albertknappmd Posted July 12, 2007 Share #1 Â Posted July 12, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have tried to use lightroom and CS3 to produce HDR files. I have met with disaster and am really stumped... I did the following: 1. Lightroom files in DNG were developed in LR (temp, contrast etc...) then exported as PSD @ 16 bits to CS3 and developed in HDR with very poor... mud looking results 2. same as 1 but exported as Tiff @ 16 bits.. same result... Any ideas... :confused: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 12, 2007 Posted July 12, 2007 Hi albertknappmd, Take a look here Lightroom & Hdr Woes. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Treefiddy Posted July 12, 2007 Share #2 Â Posted July 12, 2007 I'm quite experienced with HDRs, Lightroom, CS3 and Photomatix, Albert so I should be able to help. Â What is the 'disaster' you are getting? Is is failing to merge? Misaligned? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertknappmd Posted July 12, 2007 Author Share #3 Â Posted July 12, 2007 I am getting a flat picture without zip... say I have an overexposed picture with a perfect foreground and an underexposed with a perfect background... logic would dictate that the HDR should combine the best of both.. does not seem to work. Alignement and merging are fine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treefiddy Posted July 12, 2007 Share #4 Â Posted July 12, 2007 If CS3 has a problem it will say so in the form of an error. When you combine images there should be a histogram and slider on the right hand side of the window. On the left of the window it should show all of the images you selected for merge with a little tick to denote that they were used in the merge. Can you see the images on the left and what does the histogram show? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertknappmd Posted July 13, 2007 Author Share #5 Â Posted July 13, 2007 i see the pictures and the histogram and they look great.. the composite looks flat... there was once an error or rather warning pop-up that stated that "files taken from Dng/Raw should be merged before HDr as the dynamic range may change" or something to that effect... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordfanjpn Posted July 13, 2007 Share #6 Â Posted July 13, 2007 I may be off base here, but in Photomatix, you have to do Tone Mapping after the merge, otherwise you end up with a really weird looking image. I don't know how that would work in PS. Â Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treefiddy Posted July 13, 2007 Share #7 Â Posted July 13, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm not quite sure what you mean with that error. The page with the LDR images on the left and histogram on the right you only see once the images have been merged. Bill, the CS3 equivalent of tone mapping happens after this step when you convert the (weird looking) image to 8 bit. Albert, if the histogram is showing something (i.e. it has a trace), the LDR images on the let are ticked and you can see their content and you cannot see anything in the main image then move the slider underneath the histogram left and right and the image really ought to appear. Â Hmm, "I am getting a flat picture without zip". So you are getting a picture, I think I must have grabbed the wrong end of the stick somehow. Accept the merge to exit the HDR dialogue - you now have an HDR image. Â It will look odd because your screen cannot display the full range of the image - and this is where much of the confusion surrounding HDR lies. An HDR file is what is in front of you; a 64 bit image with a higher than standard range of exposure. The HDR images you see on flickr and in jpeg form are technically not HDRs - they are standard range created by compressing the highlights and shadows from an HDR. It is this step that you now need to do to get the image you are after. In Photomatix, you would use tone mapping like Bill said. In CS3, you need to go to the Image>Mode menu and select 8 bits per channel. This brings up the HDR conversion dialogue. Experimentation is your best bet (have Preview ticked) but I generally end up using Local Adaption and playing with the Tone Curve. When you are done, click ok and the image will be converted into an 8 bit image which represents a higher range of exposure than a single photo does - what most people like to call, "an HDR": Flickr: Treefiddy's photos tagged with hdr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertknappmd Posted July 14, 2007 Author Share #8 Â Posted July 14, 2007 Thank you Treefreddy! I will follow your wise advice and report back. BTW, why use 8 bits as opposed to 16? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treefiddy Posted July 14, 2007 Share #9 Â Posted July 14, 2007 You get the HDR conversion dialogue either way though to save to jpg it will have to be converted to 8 bit eventually. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertknappmd Posted July 15, 2007 Author Share #10 Â Posted July 15, 2007 thank you. I am still perplexed as to which option to use after the merge. Since I have yet to receive my CS3 book (held up by Amazon until August,) I am confused as to the four possibilities. Can you enlighten me? Thanks, Albert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treefiddy Posted July 15, 2007 Share #11 Â Posted July 15, 2007 Albert, your best bet is always trial and error - you always learn more from trying and failing yourself. Â But here are a few tutorials to keep you busy (btw the HDR in CS3 is basically the same - maybe exactly - as CS2). Â Photoshop HDR 32-bit Format: The Dawn of a New Era? - Photo Tips @ Earthbound Light High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography in Photoshop CS2 Backing Winds: How to Create Professional HDR Images NatureScapes.Net - The High Dynamic Range (HDR) Landscape Photography Tutorial Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertknappmd Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share #12 Â Posted July 16, 2007 trial and error are doing it... I am seeing some improvement. will try the tutorials.. Thanks again, Albert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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