New to PTGui

[Maria Stengard-Green]

Hi all,

I've just downloaded the trial version with a view to buy. Tried it out, HDR option which looked pretty gastly (can this only be used if you bracketed in manual mode - I used Av). Then just aligned the one exposure of the four 8mm Sigma images and although the stitching is perfect the aligned image looks conpletely out of focus. I know the original is fine. Any advice/input gratefully received. Thank you. Maria

[Simon Nobes]

Hi Maria

I'm a London based TIP and have been using PTGui for much longer than I have been a Google TIP. Yes, PTGui can use the bracketed images straight from the camera but the Panorama Editor view won't look anything like the finished image because it does the HDR "merging" at the same time as the warping and stitching. You can process a preview (make sure you're in "advanced" mode) and make adjustments to the exposure "blending" in the "Exposure/HDR" tab. I'm not a fan of HDR so I tend to always go for Enfuse as it's more "lifelike".

For what it's worth I almost always use Enfuse GUI to combine the bracketed shots before loading them in to PTGui. This works very well because you will have taken your images using a tripod so they will be perfectly aligned. HDR in PTGui is, in my book, best kept for handheld shoots, or those done on a pole, for example, where there may be slight misalignments between bracketed images.

I've created many stitches from the images I've taken on a Google shoot and they have worked every time for me (See this for an example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bridevalley/8175222870/)

Feel free to contact me directly (I'm listed in the Google TIP directory) if you need any more guidance. PTGui has a steep learning curve but it's a very dependable stitcher. As you've done TIP work you'll have the confidence that your images are properly aligned etc.

One last thought: PTGui documentation recommends that you take the images using manual mode, which isn't what we have to do for Google: the enfused set won't be too bad, brightness wise, but just for good measure I find it helps to click on the "Optimise" button in the "Exposure/HDR" tab before stitching.

Good luck!
Simon

[Alex Marsh]

Buy it. PTGui is easily the best stitching program around. 

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[Erik Krause]

Am 16.01.2013 21:02, schrieb Maria Stengard-Green:
> I've just downloaded the trial version with a view to buy. Tried it out,
> HDR option which looked pretty gastly (can this only be used if you
> bracketed in manual mode - I used Av).

Bracketing in Av is not advisable, since it leads to different
exposures. PTGui won't recognize any bracketed sets. Stiching panoramas
(bracketed or not) works best in full manual mode (manual exposure and
manual white balance).

> Then just aligned the one
> exposure of the four 8mm Sigma images and although the stitching is
> perfect the aligned image looks conpletely out of focus. I know the
> original is fine. Any advice/input gratefully received. Thank you. Maria

It's better not to start with bracketed images. Do some single-exposure
panoramas until you are familiar with the process before using brackets.

For more information read http://www.ptgui.com/support.html#6_1 and
following.

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

[Maria Stengard-Green]

Thank you all. Some great info there Simon and thanks for being open to further help. Like your Inspitafields planets! Will do some playing around with it. It seems the best buy according to most of you out there.

[Henrik]

You are speaking to the converted here, but I have most stitching programs and my Go-To program is PTGui and within this community you have some very helpful members with a lot of knowledge so you are not alone

Henrik

Sent from my iPhone

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[Maria Stengard-Green]

Thanks Hendrik. I've indeed learnt there're some very helpful people out there. Have been playing around with the trial version today and I'm enjoying it!

P.S. You don't happen to be Swedish so you?

[Henrik]

Hej Maria,

Jeg er Dansker men bor I Australien :-)

I am Danish, living in Australia :-) I understand Swedish though its getting a little rusty :-)

I find that with the different pano applications that sometimes when one doesn't work another will, unless you are a real expert like John Houghten, Erik Kruse and Hans Nyberg (also Danish), just to mention a few.

Just try, if it fails ask

Henrik

Sent from my iPhone