Free HDR plug-in for CS4 and CS5

not bad at all. ; i just ran a test series through the filter and it came out pretty well. ; potential is there.
 
I'm liking it- thanks for the link!

I can't get the auto-allingnment to work in CS-5 so far though- with tripod shots it works great.
 
I love this plug-in! ; I've been using it exclusively. ; Thanks again!

By the way- I got around the alingment issue on the handheld shots by letting CS5 do the alignment first. ; File> Scripts> Load Files Into Stack


Morning Commute by ~Life by the Drop~, on Flickr


Sunlight on the #5 by ~Life by the Drop~, on Flickr


AK Gear 3x HDR by ~Life by the Drop~, on Flickr


Tree of LIfe 3x HDR by ~Life by the Drop~, on Flickr


American Adventure 3xHDR by ~Life by the Drop~, on Flickr


Epcot 3x HDR by ~Life by the Drop~, on Flickr
 
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SSE3x is an eye killer but the other ones are lovely. ; the germany shot is smokin'!

how many frames are you using as source material?
 
All are from 3x brackets -2/0/+2

The Tree of Life shot is most impressive to me because it was a gray drab night and it just pulled color out of nowhere.

The SSE you probably don't like the Topaz processing after-the-fact- not the HDR itself. ; The water is so bright in that frame compared to the top of the fountain and the trees and even a few stars I think it's pretty impressive what this free plugin can do. ;
 
The plugin is quite impressive. ; Cannot deny that.

(from my htc incredible)
 
I'm also loving this plugin. I can't believe a free plugin outperforms the built in HDR in CS5 (at least for me!). Here are a couple of my results:


Eat At Tusker House! by Tom Bricker (WDWFigment), on Flickr


Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand by Tom Bricker (WDWFigment), on Flickr

However, like Jeff, I also cannot get the auto-alignment to work. I get some error message (can't remember off the top of my head). I don't know why I didn't think to just let PS do that first. Will try that tonight with another batch.
 
I didn't care for cs5's hdr and don't have the time or patience to mess with photomatix and its 864 sliders. ; This plugin is great and simple. ;

(from my htc incredible)
 
Plus my 1dMk4 can do a 7 shot bracket. ; I am expecting big things from this plugin going forward. ;

(from my htc incredible)
 
"Tim" said:
I didn't care for cs5's hdr and don't have the time or patience to mess with photomatix and its 864 sliders. ; This plugin is great and simple. ;

(from my htc incredible)
Click to expand...

Totally agree on both counts. The best part about this plugin is it quickly produces realistic looking HDR. From there, if you want something more dream-like, you have the option to edit how you please. In my mind, that's the intuitive way to do things. ; When I start with Photomatix, I often get something with a more processed look, and I have to mess with its many sliders to get that reigned in a bit. ; As for CS5, it's really hit-or-miss. Sometimes the results look great quickly, sometimes they're a mess.

It's really annoying that Nikon doesn't allow for more than 3 bracketed exposures on the D7000. However, given its dynamic range, in 95% of scenarios, that's plenty. I fear that if I had the option for 7 exposures, I'd over-use it, and waste time (during night shots) and memory card space. ; I would at least like the option, though.
 
"WDWFigment" said:
As for CS5, it's really hit-or-miss. Sometimes the results look great quickly, sometimes they're a mess.
Click to expand...

For me a lot of times the CS5 'preview' would look good then once it rendered the final merged image it was horrible and nothing like the preview I had 'worked' on at all.

"WDWFigment" said:
It's really annoying that Nikon doesn't allow for more than 3 bracketed exposures on the D7000. However, given its dynamic range, in 95% of scenarios, that's plenty. I fear that if I had the option for 7 exposures, I'd over-use it, and waste time (during night shots) and memory card space. ; I would at least like the option, though.
Click to expand...

Now that I finally have an HDR engine that works for me I'm going back thru two years of D700 shots I did with 5x 7x and even 9x brackets and still pretty much just picking out the best of the bunch and a +2 and -2 exposure and going from there. ; Of course more is always better but I don't find my latest D7000 3x bracket sets to be much of a hindrance to work with unless the initial exposure is off.
 
If the 3 frame bracket isn't enough, why can't you just use the exposure compensation button and dial in as many different versions as you want? Not quite as convenient or quick, but i don't see why it wouldn't work. The camera is already locked down on the tripod, and you can use the alignment functions in PShop or whatever to handle any slight movements that still might occur.

Erich
 
Re: Re: Free HDR plug-in for CS4 and CS5

"Jeff Fillmore" said:
For me a lot of times the CS5 'preview' would look good then once it rendered the final merged image it was horrible and nothing like the preview I had 'worked' on at all.
Click to expand...

I have the same problem with photomatix. ; The preview looks awesome, the rendered image is horrifying.

Erich- you are right. ; You can always shoot -2, -1, 0 then shift the EV of the bracket and shoot 0, 1, 2 to get a 5 shot series (obviously omitting the duplicate 0 shot) ;

(from my htc incredible)
 
yeah, much faster. ; plus less chance of moving the camera slightly by manipulating it.
 
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