What's new in HDR Imaging?
Releases, tech demos, rumours, papers.
Tokyo Transmissions
January 28, 2010I just realized that I haven't told you anything about Japan yet.
Yes, I went to SIGGRAPH Asia in December.
Did a Guerilla book signing session and held, together with Kirt Witte, our annual course on HDRI for Artists.
I really think our presentation was much better than last year in LA. We did better hand-offs, spiced it with more production examples, had more visual eyecandy all over the place. We did some extensive taping of the show, but it didn't turn out to be as useful as I was hoping.
One of these days you'll get to see our show, I promise - either in person or in some properly remastered digital equivalent.
For now I can only offer you the course notes at www.hdrlabs.com/siggraph/. It's basically an update of last year's course notes, and if you're a frequent visitor of HDRLabs you have seen most of the material already....
My favorite area at SIGGRAPH is always the Emerging Technologies floor.
Here's what I discovered:
Why should your niece have all the fun in that bouncy castle? I find the idea of an inflatable panorama dome ingenious. Throw it on the back of a pickup truck, and you're ready to run your own tripped out festival. Just the entrance looked strangely uninviting, like it would swallow visitors. I wish there would be a better design solution for that.
It wouldn't be Japan if there wouldn't be fancy robots on display. They were all behind glass at the booth of the Advanced Robotics Lab. So I really can't tell if they're just dumb puppets or self-aware killer machines. But I know for sure that their design rocks.
Here's one that better fits the topic of this blog. A professor from the Institute for Infocomm Research in Singapore built a system that tracks your eyeball motion, figures out what you're looking at, and adjusts the exposure of an HDR image in realtime. Nothing revolutionary on the hardware side, and probably nothing that will rival the iPad, but for sure an interesting idea.
Here is a video of my friend Alex getting a demo:
The french VR company Immervision makes this insanely cool touch-pad cube. It's so beautifully designed, and the multitouch makes it so joyfully interactive to use. You grab, spin, pich, and the 3d object / environment does what you want. Remember the first time you pinched a photo on an iPhone? This is the same wo-haaaa effect all over again, but this time in 3D on a Magic Mirror.
Let my assistant Alex show you:
But most exciting about this trip was Tokyo itself. I shot a bazillion panoramas in a variety of traditional and futuristic places.
Check out the best of them in my newly opened Tokyo Pano Gallery.
Yes, I went to SIGGRAPH Asia in December.
Did a Guerilla book signing session and held, together with Kirt Witte, our annual course on HDRI for Artists.
I really think our presentation was much better than last year in LA. We did better hand-offs, spiced it with more production examples, had more visual eyecandy all over the place. We did some extensive taping of the show, but it didn't turn out to be as useful as I was hoping.
One of these days you'll get to see our show, I promise - either in person or in some properly remastered digital equivalent.
For now I can only offer you the course notes at www.hdrlabs.com/siggraph/. It's basically an update of last year's course notes, and if you're a frequent visitor of HDRLabs you have seen most of the material already....
My favorite area at SIGGRAPH is always the Emerging Technologies floor.
Here's what I discovered:
Inflatable Panorama Dome
Why should your niece have all the fun in that bouncy castle? I find the idea of an inflatable panorama dome ingenious. Throw it on the back of a pickup truck, and you're ready to run your own tripped out festival. Just the entrance looked strangely uninviting, like it would swallow visitors. I wish there would be a better design solution for that.
 |  |
Panorama Ball VisionAs an alternative, how about a fully spherical LCD monitor on your desk? This puppy uses a 500 RPM spinning LCD line to show equirectangular panoramas. Resolution isn't stellar, but the design with the outer glossy glass ball is so gorgeous! More info about this device on this blog. |  |
Project DragonflyThis looked interesting for all you home inventors. Apparently Microsoft Reseach is involved in the development of a hardware sandboxing platform. Similar to the popular Arduino platform, but with much fancier modules - amoung them a touchscreen and a Wi-Fi radio. Strangely enough, there's zero info about this on the web. Does it even exist? Was it a dream? All I have left is this flyer. |  |
Robot Attack!
It wouldn't be Japan if there wouldn't be fancy robots on display. They were all behind glass at the booth of the Advanced Robotics Lab. So I really can't tell if they're just dumb puppets or self-aware killer machines. But I know for sure that their design rocks.
 |  |  |
Eye HDR - Gaze-Adaptive display for HDR images
Here's one that better fits the topic of this blog. A professor from the Institute for Infocomm Research in Singapore built a system that tracks your eyeball motion, figures out what you're looking at, and adjusts the exposure of an HDR image in realtime. Nothing revolutionary on the hardware side, and probably nothing that will rival the iPad, but for sure an interesting idea.
Here is a video of my friend Alex getting a demo:
Eye HDR from Christian Bloch on Vimeo.
3D Multitouch Interface in Style
The french VR company Immervision makes this insanely cool touch-pad cube. It's so beautifully designed, and the multitouch makes it so joyfully interactive to use. You grab, spin, pich, and the 3d object / environment does what you want. Remember the first time you pinched a photo on an iPhone? This is the same wo-haaaa effect all over again, but this time in 3D on a Magic Mirror.
Let my assistant Alex show you:
Cubtile from Christian Bloch on Vimeo.
But most exciting about this trip was Tokyo itself. I shot a bazillion panoramas in a variety of traditional and futuristic places.
Check out the best of them in my newly opened Tokyo Pano Gallery.
Comments
Picturenaut goes Open Source
January 14, 2010
Actually, not really.
We have something even better for you: an
Open Source Plugin SDK
It's the complete package with examples, documentation and installation guide. That will allow you to use the insane realtime multitasking power of Picturenaut for your very own tonemapping algorithms. Just check out the code example on the SDK page to learn how easy that is.
Oh, and by the way - there's also a new Picturenaut version out! Only one minor change: the tonemapping button now has a drop-down menu. That's to cope with all the fancy tonemapping methods you guys will be coding...
HDR Source offers 120 sets for Smart IBL
January 7, 2010I'm very happy to welcome HDR Source as official sIBL supporter. It's one of the oldest HDR stores on the web, with a huge library of over 120 sIBLs from a great variety of locations.
The man behind HDR Source is Charles Leo, who works in architectural visualization himself and is well known in the VRay community. Check out Lunar Studio for some breathtaking renderings! Maybe that's why his HDR libraries are so popular - because they just work.
Charles also wrote some great tutorials on setting up Smart IBL in MAX and rendering with Linear Workflow in VRay. I think that speaks volumes for his expertise.
To kick things off right, Charles friendly provided 7 promo-sIBLs for you. Very awesome!
Literally spent 30 seconds on this: I just grabbed a random object from our Eden FX asset library, and loaded up the Hotel Lookout sIBL. Rotated and moved the environment until I found a nice composition, and hit render. No adjustments to lighting or render settings, no post processing, it came out just like that... Which confirms: The lighting in the sIBL-sets from HDR Source certainly is in tune. The render may not be perfect, but clearly a great starting point.
The man behind HDR Source is Charles Leo, who works in architectural visualization himself and is well known in the VRay community. Check out Lunar Studio for some breathtaking renderings! Maybe that's why his HDR libraries are so popular - because they just work.
Charles also wrote some great tutorials on setting up Smart IBL in MAX and rendering with Linear Workflow in VRay. I think that speaks volumes for his expertise.
To kick things off right, Charles friendly provided 7 promo-sIBLs for you. Very awesome!
Literally spent 30 seconds on this: I just grabbed a random object from our Eden FX asset library, and loaded up the Hotel Lookout sIBL. Rotated and moved the environment until I found a nice composition, and hit render. No adjustments to lighting or render settings, no post processing, it came out just like that... Which confirms: The lighting in the sIBL-sets from HDR Source certainly is in tune. The render may not be perfect, but clearly a great starting point.
Welcome to the future!
January 1, 20102010.
We managed to get through the icky single-digits into the era of real science fiction. Hurray!
Let me start with a quick review of last year.
That's all great. But let's rather look forward. At the chance to leaning myself way out the window, here's my...
Dolby is likely to build an HDR display that will blow everyone away.
Nowadays every display company has at least one flagship model with Local Dimming technology. Their software is proprietary, tech specs are confusing to downright misleading, driver support to display real HDR content is non-existent. Dolby, having signed up the original inventors, will rule them all by creating the reference HDR display device. It will likely be ungodly expensive, but Dolby will license the tech out to the others, who will have to bite the bullet and obey. Because once established, consumers will look out for the Dolby Vision Logo sticker.
Microsoft will push hard on JPEG XR.
This highly flexible HDR format, formerly known as WDP or HD Photo, has real potential to become the workhorse of consumer-friendly HDR hardware. I imagine it to become a third option in cameras. The dynamic range of a RAW file, but the size and simplicity of a JPEG file. Sounds like the best of both worlds, doesn't it? And since the JPEG comite approved JPEG XR as official standard, there's no license restrictions. Hardware vendors just need an incentive to use it. As Windows 7 with full JPEG XR support gains more ground in 2010, all it takes is user demand and one daring underdog to jump ahead to unleash an avalanche of JPEG XR capable cameras.
Of course, these predictions are based on pure speculations. I'm curious myself if they actually turn into realities.
But I'm absolutely sure about my....
Steve Chapman is joining the HDRLabs family, contributing one of the most exciting projects to date. His infamous PanoCamera is going Open Source, a truly universal DSLR remote controller for handheld platforms. We're feverishly working on the documentation right now, so watch this space in January!
Smart IBL will continue to grow, on the software support side as well as the available content. Charles Leo from HDR Source has just joined the ranks of sIBL set vendors, expect some really awesome sample sets in the near future. Here's a taste of his 120+ sets...
And most importantly, I will be working on the second edition of the HDRI Handbook. It will probably take me all year, and it will be a very comprehensive update.
Happy New Year to all of you,
and Happy Shooting / Stitching / Rendering in 2010!
Christian Bloch
We managed to get through the icky single-digits into the era of real science fiction. Hurray!
Let me start with a quick review of last year.
2009 has been pretty busy year in the HDR market.
• Photomatix and FDR Tools have matured a lot. Both have polished their Photoshop Plugins which has helped workflow integration.
• Picturenaut has become a real challenger to the commercial HDR packages, with its new interface and features. And thanks to your generous support it's still free.
• At least 4 new HDR programs entered the market, among them HDR Photostudio representing a real milestone.
• The Promote Control came out, the first professional remote controller to bring advanced bracketing to Canon and Nikon cameras.
That's all great. But let's rather look forward. At the chance to leaning myself way out the window, here's my...
Predictions for 2010
Nowadays every display company has at least one flagship model with Local Dimming technology. Their software is proprietary, tech specs are confusing to downright misleading, driver support to display real HDR content is non-existent. Dolby, having signed up the original inventors, will rule them all by creating the reference HDR display device. It will likely be ungodly expensive, but Dolby will license the tech out to the others, who will have to bite the bullet and obey. Because once established, consumers will look out for the Dolby Vision Logo sticker.
This highly flexible HDR format, formerly known as WDP or HD Photo, has real potential to become the workhorse of consumer-friendly HDR hardware. I imagine it to become a third option in cameras. The dynamic range of a RAW file, but the size and simplicity of a JPEG file. Sounds like the best of both worlds, doesn't it? And since the JPEG comite approved JPEG XR as official standard, there's no license restrictions. Hardware vendors just need an incentive to use it. As Windows 7 with full JPEG XR support gains more ground in 2010, all it takes is user demand and one daring underdog to jump ahead to unleash an avalanche of JPEG XR capable cameras.
Of course, these predictions are based on pure speculations. I'm curious myself if they actually turn into realities.
But I'm absolutely sure about my....
Plans for 2010
Smart IBL will continue to grow, on the software support side as well as the available content. Charles Leo from HDR Source has just joined the ranks of sIBL set vendors, expect some really awesome sample sets in the near future. Here's a taste of his 120+ sets...
And most importantly, I will be working on the second edition of the HDRI Handbook. It will probably take me all year, and it will be a very comprehensive update.
Happy New Year to all of you,
and Happy Shooting / Stitching / Rendering in 2010!
Christian Bloch
December Shortcuts
December 3, 2009A bunch of news have accumulated over the past weeks. Each one deserves a full article, but I'm lacking the time right now. Before they slip out of my mind, here are the quickies:
Most revolutionary are the feature additions in the Community Forum: Attaching images automatically generates zoomable thumbnails, and putting the URL to an equirectangular pano in-between [pano] [/pano] tags will automatically embed the krpano viewer in your message. Pretty slick, huh?
2009 HDR All-Stars
Shortlist of the hottest new cameras by Jack Howard. Sitting right at the source, Jack gets his HDR-savvy hands on pretty much every new model. Great read. Very tempting to forward this list to Santa Claus.HDR Darkroom 1.0
Yet another HDR software is out. The feature set is pretty solid for a version 1, albeit I wouldn't call it revolutionary. Very slick workflow-oriented interface, RAW import, 2 image alignment methods, 2 Local and 1 Global Tonemapper. No sign of 360 panorama compensation, and it can't save in EXR format (although it can load it just fine). Haven't run it through all its paces yet, but HDR Darkroom might be something to keep an eye on.HDR Thumbnail Browser: Bracket
Managing HDR files used to be the biggest workflow gap ever. Lightroom ignores everything HDR, XNView and Adobe Bridge support some formats but have poor display capabilities. To the rescue comes Bracket. Shows about every flavor of HDR imagery, properly gamma-adjusted so you can actually see something, on PC, Mac and Linux. On top of that it's free, hence highly recommended download!Photomatix Tonemapping PS Plugin v2.0 beta
Has caught up feature-wise with the standalone version, and is even available in 64-bit. I use it now regularly, and it looks very awesome. (Note: Make sure to flatten the image before running this plugin!)SpheroCam HDR wins Award
Gerhard Bonnet received the Robert-Luther-Award from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie (DGPh) for changing the game with his SperoCamHDR. Conratulations, Gerhard!Monthly Site Updates
As you've come to expect, there is a brand new sIBL-of-the-month out, this time from beautiful Barcelona. The Hot-on-Flickr gallery now finds the most interesting December submissions, and looks better than ever. I sweetened the lightbox style and added a slideshow feature.Most revolutionary are the feature additions in the Community Forum: Attaching images automatically generates zoomable thumbnails, and putting the URL to an equirectangular pano in-between [pano] [/pano] tags will automatically embed the krpano viewer in your message. Pretty slick, huh?
