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Hydra 1.5: HDR and OS X beauty revisited

by Nik Fletcher May 13th 2008 at 5:30PM

Back in January, the folks from Creaceed released version 1.0 of Hydra -- a Leopard-only, GPU-powered photo application for creating High Dynamic Range photos that competes with the much-renowned Photomatix Pro. Just in time for the Apple Design Awards version 1.5 of Hydra is available. With more tone-mapping options, an image-navigation HUD, RAW importing (should you wish not to convert to 16-bit TIFF before importing), a plethora of Aperture options (more on those in a moment), and many more new features it's certainly a compelling release.

As mentioned before, there's plenty of Aperture integration with this release. As well as being able to import photos from (and export photos to) Aperture, Hydra is now available as an Aperture plugin (beta) - based on the all-new Aperture 2.1 Plugin SDK - that allows you to create HDR photos from within Aperture.

Unlike the cross-platform Photomatix Pro, Hydra's UI is the epitome of OS X slickness -- replicating much of the look and feel of both Aperture and other iLife applications. We'll be taking a look at both Hydra and Photomatix Pro in the near future to see whether Hydra's charms are merely skin deep.

Hydra 1.5 costs $59.95, and is a free update for those we already have a license.

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Back in January, the folks from Creaceed released version 1.0 of Hydra -- a Leopard-only, GPU-powered photo application for creating High...
 

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krema

ahh here's the link cause the a tag didn't work:
http://www.kremalicious.com/2008/05/first-aperture-adjustment-plugins-have-arrived/

May 14 2008 at 11:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
krema

Good to see HDR processing coming to Aperture. Next we will see the HDRToner plugin for Aperture from dvGarage. Maybe you're interested in my overview article about all the 11 announced Aperture plugins:
First overview: Aperture 2.1 adjustment plugins have arrived

May 14 2008 at 11:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Erik Dasque

I tried it yesterday with a 10 image stack of an HDR slot and couldn't get any result out of it. The UI for adding image to the standalone application is abysmal and the aperture plugins plain doesn't work right now. It looks really good on paper, we'll have to wait and see when it actually works.

Drag and dropping simply doesn't work since most of its windows disappear when it's not the foreground app.

May 14 2008 at 11:17 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Reefab

Well, it sure does look pretty, it's the kind of application you would like to like but it's so "form over function" that it is useless.

I managed to get it working a few times, one the biggest issues I have with it is the preview: Why oh why did they decided to make a 3d-like tilted preview? It may look nice in screenshots but it's just not usable. I do not want to look at my photos sideway.

Also the "adjustements" available are a joke.

I was hoping that it would be a worthy alternative to Photomatix Pro, but it's just an expensive toy without any real use as I didn't managed to produce a decent HDR image with it.

May 14 2008 at 4:18 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Reefab's comment
Richard Flynn

That was exactly my reaction, too. Lots of pointless reflection and tilting of the images, but with very little worthwhile function. Also, the Aperture plugin just doesn’t work: I was able to get multiple exposures from my Aperture library into the Hydra plugin, and then to develop them into an HDR (of sorts). However, when I tried to return the developed image to Aperture, all that was produced was a .psd Master of the last image selected in Aperture—no HDR whatsoever, just the lightest or darkest exposure of the sequence!

I would very much like a more Mac-like HDR application: I’m not a fan of Photomatix’s interface, nor of the fact that it has a tendency to crash (although that is diminished in the most recent version). However, Photomatix is a sophisticated application with a wide range of options for tone-mapping HDR images, and it produces results which can be very impressive with the right image. I personally am looking forward to Photomatix’s Aperture plugin.

May 14 2008 at 7:38 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jettyboy

Keep getting "Plug in failed to load" contact developer. Has anyone gotten it to work?

May 13 2008 at 11:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tukan

Can you please take a look at Bracketeer from Pangea http://pangeasoft.net/pano/bracketeer/ when you are reviewing HDR software? And please check if they are able to auto-align images (e.g. handheld shots).
Also, a CS3 "Merge to HDR" is an alternative, although I imagine not as intuitive as those apps...

May 13 2008 at 6:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to tukan's comment
tukan

When I meant handheld shots I was actually referring to shooting without tripod and exposure bracketing (meaning frames might be pretty off) - how well this works...

Looking forward to the test...

May 13 2008 at 6:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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