Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Adobe Lightroom Q&A => Topic started by: wolfnowl on December 19, 2013, 05:47:20 pm

Title: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: wolfnowl on December 19, 2013, 05:47:20 pm
I just downloaded this today and haven't had much time to play with it yet, but the folks at HDRSoft (Photomatix) have a plugin for LR 4.1 and later that will take your original bracketed images and created a 32-bit floating point .tif then stack the result with the original images.  LR 4&5 have the ability to work with 32-bit images, so you can do your tone mapping within LR.  No PS required, and at $29 US it's a lot less than even Photomatix.  Been looking for something like this.

http://www.hdrsoft.com/download/merge_lrplugin.html

Mike.
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: thierrylegros396 on December 20, 2013, 02:49:14 pm
Thanks for that interesting link !

Thierry
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: aduke on December 20, 2013, 03:15:32 pm
I downloaded it yesterday. Easy install, went well. Ran several different sets of three exposures, all sets comprised hand-held images. After creating the 32 bit image, processing in LR was easy and satisfactory, better than what I had gotten from using PS merge to HDR.

I think I'll buy.

Alan
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on December 20, 2013, 05:08:21 pm
Looks very promising. Thanks for the link, Mike.
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: francois on December 21, 2013, 10:58:16 am
I'll also try this one when I have a little free time. Thanks for the link.
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: alban on December 21, 2013, 11:55:54 am
Has anyone downloaded the Macintosh version successfully? Somehow it isn't working for me
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: francois on December 21, 2013, 11:59:52 am
Has anyone downloaded the Macintosh version successfully? Somehow it isn't working for me

Download worked fine (using Safari, OS X 10.9.1). Decompressing the zip file also and the installer opens correctly. I'm not on my "photo" computer so I didn't install it.
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: thierrylegros396 on December 21, 2013, 01:44:54 pm
Have tried it today.

Works well but with tripod and good lenses.

Why, because it seems that the automatic (embedded in Raw file) and manual corrections are not (fully) taken into account.

Is it possible to use corrections (CA, Distorsion, WB,...), then save into tiff (or other format), and then use the merge Plugin.

That would be more versatile.

Have a Nice W-E.

Thierry
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Jason DiMichele on December 21, 2013, 06:46:59 pm
I've tried it out (On my PC and not the Mac yet) and my initial testing is proving to be successful. I own Photomatix Pro but I think this plugin will fit in nicely with my workflow as I'm really keen on using Lightroom for the dealing with HDR.

Cheers!
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: wolfnowl on December 22, 2013, 02:11:21 am
Jason: As I understand it, if you already own Photomatix you can get the plugin for free.

Mike.
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Rhossydd on December 22, 2013, 03:26:33 am
if you already own Photomatix you can get the plugin for free.
It's not clear from their site if that is the case. Looking at http://www.hdrsoft.com/order.php it may be that it's only included with the Plus bundle, rather than the basic package.
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: thierrylegros396 on December 22, 2013, 03:31:31 am
1. If you bought a Photomatix Pro license before the Merge to 32-bit HDR Plugin was released, you can get the plugin for free from here.

2. Important: This plugin does not offer Photomatix HDR Tone Mapping. The Lightroom plugin that creates HDR photos with Photomatix is included for free in Photomatix Pro.

Thierry

Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Rhossydd on December 22, 2013, 03:35:02 am
The Lightroom plugin that creates HDR photos with Photomatix is included for free in Photomatix Pro.
Yes, thanks I read that. So is "The Lightroom plugin that creates HDR photos with Photomatix" different to the create 32 bit from LR then ?
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Jason DiMichele on December 22, 2013, 10:19:24 am
Mike: I definitely got the plugin for free. I had to download the trial version and then install my licence key for Photomatix Pro.

To anyone else who may not be familiar with this plugin, it basically just assembles your selected images into a 32-bit HDR image ready to be processed in Lightroom. The plugin allows you to do basic HDR merging such as fixing alignment and ghosting issues as well as noise reduction. It does have some control over these options as well. You can have the plugin auto import the 32-bit HDR file back into Lightroom stacked with the original files you exported or just back into the library. Most of Lightroom's features support 32-bit HDR processing but they won't necessarily be obvious. One obvious control in the basic panel of the develop module is the exposure slider which has a range of -10 to +10 when working with 32-bit images. You also want to be using Lightroom's process 2012.

Also note that the plugin version is completely functional aside from creating watermarks. So it's definitely worth trying out if you're at all interested.

Cheers!
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Jason DiMichele on December 22, 2013, 10:23:30 am
Yes, thanks I read that. So is "The Lightroom plugin that creates HDR photos with Photomatix" different to the create 32 bit from LR then ?

I don't think it's possible to create a 32-bit file from Lightroom. You need to do a round trip to Photoshop's Merge to HDR I believe. In my opinion Photomatix does a better job with HDR in general and this plugin is a more seamless workflow integration in my opinion than using the Photoshop Merge to HDR.

Cheers!
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Rhossydd on December 22, 2013, 02:25:16 pm
I don't think it's possible to create a 32-bit file from Lightroom. You need to do a round trip to Photoshop's Merge to HDR I believe.
If you bothered to read this thread from the start you'd know we're discussing the HDRSoft (Photomatix) plugin that creates a 32bit file from LR
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Jason DiMichele on December 22, 2013, 02:40:13 pm
If you bothered to read this thread from the start you'd know we're discussing the HDRSoft (Photomatix) plugin that creates a 32bit file from LR

Thank you for your insight. However it's not LR creating the HDR file. It's Photomatix via their plugin. Which means it is not created via LR natively, not by LR at all. Perhaps you didn't understand my previous message.

Cheers!
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Rhossydd on December 22, 2013, 06:01:47 pm
Thank you for your insight. However it's not LR creating the HDR file. It's Photomatix via their plugin.
Which is what we're discussing. If you have anything constructive to add to this thread please feel free to add it.
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Jason DiMichele on December 22, 2013, 06:09:41 pm
Which is what we're discussing. If you have anything constructive to add to this thread please feel free to add it.

If you've been following this thread you'd have already read that I have added something constructive. Feel free to continue your ridiculous arrogant replies that are a waste of everyone's time. Much like this one is I suppose. :). Let's get the thread back on topic.

Cheers!
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Jason DiMichele on December 22, 2013, 06:22:44 pm
Mike and Thierry,

Have either of you played around with the plugin any further? I'm liking it. I am wondering about the "Use Half Floating Point Format" option. According to the tooltip over the checkbox when hovering: "Reduces output file size by half while encoding the same dynamic range as the OpenEXR HDR file format. Recommended to save disk space as full Floating Point TIFF files are particularly large. ".  My question is if either of you (or anyone else) has found out if here are any disadvantages of using this option.  Typically there is no free lunch and 50% disk space saving isn't insignificant, more so because it will theoretically be a lot quicker to process and tone the image. :)

Cheers!
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: jrp on December 22, 2013, 07:51:09 pm
Why is this better than the Photoshop Merge? I have not compared them recently,  but Photoshop always used to be king of the hill on alignment, it just had poorly implemented / explained tone mapping.  Does the Phomomatix plug-in have the manual de-ghosting, which I can see would sometimes be an advantage?
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Jason DiMichele on December 22, 2013, 08:04:23 pm
Why is this better than the Photoshop Merge? I have not compared them recently,  but Photoshop always used to be king of the hill on alignment, it just had poorly implemented / explained tone mapping.  Does the Phomomatix plug-in have the manual de-ghosting, which I can see would sometimes be an advantage?

Hey jrp,

For the subjects that I shoot alignment isn't really an issue so I suppose the Photoshop merge may be completely satisfactory in that department. However, I find that it's a lot faster firing off files to the Photomatix plugin than having Photoshop merge the files. Aside from the speed, I've been using Photomatix Pro for a long time, before Photoshop's HDR capabilities were up to par (at least the merge to HDR) and have been extremely happy with the results. I am definitely interested in your findings if you do a more direct comparison. The plugin only has normal or strong deghosting options (or none if you disable it). But my subjects that I use HDR on aren't moving at all and I'm always on a tripod. Let me know what your results are!

Cheers!
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: wolfnowl on December 22, 2013, 09:38:23 pm
Hi Jason: No, I haven't gotten back to it yet.  Way down on a far too long 'to do' list!

Would be interesting in hearing your experience, though.

Mike.
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: manfred1 on December 23, 2013, 10:07:53 am
Hi,

since 12 months most of my images are 32bpc files. Most of the time I use the Photomatix 32bit plugin, sometimes Photoshop Merge to HDR Pro.

From my point of view, PS does a good job regarding the alignment and avoiding noise. But PS often shows color casts as well as de-saturation. Many times I am unsure about the colors of the merged files.

On the other side, Photomatix plugin shows good colors and mostly aligns images well. The only seldom drawback is noise. E.g. when shooting a church in the dark illuminated by candles with 7 exposures Photomatix shows "ugly" noise, mostly as saturated blue speckles. It is very hard to hide these speckles in post processing.

Overall I am satisfied with Photomatix. But my hope is that Adobe will fix the color casts/desaturation issues. And my hope is also that Adobe will expand the 32bpc processing capabilities in Lightroom.

Manfred
Title: Re: 32-bit HDR Lightroom plugin
Post by: Jason DiMichele on December 23, 2013, 01:41:06 pm
Hi Jason: No, I haven't gotten back to it yet.  Way down on a far too long 'to do' list!

Would be interesting in hearing your experience, though.

Mike.

Hi Mike,

Will keep you posted! :) And I hear ya about that long "to do" list. :)

Cheers!