Please note that the plug-in does not currently work on the Z1. I think that only a minor modification is needed to the threading to the larger Z1 image sizes. Do you have a THETA V or a Z1?
If you have a THETA V and use this plug-in, make sure you understand that you need to change the extension from *.JPG to *.EXR on your local computer.
If you have any questions about the plug-in, please post them here.
@FridayMarch26th, thanks for the note. It did sound upbeat and hopeful.
I can provide a little assistance with the following:
if you want to provide more specifics on the limitations of the Z1 software, I can pass the information to the product manager. In particular, are you referring to the workflow of using the mobile app to take bracketed shots (how many?) and then using Photoshop / Lightroom (or maybe specialized software) to create the HDR file. From there, do you put it into something like MAYA?
as Kasper was nice enough to open source the software, I was able to test it on the Z1. @jcasman and I may be able to help Kasper figure out where the problem is. I think the problem is minor. If Kasper fixes the problem, I can definitely help him to load an updated plug-in to the store
Additional note. I only looked at the problem for 10 minutes, but I think it may be related to the larger Z1 images taking up more processing cycles and I think it may just require the “merging” process to be run on a background thread (which is fairly simple to implement). I’m hopeful that it’s an easy fix. :-0
@FridayMarch26th, thanks for the feedback and all the details. Can you point out this self-referencing help link that you’re referring to? Is this in the RICOH THETA mobile app? The HDR2EXR documentation? Where did it come up?
There may be a problem with firmware 3.00.1. I’m checking it now. The plug-in is stopping with a pi-pi-pi error sound, which is not normal behavior. Asking @jcasman to help with testing now.
I will also test with firmware 2.50.1, which was the last version of firmware tested before submission.
Note: first three tests failed. Plug-in completes all shots per the procedure above. Does not save HDR file to camera storage. Will stop working with “pi-pi-pi” sound
Error using debugger
2019-05-31 04:26:14.488 2454-2454/com.kasper.hdr2exr I/MainActivity: Done with picture taking, let's start with the HDR merge.
2019-05-31 04:26:14.488 2454-2454/com.kasper.hdr2exr D/MainActivity: times length is: 11
2019-05-31 04:26:14.489 2454-2454/com.kasper.hdr2exr I/MainActivity: Merging average pics for denoise.
2019-05-31 04:26:14.614 2454-2454/? D/AndroidRuntime: Shutting down VM
2019-05-31 04:26:14.629 2454-2461/? I/art: Debugger is no longer active
2019-05-31 04:26:14.629 2454-2461/? I/art: Starting a blocking GC Instrumentation
2019-05-31 04:26:15.175 2454-5696/? W/art: Thread attaching while runtime is shutting down: Binder:2454_3
2019-05-31 04:26:15.175 2454-5696/? I/AndroidRuntime: NOTE: attach of thread 'Binder:2454_3' failed
I’ve tested the HDR2EXR plug-in on a THETA V running firmware 2.50.1. This means it’s currently one update behind the 3.00.1 firmware.
The plug-in works well for me in multiple tests over several hours.
Downloaded and installed HDR2EXR from the store using USB
Set it as the boot plug-in using the RICOH THETA desktop app using USB
Set THETA to Plug-in Mode - Main front LED goes from blue to white and the Wi-Fi LED turns magenta (pink)
Shutter button starts the plug-in, it takes 34 images - This takes a little time - Approx 1 minute
When it’s done taking the pictures, while is it busy creating the HDR file, the Wi-Fi LED blinks both blue and red - This also takes a little time - Approx 2 minutes
When the HDR file is created, the Wi-Fi LED returns to magenta (pink) - I did this multiple times in a row - Sometimes I waited several minutes or sometimes I pressed the shutter button again almost immediately - Works fine
Note: You need to reboot the THETA to see your HDR file - This is true for both Mac (using Image Capture or RICOH THETA File Transfer for Mac) and Windows (using File Manger)
Summary: HDR2EXR works for me using 2.50.1 firmware. If you want to use it, I believe it is not “easy to use,” but it does, with just one button press, nicely find the lighting settings and then use those to set the ISO for 11 bracketed images, and then produces an HDR file.
Getting that file off the THETA requires a reboot. And you need to understand that you then pull the file off the camera, rename the extension (format is this: “R05311154.EXR_removethis.JPG”) from .JPG to .HDR in order to get what you want. It’s not a big challenge, but it requires following the steps.
Example from Windows File Manager showing 8 HDR files (“R05311154.EXR_removethis.JPG”) inside the THETA ready to be moved to my computer
I cannot delete the folders on a Mac. Using Image Capture (or, as you suggest, the Photos app) I can delete all the pictures and .txt files. The folders will remain. Each folder takes up 4K.
I can see the folders by using the RICOH THETA File Transfer for Mac app, but I am not be able to delete them.
On a Windows machine, I can use the normal File Manager to see the folders and delete them.
@Zsolt_Horvath, thanks for this clear explanation of the problem. As I don’t have a Mac, I was not aware of this problem. Also, during development, the developers can delete the folders from the camera. It’s good to identify this problem so we can look for a fix.
The plug-in can be modified to look for empty folders and delete them, but it would be nice to find a way to delete the folders right now. Otherwise, we’ll need to resubmit the plug-in to the store.
I am in the same situation as you and keeping my fingers crossed that this tool will run on Z1 as fast as possible.
to all: If i can help in some way please give me some message.
same for me… I am trying to come back to the previous firmware version, is there a simple way to do that ? I imagine that I have to go through developer mode that I tried to avoid in the first place
I’ve pushed a new version to the github. It worked on my V with firmware 3.00. Can you guys test if it works for you aswell?
Indeed it was the shutter_speed_tag in the exif info. Thanx for the heads up!
Also I’ve enabled the z1 tag so maybe that will make it run on the z1. I still haven’t got my hands on one so I can’t test it. If it works it will running in the lower V resolution so it will not add much extra except a better lens.
Hope to test it out on a z1 soon but they are in all sold out pretty soon here in Holland. We’ve got an order standing so hopefullt it will come in soon.
Also I’ve merged it with the plugin store version so all that info should be there!!