Lightroom CC -- HDR and Pano Modes

kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,680 moderator
edited May 1, 2015 in Finishing School
I'm sure most LR users are aware of the newly announced Lightroom CC with built-in HDR and Pano features. Previously one had to invoke Photoshop to get those features, so having them built-in to LR is much more efficient.

But what I'm really jazzed about is how easy it is to create HDR panos. That is, have a pano shot with each segment having multiple blended exposures. The reason that works so well is that both HDR and Pano merge modes output DNG files that can then be fed right back into the other mode. Before this version, it took multiple trips from LR into PS, a real pain. In fact, I rarely processed HDR panos for this reason. That's all changed for me now and I will be doing lots more of these.

One thing to note about the HDR mode is that there's no tone-mapping in the normal HDR sense. The HDR function simply generates a a 32 bit DNG with the full dynamic range that you captured. You then use the usual raw sliders in LR to compress it using the tone control sliders as you see fit, with one exception: The tone control sliders now go up to +-10, instead of just 5 to cover the range. That reminds me of the old joke from Spinal Tap where the guitar player was bragging about his amplifier that went up to 11. But in this case, the sliders do cover a much wider range than the old ones. If you're not editing a 32 bit file, then the sliders revert back to a range of +-5 as usual.

Since there's no usual HDR tone mapping, it's harder or possibly downright impossible to add the surrealistic effects of commercial HDR programs like Nik, Photomatix, etc. However, it does generate very realistic exposure blends, free from the halos and other artifacts that most people grow to hate about HDRs.

This is an HDR pano made up of 5 exposures per segment, and 5 segments, for a total of 25 frames.

Click on the picture to see the full-size original and scroll around it. It's pretty cool. :cool
i-BcC93d2-X3.jpg

The HDR and Pano operations were done entirely in LR. However, I had to go into Photoshop to fill in some empty spaces in the corners as a result of the pano operation. I probably could have done that in LR with the spot removal tool, but I really like the Content Aware features in PS for this sort of thing.

And yes, the umbrella on the right is shaking in the wind which caused some pretty serious ghosting. That's because I had anti-ghosting turned off. Turning anti-ghosting to high completely eliminate the ghosting, however it also seems to introduce a lot of noise into the shot. I actually like this particular shot without the anti-ghosting. Plus anti-ghosting uses a lot more CPU. So be sure and keep anti-ghosting off unless you really need it.

The house is for sale, btw, in case anyone wants it. I think it's going for around $6M (it's in a good neighborhood. :wink)

Comments

  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,167 moderator
    edited May 1, 2015
    Nice addition to LR! I've watched the advert/support videos. Now all I need is a modern machine to run this power and memory hog of a program! BTW, there are some weird-isms going on in the bottom right of the pano, along the bottom of the deck, just to the right of the umbrella stand.
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,680 moderator
    edited May 1, 2015
    David_S85 wrote: »
    Nice addition to LR! I've watched the advert/support videos. Now all I need is a modern machine to run this power and memory hog of a program!
    Oh yeah, I should have mentioned. All this is a HUGE CPU/memory hog. I have a monster machine with 32GB RAM and Intel I7 6-core processor, plus SSD system and scratch drives. And processing this brought it to its knees. nod.gif
    BTW, there are some weird-isms going on in the bottom right of the pano, along the bottom of the deck, just to the right of the umbrella stand.
    Yikes. That was some sloppy clone work filling in the corners like I mentioned above. Clearly I wasn't paying much attention. I also realized that was actually an old version of the shot that had some other problems. So I've reloaded it. It's still not the best fill job in that lower corner, but you're not supposed to be looking there anyway. rolleyes1.gif
  • David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,167 moderator
    edited May 1, 2015
    Hmmmmm. Then I have some thinking to do. I was hoping that a 2015 MacBook Pro would work for me later in the summer/fall when they reintroduce it. Unless they double the RAM options, I don't know what to do with their current 16GB ceiling.
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,680 moderator
    edited May 1, 2015
    Well you don't buy a laptop for speed. Kick off the job and have a cold one. It'll get there eventually. :rutt
  • ThelensspotThelensspot Registered Users Posts: 2,041 Major grins
    edited May 1, 2015
    Nice work kdog and a really nice shot. This is my next door neighbors house...NOT!!!
    "Photography is partly art and partly science. Really good photography adds discipline, sacrifice and a never ending pursuit of photographic excellence"...ziggy53

  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,694 moderator
    edited May 1, 2015
    Very impressive HDR pano, Joel. I see some artifacts in the smaller true branches probably due to wind movement at well, but still a very lovely image with nice shadows and highlights.

    I haven't played with the new MERGE Tools in LR CC yet but your post inspires me that I need to get moving and give them a try. I have just been doing the 32 Bit Merge to HDR plug in in Photoshop, but this new set of tools looks intriguing.

    Bu I think I could find similar homes in the Midwest for 1/6 to 1/3 the price you are quoting. Just saying....rolleyes1.gif
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • arodneyarodney Registered Users Posts: 2,005 Major grins
    edited May 1, 2015
    One thing you new users to LR6 may wish to do is turn OFF GPU acceleration. Many are suggesting they see better performance with this OFF. Further, there are a number of bugs with GPU on, like develop previews showing an incorrect, then correct preview as they load.
    Andrew Rodney
    Author "Color Management for Photographers"
    http://www.digitaldog.net/
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,680 moderator
    edited May 1, 2015
    Nice work kdog and a really nice shot. This is my next door neighbors house...NOT!!!
    Thanks, Wayne. It's not my neighborhood either. :D
    pathfinder wrote: »
    Very impressive HDR pano, Joel. I see some artifacts in the smaller true branches probably due to wind movement at well, but still a very lovely image with nice shadows and highlights.

    I haven't played with the new MERGE Tools in LR CC yet but your post inspires me that I need to get moving and give them a try. I have just been doing the 32 Bit Merge to HDR plug in in Photoshop, but this new set of tools looks intriguing.

    Bu I think I could find similar homes in the Midwest for 1/6 to 1/3 the price you are quoting. Just saying....rolleyes1.gif
    Thanks, Jim. You were actually looking at a bad version of the pano, which David had pointed out. I thought I had replaced the image on Smugmug, but that actually changes the URL which I only just now edited into my post. I'd be curious if you still see the small branch issue. It may be wind motion, which would not be corrected since I had anti-ghosting turned off due to it being buggy and introducing noise.

    This is exactly the 32 bit merge to HDR function from Photoshop I believe. Or at least it behaves the same.

    To be fair, this house is actually nicer than meets the eye. It's 5700 sq/ft spread out over two floors (doesn't look like it, I know.) But still, $6M seems crazy. The lot just isn't all impressive.

    Front views -- looks tiny. I would guess maybe 2500 sq/ft tops from these two view.
    i-6GthFbD-XL.jpg

    i-9XmwXgN-XL.jpg

    Couple random interior shots.
    i-F75FZ6N-XL.jpg

    i-4v5tqXs-XL.jpg

    i-tKh2vx5-XL.jpg
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,680 moderator
    edited May 1, 2015
    arodney wrote: »
    One thing you new users to LR6 may wish to do is turn OFF GPU acceleration. Many are suggesting they see better performance with this OFF. Further, there are a number of bugs with GPU on, like develop previews showing an incorrect, then correct preview as they load.
    Funny, I was just playing around with that. On my system, I see very little difference in navigating from image to image. However, I do see some minor improvement using the GPU in processing intensive operations operations like curves adjust.
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