The HDRI Handbook: High Dynamic Range Imaging for Photographers and CG Artists +DVD | 
 enlarge | Author: Christian Bloch
Publisher: Rocky Nook
Category: Book
List Price: $49.95
Buy New: $27.11
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Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 7988
Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 344
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 8 x 0.8
ISBN: 1933952059
Dewey Decimal Number: 775
EAN: 9781933952055
ASIN: 1933952059
Publication Date: November 2, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The HDRI Handbook reveals the secrets behind High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI). This cutting-edge imaging technology is a method to digitally capture and edit all light in a scene. It represents a quantum leap in imaging technology, as revolutionary as the leap from Black & White to Color imaging. If you are serious about photography, you will find that HDRI is the final step that places digital ahead of analog. The old problem of over- and underexposure in analog photography, which was never fully solved, is elegantly bypassed here. A huge variety of subjects can now be photographed for the first time ever. HDRI emerged from the movie industry, and was once Hollywood's best kept secret. It is now a mature technology available to everyone. The only problem was that it was poorly documented until now. The HDRI Handbook is the manual that was missing. Many questions remain open even for the computer graphics gurus that have been using HDRI for years. This is where The HDRI Handbook comes in. Included here is everything you need to build a comprehensive knowledge base that will enable you to become really creative with HDRI. This book is packed with practical hints and tips, software evaluations, workshops, and hands-on tutorials. Whether you are a photographer, 3D artist, compositor, or cinematographer, this book is sure to enlighten you. Topics include: - Understanding the foundation of HDRI
- Tools for a High Dynamic Range Workflow
- How to capture HDR images: now and tomorrow
- Tone mapping for creating superior prints
- Image processing and compositing
- All 4 ways to shoot panoramic HDRIs
- Image based lighting and CG rendering
- World premiere of the Smart Dynamic Range toolkit
- Creative uses and unconventional applications
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 Very enlightening July 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
HDR (high dynamic range) images are starting to take the photography world by storm (at the time of this writing, the HDR Flickr group has over 18,000 members). If you ask a room full of people what HDR is, you get a wide range of answers, and typically they are all partly correct. Simply put however, HDR imaging is the process of creating an image that encompasses a wide range of exposure values. This allows the resultant image to be nearly all encompassing in every detail. HDR Imaging has, until very recently, been the purvey of Hollywood graphic and special effects artists. "The HDRI Handbook" by Christian Bloch helps bring this exciting arena to everyone else.
The first part of the book gives a much needed overview of what HDRI really is. It also delves into current camera technology, describes present-day limiting factors, and outlines where the industry is headed (hold on to your hats!). From there the author provides an overview of HDRI tools - quite current as the book was published in November of 2007 - and gives an unbiased review of each.
At this point, you delve right into the steps needed to capture a quality series of images from which you can generate an HDR image. This is not for the faint of heart - you need to know your camera well. In the off chance you don't know your camera that well, this section helps you learn more. It certainly taught me a couple things.
Also covered are such critical subjects as image cleanup, croppung and framing, and other adjustments that are but the first step of creating the HDR image. From here you move on to critical sections on Tone Mapping and shooting Panoramic HDR images. The book wraps up with a section for using HDR images in CG (computer generated) graphics.
It should be noted that all tutorials in the book assume the use of Photoshop CS3. However, features of other tools, such as FDR Tools and Artizen, are covered quite well. Numerous example images are on the accompanying DVD, along with sample versions of the latest HDR programs. In addition, there is a companion website to keep the reader up to speed on this fast emerging area of imaging.
"The HDRI Handbook" is a must read for anyone who wants to dabble in HDR imaging. Written by a recognized expert in the field, this book carefully and cleanly details everything you need to know to generate quality HDR images that will make you the envy of your photographer friends. The examples in the book are stunning, and the techniques presented will give you confidence for when you start to compile your own High Dynamic Range image library.
The HDRI Handbook: High Dynamic Range Imaging for Photographers and CG Artists June 13, 2008
This is a great book in the development of HDR technology..I am sure "The next generation of cameras will have this built into their processors -- it is going to be that big". If you are serious about enjoying and developing your photography skills this is the now and future..And it requires real skills to get a masters in HDR results.. and if you want to take away the luck factor and know you are getting a great shot simply buy this book...
Aptly named May 31, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book provided you know what you are getting. It is a genuine handbook, by which I mean it has loads of information about the theory of HDRI, capturing pictures and software used to create the final version. If all you want is a how-to-do-it there are cheaper and frankly less complex books out there. I recommend the Complete Guide to High Dynamic Range Digital Photography by Ferrell McCollough as a quite well-done book that is all most people will need. That having been said, the Bloch is essential for the underlying ideas and is particularly strong on HDRI panoramic photography. Also somewhat more complete and useful than other books on comparing various software programs for combining pictures. Well written and clear. One major advantage of the Bloch book is that it has a CD with versions of the major software packages (all available as free trial downloads as well)and more importantly it also contains the pictures used throughout the book as illustrations so that one can practice HDRI creation and compare one's own results with those by Bloch. HDRI is not especially difficult, but it takes a certain amount of practice and patience -- the CD helps to solve the practice part of the process. For patience you're on your own.
Informative, even for seasoned practitioners May 21, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The principle was so obvious to me, and yet as soon I finished the study of this book, I realized just how limited my prior knowledge was. Apparently I did not knew about existing image standards, tools and about a fundamental importance of HDR (high dynamic range) imaging for digital photography as a superior way of preserving images.
Foreword is by one of the top gurus in the discipline and author of several graphical file formats, Greg Ward.
Author starts with explaining the basic concepts of dynamic range, EV (exposure value) and specifics of human perception of light and shape. This sounds like a platitude, but in fact the chapter is very educational and to the point. Reader can quickly understand the limitation of the contemporary digital imaging based on integer numbers. I had no idea that HDR tools and files use in fact floating point numbers, utilize exponents to cover the vast dynamic range, while occupying still the same number of bits per pixel.
In chapter 2 author goes through the numerous file formats invented to hold graphical information, beginning with Kodak's Cineon, Portable Float Map, Float Tiff, Radiance, LogLuv, Open EXR (devised by Florian Kainz at Industrial Light and Magic,) High Dynamic Range Jpeg, Fjpeg, and several more. I was not aware of the most of them. Tabular summary at the end provide a perfect and compact summary.
He summarizes than properties of the diverse HDRI tools, of which I knew of Photomatix, but the rest was widely unknown to me. One group of programs contain generic image viewers with HDR capability, like HDRView, exrdisplay, JahPlayer. Even Irfanview can apparently interpret two HDR formats: radiance and TIFF LogLuv. Later Bloch compares features of HDR file generators and tone mappers: HDRshop, Picturenaut, PhotoSphere, Photomatix and FDRTools. This is the most comprehensive enumeration of HDR software which I saw so far. Of course, he also talks about full image editors and compares their features to Photoshop CS.
Chapter 3 is devoted to capturing HDR images. Bloch explains limitation of contemporary CCD and CMOS sensors, talks about future prospects. He explains how to use bracketing in ordinary digital cameras to gain series of images covering the wide dynamic range. Foremost he reminds to use the same aperture to preserve identical depth of field in each shot. Sounds so obvious, and yet before I red this book, I made series of images violating this principle. Expectedly I gained poor results, which I than attributed to an "immature HDR software." If fact, I was not ready. Bloch follows with a description of a series of workflows using dedicated tools, like HDRshop, Photomatix, Picturenaut, and compares them to a fully manual process in Photoshop. Very educational.
Next chapter describes tone mapping: Once the HDR image is in place, its vast dynamic range must be mapped into the Low Dynamic Range (LDR) of the display, screen or paper alike. The process has many variables and an element of artistic freedom. Here again Bloch compares several automatic tools with a manual process in Photoshop. Some of the example images are simply stunning. The chapter has several sections written by other photographers presenting their selected HDR images.
As a bonus follows a chapter about shooting of HDR panoramas, a combination of two dimensional series of images for each part of the scene, and for each part of the dynamic range. Fascinating are all the gadgets and contraptions being used to generate the surreal projections and circular panoramas.
To sum up Bloch speaks about trick photography combined with CGI (Computer Graphics Images.) This is of course just a short introduction in context of HDR, and yet very informative.
For me this is one of most educational books in photography which I ever read, and do I press the shutter button for over 30 years. Do yourself a favor: grab it and read it and foremost: Experiment with HDR!
 Not perfect but darn good. May 12, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I bought two HDR books at the same time. This was by far the better book. Yes, it did cost more, but has been well worth it. The DVD has some useful information. Besides that they list other useful WEB sites in their text. Well written and knowledgeable. Not a rehash of known information.
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