Canon T2i 550D HDR Tutorial Using PhotoMatix 4.0Beta

[DrPeterVenkman]

love my 32gb card, my friend.. your vids are an awesome resource, Getting my money's worth outta my t2i, it was a good buy. Enjoy buddy.

[Beetle6010]

Idea for the noise. If shooting RAW make sure you convert to Jpeg before importing to Photomatix. Photomatix seems to do a really bad job at converting.

[linkbekka]

Hi Doug. Good video. I get very mixed results with Photomatix, no smooth lines, lots of grainy stuff. I see many excellent HDR Photomatix shots online -- but I struggle to get anything approaching good. I get better results from the free (!) program Luminance.

[TheErikBallew]

I do the Photomatix with the RAWs before I run the finished photo through light room, and don't have that noise issue.

[highvoltage47]

is an additional software required to make an HDR image with the T2i?

[GBscottieUK]

Great video though the bit when you put the camera into bracklet mode, blink and you miss it. I had to rewatch parts of the video several times so get what you actually did.

[cnonline2]

Hi drumat5280 - Is there any way to take more than 3 exposure compensation photos (jpeg)? I know Nikon has ability to take up to 9 photos in different exposures.

Could we take 3 RAW and then convert each of them in 3 different exposures and combining all 9 photos to make the HDR? I am at this number 9 because I think the more photos, the better details. Let me know if I am wrong. Thanks.

[drummer2802]

заебись чётко

[ThemMHeroes]

how do you make it so that the camera takes 3 simultaneous photos each which different exposure with one click, like you just did?

[TheQuark6789]

@ThemMHeroes The feature is called Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB).

[ThemMHeroes]

@TheQuark6789 yep figured out how to do it, thanks

[ThemMHeroes]

@TheQuark6789 yep figured out how to do it, thanks

[TheQuark6789]

@ThemMHeroes You're welcome (x2).

[CaLiMeRoOo92]

how can you take 3 photo by 2 sec ???

[WeThePeopleee]

@CaLiMeRoOo92 LOOOOOL,

continiuous shooting!

[popboard]

Photomatix previews usually look pretty noisy. When you export the TIFF you'll notice how much smoother it looks. It's really day and night of a difference.

[DIYFilmers]

i personally hate HDR so much it is way over used

[ClatteredTorso]

Dave what you might want to try is changing all your photos to JPEG first, before dropping them into photomatix. Trey Ratcliff also stresses this is important, because photomatix automatically changes everything to JPEG anyway and claims its worse than your normal programs that convert to jpeg, The Photomatix Reps also admit its better if you convert your pics to jpeg from your favorite source first.

[analogpixels]

hi dave, have you tried to develop raw files with canon's software? I think it's better than lightroom especially noise reduction wise. thanks for sharing

[drx630]

You should do a video tutorial on VIDEO HDR that the guys at Magic Lantern just added to the 550d magic lantern firmware as a christmas present to us. Keep it up Dave, I love all your tutorial videos, the are very helpful and great!

[ps3psnps3]

you can shoot 1200 raws on on memory card!? how big is that card?

[drumat5280]

@ps3psnps3 32gig I have it listed on my gear page.

[peter1058]

@drumat5280 be carefull with that! I usually have two or three cards, 16gb or 8gb each. If one card breaks, i have the other two. If your card breaks, all your great photos are gone :-( well that´f for photos, but for videos you wanna get a card as big as possible ;-)

[Dannysubliminal]

@ps3psnps3 roughly 32GB

[Dannysubliminal]

@Dannysubliminal I get 570 on my 16GB card so it has to be around the 32GB mark, maybe a little more. :S

[iraqattacker]

thats really bad dude

[drumat5280]

@iraqattacker what is really bad?

[ps3psnps3]

@drumat5280 I'm assuming he is referring to the noise...I also have a t2i and dont't have this problem. hmm, weird

[shivanshusingh]

which lens are you using on the 550d in this video?

[GemTraffic]

Thanks for the video. It'll be very useful. With which camera you shot the video?

[patricksab]

i really like the way you do things: from your editing, your honesty, and even the flow of the video. SUBBED!

[estudioamapa]

dave, you're blessed, with so many help and instructions.

Please, tell us, what's the format of file you up to youtube, to get so much quality, even on '360' in their options ? is mp4 wmv ? mov? flv ? and what's the specifications of renderized file ?

[dannyday58218195]

what lens did you use???

and thanks for the video ill give it a try

[TheForthemankind]

great video

[Kennykid2002]

I find that HDR Effex is much easier/better quality than Photomatix

[lifeartpixels]

@drumat5280 I made a Photomatix Pro Tutorial about how to create that ' Horror Look ' , like a haunted mansion. It's a step by step vid of just a minute, its easy! Please approve the video response or check my channel! cheers

[peter1058]

Hey Dave!

Thank you for your videos! I bought a 550d 4 weeks ago and I´m really happy with it! I learned so much from your videos and its great to watch them, because you teach in such a friendly way! I gave you an video response called "Coffee" one of my latest vids, made with my 550d - hope you like it! :-)

[RiseAndFall83]

Once you get the masking done and revealed all that you want, then flatten your image. and go to HDR toning in photoshop or then take the flattened image into lightroom and do your HDR toning there.

Pixelmatix is for people who would rather save time and have "ok" results rather than do it yourself and be totally satisfied.

[RiseAndFall83]

After you adjust each picture to the lighting you want in CameraRaw, then put each picture as a separate layer in photoshop. You can align each picture by adjusting the transparency of the top layer and moving it to the right spot, then take the transparency off. Mask off the parts you want to be shown from the bottom layer.. you can set a feather on your mask if you like or you can even do it with a brush on the "clear" setting. If you mask off parts, just clear them or delete the selected mask

[RiseAndFall83]

You should not do HDR this way. It is nice to have a program that does all the work for you by layering the photos and balancing out the exposure. But I HIGHLY recommend you do that process yourself in photoshop CS5.

As you know, RAW images are the best images your T2i will take. The end result should not be so pixilated, something went terribly wrong. The first thing I would do is download "CameraRaw" for photoshop. Gives you amazing control of your raw images.

[csruinedmylyf]

da last shot got lil bit stuck due to ur memory card is preety slow dats y !

it took sumtym to register as da previous once were already in process

yu should get a class 10 card

[dephir23]

when you raise your exposure in lightroom noise will show up. just use the noise reduction : ) cheers!!



[jason21jburg]

Devdog it does it automatically once you said the aeb and exposure

[Devdog1618]

how do u get it to take all 3 pics with just 1 press of the shutter? i have to press it 3 times.

[jafargio]

@Devdog1618

Use the Bracketing (Exposure auto bracketing) function of your camera.

[iMCGuillermo]

@Devdog1618 He did it with the Auto Exposure Bracketing setting of the camera.

[Eonasdan]

@Devdog1618 your camera has to support "Bracketing" see wikipedia Bracketing the Cannon T2i or 550D has this function and so do most DSLR cameras

[Vantlor]

@Eonasdan It doesnt HAVE to but it helps a ton. If you are carefull with a steady hand and tripod or a camera remote you can manualy adjust the exposure between each shot. Much much trickier to do especialy if there is any motion in the scene but it can be done.

[imagods]

@Devdog1618 - just set self-timer (2 sec) and for 1 press will take 3 pics. Regards from Poland :)

[chaseaustinmiller614]

@Devdog1618 he set the timer to 2 seconds

[Vantlor]

@Devdog1618 If you turn set the camera to continuous shooting mode when using bracketing shots it will automatically take all 3 if you hold the button down. The other option that Dave uses is to set a delay (so the tripod doesn’t shake with your finger on the release) which when bracketing is enabled will shoot as if in continuous and you holding the release down.

[Dannysubliminal]

@Devdog1618 Get a remote control.

[sk8prz]

@Devdog1618 thats what bracketing is for, it allows you to take 3 pics at one so u can check different exposures, you do that by selecting the exposure meter and rolling the main dial wheel

[SexIsNotForKids]

@Devdog1618 you hold the shutter button :)

[RADIOTN2]

@Devdog1618 use the timer, press only once, the camera will take three photos in the exposure compensation, previously marked (sorry bad english I used the google translator)

[drbackjack]

@Devdog1618

auto exposure bracketing 

[pengfeiDu83]

thanks for the introduction. a really nice man doing a nice explanation except that maybe when you are using the software, you can be more positive about what you doing :) anyway, shows me how to do hdr. thank you very much!

[L33RoySt33lman]

Thank you! I'm going to work on that all day with my 550d! :)

[PortalRealm]

THANKS! REALLY HELPED 

[hassanabbasbirmani]

Wow Man. You are an awesome teacher as you said correct me if I am wrong it attracted all of our attention. Nice Video Keep It up.

[wassoona]

thank you =)

[ESTIOZ]

Good video!

Heres my HDR album

flickr . com/photos/estios2011

[RCOproductions1]

are you from colorado?

[drumat5280]

@RCOproductions1 I grew up in CT and live in CO now.

[RCOproductions1]

@drumat5280 oh ok, this looks like five parks area? im from colorado as well.

[DJSu6Zer0]

@drumat5280 what part of colorado do you live in

[drumat5280]

@DJSu6Zer0 near Boulder

[Extrasauce]

How come when I push the Q button, it makes me adjust my aperture even though I'm in Av mode? When you push it, it takes you to the Exposure Comp. Screen where you push "Set". What I'm I doing wrong?

[canontutorial]

nice!!



[dennishooooo]

halo i'm a 17 years old student from Hong Kong

i'm using 550D too;)

i love your video and you really help me a lot!!!

hope you can produce more tutorial video like this

support:)

[waseem5420288]

well i like your teaching method its nice! you talked about noise in your image i think there are 2 reasons

1, Format should be RAW, rather then Jpg

2, Canon generate more noise rather then Nikon.

[iseecheese]

i always use reduce ghosting, except on rare occasion ghosting looks good, its good to use a PL filter & sometimes a nd2, when you want a really good hdr u should take apx 9 test pics each one 1 step more, on sm not raw, then u take a good look at the exp your getting at each step, then decide which 4-6 pics you want to take then take the ones that show each individual range the best dont use equal steps one range might be 2 steps up the next exp range maybe 4,

[coralioballester]

I really love when you say "I really don't know what I'm doing". You have a great ability to catch the audience.

By the way, by default Lightroom adds Contrast (25), Blacks(5), Brightness (50), Constrast curves (Medium), Sharpness and Noise reduction. I tweak down these excessive settings in the three raws before exporting to Photomatix with a great latitude. Then I tweak the processed image back in Lightroom

[drumat5280]

@coralioballester How do I tweak the default settings down like you have within lightroom?

[coralioballester]

@drumat5280 I'm not English, sorry. In summary, do this to the three raw files before sending to Photomatix: Contrast: 0, Blacks 0, Contrat curve: linear, Brightness: 0, Camera Profile: Neutral. Other things like Sharpening and Noise reductiion can be tweaked as needed. This will send very flat, boring images to Photomatix. But the resulting processed HDR TIFF will be more pleasant to work with back in Lightroom.

[DewClarke]

@drumat5280 How many GB does your SD card have?

[frommanhattan42]

a quit question, how do you set up the camera for 3 shots at a time for HDR? =)

[MysteryRandomGuy2]

can you get the same result using photoshop alone???

[jahazel]

this is the camera that i have now,love it! im having fun with it.

[MegaKaye28]

how do you find the setting when you start the videoo again? somebody please help meee

[MadmanDKDK]

I see you have Lightroom - how about using that for killing noise ? It does it effectively as far as I'm concerned.

[2VisionsPhotography]

thank you so much!

[imaiden]

looks good. thanks 4 the info!

[NitsanPictures]

love your garden! :D

awesome videos keep it up!

[alextheromanian]

i tried that program too and my only complaint was the noise was unbearable.

i have no idea why it was so bad.

a different program i had more luck with and found easier to use was "DYNAMIC PHOTO HDR" try that and see how your luck turns out.

[headstrong440]

Ignore my comment about getting photomatix on your other hdr video lol. I love how honest you are. most people dont tell you about how alot of what they learn is through trial and error and that is why i watch all your vids

[ERICistheafterparty]

stopped watching after 10 seconds.

i cant stand people that talk with an upward infliction like theyre always asking questions?

[alextheromanian]

@ERICistheafterparty its because he has questions.....?ROFL

[Made4DBZ33]

Are you shooting at 100 iso? HDR normally increases noise quite a bit... so if you are shooting at 100 iso its normal for your pics to have noise levels equivalent to 400 iso or higher depending on the conditions.

[labelsale]

Thank you

labelsalestrade/canon

[bonsaibonesjones]

Couldn't you use a filter to darken the outside to bring it to the same exposure level as the inside.

[Richydudeman]

@bonsaibonesjones There are no window shaped filters.

[Diegoalejoalzate]

Exelente..... DEFINITIVAMENTE EL MEJOR TUTORIAL QUE HE VISTO...

[idro2k]

You dont need to know if your right or not ? If you like it and are happy with it good!!! Your doing it well !

[xxzeroxx125]

How do you get the black screen. that shows all your settings. Mine is white

and I cannot figure out how to get it to go black

[drumat5280]

@xxzeroxx125 it is deep within the menu settings, sorry I can't remember where you can change that exactly, hunt around you will find it.

[xxzeroxx125]

@drumat5280 Ok, I just found it. It's in the first yellow wrench menu, then it says screen color with a number next to it. What probably threw me off was the number. Why they wouldn't just put the name of the color next to it baffles me. Thanks for your help!

[chelvinone50]

@xxzeroxx125 go to your menu click on the first wrench looking tool thing and go to screen color.

[whistle2012]

@drumat5280...... menu tools setting 1, screen color #2.....

[thecraftnest]

@xxzeroxx125 Go to you 1st setup menu (wrench icon), scroll down to screen color and you can change it from black text on white to white on black, white on dark blue, or black text on tan.

[soapydwarf]

@xxzeroxx125 On the 550D it is under the first 'spanner' menu (the yellow one) and then the last option under that is for screen colour. You can't change the screen colour on any model that is the 450D or earlier.

[soapydwarf]

@xxzeroxx125 On the 550D it is under the first 'spanner' menu (the yellow one) and then the last option under that is for screen colour. You can't change the screen colour on any model that is the 450D or earlier.

[sargentekin]

@xxzeroxx125

search in menu for display color...

[england2345able]

@xxzeroxx125 hi, go to your menu then choose the first yellow spanner symbol and at the bottom you can choose 4 different screen colors.

[homeofdoom]

@xxzeroxx125 In the menu, go to the 1st yellow tab, from left, in the bottom you will find an option called "Screen Color" there you will be able to chose between 4 different color schemes.. No. 2 is the black one.. ^^ Hope this will be usefull d:

[mharloe]

@xxzeroxx125

its in the menu, screen color

[nightskydrama]

hi dave, your posts are always so clear and sharp. what are the equipment you use (camera, lenses) and post production workflow? which softwares and codec do you use to render for youtube upload? thanks

[tarrizzzzzzzzz]

@uxa1

alright let's not get into a religious discussion, but are you saying that our eyes can expose several lvls of light intensity at the same time?

but since our eyes proves it's technically and physically possible, how come we can't recreate it? :S

[tarrizzzzzzzzz]

how come the eye does this automatically?

I've never had problems looking out my window, both inside and outside is exposed correctly all the time in real life, but never in-camera, what the hell? xD

when i look out for the first time on a really sunny day, well my eyes has to adjust, same for night vision... it's like a slow changing aperture....

SO HOW COME CAMERAS CAN'T EXPOSE ALMOST EVERYTHING RIGHT?! my eyes obviously can!! god

[FastRedPonyCar]

Best way I've found to minimize noise is to use Trey from stuck in customs HDR tutorial and import the 3 raw files you take into photoshop and do the layer mask trick. This lets you blend out the noisy dark colors in the HDR with more of the original RAW file's cleaner dark colors.

Check it out on his page. it's in part 3 - "stacking and aligning" and is pretty much the missing piece here to get richer cleaner darks. It takes a little work but well worth it.

[drumat5280]

@FastRedPonyCar wow, thanks I will have to try that.

[Calgocubs21]

wait is there a way to change your menu color from white to black

[xxzeroxx125]

@Calgocubs21 I am trying to figure out the same thing.

[girotube]

Hi Dave! HDR always makes lots of noise.. Specially on those price range DSLR cameras. Also I get better results using masks in PS CS...

Salvador Pelaez

Orosmedia dot Kom

[england2345able]

thanks for the reply, im looking to get this software..

[england2345able]

by the time you set for the second lot of exposures for the outside, what happens if its windy and the trees and clouds are moving??, i have heard the nikons can do five exposures in a single burst

[drumat5280]

@england2345able the new photomatix has a de-ghosting feature for that it works great.

[tepsicool]

hello sir can u pls send me the SERIAL KEY of beta tnanks

[clubdriver]

Try to set the Luminosity to a lower level, that one is a big reason for the noise level :)

[thereverser]

Welll thanks a lot, I was looking how to do this HDR with 550D.

You are my guru becoz I got this jump start from you.

[thereverser]

Welll thanks a lot, I was looking how to do this HDR wiht 550D.

You are my guru becoz I got this jump start from you.

[BustedToyPRODUCTIONS]

Hey Dave, I have all my settings the same as you but when I hit the shutter, it takes a long time to take the picture, then counts down and does that again, it doesnt do 3 quick photos like yours, im not sure whats different. Also, when I hit the Q button, it just takes lets me change the aperture. I dont know whats going on, anything you can think??

[drumat5280]

@BustedToyPRODUCTIONS do you have it set for 2 sec rather than 8?

[acappellasing]

I was wondering if there was an answer to the question about the Q button. When I hit the Q button, it does the same for me, it doesn't allow me to change the setting like it does in the video. I'm using fireware version 1.0.6, might this be the reason? How can I get the 3 quick pictures?

[DaedalusFX]

@BustedToyPRODUCTIONS Also, the class of your SD card can affect the speed pictures are taken. Especially in RAW format. The higher your SD card class, the faster it can write the pictures to the card.

[thefrank128]

@BustedToyPRODUCTIONS You probably had it on single shot. You have to have it on Burst mode so it takes the 3 exposures at once.

[Remedy333]

@BustedToyPRODUCTIONS Hit the Q button and use the arrow keys to go to the correct setting you want to change

[m3h5l5]

Hey Dave how do you have no noise in your videos?

[drumat5280]

@m3h5l5 fnQAd23wFes

[drumat5280]

@m3h5l5 watch this YT video

fnQAd23wFes

[m3h5l5]

@m3h5l5 srry for the spam didn't know it posted 3 times but thanks :)

[m3h5l5]

@m3h5l5 I meant noise and grain in your footage not audio. Is there a certain kind of light setup that you before every video because there is absolutely no noise or grain in there.

[camtheman]

hey i know you like MysteryGuitarMan so i thought i would tell you this.. I seen him yesterday at guitar center in LA, he bought speakers.. he tweeted them

[drumat5280]

@camtheman very cool!