P: Ability to batch process Photo Merge (HDR and panorama)

[ColinMcD]

Now that we have HDR inside Lightroom, with virtually no user input, the next step is surely a batch facility for a folder full of bracketed images.
Please!!!!

[Fermat]

I'm pretty sure the great plugin writing community will take care of that request...

[johnrellis]

Unfortunately, the LR SDK doesn't provide the facilities to do that. Plugins could use keyboard-stuffing to simulate typing the commands, but that tends to be fragile and unreliable.

[ColinMcD]

Well I can still dream. I've just spent ages doing a folder full of bracketed shots. None of them needed anything other than standard treatment. Batch would be great!

[MadManChan2000]

If you hold down the Shift key, you can start HDR merges in "headless" mode, i.e., the "HDR..." menu option will become "HDR" and then it will kick off a HDR merge without bringing up the Preview dialog. You still have to manually select which images to merge, but this is a faster way to proceed without having to thru the Merge Preview dialog. Note that if you kick off many merges, this will be very processor intensive and Lr may slow down a lot ...

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Wow! So batch mode it is not I normally stack my brackets and color label them. I sorted by color and then went individually and hit Control+Shift+H and it started on them. you've got to do it one at a time so 30 times is still a pain but I like the HDR's better than LR/Enfuse

[Bob Somrak]

I don't do too many HDR's as I find Lightrooms PV2012 to be able to edit 99% of my exposures but for those that do this on about every exposure a batch mode like LR/Enfuse does seems like a NECESSARY option.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

HDR without batch processing makes the feature far less than usable in a high volume professional environment. None of the HDR software we use lacks Batch processing functionality.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone at Adobe actually uses their own software, or at least observes it being used by real professionals. (ie not the people on stage talking about photography, but the professional photographers out in the world actually 'doing' it.)

[kljffrs]

This is a must for shooting HDR time-lapse sequences. We need to be able to batch stack every ____ number of images and then apply the merge to HDR function to those stacks.

Until then I guess I'm still using photomatix.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

HDR Merge - It would be great to be able to stack similar images and run a process that merges all scripts automatically. There's too much wait time. I don't always have the same number of images to merge. If I could stack images I want to use and then use a script that says, "Find stacks", Merge all stacks in selection. I'd love to be able to walk away while that's running or multi-task.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Batch processes HDRs would greatly help speed up my workflow.
shooting realestate and business interiors I often shot 20 hdrs or more. so being able to merge them in a batch would be great.
Fingers crossed

[Metroplex360_com]

I've been doing this, and it helps (SHIFT+ALT+M); however, I cannot seem to run more than 2 merges at a time and they run together -- not queued. If ACR/LR would allow this same action to happen in a proper queue, it would be perfect.

[Metroplex360_com]

I'm in the same camp as everyone here - especially Alex Hale, as my photography is in the same field. I'll end up babysitting my computer all day SHIFT+ALT+M, then deleting the NEF files and moving on each time I'm 'allowed' to.

It would be so much better if these were placed in a queue so that I could set it up and let it go without interaction.

[Mike123454321]

Batch HDR please. Tks.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

+1 for Batch HDR Merging - it's essential for Timelapse shooters!

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I began using HDR back in 2009, specifically Photomatix. I have used HDR as part or all of my workflow for architectural and interior photography. I have tried every HDR merging product out there and have always gone back to Photomatix... until Lightroom HDR.

The new Lightroom HDR creates the most accurate, realistic blends I have ever seen. The results are amazingly accurate, especially because the merged file is a .dng and not a .tif. The control I have over the blended image is phenominal. I still have access to the color profiles and can white balance more accurately. I use it mainly for Interior photography and Twilight.

But even with the power the new Lightroom HDR possesses, on low budget Real Estate jobs, I find myself going back to Photomatix because I can batch process photography and not have to sit around to individually initiate each image blend!
In a crunch situation, Lightroom HDR takes way too to process.

Please add batching to this incredible new function of Lightroom. I have specific workflow ideas and would be happy to provide feedback.

[RetouchCanada]

I really like the DNG output file that Lightroom CC's new Photo Merge HDR generates but there are some improvements I would love to see added to the tool in order to make it a more viable solution than the LR/Enfuse Plugin.

For context, on any given day I will retouch 100 - 300+ high quality real estate & architecture photos per day and although quality is my highest priority, efficiency is extremely important to me and I've come across a few challenges with the new tool with what I think would be simple solutions. I have been testing the Photo Merge Tools since the day it has come out, I have been timing myself and comparing end products. After all this time I have gathered my feedback and I hope it proves valuable to the developers.

1. There's no batch mode. In LR/Enfuse all you have to do is select all of your stacks, hit Enfuse and it will automatically run through all of the stacks in the background. This is the number 1 feature I desperately want in Photo Merge's HDR. With a batch mode it allows me to open another property to prep the files or be working in Photoshop on other images while the batch is running.

2. The auto-align feature doesn't make sense. From what I've seen, the auto-align seems to average the pixels when the images have shifted. Because this new HDR feature and every other fusion app/plugin seems to slightly over-compensate I almost always selectively layer back the base exposure in Photoshop to bring back a more natural flow of light. With LR/Enfuse, the auto-align always aligns the exposures to the primary image in the stack. This makes re-layering possible without any ghosting or the need to manually align the spares once more.

3. Preview is slow and unnecessary. I don't understand why I have to wait an unreasonable amount of time to see the preview before I can click on the merge button. I do not know if this is the same for everyone's computer but mine takes an equal amount of time to generate the preview as it does to make the file. Essentially this doubles the amount of time I have to wait when I could be doing something productive. I do not find the preview to be necessary unless I am toggling the de-ghosting but otherwise I would like an option to just toggle preview on and off to avoid the extra waiting time.
**POST EDIT: I saw in another thread that holding down Shift will skip the preview step**

All in all, I love working with the DNG compared to a flattened 16bit TIFF that the other applications output. With some minor additions to Photo Merge HDR I would say that this will be one of the best blending applications out there for retouching real estate & architecture images. Batch mode! Please make a batch mode! 🙂

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

So I LOVE the natural results of the latest Lightroom's HDR, but IT IS LIGHTROOM!!! WHY didn't you create a batch process for the HDR? I am wasting so much time doing bracketed set by bracketed set! Lightroom is all about streamlining workflow, so Why wouldn't there be a batch process for the HDR? PLEASE, look into this, and see what can be done to add this feature!!! You will make my YEAR, as I love the HDR results better than ANY other program that does HDR!!

[frostyfriday]

HDR merge needs a batching ability.
It takes me hours to do what I can setup and walk away from with other hdr batching tools.
I suggest being able to stack and then batch HDR merge all selected stacks.
I also suggest an option to force LR to process one HDR image at a time so that the processor is not slammed and so that I can continue working on other images (perhaps the ones already merged...) while LR keeps batching.

If you are processing 30+ hdr merges it takes ages using what we have now.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I did the same thing the other night on two houses. I used the "headless" mode described above, but if I tried to many, it would try to do too many at a time and stall for a long time. At one point, I had to cancel job, then go back and see which ones still needed the HDR's done, because the tasks/processes list doesn't give you filenames or anything to differentiate one HDR task from another.

[jdphotoart]

Looks like we're all on the same page, I agree, out of all the HDR programs out there Photomatix is the best and fasted. Merge HDR in LR CC 2015 is spot on as the "Brits" say. I have a bunch of presets I created in Photomatix (Exposure Fusion "NATURAL", and compared them to Merge HDR and have even tweeked them to mirror one another.
I too look forward to the day when I can batch process in LR CC walk away have my dinner return and finish the job or the one I processed prior to that one.
Thank to you all for the feedback and some of the work-a-rounds suggested.
You know what they say " Necessity is the mother of invention"

[jdphotoart]

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

With HDR in Lightroom I switched completely from other HDR software to LR. I assigned a button on my ShuttleExpress to Ctrl+Shift+H and so it works well, though batch processing is very much needed. I am constantly checking updates, hoping that it will come to CC. Hope it will soon enough.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Process of merging RAW Photos in LR is best quality. The fact that there is no batch workflow cost me >20h a month... Sitting here the whole day klicking Ctrl+Shift+H makes me crazy...

Hopefully one of the developers catches up the topic. This can't be so complicated to get it into the next LR update... Thanks!

[jdphotoart]

Patience My Friends,
One day Adobe will hear our cries for batching. In the mean time I process about 80% in Photomatix, the other 20% (not acceptable in Photomatix) I process in LR 2015 CC

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

I totally agree - a batch function would be essential for my work. I may finally be able to get rid of Photomatix, then!

Essentially, they just need to add an option to the "HDR Merge Preview" window that says "process each subsequent set of X images with these settings" and then let it run.