Helicon Soft Forum

Hello,

I'm using Helicon Focus Lite Edition to stack 77 photos previously processed with DxO PureRAW5, but I'm having trouble achieving a smooth and uniform background.

The best result is by using .TIFF inputs, Method B and maximum settings (Radius50 and Smoothing 10) the background is OK but not the flower (without sharpness).

If I use DNG files as inputs the result is worse.

How can I keep a uniform background and a detailed flower ?

Attached : a picture with R50S10 and one with R12S4

Hello,

There can be multiple different explanations for this effect, so it's impossible to say without seeing the stack itself (the source images). But because you have the TIFF stack that is almost free of the problem, you can compare the TIFF and DNG sources to see what the difference is. I mean the actual difference in the images on the screen, the file format itself is irrelevant.

The common causes to check for are:
1. Focus breathing - the foreground becomes a semi-transparent blur that obscures/overlays the background.
2. Large shifts/jumps between the images, e. g. the framing wasn't constant and either the camera moved or the subject moved in front of the camera.
3. There are images that either don't belong to the stack, or don't contribute anything (duplicates, fully out of focus, foreign objects in the frame, etc.).
4. Brightness variation between the images (lighting variation, exposure, etc.).

Render the stack (both the good and the bad one, TIFF and DNG) and use the Page Up/Page Down buttons to quickly scroll through the images. Look at the source image (left panel) for any discrepancies. Then do the same with the second stack, and see if you can find the difference.

You can upload the stack to our private storage if you want me to take a look for you. It can be any stack that demonstrates the issue.

Hi Catherine.
Thank you for your help.
I put in the Storage a zip file with DNG source files: P3100170-DxO_DeepPRIME XD2s-DNG
TIFF files are twice as large so I did'nt put them for the moment.

Regards.

Hi Julien,

You can fix the halos by using method B and large Radius, 27 or more. By there is still an issue with background uniformity and in general with exposure uniformity between the shots. Try focus-stacking your images first and then process the result in DxO, not the other way around.