Ginger HDR beta tests

Hi Folks.

If you haven't been made aware of Ginger HDR, you might want to check it out. This is a After Effects/Premiere plug-in that permits filmic tone mapping of 32bit data. I have been playing around with it after eagerly awaiting the Mac version beta release (the Win version was released in Dec). I am really digging the approach and the control. The process is based upon filmic tone response and it provides a ton of control over the look and feel of the resulting LDR image, with very pleasing results.

I have found that 32bit files from PS or similar HDR merges, as well as 16bit files from Zero Noise, converted to 32 bit, work well with this method.

I am really impressed with the control and the quality of the output. As I have more time I will be posting more examples here. In the meanwhile, please go check it out at:

http://www.gingerhdr.c​om/

make sure to view the videos to get a sense of the workflow. One thing that is incredibly cool is that the creator of GingerHDR is also working to include workflow improvements for using this in the context of tone mapping the recently made available HDR video feature of Magic Lantern. See this video, for example:

http://vimeo.com/34590​403

I hope they implement the HDR video features in ML for the 5DmkII.

I know this workflow is not for most, but it is a really nice way to produce natural, film-like images. Super cool!

Kirk

Here is a screenshot of the plug-in in After Effects - lots of controls.

Here is the actual render preview in After Effects for a higher res image than I was working on in the above screen shot. A workflow tip that I have found helpful is to work on a smaller sized image to dial in the settings you want (it is more interactive in the renderer) - then create a new comp at the full size of your final image, import the full-sized image into the comp and then copy the GingerHDR fx from the small comp and paste it into the new comp. Taadaa!

Very clean and pleasing toning. No halo, no crazy color shifts as channels clip. Notice Photoshop's anti-ghosting feature did not fully remove the fence rails from the walker's legs. She was only in one shot and I wanted to keep her, which is sort of antithetical to the anti-ghosting idea, so I can forgive PS for not understanding my intent. I cloned in the legs from the 0EV exposure to cover up the stripes from the fence rails.

kirk

Impressive and great looking results Kirk.
Looks like I'll have to go and re-install After Effects and try this out myself

Here is another GingerHDR beta test on a data set that is somewhere between MDR and HDR. This is a statue in deep shade against a brightly lit light stone facade. Washington's Chapel, Valley Forge NHP.

5 exposures @ 1EV merged in PSCS5 and toned in GingerHDR for AfterEffects. Final tweaks in PS.

Next time I shoot this, I will make sure that I don't line up the flame on the lamp of the statue with the downspout on the chapel in the background. Doh!

kirk

low res final image:

Here is a simple test of GingerHDR and Magic Lantern HDR video shot on a 5DMkII. This scene is more like MDR, but more tests to come. HDR video is blowing my mind right now.

This is the first ever video I've posted to YouTube - cut me some slack if I messed up.

kirk

http://youtu.be/3PAiAG​v_bXg

Another test:

http://vimeo.com/37216​376