Wukong - Photomatix Comparison

[Serrator]

Here is my first creation using Wukong beta. First I must say I am really impressed with the speed and simple interface...it took me all of one minute to startup the program and realize what to do, excellent. These images are from a 3 exposure -2,0+2ev, f8 and 1/25 sec for the 0ev.

Once I finished and saved out the Wukong version I ran it through CS3 and did my normal tweaks. The biggest thing I see is the over sharpening look of the Wukong version which I attribute to my having the detail slider too high. Anyway I am quite happy with the results and will be trying some more difficult scenes to see how it stacks up...but I feel now with what I have seen that I should be able to equal and even surpass my current HDR tools!

Wukong Version:


Photomatix Version:

[wukong dev team]

Serrator,

Nice photos and thanks for sharing them. All local HDR tone mapping algorithms are indeed advanced image sharpening algorithms. That is why wukong gives you the over sharpened feeling sometimes. It does pure local HDR TM and nothing else.

In fact, your photo is a very good example to showcase wukong's ability of revealing the details while not introducing "murkiness". If you look at the rock from bottom left to bottom right, the brightness is consistent. However, the PM result goes from dark to bright to dark again. That change of brightness was not caused by the photo's pixel data, it was the result of PM's tone mapping algorithm. Advanced PM users may find a way to reduce that effect if it is unwanted.

If the sharpened result is not desirable, it is easily controlled by either reducing the detail control in wukong, or processing the result in photoshop using gussian blur or other softening filters.

[Serrator]

Thanks guys for the great software...I am truly impressed with it's performance and results!

Much larger versions are here if interested:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/serrator/2290552088/sizes/o/

Here is another 3 exposure image test with the Wukong version on top and Photomatix on bottom:

[wukong dev team]

Serrator,

Thanks for the reports. We are excited to find out how wukong works in the real world. Judging from your results, it looks like wukong does produces more details (e.g. in the grass).

Please keep us updated with your progress.

[ecthgow]

Little comparison with Photomatix: Single photo jpegs; Both photos had the usual post processing color tweaks

Photomatix (I believe it's the first one) seems to miss some of the details in the water and the wood at the base of the fire.  It also looks like I have a black halo effect going on (around the flames).  Usually I'll see a white halo one some of the Photomatix hdr's I do, but I've yet to see a dark one like this.  This really seems to come into play at the point where the waves break against the stones.  The detail of the stones gets overpowered by the halo and you just about completely lose sight of the stones in the flames.  However with the Wukong version, I like the detail of the stones, especially the fact that they don't get lost in the flames.

[rob784]

Here is a comparison of a pic I took the other night, not the best shot to make the most of the programs but there are some differences. The picture was taken at  +5,+4,+3,+2,+1,0,-1,-2,-3,-4,-5, so 11 pics all up. All I did was run all of the programs up with alignment and then from there I did tone mapping left all settings as standard.

[rich_m]

Here is a comparison of a pic I took the other night, not the best shot to make the most of the programs but there are some differences. The picture was taken at  +5,+4,+3,+2,+1,0,-1,-2,-3,-4,-5, so 11 pics all up. All I did was run all of the programs up with alignment and then from there I did tone mapping left all settings as standard.

See - i almost prefer the PS one over the PM one - infact i probably do... Wukong takes the title tho.  However i think you need to try and get the best out of each program rather than do a "flat" test on defaults... after all defaults are only arbitrary numbers thought up by the program designers - it is the user who creates the desired effect using the tonemapping algorithm.  Would love to see what you can do with the best of each programs ability.

[wukong dev team]

I have no doubt wukong/EHDR will do good in this case because DR is designed to reveal more details. It is a good show of the tonemapping algorithm;

I am thankful for the effort you put into this; however I must say this is not the most typical HDR case; as you can see every algorithm produces almost the same result.

Here is a comparison of a pic I took the other night, not the best shot to make the most of the programs but there are some differences. The picture was taken at  +5,+4,+3,+2,+1,0,-1,-2,-3,-4,-5, so 11 pics all up. All I did was run all of the programs up with alignment and then from there I did tone mapping left all settings as standard.

[rob784]

On the weekend I went out to a rainforest and took a few photos including 1 HDR, so far I've only had the time to process a HDR with Wukong while changing a few settings and the results were unreal, when I get the time I'll have a play around with the other programs and see what kind of results I can get.

[tamlin]

For some time I've been using the Photomatix plug-in in Photoshop to tone-map my HDR images. A friend directed me to your software and so far I'm very impressed. The Wukong application seems to be extremely fast and efficient, and the results are excellent. Attached is my first attempt at using Wukong, along with the same image I had previously processed with Photomatix. To me, there seems to be more detail retained in the Wukong version and the overall lighting seems more natural - the Photomatix version seems a little hazy by comparison. 

[Tony_photoplus]

For some time I've been using the Photomatix plug-in in Photoshop to tone-map my HDR images. A friend directed me to your software and so far I'm very impressed. The Wukong application seems to be extremely fast and efficient, and the results are excellent. Attached is my first attempt at using Wukong, along with the same image I had previously processed with Photomatix. To me, there seems to be more detail retained in the Wukong version and the overall lighting seems more natural - the Photomatix version seems a little hazy by comparison. 

Excellent Tamlin, glad you seem to like the detail that this gives you.  Your images are noticeably different.  I have been to busy to get out and 'NO' car so not been able to take ant images.  But am hoping to resolve that next week.

Tony
Tony