HDR Panoramas -- Workflow?

I want to try to make a HDR panorama, and I am curious on the best workflow for it. The way I see it, this could be done two ways.

1. Make an HDR of each image (assume using 3 images per scene), and then stitch the images together.

2. Make 3 panoramas at -2, 0, +2, then make a HDR based on those panoramas.

What do you guys suggest?

I haven't tried it, but I suspect #2 will work better. The transitions at the edges of the individual frames are the hardest part and I think those will be easier to get right on the original images. Too much stuff is kind of out of your control in the HDR composite.

Why not try it both ways and see which one works better with your images?

I typically use the first method. Previously when I was making with panoramas in PTGUI, the -2, 0, and +2 panoramas would end up being different dimensions, and Photomatix would be unable to process them.

The workflow will depend upon the software you are using for the various components of the process.

In general, as you have sketched, you can do the HDR merge on each pano segment and then stitch the merged images; or, you can stitch each exposure level and then merge the panos to create an HDR data set.

If you use certain software, you can do everything in one application, without the fuss and muss. For example, in PTGui, you can load all of your images, N images per pano segment x M segments, and let PTGui do the merge and stitch with a full HDR workflow. If you are using large files this can be quite taxing on your computer and may make the process less interactive than it can be for making stitch tweaks etc.

A more interactive approach is to use an HDR program that has batch processing capability to do a preliminary HDR merge of each segment and output a small, tone mapped LDR JPEG. This set of small LDR JPEGs can be brought into the stitcher to make a nice clean stitch, permitting the user to adjust control points, etc. interactively. Once the stitch is made, you can save the calculations, warping, control points, etc. as a template and swap in the full res images for the final stitch.

PTGui permits the workflow and it is terrific. Once you have a nice clean stitch, you can be assured that the stitch will be replicated exactly the same - so, for example, if you don't like PTGui's HDR merge, you can stitch each exposure level pano separately with the same template in PTGui and then merge those panos in your HDR application of choice, knowing that each stitched pano has be made with identical distortion corrections, etc. Or, you can accept that PTGui's HDR merge is pretty good and you can take the HDR output from the batch HDR processing you did previously to get the small LDR JPEGs (you did save a 32bit HDR version as well as an 8 bit LDR version of each segment, right? ) and use the template to stitch the HDRs together. Then you can have PTGui output a 32bit panorama that you can take elsewhere for toning.

Lotsa options, but you need dedicated software to get the results. PS may give you good results, but with not a lot of control and lots of frustration - it depends on the scene and the extent of your panorama.

kirk

kirkt wrote in post #13818728
The workflow will depend upon the software you are using for the various components of the process.

In general, as you have sketched, you can do the HDR merge on each pano segment and then stitch the merged images; or, you can stitch each exposure level and then merge the panos to create an HDR data set.

If you use certain software, you can do everything in one application, without the fuss and muss. For example, in PTGui, you can load all of your images, N images per pano segment x M segments, and let PTGui do the merge and stitch with a full HDR workflow. If you are using large files this can be quite taxing on your computer and may make the process less interactive than it can be for making stitch tweaks etc.

A more interactive approach is to use an HDR program that has batch processing capability to do a preliminary HDR merge of each segment and output a small, tone mapped LDR JPEG. This set of small LDR JPEGs can be brought into the stitcher to make a nice clean stitch, permitting the user to adjust control points, etc. interactively. Once the stitch is made, you can save the calculations, warping, control points, etc. as a template and swap in the full res images for the final stitch.

PTGui permits the workflow and it is terrific. Once you have a nice clean stitch, you can be assured that the stitch will be replicated exactly the same - so, for example, if you don't like PTGui's HDR merge, you can stitch each exposure level pano separately with the same template in PTGui and then merge those panos in your HDR application of choice, knowing that each stitched pano has be made with identical distortion corrections, etc. Or, you can accept that PTGui's HDR merge is pretty good and you can take the HDR output from the batch HDR processing you did previously to get the small LDR JPEGs (you did save a 32bit HDR version as well as an 8 bit LDR version of each segment, right? ) and use the template to stitch the HDRs together. Then you can have PTGui output a 32bit panorama that you can take elsewhere for toning.

Lotsa options, but you need dedicated software to get the results. PS may give you good results, but with not a lot of control and lots of frustration - it depends on the scene and the extent of your panorama.

kirk

Very nice info to know , thanks for sharing that . I checked the cost and i can't tell how much is that in USD ? Don't know the symbol for what country that money is from but it says 79 .

Go to this page:

http://www.ptgui.com/o​rder.html

the 79 you saw was in Euro - the above link will permit you to choose the currency you want to view the price in - it is about $107.

If you would like to try a similar, free application without the full feature set of PTGui, try "hugin" - or you could try the trial of PTGui before you buy it. They are both based on the panotools set of utilities.

http://hugin.sourcefor​ge.net/

Take some time to view tutorials, etc. as stitching a panorama can be detail intensive and can get confusing pretty quickly if you are not familiar with the process or the software. PTGui also has a regular mode and an advanced mode - you may not want to reveal the advanced mode at first, so that you can get the hang of the process.


kirk

I've done it this way before, your option item #1.
I use M$ ICE, an excellent FREE application that work great for me.

Coppatop85 wrote in post #13817884
1. Make an HDR of each image (assume using 3 images per scene), and then stitch the images together.

The only one I have done, I stitched in Hugin, then did the HDR in Dynamic Photo.

Kolor Autopano Giga is another software that will load all the pictures and will do the HDR and Stitching. Generally I process the images and than merge the processed images.

12 shots in this photo 4 pics with -2 0 +2 using Kolor Autopano Giga

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/wolf911/6807030​197/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/wolf911/6335340​509/

Do you have a tutorial on how to use autopanel giga? I may want to try it out.

I personally do not, it's kinda self explanatory. Give the Demo a try.

maybe:
http://www.kolor.com/b​log-en/tag/tutorials/ and search youtube

PTAssembler will work similarly to PTGui as described in Post #4 above.

http://www.tawbaware.c​om/ptasmblr.htm

You can choose, or not choose, to invoke TuFuse, Enfuse, or CombineZM during pano creation for exposure or focus blending. I usually create three separate panos then combine using Tufuse or other software.

I'll do the stitching first with PTGui. Say you have a 0, -2 and +2 set of pano shots. Do a stitch of all 0ev shots. It is important that you save the PTGui working file. Then for the remaining -2 and +2 sets, all you need is open with Notepad (windows) the PTGui working file you save and replace the filenames that correspond to say -2ev. Open this file in PTGui and generate the -2ev pano. Do the same for your +2 sets. All your generated panorama will have an exact dimensions and alignment and finish the work in Photomatix.

Here's a sample I did with this method. I think these are 8 shots pano (-2, 0, +2)

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

@Ravi09- try using a template. Do your first stitch, save it as a template. Then open your second set of images (your -2ev set, for example) and simply apply the template. Etc. although hacking a text file is fun!

Kirk

Thanks Kirk. I'll look into it. It's been almost 3 yrs since I did an hdr pano and I have not known this method back then. Cheers