{"id":8949,"date":"2011-02-27T23:34:31","date_gmt":"2011-02-28T04:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/captainkimo.com\/?p=8949"},"modified":"2011-03-02T04:56:39","modified_gmt":"2011-03-02T09:56:39","slug":"essential-hdr-software-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/captainkimo.com\/essential-hdr-software-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential HDR Software Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>Posted February 28, 2011 – \u00a0Essential HDR <\/strong>is the fourth HDR software to be reviewed by Captain Kimo. Out of the four this has the least amount of tone mapping options. I only downloaded the community version for testing so maybe there are some limitations to this particular version.<\/p>\n Operating System<\/strong> – Windows Only Essential HDR is a very limited high dynamic range application, unlike the other three programs that were tested. I’ll give it props for keeping it simple. I like simple… simple means I can create my HDR photos quicker. Unfortunately Essential HDR is too simple. I feel that the same results can be achieved by using Photoshop’s Camera RAW software from a single RAW file.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Upon launch Essential HDR has one histogram window and four top menus. All the options under these menus could have basically be put into one toolbar, which I would have preferred since I really dislike drop down menus.<\/p>\n To create a HDR image all you need to do is go to the File menu and select either Align and Merge Multiple Photos or Merge Multiple Photos w\/o Alignment. The Align option works very well as you can see in the photo of the underground garage which was a handheld shot.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Tone mapping options are broken down into two methods, Fast Tone Balancer and Detail Releaver. I found it hard to tell the difference between the two. Also the Fill Light adjustment control doesn’t seem to be working… could be because I’m running on Windows 7, would appreciate it if someone could verify this on a non Windows 7 machine.<\/p>\n There are also 2 other control tabs under the tone mapping window available for adjusting the histogram and color temperature. Again, I feel these tabs are unnecessary and just adds to more clicking. All of these controls could have been placed under one tone mapping menu.<\/p>\n
\nPrice<\/strong> – 69.99
\nStandalone\/Plugin\/Both<\/strong> – Standalone
\n Processing RAW files <\/strong>– Yes
\n HDR from Single RAW<\/strong> \u2013 Yes
\n Overall Speed<\/strong> – Average to Fast
\n <\/strong> Visit Official Website<\/strong> – http:\/\/www.imagingluminary.com<\/a>
\n<\/a>Go to Essential HDR Download Page<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n