Bracket exposures still not recognised after update

[Nick Turpin]

I was hoping the new update would solve the failure of the software to recognise obvious bracketed series of images. I've had a real problem with this ever since buying PTGui and it was one of the main reasons for getting the software for me.

I'm very careful to shoot manual brackets with only the shutter speed changing and to avoid half shutter speeds. In the example below the app recognises the ev values in one stop steps but PTGui still can't recognise a bracketed series.

I have lost my confidence in it as a professional tool and need to find an alternative.

[Rick Boden]

I don't believe there is an alternative to PTGui.  I came from AutoPanoGiga and after they stopped I searched for quite awhile.  There is stitching software but nothing in the same league as far as I know.

Regarding the failure to recognize bracketed images, I had that problem earlier and found it was due to my naming system in Lightroom where I was naming the images by time to the second (or part of a second).  After I switched to a more conventional naming system I had no further issues.

Rick Boden

--
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.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/7d9c304d-57c8-4960-8b49-096d3bc0c892n%40googlegroups.com.

[Nick Turpin]

Thanks Rick

How odd that the filename should make a difference, I'm not sure why PTGui should take file name into account.

I do use it for stitching images but initially found it very good for the HDR as well, when I first bought it, it recognised the HDR files and made a good job of blending them naturally. Most HDR software looks pretty awful in my experience. I'm shooting for architecture firms and it needs the dynamic range but must be natural as well. I use mirror lock up when shooting and my brackets are programmed through CamRanger, I don't know if any of that makes a difference.

I have a big important shoot on Thursday where I will shoot most shots with a seven stop bracket and now I'm not sure how I'll create the HDR's

Thanks for your input :-)

[Rick Boden]

You're welcome Nick,

I have a CamRanger too but haven't used it for awhile.  I'll take a look at some old files and if I see anything that sticks out I'll get back to you.

Rick Boden

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/350f802a-6186-4fe4-93af-08de0526b150n%40googlegroups.com.

[PTGui Support]

Hi Nick,

All you need to do is to go into Source Images tab, select all images,
right click, select 'Link Selected Images'.

For panoramas taken with camera auto bracketing, PTGui will recognize
bracketed sets automatically. But this is not a panorama, isn't it?

Kind regards,

Joost Nieuwenhuijse
www.ptgui.com

> Screenshot 2021-03-23 at 22.25.33.png
>
> --
> 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/7d9c304d-57c8-4960-8b49-096d3bc0c892n%40googlegroups.com

> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/7d9c304d-57c8-4960-8b49-096d3bc0c892n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Erik Krause]

Am 24.03.2021 um 07:53 schrieb PTGui Support:

> For panoramas taken with camera auto bracketing, PTGui will recognize
> bracketed sets automatically. But this is not a panorama, isn't it?

To elaborate a bit: PTGui will recognize repeated bracketed series. So
you need at least two bracketed sets exposed the same to have them
recognized automatically.

However, if you use this scenario frequently you can use a template.
After linking the images do File -> Save as template and you will have
the functionality at hand by two clicks. You can even use it in Batch
Builder to batch merge your bracketed images. In this case you'd need to
take care of the output settings before you save the template.

I have at least a dozen templates that merge bracketed images, align
them beforehand or not and process them in different ways. An outline to
do that can be found here (bit outdated, but you get the idea):
https://wiki.panotools.org/Batch_merge_handheld_images#PTGui

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

[Nick Turpin]

Ok so I linked the bracketed images under the Source Images Tab as suggested, after processing I got a tiff that was not HDR and an exr file that does appear to retain all highlight and shadow detail. The exr did open in photoshop with a huge border.

How do I get an HDR tiff?

This seems a little long winded compared to when the software automatically recognises the bracket and offers you an HDR output at the beginning.

Am I confusing it by not always doing a panorama? I do stitch images from my tilt shift lenses but I'd also like PTGui to combine a bracketed single view, it should be able to do that right?

Thanks so much for the help everyone.

[PTGui Support]

Hi Nick,

PTGui can do everything you mention, it just cannot read your mind I'm
afraid.

To remove the border press the 'Fit Panorama' button in the Panorama Editor.

I assume what you really want is a tone mapped TIFF file, not an HDR
tiff? Then go to the Tone Mapping side bar in the panorama editor and
press Apply Tone Mapping.

Or if you prefer exposure fusion, go to the Exposure Fusion side bar and
select Apply Exposure Fusion.

Since you mention shift lenses, be sure to read 3.13:
https://www.ptgui.com/support.html#3_13

Kind regards,

Joost Nieuwenhuijse
www.ptgui.com

> http://www.erik-krause.de <http://www.erik-krause.de>

>
> --
> 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/0ca0320a-8e6d-4ed5-89ef-5a0fd35a9c4bn%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/0ca0320a-8e6d-4ed5-89ef-5a0fd35a9c4bn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Nick Turpin]

Thank you Joost

Linking the images then selecting Tone Mapping in the panorama editor produced a very nice result and output as a tiff. All from the RAW files dragged from Photomechanic which gives me a nice quick workflow.

Thanks for the link to the tilt shift lens support, I use a Rogeti Frame so my shifted exposures have no parallax. Now I can join them and tone map them in one app which is amazing.

Will you be adding Mind Reading in the next update? ;-)

I am shooting the first Crossrail Station to be completed in London tomorrow, was a bit stressed out about it. Thanks for your patience.

Nick

[PTGui Support]

Good to hear that. Mind reading is on the wish list!

Kind regards,

Joost Nieuwenhuijse
www.ptgui.com

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

> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/0ca0320a-8e6d-4ed5-89ef-5a0fd35a9c4bn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/0ca0320a-8e6d-4ed5-89ef-5a0fd35a9c4bn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>>.

>
>
> --
> 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/37b820dd-7789-4d09-902e-9e19917cfe34n%40googlegroups.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ptgui/37b820dd-7789-4d09-902e-9e19917cfe34n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.