Cannot reload projects

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dkfotas
Posts: 11
Joined: 22.12.2016 05:00

Cannot reload projects

Post by dkfotas »

Hi - I am new to Helicon Focus and might not be doing something right. My understanding is that it is possible to save a project so that it could be worked on later on again. But it does not seem to work for me. Here is my workflow:

1. Export stack from Lightroom to Helicon Focus
2. Render
3. Retouch as needed
4. Save Project
5. Save an output image as TIF
6. Close Helicon Focus
7. Continue working in Lightroom

However, I needed to re-open Helicon Focus to make additional adjustments to the image. When I tried to re-load the Project file, I get an error with nothing in it (see attached).

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
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Stas Yatsenko
Posts: 3841
Joined: 06.05.2009 14:05
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Re: Cannot reload projects

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Thanks for the report. Apparently, this happens when the link between the project file itself (.hproj) and the files it refers to is broken. For example, when you move the project file (.hproj) but forget to move the associated folder ([projectname_files]). Obviously, the error message should actually display a meaningful message - we'll fix that.
dkfotas
Posts: 11
Joined: 22.12.2016 05:00

Re: Cannot reload projects

Post by dkfotas »

Hi Stas - the issue I am experiencing is that I do not move the project file or the folder. It is always in the same location. I would even save a new project, close Helicon and then re-open it and will not be able to load the project that I saved a min ago...

Should I be able to re-open projects even if I export stack from Lightroom and bring it back into Lightroom?

As you would appreciate, this is super urgent for me as I cannot stop and re-start working on a project at a later time - so I am forced to do all editing at once which could be very challenging with some of my stacks that have over 100 images and need a fair bit of retouching.

Please let me know when you might expect the fix for the load issue (I am not overly concerned with the error message accuracy - just want to be able to re-load projects).
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Stas Yatsenko
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Re: Cannot reload projects

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Now that you specifically asked about Lightroom, I realized that must be why it doesn't work. Lightroom creates temporary images during the export process. These images are subsequently deleted when export is finished (e. g. when you close Focus). So the project refers to non-existing images.
nocomment
Posts: 3
Joined: 22.03.2017 18:56

Re: Cannot reload projects

Post by nocomment »

Hi

New user here. I have encountered this problem too.

Does this mean that if I use Lightroom then the project cannot be reloaded? Are there any work arounds to this? I like the convenience of using Lightroom but the inability to reload a project is a serious limitation.

Kind regards

Steve
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Stas Yatsenko
Posts: 3841
Joined: 06.05.2009 14:05
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Re: Cannot reload projects

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Please send an error report after that happens (menu -> Feedback -> Report a bug).
NoOneElse
Posts: 1
Joined: 05.05.2019 06:19

Re: Cannot reload projects

Post by NoOneElse »

Hi
Was there any solution offered for this problem? The precise thing happens with my workflow and this is 2 years later??

Kind Regards
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Catherine
Posts: 1163
Joined: 29.04.2019 22:38

Re: Cannot reload projects

Post by Catherine »

If you're exporting images from Lightroom, you cannot save this job as a project. Lightroom creates temporary image files during export and deletes them when the export process finishes (that is, when you close Helicon Focus). So if you save a project, you only end up with links to non-existent temporary files.

_____________
Catherine
Helicon Soft
tsuga50
Posts: 2
Joined: 15.01.2021 23:14

Re: Cannot reload projects

Post by tsuga50 »

I have the same issue, trying to take advantage of the raw-in / dng-out workflow. Basic process is:
1) select the photos in Lightroom and export to Helicon (65 image stack of NEF files) using the raw-in / dng-out feature
2) do several different renderings, choose the best one for retouching but keep the others on the image bar in Helicon in case I want to use them as source files
3) along comes an interruption and I want to save as a project to continue later - but as per this discussion the files aren't saved and I get a (tiff) files not found error when I try to load the project

Does this mean I have to convert all my raw files to tiff and open them directly in Helicon to save the project? I don't care if the final retouched image is auto-imported back into Lightroom - I can do that manually if wanted.

I would even settle for saving each desirable rendering, saving the project, and having the project "know" where the renderings and raw files are stored so they can all be re-opened by opening the project. Or something on that level vs. converting everything to tiff.

Otherwise, pretty much makes raw-in / dng-out useless for any large stack requiring significant, time-consuming retouching. Would go so far as to say it makes exporting from Lightroom useless unless you know you have time to finish retouching. Understood you have no control over Lightroom behavior but surely there's a better way?

Also, would be useful if you mention this in your user-guide. All it says about saving projects is "Save the image in the current state to be able to continue retouching and working with it later."

Thanks
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Catherine
Posts: 1163
Joined: 29.04.2019 22:38

Re: Cannot reload projects

Post by Catherine »

As has been discussed many times, the problem is that Lightroom creates temporary image files when you do an export, and then wipes those images as soon as the export action completes. So if you save the project, it ends up pointing to non-existing files. This is not related to the raw-in-DNG-out workflow, and one possible workaround is to open your raw files directly in Helicon Focus if you anticipate that a lengthy retouching will be required (that is, if you are likely to want to save the project and continue later).

Eventually, we will probably implement a workaround in the form of copying all the source files to the project folder, but as you can imagine that will take some extra time during saving and some disk space.
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