Free HDR trial worth trying

Tony_photoplus · 06-20-2008

There is a HDR freebie going. I sent the link to Tamlin and he has tried it. The results he has shown are very good so far.

Imaging Luminary is the company (I think) and its developing an excellent HDR program. They are looking for volunteers to download and give them feed back. I have done some work on it and at present consider far superior than the Freeware ones I have written about. The tonemapping is excellent and there is very little haloing in the image.

The links

Imaging Luminary LLC - Home This is the main page

You register onto the forum and download it from there...

imagingluminary.org - Index

As I have said I haven't found it a disappointment. They seem to be matching their software against Photomatix. I haven't used Photomatix, but have seen the great tonemapping that people have done. This seems to matching it at the moment. Post your comments on their forum, but let us know what your thoughts are here as well. Maybe a link or show your work.

Tony

**Tamlin** · 06-20-2008

I can fully endorse what Tony says. The Imaging Luminary application, codenamed "Wukong" (yeah, I know - stupid name), seems to be an excellent piece of software. It maybe hasn't got quite as many tweakable parameters as Photomatix, but the overall results - even when using the default settings - are remarkably good.
Attached are two images created from the same HDR image - one tone-mapped with Wukong (on the left) and the other with Photomatix. To me, there seems to be more detail retained in the Wukong version and the overall lighting seems more natural - the Photomatix version seems a little hazy by comparison.

**synthetic** · 06-20-2008

uhhhgg... why can't more people program "cross platform"?

After I wipe Vista off my laptop and get XP on it... might have to give it try.

**Tamlin** · 06-20-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by synthetic

After I wipe Vista off my laptop and get XP on it... might have to give it try.

According to Imaging Luminary, this app should work on a Vista machine, as long as you have a minimum of 1Gb RAM and 1.6GHz CPU.

**synthetic** · 06-20-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by tamlin

According to Imaging Luminary, this app should work on a Vista machine, as long as you have a minimum of 1Gb RAM and 1.6GHz CPU.

nah... I have had my fun (if you call it that) with Vista and given up on it... I am currently working on backing up the HDD so I can reformat and install XP. I am no fan of Vista... putting it nicely.

I wish it was available for my Mac. I got a nice big 22" Samsung monitor for it about a month ago and added 1.5 gig of RAM so now all my photo work is done on it and don't use the laptop much. That was why I was sad to see that it didn't offer a Mac version.

**Tamlin** · 06-20-2008

Ah - I see. I'm still on XP myself - I've experienced Vista on friends' computers and I'm not impressed either.

On the Imaging Luminary site it says "Mac version is still under development.", which is disappointing for Mac users, but at least it's better than "No Mac version is planned".

**synthetic** · 06-20-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by tamlin

On the Imaging Luminary site it says "Mac version is still under development.", which is disappointing for Mac users, but at least it's better than "No Mac version is planned".

ohh... hadn't seen that... I will have to check back later then

paulopires · 06-23-2008

Thanks Tony. Very nice software.
The aligment is not perfect but Photomatix is not exact too.
The changes take more time than Photomatix.
If they improve it a little more, it can get better than Photomatix.

Tony_photoplus · 06-23-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulopires

Thanks Tony. Very nice software.
The aligment is not perfect but Photomatix is not exact too.
The changes take more time than Photomatix.
If they improve it a little more, it can get better than Photomatix.

I agree the alignment is not brilliant, not as good as QTPFSGUI or FDR basic. All mine were hand held yesterday and easy alignments the two free ones where good, but not this one. A shame. Have put some images up today from yesterdays shoot

Tony

**supertackyman** · 06-23-2008

I downloaded QTPSFGUI the other week or 2 ago.
it looks promising, but alas, my pc is too slow and it makes my machine lock up.

usually after my screensaver goes on, thats it.

although, QTPFSGUI does work for me at lower resolutions. I think im just trying to push my machine too hard. I like QT...... interface for alignment.

Tony_photoplus · 06-24-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by supertackyman

I downloaded QTPSFGUI the other week or 2 ago.
it looks promising, but alas, my pc is too slow and it makes my machine lock up.

usually after my screensaver goes on, thats it.

although, QTPFSGUI does work for me at lower resolutions. I think im just trying to push my machine too hard. I like QT...... interface for alignment.

There is a way round that problem of slow. When you create your tonemap do it at a small pixel size it works faster. Then when you have what you want make it the large size. Whilst its doing that, time for a cup of tea, a biscuit and read War and Peace. I find though that what I wanted when it was small is not necessarily what I get, then I finish off in PS. It is a memory/CPU hungry program.

Tony

Tony_photoplus · 07-08-2008

Just to let you know there is an update of the Essential HDR today. It looks as if its the last update before releasing.

Login

If you haven't had a go as yet then here is your chance, just give some feed back. I found the automated alignment not very good. But hopefully they have done something with that.

Tony

**synthetic** · 07-08-2008

I just found a plugin for Lightroom users that allows one to create HDR images as well. Its free for the demo version limited to 500px wide but you can get full version for just making a donation.

I tried it this weekend on a series of studio shots of peppers I made and found it actually did pretty well. Better than expected. If you download an additional package... it will do alignment as well I think.

Anyhow, I can't say how well this method is vs. PS or the other offerings because haven't had enough experience to say but... I do like the idea I can create the HDR image all within Lightroom just by selecting the photos and choosing menu option. It works with my RAW files too. It offers some options for control but again I am not sure how they stack up but... I like it enough I am going to make donation soon for the full version. I will post example up later this eve if I get time

**Tamlin** · 07-08-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony_photoplus

I found the automated alignment not very good. But hopefully they have done something with that.

I downloaded the latest version yesterday and the alignment issue still seems to be there. When merging two or more exposures to a HDR image there seems to be a major problem with chromatic aberration, even on stationary objects in the centre of the frame. I'll see if I can rustle up some examples.

**Tamlin** · 07-09-2008

OK, did a bit of experimenting. I used a triple bracketed exposure (-2,0,+2) of a church with some overhanging branches. The shots were taken with a tripod, mirror lock-up and self-timer to get them as stable as possible. There was a slight breeze moving the leaves on the overhanging branch.

I processed the RAW files three times:

Merge to HDR in Photoshop, then used the Photomatix Tone Mapping plugin (my usual workflow)
Created the HDR image and tone mapped in Photomatix Pro (the standalone application)
Created the HDR image and tone mapped in Essential HDR

In each case, I used the default tone mapping settings.

Obviously the top of the church tower didn't move between shots, so it would be reasonable to assume that there wouldn't be any problems here...but take a look:
http://www.waterden.net/stuff/cr.jpg
Both Photomatix and Essential HDR have produced some pretty ugly chromatic aberration along the top of the tower and on the gargoyle to the left.

When it comes to attempting to align areas that have moved between shots, however, it's a different story. Have a look at what's happened with the moving leaves:
http://www.waterden.net/stuff/align.jpg
This is a pretty tough task for any software to take on but, although none of the results are perfect, Photomatix's ghosting-reduction algorithms win hands down.

Unfortunately, I don't know what all this proves. You pays yer money and you takes yer choice, I suppose.