by HDR_h8r » Wed May 04, 2016 4:00 pm
Hi!
I've been testing the Alpha 3 for the last couple of weeks and there are a few points I would like to voice.
1. In my (new) workflow I use SNS-HDR to do only the tone mapping. Which means that I do the HDR merging (aligning and deghosting) elsewhere. Because these are stitched panoramas (often upwards of 500MP) and the whole process is done in the 32-bit mode, I end up with photos of several gigabytes (in file size). Photoshop does not allow me to save these huge photos in the OpenEXR or Radiance HDR formats. So, my only options are PSD (if the file is small enough), PSB or TIFF. In the case of TIFFs, the final (compressed) size must not exceed 4GB. So far I've been OK but with some of the panos I am already starting to push that boundary.
Since SNS-HDR does not accept PSB files, my only option is the compressed TIFF. And by the way, I must commend you, Sebastian, for making the 32-bit, ZIP, Predictor-compressed TIFFs readable by your software. However, there IS an issue:
I cannot get away from the Linear AdobeRGB while working in Photoshop. In the "Save As" dialog, I'm presented with the option to either tag my TIFF with that colorspace or save it untagged.
When I open the same photo in SNS-HDR (32-bit TIFF), I am not asked which colorspace to assign to the photo. If in photoshop I chose to save the photo untagged, then the tones and colors in SNS look the way they're supposed to. However, if in Photoshop I choose to tag the photo with the Adobe RGB linear, the tones in SNS-HDR are waaaaay off. So, it would seem that the only sensible way to do this, would be to simply save my TIFFs without any profile assigned to them... But we all know that this is not a proper way to color-manage photos. Besides, what happens in the end is this:
After I do my tone mapping in SNS and choose to save the result as a 16-bit TIFF I am not asked anything about the colorspace and the output photo ends up being tagged with sRGB. I now have to reopen the photo in Photoshop and convert it from sRGB to AdobeRGB(1998), which isn't even a real bother, but we all know that this is not the right way to handle them pesky colors. I realize that this is an "Alpha" and I know that color management is a bitch. But I still had to bring this to your attention to make sure this wasn't an oversight and that the final version 2 will have this thing nailed down.
2. Second thing. Will the official release have exportable and importable presets, just like in version 1.4? I know that the answer to that is probably "yes". I'm just making sure that you did not forget about it.
3. I know that this one is a tall order, and I'm not even asking anything here. However, I am making a suggestion that maybe in future versions (like version 3, for instance), you should start implementing the Photoshop's PSB format. Keep in mind that some of us have to deal with files of enormous sizes, where even the compressed TIFF simply doesn't cut it. Given that I did not investigate this in any depth I may be wrong here. I know that, technically, OpenEXR has no limit on the file size but is that really true? If so, is the limit imposed by Photoshop? I have version CS6, btw. However it may be, I'm not saying that you should start doing something about it right away. Just keep in mind that the file sizes are growing and do whatever is necessary to accommodate for it in the future versions of SNS-HDR. And I'm not talking only about the input. The ability to save humongous 16-bit photos also must be there eventually, whatever the actual file format it may be.
That's pretty much it. Kudos on the interface and the multitude of very advanced controls! Alpha 3 is so much faster and responsive than the latest official release. And I'm hoping that it's not only because the package is still so "light". At any rate, I could not possibly tell how much low-level coding you're actually doing there but I would like to shake your hand anyway.
Your software has the best HDR tone mapping ever!
David.