^ No worries at all! We all were there you just have to work through it :P
If you set a timer, there's no need for a remote. Set it for 2 seconds so you're not waiting long lol.
As for the settings, it's really up to the situation. The great part of shooting digital is that you can just junk the shots you don't want!
What you can do is take a couple of pictures of the target to start off. Start with ISO 100 if you're using a tripod, since you're not looking to speed up your shutter speed to reduce blur. The tripod will reduce the blur for you. As for aperture, using f/8-f/11 is a good starting point for landscapes. Set your camera in Av mode, set up the ISO and aperture, and go from there.
After taking a test image, play the image back and find out what shutter speed is being set by the camera. On your T3i, press the INFO button on the back until it displays on the LCD. Once you get the shutter speed used, switch your camera to MANUAL mode, and manually input the aperture, ISO, and shutter speed used.
Now here's the tricky part. You'll have to understand how ISO, aperture, and shutter speed work to produce the "exposure". Search up "exposure triangle" on google before you head out. But long story short, if your shot is a bit UNDERexposed, you need to slow down the shutter speed. Vice versa if it's OVERexposed.
Once you have the correct exposure settings, you basically set your camera pointing left or right of the target, and pan across creating your panorama's individual shots. Don't forget that you can stitch multiple levels and orientations. For example, you can turn your camera portrait, and shoot across the target that way. Or if you really want to increase detail, zoom in, and do a 2x3, 2x4, 2x6, 3x3, or whatever gets you the type of shot that you're looking for. Just remember that as you pan the camera, make sure you overlap by 1/3 to 1/2 with the previous shot. This helps the software stitch correctly. Don't rush the shots, and make sure that the shot you have are free from camera shake, as it'll render your new panorama photo useless.
Here's one I did from Diamondhead in Hawaii. IIRC, it was a 2x6 or 2x7 panorama using Photoshop to stitch.
That's the quick and dirty. But I suggest reading up on the exposure triangle in order to get the best results. Do a few test runs on the many cityscape opportunities Vancouver has to offer. Play around and get the hang of it. There's no right setting for every single picture. It's all dependent on the lighting at the time you take the pictures.
Good luck and most importantly, have a ton of fun doing them!
PS: I got carried away and missed the other part of your question. Free stitching software includes Microsoft ICE. Paid ones would be Photoshop (CS or Elements). Those are the most commonly used ones. Also, if you don't have a very fast computer, you will want to stitch JPEGs. I'm not sure if you're planning on shooting RAW or not, but if you are, convert everything to JPEG before stitching. Stitching RAWs can take a long time if you don't have the processing power.
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