Feature request: support for external HDR merger/exposure fusion

[Erik Krause]

Hello Joost,

I'd like to have the possibilits to configure an external HDR merger or
exposure fusion command line program.

There is an exciting new (and free!) HDR merger that seems to do an even
better job (right out of the box) than exposure fusion: SNS-HDR lite.

PTGui does a fantastic job aligning handheld bracketed shots. Hence it
would be nice to have the possibiltiy to use other then the built-ins
for merging and tonemapping without the hazzle of passing the single
blend layers to an external program manually.

--
Erik Krause
http://www.erik-krause.de

[PTGui Support]

Hi Erik,

Looks interesting, added to the wish list.

Joost

[imag...@gmail.com]

Eric, what do you like about SNS-HDR? From a quick read it's Windows only, and uses DCRAW, not clear if it can use TIFF's from other converters. It's also command line. But, what do you think it does better than the fusion in PTGui or others?

Regards,

robert

[Roger D Williams]

I am sure Erik will give you a full reply but as another satisfied user of this program I would say firstly, as a Windows user, I do not miss MAC support and have read that it works well in a Windows emulation on MACs. Second, the tone mapping is remarkably free of haloes and other artifacts, Third, the defaults give very natural looking results. Fourth, the GUI on either the Home or Pro versions give very easy-to-use controls whose effects are immediately variable. I would say the controls are about as intuitive as I have ever seen. The control-line option is just that. The available GUI is truly excellent.

Roger W.

Sent from my iPad

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[Henrik]

And to add to all of that, you can use Tiff from other conversions

Henrik

Ps: it's a good tool to have in your HDR tool kit

Sent from my iPhone

[Hans Nyberg]

On Sunday, July 22, 2012 2:33:20 AM UTC+2, imag...@gmail.com wrote:

Eric, what do you like about SNS-HDR? From a quick read it's Windows only, and uses DCRAW, not clear if it can use TIFF's from other converters. It's also command line. But, what do you think it does better than the fusion in PTGui or others?

Also the installation just does not work in my Windows XP.  I never had problems that windows apps did not work in Parallels before, but this one just reports that there is and error when opening it.

Uninstalling and reinstalling from new download gives the same.

Hans

[Michel Thoby]

Hi Hans

Le 22 juil. 2012 à 10:44, Hans Nyberg a écrit :

Also the installation just does not work in my Windows XP.  I never had problems that windows apps did not work in Parallels before, but this one just reports that there is and error when opening it.

Uninstalling and reinstalling from new download gives the same.

Hans

XP Pro 32-bits 2002 (SP2) via VMware Fusion on MacOS 10.6.8 64-bits:   SNR-HDR Lite v1.4.22 was installed and opens as expected. 

As a Mac user, Win command line is not really my cup of tea for interfacing a graphic oriented program. Still reluctant to buy the Home version if undisputed evidence of superiority over Enfuse is provided. Is it yet?

Michel

[Erik Krause]

Am 22.07.2012 02:33, schrieb imag...@gmail.com:
> Eric, what do you like about SNS-HDR? From a quick read it's Windows
> only, and uses DCRAW, not clear if it can use TIFF's from other
> converters.

It can. I use some dedicated raw converter (previously DPP, now ACR
again) to convert to 16 bit TIFF - I never process raw directly in PTGui
or an HDR program since this spoils the benefits of shooting raw.

> It's also command line. But, what do you think it does
> better than the fusion in PTGui or others?

Yes, it is command line, which is a benefit. I use PTGui to align single
fisheye images from handheld bracketed shots - it does a far better job
than f.e. align_image_stack, since I can use viewpoint correction inside
PTGui (which is necessary most of the time, since the camera also moves
forward and backward if you shoot handheld or from a monopod). I did
this using PTGui exposure fusion previously.

Now I found out that I can use SNS-HDR lite in place of enblend as a
plugin to PTGui - the syntax is compatible. So I can use the batch
builder to batch align HDR stacks. I soon write a wiki page about the
procedure.

The benefits over enfuse include more vibrant colors, better local
contrast, better treatment of relatively small highlight regions (like
small windows) and better total highlights. All that without halos, same
as enfuse.

It has a limited de-ghosting feature which works reasonably well if
there isn't too much contrast. Moving leaves with other leaves as
background are treated well whereas moving leaves with sky background
aren't fixed. This feature works without the faint outlines that remain
f.e. in photomatix de-ghosting.

But there is a drawback, too: Very slight misalignments in low contrast
areas like moving clouds cause an annoying vertical banding and
sometimes posterization.

[Erik Krause]

Am 22.07.2012 10:44, schrieb Hans Nyberg:
> Also the installation just does not work in my Windows XP. I never had
> problems that windows apps did not work in Parallels before, but this
> one just reports that there is and error when opening it.

Does your XP meet the system requirements outlined on
http://www.sns-hdr.com/

[imag...@gmail.com]

Erik,

I've downloaded the lite version and there appears to be no information at all about how to run it from a command line. If I run the exe, it does display a list of options, but no overall format and I don't find any readme, etc in the install folder. What am I missing?

Regards,

Robert

[imag...@gmail.com]

OK, I just ran a test, just used trial and error to figure out the command line. And you are right, this is much better than Enfuse from the defaults of both. I'm getting a pro license tonight. This is really good work, even fixed a very small error in a shoot I just gave to the client. They will never see it as it's such a small print, but SNS-HDR did a remarkable job from the same set of images. The micro contrast and sharpness is impressive.

Thanks,

Robert