SNS-HDR Forum

Sebastian, thanks very much for posting the beta version. In the short time that I have run a few tests I have a few initial comments, more to follow after I can compile more comparisons:
- This version is very stable on Win7 64bit
- It is on average 2 times faster than the current production version
- The current algorithm to merge a bracketed set is excellent. way better than the released version. I ran through it a previous set of blue lights in a dark background. The released 1.4.2 produces a merge in which areas of blue are bright magenta. The magenta is completely gone in this beta.
- Excellent avoidance of blown highlights
- I LOVE all of the extra fine controls for highlights, shadows, clarity, etc.
- I have gone back to redo previous bracketed sets made with SNS1.4 and other HDR apps. The results with this beta are way better so far. So now I HATE you for all the work I am going to have to do to re-process many of my "challenging / difficult" bracketed sets.... BUT I really LOVE you for enabling me to do so.
- I think you have focused on the critical attributes of the program. I have no problem with incompatible presets, it's not an issue at all.
- Alignment is not a critical issue either at this time as I almost always use a tripod but it would be nice to see improvement over time.
- Chromatic Aberration reduction would be a huge time saver for me and is one of my priorities for future releases.
- The only thing I realy do NOT like about this version are the the way the tabs on the far right work BASIC, ADVANCED, COLOR, OTHER. Is there any way you can make them lock and stack. It is extremely annoying when they switch from one to another with a mouse-over. They should require a solid contact to turn them on and off. Ideally a little icon that can open that menu. You can stack them when opened. I do not mind using a scroll bar. Often I need to jump back and forth to parameters which are in more than one parameter set and I would like to see both parameters at the same time. Perhaps I am missing something like ability to dock these palettes elsewhere but I do find the mouse-over tabs very annoying.
Cheers, Murray

Hi Sebastian,

i can underline every word that Murray posted. The new Algorithm is, without exaggeration, F A N T A S T I C !!!!!!

When you are completing all the missing functions from 1.4.22 your prog. will blow away all the competitors. Have you already thought of a upgrade fee?

greez from germany
Joghi

P.S.: Have you ever thought about a cooperation with Bartłomiej Okonek? The best peaces of both progs and you both will be the leading stars on the HDR-Market, i´m sure!

Murray, I'm sorry that you have more work
The chromatic aberration reduction will be implemented in the final version.
I also do not like tabs but scrollbars do not like more. I will try to allow changing parameters layout.

Joghi, The fee will not be changed and the upgrade will be free.
I contacted with Bartek in 2009, but he was not interested in cooperation. I did not ask later.

Sebastian Nibisz wrote:...I contacted with Bartek in 2009, but he was not interested in cooperation. I did not ask later.

I think it is not a bad thing...the 2 software are completely different, and you can use them both...and both are great!

Phil

Just a few comments about Murray's reply.

(1) Alignment is good and is important. Unlike Murray, I always hand-hold my bracketed shots - and many others do too! So, any improvement would be welcome - but it is not a priority.

(2) I agree with Murray about the effect of mouseover on the 4 right hand tabs. It would be much better if each could be anchored with a mouse click. But please don't use scrollbars!!!! I would also prefer the highlighting to comply with normal Windows behaviour: bright = active, dark = inactive.

Martin

Stiga wrote:Just a few comments about Murray's reply.
(2) I agree with Murray about the effect of mouseover on the 4 right hand tabs. It would be much better if each could be anchored with a mouse click. But please don't use scrollbars!!!! I would also prefer the highlighting to comply with normal Windows behaviour: bright = active, dark = inactive.

Martin

Yes, anchoring the tab with a hard mouse click would be much better than the mouse-over especially when it is necessary to mouse on top of the tab to change it anyway. Better yet it would be nicer to have the tabs be seperable so that te 4 palletes could be floating on the screen or docked where the presets are.
Cheers, Murray

I have SNS set to ProPhoto, then save as 16 bit tiff. When I open the file in Photoshop, I get a color profile mismatch telling me that the photo I am trying to open has Adobe RGB as it's profile. I can also confirm that when I open the file the colors are wrong. They look how they would look if converted from ProPhoto to AdobeRGB.
I have tried it several times and get the same result. This is a definite problem for me.
Cheers, Murray

UPDATE: Problem resolved - You can not change the profile once you have performed the merge of source files. It must be set beforehand.
Cheers, Murray

Most HDR apps have challenges merging bracketed sets of images which are predominantly blue, in high contrast scenes, where the background is in dim light / night. The 1st attachment below shows what all production versions of SNS have produced on a merge of a bracket set. Other HDR apps all produced images with magenta areas when no visible magenta existed in the source images. Some HDR apps went crazy and produced magenta highlights with giant black holes in them. Moreover, the blue channel in low light is the most challenging with respect to high noise.
The 2nd attachment below represents what SNS 1.X beta has produced. Finally NO MAGENTA!!! The winner of the pack! Sebastian, I don't know what you changed in the merging algorithm but it is indeed the BEST!
BTW, the attachments below are Prophoto color space. AdobeRGB and sRGB can not handle the rich blue colors so if you can not view as ProPhoto your colors will be off, but the relative difference between the two should be quite noticeable.





Cheers, Murray

Sebastian Nibisz wrote:Joghi, The fee will not be changed and the upgrade will be free.

Hm, if i were you, i would call it Version 2.0 and sell the Upgrade not for free (HOME ~ 15€, Pro ~ 40€). The new Version is worth to be payed.

Sebastian Nibisz wrote:I contacted with Bartek in 2009, but he was not interested in cooperation. I did not ask later.

Oh, that is unfortunate. Two talented guys are working on nearly the same "wheel". [/quote]

greez from Joghi

Murray, The colors may be different if you apply a ProPhoto RGB profile from Photoshop. SNS-HDR uses ProPhoto profile generated by dcraw, this profile is not identical.

Joghi, I already promised a free upgrade to the new version.