TuFuse Example

In an earlier post I mentioned TuFuse, a command line program for creating exposure and focus blended images. Here is my stab at using it, blending three images I took of a sunset from Picacho State Park in Arizona last week. I'll post the three images and the TuFuse result below (the above a post-processed version of the TuFuse image).

This photo is just an exposure blend, the focus was the same on all three images. I hope to play with focus blending as well, but most of the variable focus images I took in AZ have movement (it was very windy), so I'll have to try the focus blending in the future.

Thanks for all thoughts/comments/criticisms.

John

Dark version

Medium version

Light version

And finally, the TuFuse blend of the above three photos (before any processing). (Note that I didn't like the way the Saguaro stuck up like a sore thumb, so I chopped it off .)

Whoa, this is very nice - I totally agree with your shrinking of the Saguaro !! I'm impressed - nice photo that is perfect for this type of "application assistance" since the dynamics are so extreme.

I'm totally impressed. How much user control is there over the blending, or is it automatic? Can you control the level of fading of one image into another? My hand blends can take hours and the blending is of course completely arbitrary. Blending along hard edges like hills below bright sunsets can be quite difficult; I don't see any artifacts in your shot, although this is not as tough a test as some scenes. I would like to see more.

Real nice sky and glowing FG there John! Looks like this program does a nice job of blending. Might be worth looking at when I have time.

Boy can I empathize with the hours of hand blending! I’ve tried PS CS3’s HDR, but was very unhappy with the results and so I’ve been blending by hand too.

Since I’m speaking from the vast experience of one photo , I’ll answer as best as I can. (I note that Max Lyons, the author of the program, posted in the thread on RMNP; I’ll send this thread to him and he can correct me if I stray too far.)

The program has several command line options that allow interesting control of the final results. I’ve only played with these a little, but I think there is quite a bit of user control available. You control the level of blending from one image into another by the number of levels you use (when performing the Burt/Adelson pyramid process, see the website for more info). Fewer levels shorten the transition zone, and more have the opposite effect. The individual photograph will likely determine which is better. When using Enblend, a program for blending stitched panoramas that also uses levels of pyramids, I’ve usually found I’m happier with broader transitions (higher levels), but need to experiment more with TuFuse to see the results.

The program also allows you to control whether pixels are selected based on contrast (i.e. sharpness or how in focus they are), exposure, and saturation. You can use just one of these, or a combination of them (the total must add up to 100%). By default the program first blends like exposures for contrast (sharpness), and then blends the result of that for exposure. The website has good examples of these options.

John is right...there are a number of parameters that can be adjusted, but the one that will have the most influence on the transition from one image to another is the number of levels chosen. Depending on your subject matter, and personal preference, you may wish to alter the default number of levels selected by TuFuse (the default number varies based on image size).

Max

Wow, really spectacular, John!

Interesting info about the software, too. Looks like it works quite well. Congrats to both the user and the developer!