Problems to identify "unused pictures"

[joemi]

I'm working with a Nikon z6iii,
you can only define the starting point and the number of steps fo an stack, you don't know where the end is. Therfore I use a big set of photos to be sure to get the complete object. There are some of pictures without use for the stacking.

is there an information which pictures are used in the stack, that i can easily delete the unused pictures, it will reduce my storage volume.
And how can I get this information?.



Sincerly
joemi

[Catherine]

Hi Joemi,

We are working on this feature for the next major version of Helicon Focus, currently you cannot get this information from the software. But you can simply scroll through your images with PgUp/PgDown and either remove or un-check those that are completely out of focus, or those where focus is outside of your desired DOF range.

[joemi]

Thanks for the Information Catherine and the fast and clear reply, what is the schedule for the next update

When I look at the production process, you can see that every picture may have some contribution. I'm using a black velvet as an background and you can see some sprinkles at every picture during processing. May be it will be useful to get the percentage of the contribution of every picture - possibly in a text file - or a possibility to scroll through the contribution pictures after processing possibly.

I think a simple method of storing them in the temp folder and a possibility to switch between the 3 sets in the source tab on the right
- source,
- first set of generation pictures
- second set of generation pictures.
this files can be deleted when the render button is pressed the next time.

I wish you and your team a merry Christmas and a happy new year

joemi

p.s. I'm very happy with your Software.

[BobStone]

On the retouch tab, as you move the cursor over the image stack display (right side), the source image file name is displayed. By choosing parts of the final image that you recognize as closest or farthest, you can get an idea of the range of raw files being used.

[Catherine]

what is the schedule for the next update

No schedule yet, it's work in progress.

you can see that every picture may have some contribution. I'm using a black velvet as an background and you can see some sprinkles at every picture during processing.

In this case, just like you said, it's quite possible that every picture has some contribution, so it is again up to you to decide on the cut-off, and I'm not sure if seeing that image #23 contributed 0.02% would be of much help.

I think a simple method of storing them in the temp folder and a possibility to switch between the 3 sets in the source tab on the right
- source,
- first set of generation pictures
- second set of generation pictures.

You lost me here, what do you mean by 2 sets of pictures?

I wish you and your team a merry Christmas and a happy new year

Thank you very much, merry Christmas and happy New Year to you as well!

[Catherine]

One more thing you can use is Export Layers - Tiff format. You will see which parts of each source images were used.

[joemi]

Thank you Catherine,
your last hint was really helpfull. It helps to eliminate the "unnecessary" pictures, were only the background is involved.
I can see the contribution and I can eliminate all the pictures which are not sharp on the object and only take a useless part in the background


And sorry for loosing you
When you press render with a split screen you see on the right half you can see two series of pictures during the processing,
the first starts from top down in the list of pictures and looks like the exported layers,
the second series starts from bottom up, and I don't really know what is shown there.

Could exported layers be named with the same names as the pictures, it would be helpful eliminating pictures in the middle of a series - the counting is boring

Is there a color shift during the process? I've made a set of copper sulfate crystals and the blues seems to be different from pictures.

Sincerly
joemi

[Catherine]

When you press render with a split screen you see on the right half you can see two series of pictures during the processing,

Those are some of the internal calculations, to keep you entertained. They're not meant to be saved or used for anything by the user. Not to mention that saving them would slow the process down.

Could exported layers be named with the same names as the pictures

That's a great idea! We will adjust the naming.

Is there a color shift during the process? I've made a set of copper sulfate crystals and the blues seems to be different from pictures.

There shouldn't be any. Is there a difference between the source image and the result when viewed in Helicon Focus?

[joemi]

Hallo Catherine,
here an example.
There is one picture from the stack N63_7098.jpg converted from nef to jpg because of size (irfan_view)
and the result from stacking 2024-12-18 10-05-27 (B,R6,S2).jpg form tiff to jpg (irfan_view)

when there are any questions, don't bother to contact me.
I'm a physicist and have worked as an software engineer for more than 30 years in a group that build test equipment for sensors and instrumnts in the navigation business.


Sincerly joemi

[Catherine]

Does the result look different in Helicon Focus right after rendering? You can just take a single screenshot for this. And no need to post it, just yes or no. If there is a difference I'll need the stack to see what's going on.

Also, if there is indeed a difference in Helicon Focus itself, try disabling the "Adjust brightness" option in Preferences - Autoadjustments and re-rendering the stack.

[ZogfromOgg]

There is one picture from the stack N63_7098.jpg converted from nef to jpg because of size (irfan_view)
and the result from stacking 2024-12-18 10-05-27 (B,R6,S2).jpg form tiff to jpg (irfan_view)

Assuming you are stacking .NEF RAWs.

My understanding is Helicon uses part of the Adobe DNG converter to create viewable images from RAW files. Irfan view uses libraw to create viewable images from RAW files if you have installed the associated plugin and probably just gives you the camera created embedded JPG when you have not.

There is no fixed way to create a viewable image from a RAW file. If there was there would be no point having RAW files, cameras would just create viewable images that fixed way.

It is unreasonable to expect viewable images from different RAW converters to look more than vaguely similar especially when you have no control over the converter settings.

Helicon is able to save a stacked image as a sort of RAW files in a DNG container. I don't know much about it. I assume the intention is that the DNG contains as much information as possible from RAWs in the stack which lets you create a viewable image of the stack with a RAW converter and settings of your choice. I would be interested to know if and how people use that feature, but, probably not in this thread.