Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Freeware
DRIMaker: Automated High Dynamic Range Images

High Dynamic Range (wikipedia) images are all the rage these days. These images are produced by combining several different shots of the same scene with different exposure settings; this allows photographers to create images that almost jump off the screen. This HDR image of NYC, which made the front page of Digg a while back, is a good example. Traditionally, HDR images are produced in Photoshop as described here, but now Jasper's DRIMaker makes creating HDR images a matter of drag and drop. You drop your set of images on the well, and then you can adjust Threshold, Luminance, and Response values with sliders until you get the image the way you want it. Jasper has a gallery of his own images to get a sense of what is possible.
Unfortunately, Jasper's site is only in German as of yet, but an English build of the software is available for download and an English language site is coming soon. The software is free, but donations are requested.
Thanks, Gunnar!
Update: There was a typo regarding the name of the application; it is 'DRIMaker.'

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jason said 5:21PM on 3-14-2007
Wow! Great idea for a program. The image gallery on Jasper's page is impressive. I wish I had my Mac so I could try this out.
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Richard said 6:06PM on 3-14-2007
not to be picky or anything but that's a picture of vegas, not new york. don't you guys ever get out?
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coyotej said 6:11PM on 3-14-2007
Worst. Name. Ever. (ok, it's not that bad, but DRMIMaker sounds like it's a fake name of some Apple DRM-creation tool. Which has nothing to do with this)
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Richard said 6:12PM on 3-14-2007
Never mind. You meant the pic in the link. I thought you meant the pic on top of this entry. I guess I'm the idiot.
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(01) said 8:51PM on 3-14-2007
Screw the name, those are hot. Anyone know a place where you can get wallpaper size images?
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DuMaurier said 11:51PM on 3-14-2007
I think the name is a take on the Led Zeppelin song 'D'yer Mak'er'. That was my first impression.
On topic, this app will be great for people that haven't ponied up for Photoshop.
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landon said 11:58PM on 3-14-2007
I downloaded it and it didn't work that great. I have been messing around with HDR in CS2 and there is no comparison. I couldn't get a simple 3 raw bracketed shot compiled in this software. It just displayed one of the three shots, couldn't adjust the sliders for effect and on export the quality was horrible. Maybe I am missing something.
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John said 2:33AM on 3-15-2007
Most people in the HDR community swear by Photomatix (http://www.hdrsoft.com/) to create HDR images.
Also, if you haven't before, check out www.stuckincustoms.com, an amatuer photographer who creates the most incredible HDR images you will ever see.
Like this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/182191565
That's real, not a painting.
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emperor boswelox said 3:55AM on 3-15-2007
bugtastic! crashes all the time and the sliders seem to do random things.
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racco said 8:35AM on 3-15-2007
horrible app Icon! (yes, it does matter) only played with it for a few min and it crashed. it's been zapped
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Randy Stewart said 7:07PM on 3-15-2007
Here's the translated version from Google
http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uni-koblenz.de%2F%7Ejascrack%2Fdrimaker%2Findex.html&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8
Cheers,
Randy Stewart
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ben graves said 7:24PM on 3-15-2007
I was unimpressed by this, especially after experimenting with Photomatix Pro. If you want to learn more about HDR photos the HDR groups on Flickr are a great place to start! =D
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