New version 1.3.0 of SNS-HDR (for Windows OS) released today

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

FYI,

After a period of relative silence, it became clear today that the programmer of SNS-HDR ProSNS-HDR Pro tonemapping software has been busy improving the software, and he has added a number of very useful features as well.

IMHO SNS-HDR can give the most natural looking tonemapped results from HDR source files and bracketed exposure sets, or other (even single) images with difficult lighting. If pushed, it can also produce the seemingly popular over-the-top renderings, but that's not what I like about the program. The natural look is it's strong point, and it takes very little effort to achieve a useful result. With a bit of finetuning (and we're offered lots of control to do that) we can achieve (close to) perfection in a short period of time.

It is less sensitive to producing halo artifacts than Nik's HDR EFEX Pro, or Oloneo's PhotoEngine, and at a competitive price.

I can only recommend to check it out.

Cheers,
Bart

Disclaimer: I'm just a (happy) user of the software and have no other connection other than that of a paying customer.

[nma]

Hello Bart,

Can you tell us which version you are recommending? The website shows:

   1.

      SNS-HDR Lite - free of charge.
      Version of the program running in the console window. Program available as freeware.
   2.

      SNS Pro-HDR - 85 euros (price includes VAT).
      Expanded version of the program has a graphical user interface.
   3.

      SNS-HDR Home - 30 euro (price includes VAT).
      Expanded version of the program with a graphical user interface, no batch processing module. This version has a limit of licenses for non-commercial home use.


Have you needed any customer service?

Have you tried running it under Windows 7?

Thanks for bringing this to the attention of the list.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Hello Bart,

Can you tell us which version you are recommending?

.

I'm using the Pro version, so I can use the images commercially, and the batch processing capability can come in handy there as well. The GUI and controls are realtime, so you can interactively see what you are doing. You can try a version for free, with an output size limitation. There is no documentation yet to speak of, but everything is very intuitive, and there are some tool tips implemented.

Have you tried running it under Windows 7?

I am running it on Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit without a problem. Asingle installer installs the correct version for the OS (32 or 64bits). All cores of the CPU are kept busy to get good user interaction, and reduce the immense ("under the hood") processing to do it's magic. I believe he also uses, or intends to use, the GPU's. Loading files can take a bit of time because a lot of data is pushed around to prepare for the tonemapping which is realtime.

I have not needed real support sofar, but I've exchanged some emails with feature requests, comments about image artifacts in the early versions, and such, and Sebastian usually responded promptly. That doesn't mean everything gets implemented (I have a few wishes left from my original but shrinking list), but if it makes sense to implement and it fits his development cycles he'll listen.

The programming is very clever. It shows that he's a competent programmer and has a good feeling for GUIs. Simple example, zooming in with the scroll wheel keeps the mouse position in focus. It's the attention for small details like that (and there are more)that shows he's given everything a lot of thought.

Cheers,
Bart

[semillerimages]

I also have purchased the SNS-HDR and to me it's worth every penny
I did have some problems with settings and I don't fully understand how he implements his color profiling, but all questions I've sent to him have been answered promptly.
Works great on my WIN 7 64 Bit machine.

40 bucks, can't go wrong!

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I did have some problems with settings and I don't fully understand how he implements his color profiling, but all questions I've sent to him have been answered promptly.

When you feed it TIFFs, SNS-HDR will pick up their colorspace and save the result with the same colorspace embedded. RAW conversions in SNS-HDR are treated differently, RAWs don't have a colorspace as such, but I'd prefer a possibility to convert to e.g. ProPhoto RGB is such a case. A feature request ...

Cheers,
Bart

[huupi]

Hello my first post on LL though perusing it for years.

Just tried to install several times the beta copy but no joy '' SNS-HDR has encountered a problem and need to be closed '' , i downloaded it again but same results.
I am on 32 bit windows xp proff and this is really the first time i encountered this with first opening a program to get this message.

FYI the program is not openening at all but instead i get the message after clicking the desktop icon.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Hello my first post on LL though perusing it for years.

Just tried to install several times the beta copy but no joy '' SNS-HDR has encountered a problem and need to be closed '' , i downloaded it again but same results.

Which trial version did you download, Lite or Pro?

I am on 32 bit windows xp proff and this is really the first time i encountered this with first opening a program to get this message.

FYI the program is not openening at all but instead i get the message after clicking the desktop icon.

Does it install and then subsequent starting it fails, or does the installation fail?

I have not tried installing it on a 32bit OS, so I can't tell from experience what happens. It might help to make sure your graphic card drivers are up-to-date. Maybe an email to the author (see bottom right of his homepage) will help?

Cheers,
Bart

[huupi]

Thanks for the reply,
I tried to install the pro version.
maybe graphic drivers issue but in last week i trialled different HDR software packages and not this kind of problem shows up.

I have HDR Darkroom installed which i have licence for but strange enough after uninstall of SNS-HDR, Darkroom refuse to open and throw the same message on screen !
Before all this Darkroom worked flawlessly.
Luckily  i had a recent system image made so it was easy to revert back to the pre install status.

[RFPhotography]

I'd also suggest the Pro version. 

Bart, with respect to colour spaces and RAW files, in v1.2 at the very bottom of the tonemap adjustment panel there was a dropdown menu with the 4 major colour spaces.  Selecting a space here would tag the image when it was saved.  I see in v1.3 that dropdown is gone and images are tagged automatically with sRGB.  I've sent Sebastian an email to ask about this.  Love some of the new changes but definitely want those colour space options back.