First HDR Shots

[Trever1t]

You do not want to process the images before merging them. Either merge them within photomatix or photoshop first then do the tonemapping. I'd love to give you some ideas and pointers with the images that you included however they are processed and they won't work. IF you can get the RAW files zipped up somehow I'd be happy to.

Sorry but I respectfully disagree. I import my images into ACR, perform my edit and SYNC before saving and then importing into Photomatix. Things like WB and general tuning, cropping if necessary.

 

[BlueMeanieTSi]

You always want to merge the Raw data, how are you ensuring you are not losing information during the image conversion process?

 

[Trever1t]

Converting to 16 bit tiff. Plenty of data. Wrong or right it works for me. I get much better results than merging the RAW files directly, perhaps I am just a control freak

 

[BlueMeanieTSi]

I find I get more halos and photomatix "glow" if the image is converted to any other format than RAW or DNG. Then again I don't use any of the photomatix stylization stuff either.

If you decide that personally you like it that way then that's fine but I don't think suggesting that method to someone starting out is the best idea. It's too easy to lose all the extended information that you used Raw in the first place. Why not just shoot JPG and do it then?

 

[Trever1t]

I didn't realize that converting to 16 bit tiff sacrificed data, is that a fact?

 

[Joel_W]

way, way too many pics to even try to CC. I will say that many suffer from Hallos, and many don't really need HDR processing. I would suggest that you repost the best ones in the HDR forum, as those guys really know their stuff.

 

[BlueMeanieTSi]

I didn't realize that converting to 16 bit tiff sacrificed data, is that a fact?

This is what HDRSoft says:

"The answer depends on your needs and preferences. If the quality of raw demosaicing/debayering or proper white balance adjustments are important to you, it is better to first process your bracketed RAW files in your favorite RAW converter, and then combine the converted TIFF or JPEG files in Photomatix. Additionally, Photomatix transfers less metadata when the source files are RAWs than when they are TIFFs or JPEGs.

When generating an HDR image, having Photomatix directly process the RAW files is theoretically better for the accuracy of the 32-bit HDR image produced -- the data in RAW files represent the linear luminance values captured by the camera sensors, which is exactly what is needed for an HDR image. Also, the calculation of HDR values can rely on the exposure information retrieved from EXIF data when RAW files are used.

However, the RAW conversion of Photomatix Pro and Photomatix Essentials is not as full-fledged and sophisticated as the RAW conversion done in Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, Bibble, DxO or other applications specialized in RAW conversion. Note that if you have Lightroom and Photomatix Pro, it is easy to integrate both processes with the free Lightroom Export Plug-In to Photomatix Pro.

Important note: When using a RAW converter with files intended for being merged into HDR, you should disable sharpening and uncheck all tonal and exposure-related automatic settings. That is, the Exposure adjustment setting but also adjustments for contrast, shadow and similar should be set to zero. This also applies to the Black setting which should be set to zero. "

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I suppose if you are using the RAW converter within photomatix to do the merging then you should convert to tiff first and that makes sense to me. I however use Adobe Camera Raw for raw conversion. There is a slight loss of information when converting to TIFF yes, however whether that matters to you depends on how picky you are.

 

[Trever1t]

So there are Pro's and Con's to both as I read that but you'll note the Author's last sentence where he states he uses ACR for the conversion.

I hadn't read the technique and adopted it but it rather seemed the logical process.

 

[BlueMeanieTSi]

The last paragraph was me, I should edit that part to reflect that.

 

[Joel_W]

I've been processing my HDR images in Photomatrix Pro using RAW (.NEF) images. After basic editing, I finish up with Capture NX2 v2.3.1. Do I have this backwards?

 

[BlueMeanieTSi]

If you're doing any kind of edit to the original .NEF files PRIOR to importing into photomatix, then they have to be converted to be saved. If you do this through lightroom I think it converts them to whatever format you have set in the "export" section.

If you are importing the .NEF files straight into photomatix for merging then you are preserving the integrity of the raw format (within the limitations of photomatix RAW cconversion)

 

[Trever1t]

Wait, so you agree with my process then, to use Adobe ACR to convert to tiff and import into Photomatrix. I thought you disagreed with that approach?

 

[BlueMeanieTSi]

No, Photoshop internally uses ACR when merging the RAW within Photoshop. Or at least that is the impression I am under since the settings held within ACR are also applied when merging to HDR through the Automate menu.

What I don't do is open them in ACR and make changes, then save as .TIFF. Hope that clears that up a little.

 

[HughGuessWho107 22]

You do not want to process the images before merging them. Either merge them within photomatix or photoshop first then do the tonemapping. I'd love to give you some ideas and pointers with the images that you included however they are processed and they won't work. IF you can get the RAW files zipped up somehow I'd be happy to.

Sorry but I respectfully disagree. I import my images into ACR, perform my edit and SYNC before saving and then importing into Photomatix. Things like WB and general tuning, cropping if necessary.

I agree. Photomatix and RAW dont play well together. I tend to get a lot more noise strange effets doing it otherwise.

 

[BlueMeanieTSi]

I guess the problem that I see is if you make changes to white balance or crop or whatever, and the same change isn't applied to all the bracketed photos, you could end up with some strange results. I've never edited the individual images to say it does I've only tried conversions first vs after. I guess if you converted to DNG instead of Tiff prior you could retain the information within the RAW exposure.