P: Panoramic module bug / weird behavior

[idenwen]

The Pano Module is really strange it it's behavior. Or call it buggy since that's matching too.

I have 2 sets of pictures that can't be rendered als panorama because of some "unknown error" in the middle of the rendering process. Images itself look fine.

I have at least one set of 10 images that will only be rendered correctly when the last setting used in the module was the perspective one. If I set it to something other or change the setting and go back to perspective the panorama gets messed up quite heavily. (example at http://imgur.com/a/fF2Mo)

Sometimes, as in the upper example too, there is a big chunk of the panorama missing - every time on its left side. In the upper example half of the left plane.

[ssprengel]

If you want to upload those images to somewhere like dropbox.com and post a public share link to them, here, at least someone else could try them and see if the same thing happens.  It would help determine if the issue is something local to your computer or within the program, itself.

[idenwen]

The images of this specific set can be found here as jpg export:
http://oc.idenwen.de/index.php/s/7dkmRlAwttUN7ZK

[ssprengel]

Do the JPGs exhibit the same behavior as the raw files?

[idenwen]

Uhm... thought they would but did not test until you asked. 
They do not and work fine. What magic is that?

Should not be a solution but I'll do some testing with the other problematic sets i had with exporting and reimporting. Strange....

[ssprengel]

Using JPGs is not a solution, no. 

Can you upload the raw files, then?

[idenwen]

Same URL, upload complete

[PPL1960]

Well, that's why specialized applications exist for panoramas. I'm not too happy with the capabilities of LR's pano function, it's just way too limited for real professional use. You have no control at all.

[ssprengel]

I am seeing the same thing on Windows 10 with the latest LR and PS/ACR.  I've passed it on to someone at Adobe so they can take a look.  Please leave your JPGs and RAWs out there at least until an Adobe person replies.

[ronbyram]

I too have had issues with Pano. so like as Paul said I use Microsoft ICE to render my picutres. At present I don't know if Micosoft still supports updates for this software but last time I ran it it still works and its rather fast.

[ccastleb]

Markus and Steve,

As far as I can tell, this bug only affects the Windows platform. I logged bug 4161411 for your reference.

We will investigate.

Regards,

- Chris

[PPL1960]

It's not only the bug that's a problem. The tool itself is too limited for real life work. I only use it when it's an easy panorama and mastering the view doesn't matter too much. Lots of controls are simply not there.

[ccastleb]

Hi Paul,

If there are enhancements you feel that would make the Panorama Merge feature better for your workflow, please start a separate thread and we will add your ideas to our list of considerations.

Regards,

- Chris

[idenwen]

Hello Chris,
thanks for the bug entry. Do you still need the files or can I remove the share of the folder?

Hello Steve,
thanks for your investigation and effort. I really appreciate that.

[ccastleb]

Markus, 

Feel free to un-share the folder.

Thanks!

- Chris

[lhiapgpeonk]

One such idea already exists, but does not seem to have gotten enough attention 😉
https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/lightroom-panorama-needs-adaptive-wide-angle-...

[PPL1960]

Hi Chris, it's all about the philosophy of what LR needs to be. I would like LR to be a compact and fast platform for developing photos, and be a home base to launch external applications that are better than LR at specialized tasks, like panorama assembly and stitching or HDR, focus stacking, and so on. 
I would also like LR development to concentrate on speed and reliability in photo management, and get better understanding about the library capabilities and limitations in size vs. performance.  Can't say CC really delivers that now.
For me there's no need to try to include in LR features that exist elsewhere and provide a full interface, while LR only offers a fragment of that while we are used to have full control in other apps.

[ssprengel]

The HDR and Pano from LR and ACR are still raw, which isn't something I know of exists anywhere else, including PS's HDR Pro function.

[PPL1960]

Well have a look at PTGUI it has done this for years. However my preferred workflow is to use each tool for what it does best. So preparing images in LR or whatever good raw converter and do the panos with exported tiff files generates best results.

[ssprengel]

PT GUI produces raw output?

[PPL1960]

No of course not, but since the dynamics have already been taken into account in the workflow before building the panorama, there's still plenty in a 16 bits tiff file.

[ssprengel]

I didn't think so, but it wasn't clear what PTGUI had been doing for years because a comment doesn't show what it was a reply to.

Non-raw TIFs don't allow adjusting WB in an absolute way like raw-DNGs from LR/ACR pano function. 

Besides the raw-output and Boundary Warp, everything else about Adobe's stitching is more of a good-luck-once-size-fits-all thing where there needs to be much more user-control to fix issues.  I mean it shouldn't be necessary to ask Adobe via dozens of feedback requests about every little customization option other software allows.  It's like they've never used any other pano-stitching software from the last 5 years besides Photoshop which has layer-masking but otherwise is the same good-luck non-customizable process.