P: Using Boundary Warp when Merging to Panorama fails

[Jim Wilde]

Win 10 - LrC 11.4

This issue was raised at the lightroomqueen.com forum, see this thread: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/threads/lr-ver-11-4-bug.45631/

I have tested this myself on several different pano sets, and often (though not always) I can reproduce the reported issue. Using one particular set of 5 images, the problem is immediately apparent when using the Cylindrical projection - the preview is fine, but as soon as the boundary warp slider is brought into use one can see the preview is vertically cropped from the top, as per these screenshots:

First at 40%

Then at 60%:

Then at 80%:

And so on. Completing the merge in that preview state produces the same cropped file.

The problem does not initially appear to occur when using the Spherical projection, as the preview correctly updates when applying the boundary warp slider, however when completing the merge the result is still the same vertically cropped file.

Another intermittent issue is when applying 100% boundary warp, then attempting to complete the merge using either Spherical or Cylindrical projections. Often, but not always, the result is an error as per this screenshot:

Another thing worth mentioning is that sometimes the issue can depend on the number of frames in the pano set. I have one set of 7 images for which boundary warp works correctly in all projections when using all 7 frames. However, if I remove the first or last frame and then attempt the merge, the vertical copping issue occurs (it doesn't matter which frame I remove). 

I have uploaded the images from the 5-set pano shown in the screenshots above, they can be downloaded from this link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v4h8hmraxw1em25/AAClarlQoGJdWklS61K5M3_fa?dl=0

Note that the problem does not occur on my Mac system, nor does it occur using LrC 11.3.1 on my Windows 10 system.....it seems specific to LrC 11.4 on Windows (I don't know about Win 11, I only have Win 10 for testing).

[jb34301676]

Camera Raw 14.4

Windows 11

When stitching a panorama, using Boundary Warp will suddenly crop out a large part of the image, leaving you with for example a crop of the bottom half of the panorama. This was fully reproducible on my system, but now that I have downgraded Camera Raw and Photoshop I am not 100% sure whether this happens when using Boundary Warp only,  or when using Boundary Warp together with Fill Edges.
It did not occur when using Fill Edges only, which was my workaround before downgrading.

[MadManChan2000]

Does this happen with all panoramas that you attempt to merge in ACR (and then apply Boundary Warp to)?  Or, just one or some particular panos?

[ericw79554200]

I concur. The bug appeared on my up-to-date Win 10 desktop after the recent v.11.4 upgrade. Was not present before and I had merged photos from the same 'batch' in the previous version with complete success. In fact the bug appears variable. The initial merge appears correctly in the preview window and if accepted as such or if Fill Edges is selected the final merge then goes ahead no probs. Attempts to use Boundary Warp may fail outright - no warp appearing in the preview - and with any of the projections - or the warp may be correctly displayed in the proview but when accepted LRC reports 'unable to merge images' or they are merged distorted - or in one instance an entirely blank frame was generated. Repeat attempts seem (?) to scramble things progressively worse. LR shutdown, PC reboot, purging Picture Cache bring no benefit. Other functions all appear normal.

Lightroom Classic version: 11.4 [ 202206021307-2f136917 ]
License: Creative Cloud
Language setting: en
Operating system: Windows 10 - Home Premium Edition
Version: 10.0.19044
Application architecture: x64
System architecture: x64
Logical processor count: 24
Processor speed: 3.1GHz
SqLite Version: 3.36.0
Built-in memory: 32555.8 MB
Real memory available to Lightroom: 32555.8 MB
Real memory used by Lightroom: 1537.1 MB (4.7%)
Virtual memory used by Lightroom: 2506.7 MB
GDI objects count: 706
USER objects count: 2140
Process handles count: 3713
Memory cache size: 436.9MB
Internal Camera Raw version: 14.4 [ 1121 ]
Maximum thread count used by Camera Raw: 5
Camera Raw SIMD optimization: SSE2,AVX,AVX2
Camera Raw virtual memory: 267MB / 16277MB (1%)
Camera Raw real memory: 269MB / 32555MB (0%)
System DPI setting: 120 DPI
Desktop composition enabled: Yes
Displays: 1) 2560x1440
Input types: Multitouch: No, Integrated touch: No, Integrated pen: No, External touch: No, External pen: No, Keyboard: No

Graphics Processor Info:
DirectX: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (30.0.15.1259)

Init State: 5
User Preference: 1

Application folder: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Lightroom Classic
Library Path: C:\Lightroom\Lightroom Catalog-v11.lrcat
Settings Folder: C:\Users\Eric\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom

Installed Plugins:
1) AdobeStock
2) Facebook
3) Flickr
4) Nikon Tether Plugin

Config.lua flags: None

Adapter #1: Vendor : 10de
Device : 2488
Subsystem : 24881569
Revision : a1
Video Memory : 8043
Adapter #2: Vendor : 8086
Device : 4680
Subsystem : 7d251462
Revision : c
Video Memory : 80
Adapter #3: Vendor : 1414
Device : 8c
Subsystem : 0
Revision : 0
Video Memory : 0

Hoping for a speedy solution . . . . !

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

A couple of questions, Jim:

Does the same Pano set fail every time you try it or will a set of images work sometimes and then the same set not work others? 

If you attempt to merge a failing set of images in Camera Raw, does it fail there as well? 

Can you supply a set of images that fails repeatedly?

[Jim Wilde]

Rikk,

If a set does fail, it usually fails every time, although I think one or two did fail once then work next time. There's certainly some inconsistency there, especially in relation to that merge error message which happens sometimes, but not always.

The set of images that I show in my screenshots also fails in the same way when using boundary warp in ACR, i.e. Cylindrical projection always fails when moving the boundary warp slider, Spherical projection appears to work when moving the boundary warp slider in the preview window, but the subsequent merge produces the incorrect vertically cropped image.

The set of images that I've included in the Dropbox link always fails for me. If you need anoother set I can dig one out for you.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Adding bug number and setting status. 

Thanks for the sample files!

[jb34301676]

Unfortunately this does not seem to be fixed, and the same error (crop applied when using Boundary Warp in Cylindrical projection) occurs when stitching (HDR) panoramas in Camera Raw 14.4.1.

[Scott Masterton]

I have this same problem. Boundary Warp is not working in Panorama Merge. LR 11.4.1 & Win10.

I predominantely use this to merge DJI drone panoramas. RAW files in a set of either 9 or 21. Using either spherical or cylindrical and boundary warp is just now working but it is a bit random, perhaps 1 in 10 tries it does work. I have had to revert back to LR13 until this is fixed as this is something I use a lot.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Greetings, 

Updates for Adobe Photography products began rolling out Tuesday night, August 16th,  The updates contain a fix for this issue. 

If you do not see the update in your Creative Cloud Application, you can refresh it by hitting [Ctrl/Cmd]+[Alt/Opt]+[ R ].

Note: It may take up to 24 hours for your update to be available in your Creative Cloud app.

Thank you for your patience.