Highlights clipping in PTGui

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Roman T

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Jul 19, 2022, 7:18:20 AM7/19/22
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I have used PTGui and it always clips the highlights on the output panorama image. Is there way to disable clipping somehow and keep all the information from original TIFF image only join images together?


Untitled-1.jpg

Rui Roque

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Jul 19, 2022, 8:43:27 AM7/19/22
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I'm experiencing a similar problem. When aligning images some of the images are completely blown in the highlights. Even if I decrease the highlight by a lot in the source image, they are still completely blown. For some panos the result is not acceptable at all. I've come to this forum for the first time to see where can I download an older version of the app because of this problem.

Erik Krause

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Jul 19, 2022, 9:28:22 AM7/19/22
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Am 19.07.22 um 13:18 schrieb Roman T:

> I have used PTGui and it always clips the highlights on the output panorama
> image. Is there way to disable clipping somehow and keep all the
> information from original TIFF image only join images together?

Is this PTGui pro or standard?

What kind of TIFF images are this? There is also a TIFF floating point
format (HDR), which must be tonemapped in order not to induce clipping.

And did you shoot all images the same in manual exposure mode? If not
PTGui tries to lighten the darker images and darken the lighter ones,
which might cause the effect you see.

If this doesn't solve the problem, please describe exactly step by step
what you are doing and provide the project (.pts) file (without the
images for the time being).

--
Erik Krause

Erik Krause

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Jul 19, 2022, 9:32:10 AM7/19/22
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Am 19.07.22 um 14:43 schrieb Rui Roque:

> I've come to this forum for the first time to see where can I
> download an older version of the app because of this problem.
See https://ptgui.com/support.html#1_8

But most likely it is an operator error. The current PTGui version does
everything that the previous ones did, plus many new things. So please
describe your problem in detail.

--
Erik Krause

Rui Roque

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Jul 19, 2022, 9:43:06 AM7/19/22
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Ok, I've tried the previous 4 versions and I got the same problem.

After a while I switched off the "Exposure Compensation" box in the "Blending" section of the Panorama Editor window, and it was all good.

Was this option switched from "off" to "on" by default in the latest versions and are the app settings persisted when downgrading? I always use photos with different exposures (minor differences) to stich together and I never experienced this problem in all these years.

PTGui Support

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Jul 19, 2022, 10:30:19 AM7/19/22
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Hi Rui,

Indeed, exposure compensation was switched to on by default in PTGui 12.
Usually it gives the best results when auto exposure was used; the
blender prefers to receive equally exposed images.

Floating point is used internally, so your images are not clipped until
the final output is written. You can prevent the clipping by reducing
the output exposure in Post Processing, or by using tone mapping.

At least that's how it's intended to be used; feel free to disable
exposure compensation if you prefer this result.

Kind regards,

Joost Nieuwenhuijse
www.ptgui.com
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Roman T

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Jul 19, 2022, 11:37:35 AM7/19/22
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Appears i gave wrong information it was not (regular) TIFF file i created in Photoshop, but Sony RAW file (*.ARW) i was loading and appears like PTGui does not handle highlights from raw files well, clips them entirely.

Later on i tried with TIFF file and "Exposure Compensation" option being ON or OFF had no effect on clipping in my case.

It handled TIFF a bit better, yet still highlights are half way blown after adjusting levels in Photoshop.
tiff-output-no-blending.jpg


P.S. I used Pro version trial.
_DSC0589 Panorama.pts

PTGui Support

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Jul 19, 2022, 11:52:30 AM7/19/22
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You are feeding PTGui with differently exposed images. In order to
create a smooth blend, PTGui will have to adjust the brightness of the
images. So one edge of one image will be darkened, and the overlapping
edge of the other image will be brightened. The latter will cause some
clipping, unless you darken the entire panorama a bit (see Post Processing).

Switching the panorama editor to Unblended mode can be helpful, this
allows you to see what is going on. This will also show why Exposure
Compensation exists.

At least that's what I think is going on. If this is not the case,
please make your project file and source images available so I can
reproduce what you are doing.

Kind regards,

Joost Nieuwenhuijse
www.ptgui.com

On 19/07/2022 17:37, Roman T wrote:
> Appears i gave wrong information it was not (regular) TIFF file i
> created in Photoshop, but Sony RAW file (*.ARW) i was loading and
> appears like PTGui does not handle highlights from raw files well, clips
> them entirely.
>
> Later on i tried with TIFF file and "Exposure Compensation" option being
> ON or OFF had no effect on clipping in my case.
>
> It handled TIFF a bit better, yet still highlights are half way blown
> after adjusting levels in Photoshop.
> tiff-output-no-blending.jpg
>
>
> P.S. I used Pro version trial.
> On Tuesday, July 19, 2022 at 4:28:22 PM UTC+3 Erik Krause wrote:
>
> Am 19.07.22 um 13:18 schrieb Roman T:
>
> > I have used PTGui and it always clips the highlights on the
> output panorama
> > image. Is there way to disable clipping somehow and keep all the
> > information from original TIFF image only join images together?
>
> Is this PTGui pro or standard?
>
> What kind of TIFF images are this? There is also a TIFF floating point
> format (HDR), which must be tonemapped in order not to induce clipping.
>
> And did you shoot all images the same in manual exposure mode? If not
> PTGui tries to lighten the darker images and darken the lighter ones,
> which might cause the effect you see.
>
> If this doesn't solve the problem, please describe exactly step by step
> what you are doing and provide the project (.pts) file (without the
> images for the time being).
>
> --
> Erik Krause
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "PTGui Support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to ptgui+un...@googlegroups.com
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> To view this discussion on the web visit
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> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/0d4ae224-a45b-4164-8a6e-288b5f631d89n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

Rui Roque

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Jul 20, 2022, 10:18:37 AM7/20/22
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Thank you for the explanation,  Joost Nieuwenhuijse. I can now manage my way by switching on/off Exposure Compensation.

But I still think that something is wrong with PTGui. I've recorded a video to make the point:


Basically, I have several images with some differences in exposure, nothing outrageous. Without Exposure Compensation I can blend them nicely. But with Exposure Compensation, the darker images are way, way off, completely blowing the highlights, and the final stiching result is not acceptable.

Erik Krause

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Jul 20, 2022, 11:09:21 AM7/20/22
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Am 20.07.22 um 16:18 schrieb Rui Roque:

> Basically, I have several images with some differences in exposure, nothing
> outrageous. Without Exposure Compensation I can blend them nicely. But with
> Exposure Compensation, the darker images are way, way off, completely
> blowing the highlights, and the final stiching result is not acceptable.

Just a guess: Did you develop them from raw with auto settings? In that
case they will be similarily bright, but the exif data will show
different exposure data. If you use Exposure Compensation, PTGui reads
this data and corrects the images accordingly, which would explain the
brightness differences.

If you convert from raw, always use the exact same settings for all images.

--
Erik Krause

PTGui Support

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Jul 20, 2022, 3:57:21 PM7/20/22
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Hi Rui,

This means that the metadata is incorrect, the exposure times recorded
in the EXIF does not correspond to the brightness of the images.

I assume your images are not straight out of camera; can you explain how
you acquired them?

Kind regards,

Joost Nieuwenhuijse
www.ptgui.com

> www.ptgui.com <http://www.ptgui.com>
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>
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Roman T

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Jul 21, 2022, 2:52:26 AM7/21/22
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Thanks Joost Nieuwenhuijse that explains it. I ended up using alignment only inside PTGui and making blending in Photoshop to avoid clipping.

Now another problem i have is how PTGui (and many other software) handles Sony (*.ARW) RAW files, then PTGui clips highlights entirely upon loading image, even inside Panorama Editor its visible already that its clipped.

Inside Autopano Giga they had option for raw importing Highlights - Clip, Unclip, Blend. Do you have something similar in PTGui?
Untitled.jpg


I attached Sony ARW file here in case you want to see for yourself.

Roman T

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Jul 21, 2022, 2:53:42 AM7/21/22
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PTGui Support

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Jul 21, 2022, 4:42:43 AM7/21/22
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Hi Roman,

I see what you mean, I'll see if PTGui can be made to extract some more
highlight detail.

For the best results, convert your raw files to 16 bit tiff in a
dedicated raw converter.

Kind regards,

Joost Nieuwenhuijse
www.ptgui.com

On 21/07/2022 08:52, Roman T wrote:
> Thanks Joost Nieuwenhuijse that explains it. I ended up using alignment
> only inside PTGui and making blending in Photoshop to avoid clipping.
>
> Now another problem i have is how PTGui (and many other software)
> handles Sony (*.ARW) RAW files, then PTGui clips highlights entirely
> upon loading image, even inside Panorama Editor its visible already that
> its clipped.
>
> Inside Autopano Giga they had option for raw importing Highlights -
> Clip, Unclip, Blend. Do you have something similar in PTGui?
> Untitled.jpg
>
>
> I attached Sony ARW file here in case you want to see for yourself.
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "PTGui Support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to ptgui+un...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:ptgui+un...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/924b8930-77f8-41c9-9588-19155fd39033n%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/924b8930-77f8-41c9-9588-19155fd39033n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

Rui Roque

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Jul 21, 2022, 6:36:19 AM7/21/22
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Hello,

I have exported my images from the latest version of Lightroom Classic with most of the default settings on export ("All Metadata" option is selected).
My source images are AWR files from a Sony A7 III and I export them as JPEG sRGB with 100% quality. These JPEGs are then loaded into PTGui.
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PTGui Support

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Jul 26, 2022, 7:14:53 AM7/26/22
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It's general advice for all RAW files. See 3.7:
https://ptgui.com/support.html#3_7

Kind regards,

Joost Nieuwenhuijse
www.ptgui.com

On 22/07/2022 23:01, Juan Navarro wrote:
> Hi Joost. Can you please clarify whether "convert your raw files to 16
> bit tiff" is general advice, or specific advice for ARW files, or
> specific advice for dealing with highlight clipping? I too am dealing
> with the latter, but converting to tiff didn't help. Thanks!
>
> On Thursday, July 21, 2022 at 1:42:43 AM UTC-7 PTGui Support wrote:
>
> Hi Roman,
>
> I see what you mean, I'll see if PTGui can be made to extract some more
> highlight detail.
>
> For the best results, convert your raw files to 16 bit tiff in a
> dedicated raw converter.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Joost Nieuwenhuijse
> www.ptgui.com <http://www.ptgui.com>
>
> On 21/07/2022 08:52, Roman T wrote:
> > Thanks Joost Nieuwenhuijse that explains it. I ended up using
> alignment
> > only inside PTGui and making blending in Photoshop to avoid
> clipping.
> >
> > Now another problem i have is how PTGui (and many other software)
> > handles Sony (*.ARW) RAW files, then PTGui clips highlights entirely
> > upon loading image, even inside Panorama Editor its visible
> already that
> > its clipped.
> >
> > Inside Autopano Giga they had option for raw importing Highlights -
> > Clip, Unclip, Blend. Do you have something similar in PTGui?
> > Untitled.jpg
> >
> >
> > I attached Sony ARW file here in case you want to see for yourself.
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> > Groups "PTGui Support" group.
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
> send
> > an email to ptgui+un...@googlegroups.com
> > <mailto:ptgui+un...@googlegroups.com>.
> > To view this discussion on the web visit
> >
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/924b8930-77f8-41c9-9588-19155fd39033n%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/924b8930-77f8-41c9-9588-19155fd39033n%40googlegroups.com>
>
> >
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/924b8930-77f8-41c9-9588-19155fd39033n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/924b8930-77f8-41c9-9588-19155fd39033n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>>.
>
>
> --
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Erik Krause

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Jul 26, 2022, 8:21:57 AM7/26/22
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Am 22.07.22 um 23:01 schrieb Juan Navarro:

> I too am dealing with the latter, but converting to tiff didn't
> help.
On https://wiki.panotools.org/RAW_dynamic_range_extraction you find a
slightly outdated yet still valid description on how to extract maximum
dynamic range from raws.

--
Erik Krause
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