Re: Helicon Focus 9.0.2

[el48tel]

I note that in this version the progress wheel does show activity in the last few seconds of loading as the depth map histogram loads

[Marc_R]

Mac M1 desktop, 16GB
non-Apple two-button mouse
Mac OS Tahoe 26.4

Reporting the issues I see on my Mac to support the development:
- license appears as "trial" while old version is fully licensed (still installed on the system!)
- no "sliders" appear on the side and on the bottom when image is scaled larger than window
- no mini-window with 100%-view appears in preview-window when left mouse button is clicked
- menu-items "File / Open Stack" and "File / Open Video" without function (no new window opens to select files)

The request to add an option in the substack-function to render the substacks with another method / another setting is on your "to do"?

[Catherine]

Thank you, we're already working on some of these, the issue with the dialogs is new and we'll address it as well.
You can drop a video file onto the Helicon Focus window instead of going through the menu and dialog.

The request to add an option in the substack-function to render the substacks with another method / another setting is on your "to do"?

Yes

note that in this version the progress wheel does show activity in the last few seconds of loading as the depth map histogram loads

Yes, there is no progress while the images are loaded for the first time, what you see is the progress of the render process itself (after the images are available). The real difference is opening the preview dialog is now many times faster (as it should have been from the start, to be honest).

[el48tel]

Thank you, we're already working on some of these, the issue with the dialogs is new and we'll address it as well.
You can drop a video file onto the Helicon Focus window instead of going through the menu and dialog.

The request to add an option in the substack-function to render the substacks with another method / another setting is on your "to do"?

Yes

note that in this version the progress wheel does show activity in the last few seconds of loading as the depth map histogram loads

Yes, there is no progress while the images are loaded for the first time, what you see is the progress of the render process itself (after the images are available). The real difference is opening the preview dialog is now many times faster (as it should have been from the start, to be honest).

I'm not so sure .... will make some measurements

[Catherine]

It is faster for raw files, about the same for JPG/TIFF but that was already fast.

[el48tel]

Yes
I agree there has been an improvement through the versions.
To load the preview for a 7 image ARW stack
9.0.0 - 20.51seconds
9.0.1 - 19.19seconds
9.0.2 - 8.32seconds

I also note that the progress wheel does begin to operate on these small stacks. I only work with ARW and RAF images.
For larger numbers the wheel shows progress in the last few seconds of loading.

[shutterbug]

Huge improvement in speed on a Macbook M1 Pro 2026!!
Congratulations on the performance, that's excellent! Thanks to the whole team, well done!

As for the "trial license" - just re-enter the code and it shows as lifetime

[tnp75]

just trialing beta 9 and comparing to my 8
many improvements but one thing that gets me back to the older version is navigation output image to retouch
spacebar to drag image around doesnt seem to work
still would like better zoom controls eg CTRL+ mouse scroll wheel or on Mac 2 finger scroll
thanks for all the hard work gone into this - blazing fast otherwise

[shutterbug]

Strange - I have 2 finger scroll on a Mac in retouching, including all other gestures like pinch-zoom etc.

[Catherine]

Spacebar doesn't currently work on Mac, but the gestures should. If they don't for you, please tell more details (e. g. where exactly you're trying - there is no control in preview on Mac which we're also working on, try on the retouching tab).

[tnp75]

hi I am indeed on Mac air M4
thanks for confirming spacebar doesnt work
pinch to zoom works on trackpad but 2 finger zoom doesnt - either on trackpad or mouse.
my issue is that my Mac is docked and I use apple keyboard an mouse to navigate with so cant use pinch to zoom with my normal setup.
another "bug" when I go to save. output it doesnt default to original folder but to last used so I have to navigate to pertinent folder with images to stack to save output in same folder.
many thanks for the quick replies
Thomas

[Catherine]

Hi Thomas, what exactly do you mean by "2 finger zoom" that isn't pinch-zoom?

Regarding the initial folder when saving images: thanks, there was a problem, we fixed it, please download the updated Helicon Focus (that's the link for Mac, also fixed for Windows).

[tnp75]

thanks again - you are right the two finger zoom is not a thing I got confused - pinch to zoom works on trackpad but I would appreciate CMD+mouse scroll as option for zooming when lid is closed on Mac.
I will download new release and update.
many thanks
Thomas

[Catherine]

Mouse scroll does work, with no modifier key, just the mouse wheel while nothing is pressed on the keyboard, have you tried it?

[tnp75]

hi again
with the apple mouse which has a touch sensitive surface and no physical wheel it doesnt work, the dragging of the finder will scroll up or down page/image
for other applications like photo lab - I have to use CMD+drag finger on mouse and it works perfectly -zooms in/out
its an edge case for sure but for me I would be a huge improvement to have a way to zoom using the apple mouse