Editing 32-bit hdri in Photoshop

[Terri Brown]

Hi guys,

 

In fact I wanted to reply to this thread: http://forums.cgarchitect.com/74959-hdri-map-lowering-horizon.html, but it's been closed.

 

Juraj mentioned adding a landscape in PS to eliminate the black lower part of an HDRi. My question is how on earth do you do it and still maintain 32-bit? Do I need a plugin for PS? Cos as it stands I can't layer my 32-bit images in PS...there are limited editing features for such images.

 

Juraj...if you are out there...SOS Anyone else know the trick?

 

Thanks guys

[Corey Beaulieu]

32 Bit editing work a little different, but you should be able to create layers in Photo Shop no problem.

 

I would open your HDR, add an exposure adjustment and lower it down to a viewable level. Minus 5-10 can be common given that 32 bit is linear and has a much larger range of light.

 

From there add your Landscape, masking it as necessary. Once in, I would refine the exposure adjustment on the sky until you like the balance of the image with your new landscape.

 

Once happy, I would remove the minus exposure from the sky and create an equal, but opposite plus exposure and pin that to the landscape only.

 

You should be able to collapse and save an iteration of your image back out as an HDR or EXR even.

[Terri Brown]

Hi Corey,

 

Nope, I can't even add an adjustment layer when using 32-bit images. Maybe it's my version of PS? Am working on CS5

[Corey Beaulieu]

hmm.... That's a new one on me. I have used 32-Bit editing in several of the past versions of PS.

 

Looking around in a google search, it does seem that your issue is not unheard of:

 

https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/ongoing_saga_of_not_being_able_to_edit_32_bit_images_in_photoshop_cc

 

It seems the main suggestion is an activation error of sorts. Like PS thinks the 32-bit features are not active.

 

I'm sorry not to have been more helpful.

[Terri Brown]

Thanks Corey. No problem. Seems like it's been a cause of contention for a few people. Anyone else seen this and have a workaround?

 

Thanks

[Scott Schroeder]

Not to sound condescending, but the easier solution is to either upgrade your Photoshop or look at the cheaper alternative of Affinity Photo.

https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/

 

If you have to stay in CS5. You can look into 3rd party free exr plugins like ProEXR (https://www.fnordware.com/ProEXR/) but I think they start supporting Photoshop at CS6.

 

EXR -IO is a newcomer, so I'm not sure how far back they support. https://www.exr-io.com/

 

There is OpenEXR but it is fairly old. http://www.openexr.com/photoshop_plugin.html

[Francisco Penaloza]

I don't think 32 Bits editing was supported of CS5, actually, 32 Bits editing is very limited in the updated version of photoshop too.

If you have the whole collection on CS5 you should use After Effects to do editing at 32 Bit.

Having said that, whatever image that you add to your 32 bit sky panorama, you need to be sure that this new layer is also 32 bits otherwise it will clamp in brightness and create artifacts or strange color splotches in your 3D Scene. This was a common mistake that people did when we all start using 32 Bits images. Not because you change the file properties to 32 Bit it meant that it gains on light information.

 

if you don't have those treelines at 32 Bit I would recommend purchasing new HDRI set, there are plenty of option today with very good quality and budget.

You can even try this guy that give them for free, but I would recommend to tip him because the quality of his HDRI is great.

 

hdrihaven.com

[Morne Erasmus]

Hi Terri

 

 

CS5 came in 2 flavours. Basic and Extended

 

 

You probably have the basic version, which is pretty limited for 32bit. Extended was meant to fix that issue, and it did to a degree. Even now with the latest PS version, you have SOME more freedom with 32-bit, but still limited.

 

 

 

If you want to be able to enjoy FULL 32 bit editing without limitations, then take a look at Affinity Photo. It's much more powerful and limitless with 32bit images and as a bonus, it's cheaper than PS (no subscription). Largest images I comped with it was 24 000 pixels wide and it handled it just fine (on a 1080Ti)

[notamondayfan]

I was on CS5 for year, and only recently upgraded.

 

32bit support isn't there to this level of degree. You can open, and adjust, but that's about it.

 

If you have the Adobe suite CS5, you could use After Effects to make these changes. Just create the lower part in something like Photoshop, and drop it into after effects, along with your HDRI. Make sure your AE project is set to 32 bit

[robertwhitfield]

Everything is easier than it seems. Just try to use another software. There are so many tools for editing photos... And what’s important they are easy to use unlike PhotoShop. For instance, I use color picture effect. It makes vivid and deep photos. And it takes only several minutes!

[Lewis Garrison]

Also I believe the content aware tool in Photoshop still works in 32 bit.