Virus Scan for AKVIS HDRFactory

Tazzie Are future major new versions discounted for owners of a current license?

Dec 12 2011 at 12:49am Copy Link

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Constantin Florea @Tazzie: Upgrades to future versions of the software will be free up to the next major version and minor versions thereafter.

You can check the Policy tab for more information regarding licensing.

BitsDuJour Admin - Dec 12 2011 at 1:06am Copy Link

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AKVIS Actually, it's not only Standalone.
The promotion is valid for these types of licenses: Home-Plugin, Home-Standalone, Home Deluxe (both Plugin+Standalone), and Business (Plugin+Standalone).
Click on "Buy Now" to see all options!

AKVIS - Dec 12 2011 at 2:36am Copy Link

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Software Guy HDR works best when used with cameras that support automatic bracketing of exposures when each shot is taken. So you wind up with 3 or more shots of the same scene, each taken at a different exposure. Most DSLRs can do this. Some point and shoots can also.
AKVIS says that this software will also work on single exposures, but it was not obvious to me on their website where examples of single photo manipulation (vs. the 3 exposures as a starting point) were to be found.
AKVIS also has many other artistic and photo effect software packages, and a visit to their site is worthwhile.
You can find bundles at a discount here: http://akvis.com/en/bundles/index.php

Dec 12 2011 at 8:58am Copy Link

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Tazzie @ Constantin ... I ALWAYS check the policy tabs ... it's one of the first things I check. The policy here does not answer my question. I know the minor versions are free .... I wanted to know if the NEXT MAJOR VERSION(S) would be discounted.

Dec 12 2011 at 11:00am Copy Link

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Tazzie, I think it does answer your question.

We have: "Upgrades to future versions of the software will be free up to the next major version and minor versions thereafter."

So the next major version is a free upgrade. The major version after that isn't.

Clear?

BitsDuJour Admin - Dec 12 2011 at 12:37pm Copy Link

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Stage One Ordered the stand-alone+plug-in bundle. Got an email a few hours later, wanting my phone number, and terminating the order until they get it through me re-ordering
This is an odd business practice. I don't give phone numbers out.Certainly not for downloads. And if you make it an obligation , then you've lost sales.
I've made orders through Plimus before , never had that nonsense.

I'll look elsewhere, thanks.

Dec 12 2011 at 3:06pm Copy Link

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John H Hi

Is the White Balance Effect designed to correct a photo taken with the wrong White Balance Setting? Or does it just change color temperature?

Thank You

Dec 12 2011 at 3:43pm Copy Link

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Tazzie @ Niko and AKVIS ... all I was asking was if any or all future MAJOR versions will be discounted.

Regarding Stage One's post ... would an order require me to actually accept a phone call? That would be problematic for me also ... I don't have a landline phone. I would appreciate a response from AKVIS on this before I would go ahead with an order.

Dec 12 2011 at 6:37pm Copy Link

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AKVIS @Nico Westerdale, @Tazzie,
We usually offer free upgrades, but sometomes - very rarely! - upgrades are not free.
This in only the reason why we wrote about free upgrade on the next major version.
Most probably that several next versions will be offered for free for registered users of HDRFactory. But we _promiss_ only one major. If there are others they will be a gift. ;)

AKVIS - Dec 12 2011 at 8:31pm Copy Link

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AKVIS If we ever make a not-free upgrades we ask not a full price for a new version, of course! Usually it's less than a half of the price.
Also, there is no time limitation for AKVIS licenses.

AKVIS - Dec 12 2011 at 8:36pm Copy Link

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AKVIS @ John H
This effect lets you change the color temperature and tints.
You can adjust tones of an image here.

AKVIS - Dec 12 2011 at 8:39pm Copy Link

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AKVIS @ John H We can call this a kind of a compensation for unwanted hues appeared in a certain lighting on an image. Also, it lets adding some effects - to make the image greenish for example.

AKVIS - Dec 12 2011 at 8:47pm Copy Link

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AKVIS @ Stage One,
It looks like the Plimus store asks a phone number to prevent fraud cases. You can try to enter "111" or something like that.
Speaking of which, if you bought from Pimus before, they should keep your details.

AKVIS - Dec 12 2011 at 8:56pm Copy Link

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Tazzie @ AKVIS ... thanks so much for the clarification. I appreciate your honesty and fairness.

@ Stage One, AKVIS, et al, ....

FYI regarding Plimus ... I had a situation some years back with them cos they actually did call the number I had put down, but I am unable to hear on the phone and they were going to refuse my payment bec I could/would not answer a call from them (I had to put down a phone number which I used for dial up back then, cos the payment form required a phone number). I have not had any problems with them lately, but that doesn't mean they aren't still double-checking with phone calls.

Dec 12 2011 at 10:56pm Copy Link

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Frank Stephens Total bust. I strongly recommend developing for Windows rather than porting. HDRFactory's UI doesn't follow Windows conventions, especially recent versions of Windows. I couldn't even open a picture because when you select thumbnails to see what you're selecting, HDRFactory goes away with high CPU, totally unresponsive for a very, very long time. Finally gave up and terminated. Tried again, same result. Uninstalled, left some garbage.

The demo video is bad. "HDR result" should be "HDRFactory result", since most pictures weren't true HDR (multiple photos with different exposures). As is typical for many photo-manipulation sites, most example results had unnatural colors, generally over-saturated and just odd.

Dec 12 2011 at 11:19pm Copy Link

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AKVIS It's strangely to get so negative opinion about Win-version. The most members of our team use Windows 7 64 bit, and the program works just well on their computers.
If you have problems you can contact our support team, they will be glad to offer you a solution if they have more information about your problem.
As for results, please remember: each has his own taste. One likes natural colors, another prefers expressive variants. Look at the HDR photos in the Internet, the most of them aren't "natural". The strength of HDRFactory in rich of the possible results. You can ajust colors as you like.

AKVIS - Dec 13 2011 at 1:14am Copy Link

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xCurt only deluxe and business versions will offer ghost removal which is so important for true hdr ?

May 4 2012 at 2:00am Copy Link

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AKVIS You can order a Home license, without Ghost Removal tool, and at a lower price.
You can try the trial version right now and decided which variant you prefer. When you start the trial version you can choose a license to try.

Home Deluxe variant offers both versions - plug-in and standalone application, and the Ghost Removal tool.
Business version, in features, is the same as Deluxe, but lets you using the Software in commercial purposes.

AKVIS - May 4 2012 at 2:43am Copy Link

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Chinchih Lu I downloaded and installed the PlugIn+Standalone trial on my laptop running Win7 64-bit. The installer did not show an option for selecting installation directory for the standalone version. Instead, it force-installed into "C:\Program Files (x86)\AKVIS\HDRFactory\".

I have multiple partitions on my system and install all applications in a dedicated partition. Is there a way to specify the install directory for HDRFactory?

May 6 2012 at 7:30am Copy Link

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William Tattors Wondering how it stacks up to photomatix....

May 6 2012 at 8:54am Copy Link

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Royce Dodds Wondering how to pay with paypal, it's icon is with the other pay methods, abut I don't see it in a list? please advise

May 6 2012 at 11:41am Copy Link

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Constantin Florea @Royce We have just contacted the vendor to see if we can make PayPal a payment option for this deal. We'll let you know as soon as this payment option becomes available.

BitsDuJour Admin - May 6 2012 at 12:40pm Copy Link

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Software Guy HDR is great fun. Some people like it, but there are a few that don't. For examples and some software suggestions check these links:
http://captainkimo.com/hd...omparison/
and http://www.blamethemonkey...fore-after
and http://www.smashingmagazi...-pictures/
Media chance has another favorite program here:
http://www.mediachance.co...index.html
and many photo editors have HDR built in - example Zoner 14.
Akvis makes MANY quality programs for photo processing
http://akvis.com/en/produ...ftware.php
The big question with HDR - what if I didn't take the 3 different exposure photos, can this program simulate the HDR effect - the answer is YES, this program can simulate the HDR effect on a single photo.
Akvis programs are pricey and this is a good price today. It would be nice (hint) to see Akvis offer other programs or even their bundles on BDJ as future promotions. They have many great photo tools.

Sep 27 2012 at 5:22am Copy Link

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Bxxxx Oxxxx Many small cameras today, already have HDR built in.
In HDR mode, the camera takes 3 pictures and creates one HDR in a fraction of a second.

Does Akvis HDR Factory offer anything in addition to what can already be done automatically in the camera?

Sep 29 2012 at 12:07am Copy Link

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Frank Stephens It does say that you can enable GPU acceleration if your computer supports it. That should be much faster than using multiple CPU cores, depending upon implementation. The settings are comparable to other software that I have, but I noticed there's a huge number of presets, so I may check this out later today.

Sep 29 2012 at 2:00am Copy Link

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Frank Stephens This image shows some of the presets (although I have other similar software):
http://akvis.com/scripts/...shot-2.jpg

Sep 29 2012 at 2:06am Copy Link

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Software Guy @Bxxx HDR software varies from easy to complex and offers a wide range of HDR effects. In Akvis they have presets for a wide variety of very different HDR effects. Other programs use a series of sliders to achieve the 'effects'. The presets are quick and easy. Cameras usually give the basic three exposures and a single enhanced HDR image. To explore all of the possibilities you really need an editor, and that is what these software programs effectively are. Have a look here:
http://www.blamethemonkey...d-hardware

Then go to here for another look at a different HDR editor. the videos are very good.http://www.oloneo.com/en/...ngine.html

You may say this is just photo gimickry - perhaps, but an HDR photo in a plain format more closely mimicks the visual dynamic range of the human eye. The eye can see a huge variation in light levels and a camera sensor can not. So 3 photos are taken over a series of different exposures and merged to look visually more similar to the vision you actually see. That is HDR. But once you have the dynamic range, and the control offered by photo editors, creativity takes over to make an unexiciting scene more visually stimulating. Hence the Akvis presets to alter the visual mood of the photo.

Sep 29 2012 at 6:00am Copy Link

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Software Guy The AKVIS HDR factory features sliders AND a large number of preset effects which is nice as few HDR programs are feature rich in both. For the preset effects Akvis might consider putting examples of some of these effects up on the examples page to better demonstrate the versatility of the product. That way the customer would see that they add a photo, select an effect and then quickly see the result, saving lots of time they may have spent experimenting to achieve a given result. It would be a good selling point.

Sep 30 2012 at 10:03am Copy Link

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Tazzie I was perusing the comparison chart, and am wondering why the ghost removal function is limited to the home deluxe version only? Is there an actual purpose to this, or is it a marketing scheme to sell more deluxe versions?

Considering that my question is not the only one posted here, it would be great if these questions would be addressed by the vendor. I do have my qualms about this software/the company, which the no-show status of the vendor does not alleviate.

I would appreciate some serious recommendations for alternative HDR software ... they could be posted in a forum thread that I will set up, since I have other questions about HDR in general. (Hint, hint, Software Guy!)

Sep 30 2012 at 4:09pm Copy Link

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Software Guy @ Tazzie The AKVIS standalone is a good HDR program. I have only used the standalone. That being said, HDR programs require a good editor, and if you use photoshop then it becomes an extension of that editor.
If you are looking for some programs with which to compare, I would suggest have a look at oloneo (two versions, standard and pro). I also have used and like the one by media chance - who also makes a solid screen capture program and a mesmerizing photo to art program. Luminance, Fusion and Photomatix are also worthy of consideration, and editors such as zoner have hdr built-in. It all depends on what you intend to do - high impact photos, or maybe use HDR to boost print coloration or use as the basis for photo to art. Next, do you want an all in one solution?? then get the plug in. Or can you suffer through separate programs to get your result? And finally, most HDR programs have effect sliders, and I think they are necessary but I will say that because everything seems to be time constrained - I like preset filters, whether it be to boost colors (like in Perfectly Clear) or to achieve, say a vivid, or cool or maybe warm effect like the presets shown in AKVIS yield quickly.
IMHO the preset filters kick out a quick and attractive result, and you can tune them with the sliders. When I get a photo, I give it about 5 minutes or less to get a final (ideally). And yes, I have buddies who easily spend 40 minutes to 2 hours in full manual mode to get a similar result - and you can then debate whose result is best. In the end it is all a matter of personal preference - and the time it takes to get to that final result.

Sep 30 2012 at 8:08pm Copy Link

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Tazzie @Software Guy ... wow! Thanks bunches for the great comments and questions to consider ... definitely got my wheels spinning. I definitely need to do more research and reading, and trying out some open source/free programs before deciding on a pay version.

Besides, AKVIS definitely is not impressing me. Two days is more than enough time to make even a token response. Too bad, cos I was even looking at their bundles as a possibility eventually, but they've lost my interest. I'm not so desperate for an HDR program that I'll shell out big bucks for DRM-ware by non-existent developers.

Anyway, thanks again for your time and help, and I'm greatly looking forward to learning more about HDR and having yet another excuse to stay on the computer all night :)

Sep 30 2012 at 10:23pm Copy Link

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