P:(Masking) Add auto update recompute to subject /sky masking after copy/paste

[rhp3]

Love the auto subject detection in the new lightroom classic update.

Idea: add an auto recompute feature to the subject masking when working with multiple images.

Observation: I'm a wedding photographer. When working with multiple images and auto sync is turned on, all of my edits to one image are synced across all selected images. When working with the auto mask subject selection, LRC basically creates a mask "preset" for the visible image but won't apply that "preset" to all other images until you manually select the  "recompute subject" button on the mask pannel. 

Why not have LRC do this automatically across all selected images? Seems like a nice improvement.

[StefaanVMN]

Ce forum ne sert à rien puisque lorsqu'on pose une requête elle fini déplacée dans un post "poubelle" avec toutes les autres, sans aucune autre évolution. Quand on pense à tout l'argent que nous coûte l'utilisation officille des produits Adobe, on devrait avoir un support un peu plus professionnel que çà.

[johnrellis]

"This forum is useless since when a request is made it ends up being moved to a "trash" post with all the others"

On the contrary, merging all the posts requesting a similar idea into a single thread gives both Adobe and customers a much better idea of its popularity.  This idea, automatic updates of AI masks, is one of the most popular feature requests of the last decade, with 249 votes in the last 6 months and 126 replies, and Adobe marked it as Planned (something it rarely does).  

I'm often publicly critical of how LR is developed, but these Lightroom forums provide more transparency about bugs and feature requests than most large companies provide.   Adobe clearly marks those threads it considers "bugs" (not behaving as they intended) and "feature requests" (changes in existing behavior), and that is available for all to see and comment.  The posts are actively curated and grouped together.  

Compared to other software products, this makes it much easier for users to see if a strange behavior is being experienced by others and to call Adobe's attention to things that users see but that Adobe apparently doesn't.

[StefaanVMN]

Chacun voit midi à sa porte. Pour ma part, je réititère mon avis: les messages sans solution sont rangés aux oubliettes tout simplement. D'autres problèmes déjà postés n'ont jamais trouvé de solution depuis des années (quand on envoie par exemple 30 photos à la fois de lightroom vers photoshop, il en manque toujours) et en les "rengeant" dans des vieux posts cela ne va certainement pas faire bouger les choses (et par expérience, le nombre de posts n'y change absolument rien). 

Mais c'est mon ressenti personnel et je ne demande à personne d'y adhérer. 

[vladimírč]

I think that the subject selection should be cached and not needed to be recalculated when creating another mask. This would also save a lot of time when copying masks from one photo to another as it would be enough to update the subject in only one of the masks and the rest would update automatically without the need for extra caluclations.

[C.Cella]

One important aspect of Ai.

Not all Ai Selections are created equal!

This is actually for the best as I will explain below.

Now Ai Selections are based on 2 factors:

1. The state of the photo.

Is the photo sharp?

Is the subject well recognisable, well distinguishable and separated form the background?

Is there enough contrast between the sky and the land/landscape?

Etc..

Ai will not magically detect a out of focus subject or a white subject in a white background.

2. The settings we apply on the photo in Lr.

This is a key point as this is how users can refine Ai now.

By intelligently, appropriately changing the settings on the photo you can help to produce better Ai selections...or inferior ones.

The best workflow is, in fact, to create an Ai selection with the "best settings" as first step.

After that simply re-use that Ai by duplicating  and moving it to other masks.

The ability to influence the Ai creation with our settings is vital and should not be discarded...that until we have proper refining tools for Ai only.

[vladimírč]

I understand the need for being able to recalculate the subject. I might not have expressed myself clearly - what I wanted to suggest is to have the ability to link the subject calculations between multiple masks so that they can be updated / recalculated with one click. I don't think that's possible at the moment, or is it?

[C.Cella]

@vladimírč 

You were very clear 🙂

I was just adding an extra element.

The best solution is indeed, as you say, to "link" all existing Masks so that we can update/re-calculate with one click.

It is hopefully going to happen soon.

The main feature request is now planned: https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-ideas/p-masking-add-auto-update-recompute-to-subjec...

[laura777842]

The AI subject and sky selection are grateful.

Sometimes it happens that multiple masks base on the same AI selection (subject or sky) are used in the same photo. For instance, it could happen that a subject mask selects multiple people in one shot. In order to perform a specific adjustment on each subject, the strategy is to have multiple copies of the same mask to be intersected with brushes or radial gradients. 

The problem with multiple masks based on the same AI selection appears in the copy/paste settings situation 

On the new photo with the pasted settings, it is necessary to recalculate all the AI masks despite it is not necessary and redundant.

Let's consider 2 masks based on subject selection, one targeting for instance the shadow and one the highlight (it could be done by intersecting the subject musk with a luminance range mask). When I update the first musk the information about the subject is already there. Why should I need to perform the same calculation on the second mask if my data are already there? It's a waste of time and computing resources.
I strongly suggest considering an update for that.

[johnrellis]

There are two separable issues:

- The user should only have to give one command to update all the AI masks in the selected photos.  This is one of the most popular feature requests of all time for LR:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-ideas/p-masking-add-auto-update-recompute-to-subjec... 

Adobe has it marked it as Planned, which is rare, so we might expect to see it in some future release.

- When the user gives that new command to update all the masks at the same time, will LR behind the scenes needlessly recompute each additional instance of Subject or Sky in a photo?  

[johnrellis]

Moderators, @Rikk Flohr: Photography, please merge with this existing Idea:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-ideas/select-subject-calculation-should-be-only-nee...

[David Lake Photography]

Can “Masking” automatically adjust like all other changes when working on a batch of images ?

{Thread merged with parent feature request thread by Moderator}

[C.Cella]

@laura777842 

As I said in my post not all mask are created equal.

The detection is based on the condition I expressed in my post.

If you are copying/syncing a Subject/Sky mask to a different photo (not a Virtual Copy) then it is most likely necessary to redo the Ai detection.

That is necessary unless nothing (or nothing meaningful) changed form photo A to photo B.

E.g.

Subject in photo (human or animal) didn't move one bit, framing is the same, sky/clouds didn't change, etc...

That means Ai needs to be recalculated. 

Anyway as of now LR doesn't allow to use an Ai mask created in Photo A for Photo B.

If you want to use on Photo B an Ai mask originated on Photo A then the only solution is to use Copy Settings Plug-in by @johnrellis that provided this option.

You can find it here: Copy Settings Plug-in

I highly recommend to use Copy Settings...if you ask me you should just use that Plug-in as the main way to copy/sync settings.

Now Masking wise the best workflow is create an Ai selection as step 1 after import (using the right settings to produce the best selection) and then simply duplicate that Ai and move it to other masks when you need it again.

That's the best way to work but alas of now we must do it manually.

P.s.

Unless you have been applying the right settings as step one, after import, all the mask you have created so far are most likely poor.

Before anything else make sure that you are using the settings to produce the best Ai mask possible.

After that you don't generate new Ai you just duplicate and move the existing Ai across different Masks.

.

[Ranjisha Sengupta]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. We understand your concern. This feature is not added yet; however, the engineering plans to have it soon.

This is the hottest feature request ticket in the Masking world, and the team is evaluating this. 
Please upvote the feature request if you want the idea to be implemented: https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-ideas/p-masking-add-auto-update-recompute-to-subjec...

Thanks

Ranjisha

[Casey Pierce Portrait Co.]

To piggy back this -- While the above is most definitely preferred, I'd even be happy with one of the below shortcuts:

1. double click to recompute rather than "rename" mask

2. click on mask and then a quick key shortcut because its excrutiating to click on each mask then move the mouse to click "update" sometimes more than once on a single image

3. ability to select multiple masks at once that need to be recomputed and with a single click, update or recompute

Thank you for this consideration! 

[dresticHaus]

Never in my 10 years of using Adobe products have I ever commented on a community post until now. I know this is planned but i'm just here to add to the community of people that want this feature more than anything right now. Cheers!

[dresticHaus]

GREAT point!

[Helmersson88]

I would also love to see that feeture. I think it should have two options.

1. When syncing multiple photos and you check that mask with AI you should be able to tick a box for "Auto recompute mask" in the sync dialog box.
2. Either that "Auto recompute mask" remembers from last time or you could set this option in preferences as an answer to the original question here, making presets. 

I'm also editing wedding photos at the moment and would reeeeally apricieted that feature.
Cheers!

[iPlan22547472zfw4]

Finally! Thank you very much Adobe team.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Greetings,

Updates to the Adobe Photography Products were released on June 13. This feature request is now implemented. Thanks to all who participated in the is thread. 

If you do not see the update (Mac and Win) you can refresh your Creative Cloud App with the keyboard shortcut [Ctrl/Cmd]+[Alt/Opt]+[ R ]. 

[C.Cella]

@vladimírč 

I suppose Ai sections in LR 11.4 work the way you suggested and now your concerns are addressed.

.

[Nilesh22431887qymk]

Hey Rikk Flohr,

Thank you so much for considering the Auto Compute feature for multiple image selection and providing it in the latest LR version. It works seamlessly and we are thrilled with the new feature. We would like to know how such features are going to work with LR SDK? Do you have any idea when we can expect LR SDK to include this Auto compute feature for Masking with the Copy/Paste setting?

Thank you,

[edgariscoding]

Thank you, LrC team!

[shawnh97010311]

@RikkFlohr and @johnrellis 

Thank you Adobe and community for this incredible addition! QUESTION: Can this automation be added to the SDK easily enough? Our plugin utilizes some masking tools and we were hoping this addition of auto computation would seamlessly flow into the SDK but it appears it is not yet accessible. Thanks for your help! 

[johnrellis]

@shawnh97010311, it's on my list to investigate the existing calls myself.

[chung yinl83482608]

Need this function on cloud-based lightroom as well =(