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Mac OS X  |  Design / Graphics  |  Image Edit / Optimize / Convert  |  Hydra

Hydra

Hydra - 1.5.3

create hdr photographs, interactively and with no tripod

All Time: Not rated (0.0)
This Version: Not rated (0.0)
Current Version: 1.5.3
Release Date: 2008-06-06
License: Update
Downloads (this version): 623
Downloads (all versions): 3,674
Price: 59.95

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Product Description:

Hydra uses a number of regular photographs (up to four) with different exposures (darker and lighter) to create a superior one which is much closer to what one's eye can see. This is because a single photograph cannot represent the full gamut of light because of physical limitations in the sensor. This process is also known as a high dynamic range, or HDR, imaging. See the screencast tutorials for more information on how to acquire such images with your camera.
The output produced by Hydra is much closer to what your eye actually sees. You don't have to choose whether to have a beautiful sky or buildings, take 2 photos (or more) with perfect parameters for each of them, then combine them with Hydra.
The images that Hydra uses are not required to be taken with a tripod, as it is usually the case with HDR software. Hydra uses the same warping algorithm as Morph Age, which permits the alignment of images with offsets above a few pixels. This is a unique feature that means you can take photos anywhere without a tripod to later blend them in Hydra. This will change your way of making HDRs.

What's new in this version:

  • Italian localization
  • fix final rendering coordinates system
  • Aperture Plugin: rotated 90° images support
  • Aperture Plugin: coordinate system based on correctly oriented image
  • Aperture Plugin: fix Match View drawRect:
  • Aperture Plugin: bring back alignment panel
  • Aperture Plugin: automatch
  • Aperture Plugin: manual match
  • Aperture Plugin: move / create point tools
  • Aperture Plugin: density setting in settings sheet.
  • Aperture Plugin: add tag to identify HDR outputs
  • Aperture Plugin: PPC support (>= G5)
  • Aperture Plugin: 3D perspective view as an option
  • Aperture Plugin: support for setting preferences
  • Aperture Plugin: quality of preview

Operating System Requirements:

This product is designed to run on the following operating systems:

  • Mac OS X 10.5 Intel
  • Mac OS X 10.5 PPC

Additional Requirements:

  • Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 (G5 or Intel Mac)
    512MB
    Graphics Card with 64MB

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Feedback Summary:

This Version:
Overall Rating: Not rated (0.0) Features: Not rated (0.0) Support: Not rated (0.0)
Ease of Use: Not rated (0.0) Quality / Stability: Not rated (0.0) Price: Not rated (0.0)
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Hydra CommentaryGood upgrade - 16 bit would be excellent - Version: 1.0.2, 2/4/2008 12:00AM PST

Martin Turner
The addition of Tiff as an output format is a good upgrade to this application.
It's still only 8 bit, and would benefit from 16 bit tiff, though.
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Hydra CommentaryName? - Version: 1.0.2, 2/4/2008 12:00AM PST

(1 of 1 users found this comment useful)

Tyaris Major
Just one note, not actually about the software itself...

The kids from Coding Monkeys originally called their product Hydra, but ran into legal issues, which resulted in it becoming SubEthaEdit. Unless the landscape has changed, I can see this happening to this Hydra as well.

http://versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/18956&vid=114342&mode=info
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Hydra ReviewImage combination for the rest of us - Version: 1.0.1, 1/22/2008 12:00AM PST

(2 of 2 users found this comment useful)

Martin Turner
I tried it, I bought it.

Basically, this is lightning fast image combination. The results are nice, though they are only 8-bit JPEG, so it does not create true HDR images. Nonetheless, the results are impressive, and the matching algorithm is significantly better than competitors.
There is nowhere near the level of sophistication of the photomatix software, but, on the other hand, it runs about 60x faster (no, seriously).
If you're a serious photographer, and you only intend to own one kind of image combination software for HDR, then don't buy this one. Buy Photomatix instead.
On the other hand, if you're happy to own more than one tool for more than one kind of job, then this is superb for what it does.
And, if you're the kind of person that still uses iPhoto, you'll find this an absolute joy to use.
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