Merge to Panorama/Photomerge hangs up in PS CC

Report · Sep 03, 2013

I have 5 images I select to make a panorama. Usiing PS CC 64 bit on Windows 7 OS, File/Automate/Photomerge works fine. But when I try to select the photos in LR 5 and Edit in/Merge to Panorama in PS, it opens PS CC and loads the 5 images and opens the Photomerge dialog box as I would expect, but when I click OK it begins the merge process and hangs up and PS stops working. So I can get "photomerge" to work if I choose the images directly from PS, but not when I send the images to PS from LR.

I've never had a problem with this process with CS 5 or CS6.

Help Please.

Thnaks,

Matthew Kraus

Report · Nov 04, 2013

Yeah, but under 5% is PS only. I got a few more applications running in the background. None of them affects photoshop. It actually took >1.5 hr in total the last sequence with 15 images, 45minutes with 10images. It didn't move at all for quite a while. Sometimes PS will crash before it finish without making a errorlog.

There are no problem with RAW and 25Mpix. As I mentioned, I've tried this with PS CS6 and that worked like a charm before. I didn't remember this earlier, but I made a pano of 50 RAWs in PS CS6 without taking over 1 hr. This slowness happends with small and large jpegs\raw's in different degrees. Can't compare to CS6 in speed, so they must have changed something in photomerge after CS6.

My SSD is PCI-e and is the worlds fastest consumer based SSD from OCZ with 1-2GBs link. I got the bench somewhere if you doubt I know SATA3 got 500MB/s, you should read more about PCI-e disks because theyre awesome. http://ocz.com/consumer/revodrive-3-x2-pcie-ssd .. Im actually thinking of running that in raid, if its possible. I doubt the north bridge is faster than 3GBs though.

I'll try it and post the results I'll also going to install PS CS6 again and retry with same group of files.

Btw, excuse my rusty English.. Im from Norway.

Report · Nov 04, 2013

WOW!

At 00:35 GMT+1 choose "merge to pano in PS" in Lightroom. At 00:40 GMT+1 it was finished! 15x 25Mpix Canon raw files, same that took me 1.5 hrs to finish earlier. Guess what.. Cache levels was set to 2 (recommended by PS, not default).

Still, I had no difference in GPU/CPU/RAM usage. ~12% CPU, 0% GPU, approx 7GB RAM and low disk spin. There must be a bug somewhere, just gotta be when you can't see any difference in resource usage when changing those settings. I've tried higher value than 4 (default) but not getting any faster. Setting cache levels to 3 from 4 is like 1/2-1 hr in difference, setting it to 2 is 1.5 hr difference from 4.

Downside is that PS say: Set Cache Levels to 2 or higher for optimum GPU performance. Might notice other problems when retouching now.

History states to default didn't make any difference.

PS CS6 x64 with identical performance settings like when I had problems in PS CC, had no problems at all. Finished in ~5 minutes. It also startet faster and loaded images faster, same procedure. Ive also tried deleting adobe settings file and setting cache level to 2 in PS CC but its still slow.

Someone who can write better English should post a bugreport to Adobe about this. I hope you guys try this and post your results in PS CC. Try setting cache levels to 2 from 4 (or from you cache level to 4) and see the difference. Looks like 4 is the magic number for me if im doing panos. What do you get in time difference, and what gpu/cpu/os do you have?

Report · Nov 04, 2013

I stand corrected; I had momentarily forgotten about the RevoDrives. I have a RAID array of OCZ SSDs and know a good bit about about SSD storage, actually. Sorry about the momentary lapse, and to have doubted you. I chose to go the PCIe SATA III controller with traditional disks route myself. I get 1.6 gigabytes/second throughput, though I suspect I may have more total storage than you do (2 TB). If I remember correctly, the RevoDrive actually IS a RAID subsystem under the covers.

Cache Levels should have little to do with how things like pano stitching will work, and more to do with how responsive your display will be. In an oversimplification, you're basically telling Photoshop how many pre-downsized images to create so that when you zoom out the data will already be ready for display at that size, with only minimal additional sizing.

If your Cache Levels setting is greatly affecting your performance, it's possible your GPU driver (aka Windows display driver) isn't playing well with Photoshop. I didn't think to suggest updating your driver before. Go to the web site of the maker of your video card and see if they have an update. Usually the latest is the best.

Glad you're seeing better perforemance now!

-Noel

Report · Nov 05, 2013

No problem, Its not a standard disk. Even I forget that.

Nice, only 1 TB here I know, but would have been nice to tried PCI-e Raid if that exists

Yeah, its strange. Well, im currently running latest nvidia driver, have tried with older driver also but no difference. Looks like my 2nd workstation have this problem too, so I doubt its only a hardware issue. Im not the only one with issues in photomerge either, I suggest people having problem change their cache levels and retry. People who don't have this problem, no matter OS or GPU/CPU should also try. It might be a nvidia or software issue. Adobe's applications isn't exactly known to lack bugs.

With you MAC(?), what happends when you set your cache levels from 4 to 2? If youre using 2, then try 4. Im just interested to solve this issue since it might be more than just my workstations. (There is a reason for this thread I guess) I hope Adobe read this.

Yeah, but will it solve the issue in total? I don't know yet. I probably gonna notice other performance issues when retouching or stuff like that.

Report · Nov 05, 2013

No Mac here; I have a PC workstation (Dell Precision T5500) running Windows 7 x64.

For what it's worth I have always kept my 64 bit Photoshop set to Cache Levels 4, but I just tried 2 and the same stitch as above...

Just as you did, I saw it stall right at the beginning of "Align Selected Layers Base On Content". It doesn't look to be completely stopped, just INCREDIBLY slowed down, since a little green finally did show in the progress bar. But I didn't wait past 9 minutes for a resolution.

Looks like a bona fide bug, triggered by the lower Cache Levels setting.

I've submitted a bug report to the developers (though chances are they've seen this thread already).

Good job isolating the trigger condition! I'll have to remember to mention Cache Levels if others report similar problems here on the forum with stitching or layer alignment functions.

-Noel

Report · Nov 05, 2013

Just for fun, I ran Cache Levels up to 6 to see what it would do with the same stitching job. It came out to 2 minutes, 44 seconds - a sizeable reduction in time vs. my 3 minutes even before. So I can only suggest trying 6 yourself.

I can imagine that maybe the folks who programmed this feature used the downsized images available behind the scenes when Cache Levels is set to a higher number to facilitate quick, rough alignment.

-Noel

Report · Nov 05, 2013

Thanks for trying out mate. Just proves more there is an issue with cache levels.

It slows completly down, and in some cases PS will quit and not give any errors in errorlog. If you now try with PS CS6 (if you have it), there will be no problem -no matter what cache level setting you use. Thanks for submitting the bugreport. How is your retouching now then? You might get poor performance in other areas, at least when using cache level 6. Im completly noob about these setting and don't know what they do. I just know computers in general and try to isolate problems as you said. So thanks for the coop on this one

I actually have to admit something.. I had this bug earlier and submittet it to a thread on this site, but forgot it since I rarly use photomerge:

http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/photoshop_cc_cache_tile_size_bug_slows_down_ph...

Chris Cox said he couldn't reproduce then. I find that strange since we have tried on several workstations (3x in this house) and could reproduce easily. You should check and maybe reply to that thread too. Its been a while since I posted there, but I got no reply form him. Don't know if they forgot or still trying to isolate the problem. You and other people who read this thread could click on "I have this problem too", if that speeds things up. Although ,im pretty sure they will read about it again since you submitted a bug report.

I'll try cache level 6 right away. Would have been nice to see what other things will change when we increase that number. Im afraid we loose performance in other sections now. Yeah, agree. I assume they think 10 small images will replicate 10 raw files, and thats not the case every time.

Just keep this tread warm. I'll report back on the cache level 6 results soon as possible. Gonna try some retouching, panos and focus bracketing stiching.

Report · Nov 07, 2013

I cant see difference when doing retouching and other things. Have not tried every single PS function. Im using level 6 now. Adobe should still look into it because PS CS6 is much faster than PS CC, not only in photomerge but in general too.

Report · Nov 07, 2013

That's interesting that you should say Photoshop CS6 is faster, because I've noticed just the opposite.

For all things Photoshop CC 14.x has mostly been equally fast, if not a little faster - on my system. I've run specific benchmarks to determine this, including several of my own devising. Plus I still have the old versions of Photoshop installed, and can compare them directly. For me Photoshop CC has been the most responsive version yet. But of course we all use Photoshop a little differently from one another.

One notable exception, where Photoshop CC does seem (and measure to be) a bit slower is in painting operations with very large brushes.

Just as an example, here are some benchmark results where I've found Photoshop CC faster, from my logs... I hope this comes out readable...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Photoshop test file operations: CS6 x64 CC x64

PSCS6_large_test_file.psb

Drag 1,736,577 KB PSCS6_large_test_file.psb to unopened Ps: 21.6 seconds 20.8 seconds

Save compressed test file as CompressedSave.psb: 20.4 seconds 20.2 seconds

Drag white dots layer around at 12.5% zoom: 4 FPS 10+ FPS
Drag black dots layer around at 12.5% zoom: 3 FPS 6 FPS

Drag white dots layer around at 100% zoom: 3.3 FPS 5 FPS
Drag black dots layer around at 100% zoom: 2.5 FPS 3.5 FPS

Flatten image: 13.8 seconds 13.8 seconds

Stroke Black soft 1000 pixel brush across top layer diagonally: 1.2 seconds 1.2 seconds
Stroke Black soft 5000 pixel brush across top layer diagonally: 6.4 seconds 12.0 seconds

IMG_5079.CR2

Drag to Photoshop, time to open in Camera Raw 7.2 RC: 3.0 seconds 2.0 seconds

[Open Image], time to open as 6144 x 4096 16 bits/channel: 7.4 seconds 3.2 seconds

Fractal Sharpen, Med Sharp Low ISO: 1:44 1:20

Start Photoshop

Double click 64 bit Ps CS6: 3.2 2.8
Double click 32 bit Ps CS6: 4.4 4.6

Benchmark:

http://clubofone.com/speedtest/: 13.0 seconds 11.0 seconds

CS5 x64: 14.8 seconds
CS4 x64: 16.0 seconds

Panorama Stitch of 25 6144 x 4096 raw files @ 16 bits/channel:

344 MP result: 6:46 6:15

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Noel

Report · Nov 08, 2013

Really? Hm. When I open 10 images in seperate windows (PS) I notice it takes a little under 0.5 seconds more than PS CS6. I have not tried benchmarks so I have no exact results though.

In some areas PS CC feels more responsive, but my overall feel here is that its slower. How did you manage to benchmark operations? I can try to compare my versions and post results

If you have a "slow brush" when working on larger files then you might fix that by setting a lower cache tile size. Im using 1024 and notice some brush-lag. On larger files than 25Mpix im better off trying a smaller tile size over here. Did you log/benchmark PS CC after changing cache levels from 4 > 6?

-Alex

Report · Nov 08, 2013

No, I haven't retested at cache level 6, good point, I should do that.

I have a regular old wind-up stopwatch from the 1970s that I use for software testing. It's good to 0.2 second.

-Noel

Report · Nov 08, 2013

Testing done. Pretty much the only thing that's affected by the higher Cache Levels value is stitching. I knocked a full minute off my best time for stitching the set of 25 images listed in my benchmark log.

Everything else is about the same.

-Noel

Report · Nov 08, 2013

P.S., the 1028 KB Cache Tile size nets me the best painting performance.

-Noel

Report · Nov 08, 2013

Thanks for trying

1028? Manual says "for larger images you should decrease size", hmm.. I might try that myself then. Nice, its pretty clear that lvl 6 is best for people with huge images. Strange that CC is much slower than CS6 on lvl 3 and lower. Adobe, listen. You gotta fix it

I don't have any BKT images, so I can't try HDR merging right now. Did you try that?

I also wish Adobe release all applications for linux, we can then use a OS that handles memory and diskwriting much better than windoze. Not to mention the buggy Win8. Also, Win8 isn't created for creative people who need a workstation.

Report · Nov 08, 2013

I don't think Windows handles memory that badly, but Adobe doesn't really use Windows' memory management; it rolls its own. I've done some applications that directly use Windows' memory management, and they work just fine.

I tried Merge To HDR some years ago, and in every case I've found I can make a better image from a single exposure, so I completely gave up on it.

As far as what settings work best, that's system-specific to some extent. Not every CPU or system is going to respond the same to settings changes. But Adobe doesn't tell us all that much about these settings, so it's a matter of experimentation. I'm glad you brought this up, though... Now I have a system that stitches panos like a beast as a result of increasing the Cache Levels setting.

-Noel

Report · Nov 08, 2013

If you tried linux you'll get amazed. Approx no system resources are used when no program and stuff are open. Windows and system (with bacground apps) use 3-4GB RAM and 0-5% CPU. The response in linux is also like day and night from what windows/mac have when opening applications/working. Linux handles memory and CPU usage better than any other OS around. And windows disks need defrag some times? No need for that in linux. When/if Adobe sometime port to linux, I'll be the first one to convert all workstations.

Yeah, im that kind of guy too.. I like blending more than HDR. HDR feels kinda plastic even when you hold back a lot.

Thats true. No, only available if you dig in huge books or poor keyworded online manuals Im very happy it solved your issue. It solved almoast every pano-issue here when going from 1.5 hrs and down to 5minutes, without crashing.

Lets see if Adobe looks into this issue They have changed something between CS6 and CC.

Since im the last one writing atm and new people don't want to read it all, im gonna repeat..

If stitching panos in photomerge (and stuff like that) takes forever or crash, increase Cache Level setting to 6.

Report · Nov 11, 2013

Photomerge crashes when trying to stitch panoramas or layer images with the same background. The same issues everyone else is having.

I'm using Windows 7, with 12GB's of RAM. Had same issue on my Vista, though my RAM was failing, and I thought that may have been the issue. 7 laptop is brand new, and new install of CS5. Photomerge goes through the motions, you see the photos it's working on in the right window, and then they all disappear, and there's no final photo.

If Adobe won't issue a fix/repair, is there something else I can do to attain the same results? I've tried using Bridge, and the result's the same.

Report · Nov 11, 2013

Please upload the image you state will crash photoshop and post a link to them so other can varify your problem.

JJMack

Report · Nov 11, 2013

The images are too large to upload here. They're all 5 to 7 MB apiece. Is that part of the issue? I've tried to stitch together 3 images in a panorama, and layer as few as 2 at a time, and as many as 6 and it crashes. I'm going to try making the image size smaller and see what happens.

Report · Nov 11, 2013

I scaled these down multiple times from almost 6MB, to 3MB, to 2MB to, finally, 1MB. All of them crashed Photomerge.

Report · Nov 11, 2013

If you read bottom line of my last post, then you might get it fixed. Pretty sure it does the trick, if not then we have to check errorlog.

I can repeat it again though.

If stitching panos in photomerge (and stuff like that) takes forever or crash, increase Cache Level setting to 6 in Settings>Performance.

I bet you use level 4 or lower. We have reported this bug to Adobe. This doesn't happend in CS6 but in CC, no matter how many images or what size they are. Bug is present in x86 and x64 architecture of PS CC.

Report · Nov 11, 2013

HeneryHawk1 wrote:
The images are too large to upload here. They're all 5 to 7 MB apiece. Is that part of the issue? I've tried to stitch together 3 images in a panorama, and layer as few as 2 at a time, and as many as 6 and it crashes. I'm going to try making the image size smaller and see what happens.

That is why I asked you to upload them and post a link to the. There are many file sharing web sites that you can upload them to and post a link here to them

https://www.google.com/search?num=100&newwindow=1&safe=off&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS546US546&espv=210&es_sm=1...

JJMack

Report · Nov 11, 2013

http://www.flickr.com/photos/heneryhawk/sets/72157637583325704/

Try that.

Report · Nov 11, 2013

epos85,

I increased the cache size to 7 (I subscribed to your videos, thanks!!) and I tried stitching the pano's and layering some photos with merge and it crashed both times.

Yes, I closed and restarted Photoshop.

Report · Nov 12, 2013

Thanks for trying

My videos? Where? Its been a while since I made last one.

Photomerge clearly have issues, but your problem is the first one where it crash all the time. Are you using the Photomerge HDR PRO or Photomerge pano function? I've managed to use wrong one myself once. Are you on Windows 7/8? Running PS CC latest version? Turn on SHOW HIDDEN FILES in explorer and look in this directory for logs: C:\Users\ USERNAME \AppData\Local\Temp\PhotoshopCrashes. Also try this directory, I can't remember the location from time to time. C:\Users\ USERNAME \AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Photoshop\ VERSION xxx.xxx.xxx \logs.

If you got OSX, then I don't know the location. You will probably find it if you google MAC PHOTOSHOP ERROR LOG

Please post the log on PASTEBIN if It's a long one.

Merge to Panorama/Photomerge hangs up in PS CC

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