Focus Merge won't process all pictures

[alan.khalili]

I'm familiar with Focus Merge and have successfully experimented with it a few times.   I recently tried to merge a stack of 53 RAW images (~13.4GB).  I saw the system processing the foreground images (in one of the three image processing stages..not sure which one), but the finished product didn't have any of those foreground images (in either the final photo or the Sources Panel).  

Any idea why Affinity won't capture the entire stack of photos?  The foreground images were the last pictures I took (I started with the background pictures and finished with the foreground pictures), so the application is chronologically prioritizing photos.  

Does the application have a max processing capacity or does it require a minimum amount of excess RAM to complete either of the three steps (image alignment, depth map creation or merging)?  If it does require a minimum about of excess RAM, does anyone know how much?

Thank you!!

Alan

[John Rostron]

When you load your 53 images, are all 53 loaded in the Add files dialog box?

Any focus merge algorithm will be looking for parts of the image which are in focus. Do your missing images have any in-focus areas?

John

[alan.khalili]

Yes, all 53 photos were loaded (I saw snippets of the missing images while the application was processing them).  Regarding your second question, the missing photos did have in-focus areas (foreground with text from a book that was in the image) that I purposely focused, hoping it would come through in the merged image.  Thanks for responding!

[John Rostron]

I would have thought that if the program had run out of resources (RAM or whatever) you would have received an error message, or else it would have cashed or frozen. It might help (the experts, not me) if you gave us your system specifications, and the size of your images.

John

[alan.khalili]

The image sizes are in the original post, 53 images using 13.4GB of memory.   I'm happy to get into system resources with someone knowledgeable with the application's limits.  I will say my RAM of is 16GB is pushing the limit.  If RAM is in-fact the issue, I'm trying to figure out the application's constraint, so I know what my limits when buying more RAM....if that is the problem.

[MEB]

Hi alan.khalili,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Do you mind uploading all the 53 images using this link so we can test/check this here ourselves? Thanks.

[alan.khalili]

Sure.  That's a great idea.

The app doesn't appear to be picking up images 8028-8040.  The focal point for these pictures are in the foreground (text from the book in the foreground).  If the application isn't picking up the focal point and dropping the images, I'm wondering if I can force it.

Thanks!

 

https://1drv.ms/f/s!Ap3M5my_AQlxgZBCwUgWvzwtAQS87A

 

[John Rostron]

I have tried loading these, and it loads just up to 8027. I also tried it using every other image, and it still omitted 8028 onwards. These last images do have some in-focus items as text in the very foreground. I do wonder if the algorithm is not recognizing this. What happens if you try to merge just these last dozen or so?

John

[John Rostron]

On 1/17/2019 at 9:56 AM, John Rostron said:

What happens if you try to merge just these last dozen or so?

John

I have tried this with just images 24-40. In the final Sources panel, it seemed to have ignored 24-26, but utilised the rest. The Text was in focus but with multiple images!

Images 27-40:

I also ran all 51 images through Helicon Focus. It incorporated all 51 in all three of its algorithms. The text in the bottom-right corner is in focus in all three.

Weighted Average:

Depth Map:

Pyramid:

My impression is that none of them are perfect, but a judicious mix of the three would give a satisfactory result.

John