minutes to go from the far east to the west. Going to the very top will require your to climb around 300 steps, but the landscape totally worth it. Although this was not my first big Silo, the atmosphere was very special in there. Sometimes it seems like things were untouched or still in activity and that's a cool thing regarding the number of people trying to go everyday.

The two highlights were surprisingly not the landscape from above, but two beautiful rooms. The first one which is a tiny command post nearby the River (photo #3), the second which is a place where all the grains seemed to be gathered and distributed in every Silo (photo #1).


>>> See virtual tour <<<


Hope you'll enjoy.

Posted by urbX360 Coming back after some dark time those past weeks. There has been a lot of posts here and elsewhere on the internet about Montreal famous Silo No.5. But this time I tried making it different with 360 views (link in the end). Around 10 years ago, when I visited first Montreal, I saw that massive decayed concrete structure in the Old Port. Looking at it for a second, I thought that it would probably be better to be demolished and would have never imagined visiting it someday. When I arrived in Canada and in Montreal months ago, I was already practicing UE for years and started immediately doing some online researches. Not so surprisingly, the first result was this place, Silo No.5. After an unsuccessful first try during winter with a newly acquaintance, we finally managed to get there safely, weeks after our first try. Let's put the light on Silo No.5. The building was built in 1906 and is one of the biggest in the city with 206 silos. The Silos were used to stock and offload grains mostly going to Europe via the Saint-Laurent River. The inside of the building is very impressive. This was the very first time I would visit such a gigantic place. You need more than 5 minutes to go from the far east to the west. Going to the very top will require your to climb around 300 steps, but the landscape totally worth it. Although this was not my first big Silo, the atmosphere was very special in there. Sometimes it seems like things were untouched or still in activity and that's a cool thing regarding the number of people trying to go everyday. The two highlights were surprisingly not the landscape from above, but two beautiful rooms. The first one which is a tiny command post nearby the River (photo #3), the second which is a place where all the grains seemed to be gathered and distributed in every Silo (photo #1). >>> See virtual tour <<< Hope you'll enjoy.

Amazing pictures once again.

Posted by urbX360 >>> See virtual tour <<<

Holy shit, 1st of all what 360 camera are you using? Those pics are sharp as a tack!

I have the Samsung Gear 360 and I can't even touch that quality!

2nd, what plugin are you using to support the 360 files on your website? I use Momento360 but I'm not entirely happy with it.

You can drop me a PM if you don't want to fill the chat with techy nonsense!


Excellent work, I was about to go to bed but now I want to look around your website!!

Really cool pictures! Good quality and edits!

That was awesome ... love your immersive 360 experience. You really get a sense of the architectural perspective and space. Thanks for taking me along for the ride ... it's like actually being there!!! I really like the last one (without graffiti) which seems to be suspended in time ... looks like there is still grain on the floor and on the conveyor belts, from how many years ago? Great website also.

Posted by Freaktography Holy shit, 1st of all what 360 camera are you using? Those pics are sharp as a tack! I have the Samsung Gear 360 and I can't even touch that quality! 2nd, what plugin are you using to support the 360 files on your website? I use Momento360 but I'm not entirely happy with it. You can drop me a PM if you don't want to fill the chat with techy nonsense! Excellent work, I was about to go to bed but now I want to look around your website!!

Hey !
I guess I'll reply here if anybody wants the same information then it's standing right here.

1. I'm not using a 360 camera at all. I'm using a 5D Mark IV + Sigma 15mm fisheye + tripod + nodal ninja 6 panoramic head. That's the reason why it's sharp. Compared to a 360 camera you can have RAW files with long exposures, and in the end the file resolution can be up to 18000 x 9000px

1.5 Bonus here's the full process : I have to take 30 pictures (6 for panoramic, 1 for roof, 3 for the floor, *3 for HDR). Then I edit every picture alone in lightroom for HDR + basic light and colors. I export everything, merge the 3 photos of the floor to remove the tripod, and send everything to Autopano (now a dead software) to merge the full panoramic view. When I have the full panoramic view I edit one last time in Photoshop with filters and layers.

2. Then I use Panotour (also a dead software by Kolor) to make a virtual tour, export it and embed it using an iframe in a webpage.


Full process takes about 40 minutes and an hour for 1 panoramic view. I often do that as a job for Street view so I thought why not doing that for urbex.

Amazing quality pics! It's so fun to zoom in and check out all of the little details. Major props for all the effort that went into this.

The third photo especially caught my attention. Those are some seriously Dr. Seuss looking apartments (I think?) outside the window.

115th anniversary next year. We'll organize something.

YOO I didn't even know you could do this! The quality is so crisp and clean and really adds that extra dimension on the location when you're looking through the portfolio.

Posted by Galasium Amazing quality pics! It's so fun to zoom in and check out all of the little details. Major props for all the effort that went into this. The third photo especially caught my attention. Those are some seriously Dr. Seuss looking apartments (I think?) outside the window.

I didn't even notice those at first. Those apartments look stranger the longer you look at them.

Those buildings are called Habitat 67 and there's even a Wikipedia page about it if you want to know more.

Not abandoned, but maybe one day ?

These are very cool. It's neat to see these places like this as I'll probably never make it to them.

Perfection

Posted by macgruder These are very cool. It's neat to see these places like this as I'll probably never make it to them.

Never say never! When the boarders reopen you should plan a weekend here and i get you to those spots.