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Author Topic: Helicon Focus  (Read 3905 times)

BillOConnor

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Helicon Focus
« on: October 23, 2012, 10:43:03 am »

Hey, Friends;

Has anyone here used Helicon Focus with large files, like the ones from a P65+? Opening five or six focus versions and
then telling Helicon to merge them seems like a recipe for a crash. My MacBook Pro, core i7, 8 megs of RAM, gets
pretty squirrelly with more than three 330 meg files open.

Would it be better to merge two or three, flatten, and then add from there?

Bill 
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Pics2

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BillOConnor

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2012, 12:29:05 pm »

Thanks, about what I expected.
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ErikKaffehr

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2012, 12:33:53 pm »

Hi,

Are you running the MacBook in 32-bit or 64-bit mode? In 32 bit it cannot address more than 2GByte (or possibly 4). With 64 bits you can use all memory you have and some more.

Best regards
Erik


Hey, Friends;

Has anyone here used Helicon Focus with large files, like the ones from a P65+? Opening five or six focus versions and
then telling Helicon to merge them seems like a recipe for a crash. My MacBook Pro, core i7, 8 megs of RAM, gets
pretty squirrelly with more than three 330 meg files open.

Would it be better to merge two or three, flatten, and then add from there?

Bill 
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Erik Kaffehr
 

Bart_van_der_Wolf

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2012, 12:55:00 pm »

Hey, Friends;

Has anyone here used Helicon Focus with large files, like the ones from a P65+?

Hi Bill,

In their forum there is mention of someone back in 2008 making a stack of 13 files of 192Mb 16bit on a Mac G5. I also remember someone using a P65+, which should work according to their tests in 2010, but I think the OP didn't report back on their suggestion to install the time limited trial version.

Cheers,
Bart
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HarperPhotos

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #5 on: October 23, 2012, 03:41:47 pm »

Hello,

I have done focus stacks of up to 15 images and more from a Leaf Aptus75 and Nikon D800E as 16bit PSD's in Helicon Focus version 4.2 X64Bit on my Mac Pro and it has never crashed.

Cheers

Simon
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Simon Harper
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Guy Mancuso

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #6 on: October 23, 2012, 07:54:17 pm »

I just did 5 D800E 16 bit Tifs. I think they are around 232mgs or maybe 209 mgs each give or take and flew right through them. I work in 64 bit . Image is here. Processed first in C1 beyond 6 and no I did not just say that. LOL

« Last Edit: October 23, 2012, 08:13:53 pm by Guy Mancuso »
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Guy Mancuso

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #7 on: October 23, 2012, 08:01:03 pm »

Btw that was shot with a Samyang 14mm yes a Samyang. Need to see these results

http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/nikon/41004-samyang-14mm.html
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HarperPhotos

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2012, 10:08:20 pm »

Hello,

This shot is a combination of 7 images using a Horseman VCC, Nikon combo and Rodenstock 120mm Apo Rodagon lens. They are focused stacked together in Helicon Focus.

Cheers

Simon
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Simon Harper
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BernardLanguillier

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2012, 11:29:18 pm »

Same here, did last night 5 D800 images without any problem.

OSX 64 bits, latest version of Helicon.

Cheers,
Bernard

BillOConnor

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2012, 02:58:35 pm »

When I opened my demo version of Helicon Focus, it opened in the 64-bit mode. I decided to see if it could handle eight 16-bit 60 megapixel captures. It did, in a very reasonable amount of time and produced an image too complicated to do by hand in anything less than an afternoon.
I am impressed enough with the software to purchase my own copy.

Here is the image.
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Bart_van_der_Wolf

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2012, 04:24:07 pm »

When I opened my demo version of Helicon Focus, it opened in the 64-bit mode. I decided to see if it could handle eight 16-bit 60 megapixel captures. It did, in a very reasonable amount of time and produced an image too complicated to do by hand in anything less than an afternoon.
I am impressed enough with the software to purchase my own copy.

Hi Bill,

Indeed, doing that one by hand would be a nightmare. Of course there are near impossible scenarios that also Helikon focus has difficulty with, but it also offers retouching facilities to overcome those difficulties. It can also help to combine stitches that were created with different methods. Method A is e.g. good at surfaces, Method B is better at edges. So you can also merge those two results separately.

Cheers,
Bart
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BillOConnor

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2012, 04:57:14 pm »

Thanks Bart, I was wondering about that. Are there any other focus-stacking software packages you could recommend?

Best,

Bill
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Bart_van_der_Wolf

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2012, 08:31:11 pm »

Are there any other focus-stacking software packages you could recommend?

Hi Bill,

The only other one probably worth considering is Zerene Stacker, but they are newer to the game that Helicon Focus defined (and I invested in long ago). I haven't tested Zerene Stacker enough to tell if it's any different in final quality, because Helicon Focus gives such great results, and they both essentially use the same algorithms. The folks at Heliconsoft are also quite responsive to user requests/questions, and HF is a widely used application in academic circles (which means that any issues will be reported pretty fast, and is pretty stable as far as I have experienced).

Cheers,
Bart
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Graham Welland

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #14 on: October 27, 2012, 10:37:08 pm »

I've had no problems with the Mac version running 64bit handling 6-7 IQ160 TIFFs. Sure it takes a little while but certainly not sluggish considering the sheer image size and number of images, even with masking.

Both with MBP17 and MacPro with 16GB Ram.
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Graham

cunim

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #15 on: October 28, 2012, 10:11:48 am »

Running on W7/64 and a capable PC, Helicon broke (unusable) going from a 50MP CCD to an IQ180.  This happened about a year ago. Support were able to replicate my issues and, until recently, their position was that it was a flaw in the code infrasatructure they work from - not a problem with their software.  Made it something they couldn't deal with until their coding platform evolved.

With the latest version (5.3.7), I am not having these problems.  Just ran a 7 image stack at full res with lots of retouching.  Saved without a hiccup.  Was not possible in mid-summer.
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Abdulrahman Aljabri

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #16 on: October 28, 2012, 01:23:14 pm »

A little off topic, but Helicon Focus comes with a program called Remote. It's very useful for bracketing what ever number of pictures in any sequence. Does anyone know of any program that offers the same function as Remote? I just don't want to buy the full Helicon program to use this little feature only.

Thanks
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dchew

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #17 on: October 28, 2012, 02:12:19 pm »

I use it for IQ180 files.  Usually 5-10 tiffs @400-500mb each with no problems.  Although this MBP I am on is much faster with files than my previous late 2009 MBP.  It had 8g ram and the "average" duo processor (can't remembrer what clock speed that was).  Here's what I have now:
  Model Identifier:   MacBookPro8,3
  Processor Name:   Intel Core i7
  Processor Speed:   2.5 GHz
  Number of Processors:   1
  Total Number of Cores:   4
  L2 Cache (per Core):   256 KB
  L3 Cache:   8 MB
  Memory:   16 GB

Dave
« Last Edit: October 28, 2012, 03:52:48 pm by dchew »
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francois

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #18 on: October 28, 2012, 02:38:16 pm »

A little off topic, but Helicon Focus comes with a program called Remote. It's very useful for bracketing what ever number of pictures in any sequence. Does anyone know of any program that offers the same function as Remote? I just don't want to buy the full Helicon program to use this little feature only.

Thanks

I haven't tested it at all but DSLR Assistant might do the trick (or not?).

I'm using Helicon Remote but about a couple of years ago, it used to crash a lot on my computer and I looked for a replacement. A new version of HR was released before I got a chance to test DSLR Assistant.
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Bart_van_der_Wolf

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Re: Helicon Focus
« Reply #19 on: October 28, 2012, 03:44:27 pm »

I haven't tested it at all but DSLR Assistant might do the trick (or not?).

I'm using Helicon Remote but about a couple of years ago, it used to crash a lot on my computer and I looked for a replacement. A new version of HR was released before I got a chance to test DSLR Assistant.

I don't know if DSLR Assistent facilitates automatic focus bracketing. Helicon remote does, based on a front and back position it will step through the scene in a number of steps that is linked to the aperture setting (=DOF). It can also interface with the Stackshot Focus Rail.

Cheers,
Bart
« Last Edit: October 29, 2012, 05:09:57 am by BartvanderWolf »
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