Pano Question

[Steve M]

Hello; I just returned from a trip to Israel and Jordan, and have taken several different panos that I want to process with Photomatix. I have taken each segment of each pano with +2, 0, and -2 exposure settings. My question is: should I run Photomatix on each segment and then combine the results into the finished picture, or combine the +, 0, and - segments into seperate panos and then combine the results?

Thanks

[squashed]

Combine the individual shots then process the pano. Thats what I have done with excellent results.

[canonloader]

I think I would process them as HDR first. Making three panos, even from the same images, is probably going to return three slightly different finished shots. Trying to align them in PM would cause a problem. But Scott does this all the time. I think he described how he did it once.

[coralnutz]

You should make the -2, 0, +2 pano's and then merge the 3 panos in pm.

Edit - Here's a pretty good tutorial at the bottom of this page.

http://www.naturescapes.net/072006/rh0706_14.htm

[Steve M]

Thanks for the reply, guys and especially that link, coralnutz. Looks like processing each frame and then stitching the results is the way to go. I will post when I finish one up.

Steve

[johncolby]

Last time I did an HDR pano (http://flickr.com/photos/johncolby/2664839644/), I found a workflow that I liked (along the lines of a couple of the suggestions above):

1. Batch convert the +2/0/-2 bracketed shots to 32bit .hdr images with photomatix.
2. Stitch the 32bit .hdr images with something that can stitch 32bit HDR images. I chose PTGui, although PS might be able to do it in CS4.
3. Tone map the combined HDR panorama back in photmatix.

This seems to give you the best of both worlds in that 1) You only have to stitch once, so you don't have to worry about saving control points, changes in blending, etc., and 2) You get to do the tone mapping on the whole panorama at once, so you can take everything into consideration when choosing the options.

[82NoMe]

Just for another option. I merged the first AEB shots in PM then tweaked the sliders to the desired look. Then merged the other pano shots without adjusting the individual shots in PM and use the setting from the first. I used AutoPano to merged the PM tiffs, and then lightroom to further pp.

[2319]

lately i have been using exposure blending on the primary images and then stitch. It seems to me that it makes the colors come out more closely to what you see outside the camera instead of getting that funky over saturation on some colors.