I believe having the option to only shoot in RAW and process the raw files in Immersive Studio after the event would give extra flexibility to the user. This would allow quicker images to be taken without the longer processing times we are currently experiencing.
We would like to mount this on a Vehicle (Possibly Armoured) and record village locations. At the moment we are able to take shots at around forty second intervals which is not ideal for that purpose. With just shooting in RAW i envisage we could reduce the time to under 10 seconds allowing us to record the village without multiple visits.
Many thanks
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We are looking into this - if you check out the latest v1.7 firmware update you'll see iSTAR is saving an ".nctri" file. This is in fact our new "RAW" file format.
This is currently being tested before we roll this out formally. So far we are seeing a processing time of under 1 sec for a single exposure....
Excellent News. I did notice the RAW file and can't wait to test it once functional. Well done on continually improving. I have noticed real improvements on the stitching of the images.
+1 for the improvements in stitching guys.
Never used RAW files and looking forward to having a play.
Andy, can Immersive process those files seperately or will we need to use 3rd party software?
As Chris said Speed in the field would be really useful.
In addition, am I right in thinking that if we select RAW instead of JPEG then HDR isn't required..?
Will the unit disable HDR if we choose RAW?
Any suggestions as to how to process the RAW files in an external editor like Photoshop or Lightroom?
Colin - Immersive Studio will process the raw files. They are a proprietory file format so you won't be able to process them in a 3rd party application. No, you will still need HDR for high dynamic range scenes.
Chris - we've not yet released the file type officially as we are still testing. When we do you will only be able to process it in Immersive studio. See comment above.
Thanks for the quick reply Andy...so I guess we're off setting speed in the field with additional office time for Immersive to process the RAW files...?
With batch processing that would be the way forward for us as field time is always at a premium.
Exactly.
Andy, there doesn't appear to be the big difference in the unit's on-board processing times when using RAW or JPEG that I was expecting.
Also, front exposure, using HDR 5, the images 3, 4 & 5 are still dark.
That's because we've not yet implemented the fast raw only file format save.
Yes we are aware of the darker images on 3, 4 and five.
Firmware update in the pipeline.
Thanks Andy, FYI the final image only requires a little additional brightness and shadow.
Firmware updated easily.
Is this still the case with the RAW files? We were wanting to post process the RAW files in Lightroom then stitch in PTGui as we're having a few problems with processing the files in Immersive Studio. We seem to be getting errors in the stitching despite having the calibration file loaded. Am I right in thinking that colour balance can not be adjusted in Immersive Studio either. We might be doing something wrong or using the wrong version however. Could you point us to the best version to use and advise on what could be causing the stitching errors?
We've got a Beta version of the iSTAR Firmware that now allows you to save to RAW. I'll be happy to let you have access to this Beta release if you like?
However this is a proprietary RAW file format that can only be processed in Immersive Studio at this time and it also only generates JPEGS, not TIFS. So you will not be able to post process the RAW files in Lightroom.
What version of Immersive Studio are you using? Check that you are using the latest release, v2.1.0: http://support.nctechimaging.com/entries/24443478
You should be able to process the images in PTGUI if you prefer - just make sure you enter the correct lens parameters. Have you seen the tutorial videos on the Support Portal showing you how to do this: http://support.nctechimaging.com/forums/20491387
If you're still having any issues with stitching, either in Immersive Studio or in any other stitching application just raise a Support Ticket and we'll take a look at it for you.
Interesting comment re the stitching. I found a marked improvment with the last update.
I've also found better results in the stitching when using 3 or 7 HDR setting and 'unchecking' the pre-selected boxes in immersive studio.
The final results only requires slight adjusting for highlights and shadow.
Colin
Thanks for the quick reply, I will check the versions we are using and start from the're. I will let you know how we get on. Martyn.
Does this ability exists? Any updates?
Yes this ability exists. It's available now in the latest firmware, v1.9.6: http://support.nctechimaging.com/entries/29089276
Hi Andy,
What settings should we be using for this feature? I changed image type to RAW but still see shooting and processing times up to 30 seconds per image. No marked difference between shooting in JPEG.
We have updated to the latest firmware.
Many thanks
The time to capture and save in RAW depends not only on the settings but also on the WRITE SPEED of the SD card.
Use either HDR OFF or HDR 3. Keep HDR Auto only for EXTREME lighting conditions as you get pretty much the same image quality in HDR 3 with a much faster save time.
Standard ISO rules apply, i.e choose a low as ISO setting for max quality and a higher ISO for speed of capture.
Here's some real world RAW total capture times you should be seeing with different write speed cards (these times EXCLUDE a 5 sec timer countdown):
SD Cards Total Capture Times (in min/secs)
Generic 4 Mb/s Card
Single Exposure:27s
HDR 3: 50s
HDR AUTO (9 exp): 2:37s
Sandisk Extreme 45MB/s (16gb)
Single Exposure: 24s
HDR 3: 36s
HDR AUTO (9 exp) : 1:45s
Sandisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s (32gb)
Single Exposure: 20s
HDR 3: 30s
HDR AUTO (9 exp): 1:37s