OpenEXR in IMatch

[Bri Wit]

I use a lot of .exr files both for tonemapping/fusion and as cgi working files. I installed fastpictureviewer codec pack largely to get .exr thumbnails and previews in File Explorer as well as view them with the old windows picture viewer. It works well for that. It does not extend to IMatch. IMatch only shows the icon and won't show in the viewers. My first question is why does it work in Windows but not in IMatch? Is it an issue in IMatch that needs fixing or is it a feature request? Would Mystic Thumbs solve it? I'm hesitant to try a switch to Mystic Thumbs because FastPictureViewer Codec pack is otherwise working, but if I wanted to reinstall it and had problems Axel is MIA. I attatched a screen grab of IMatch showing only file icons, the WIC diagnostic, and File Explorer showing thumbnails and preview.

[Mario]

Provide a sample image for download or send them to support email address (with a link back to this thread, please) so we can run some tests.
In general, if WIC can handle the image, IMatch can as well.
Maybe there is something special about your files. Or WIC does not handle them as expected.

From the small section of the diagnosis log (PLEASE always attach the whole file, there are important bits at the start and end you don't show in your screen shot).
I see that IMatch can extract the full RAW without problems so it should show it.

Maybe there was an error while adding the file? File locked by another application? Windows WIC crashed at that time? System overloaded?
How many files did you process at that time? Did you keep the IMatch log file from that session so we can see the error messages and warnings logged by IMatch?

Select the file and do a Shift+Ctrl+F5 > Force Update and let us know if this works.

[Mario]

I see the problem. EXR is not a file format IMatch knows about. it's not configured.
Did you add this as a user-defined format yourself?

Where do I get details about this file format? Format description? Vendor? Standards? I can then add this as an officially supported file format for one of the next releases.

I've made a few tests with some of the example files I could download from the OpenEXR GitHub. But on my systems, The FPV codecs all return only errors for these files.
Which version of the FPV codecs do you use? I have 3.8.0.97, which is, I believe, the latest version there is.

[Bri Wit]

I will create a fresh .exr, and save the log and send both in a few minutes. I'll also do a fresh WIC diagnostic and include the whole thing.

I tried the force update, no change.

Yes I added as a user-defined format, screen shot included here in case I messed that up.

openexr.com in addition to github, I'm not sure which is more complete or up to date.

I'm also using FPV 3.8.0.97

Here's my usual workflow in case it provides clues.
Process the cr2 exposure brackets in Capture One Pro 12 with linear tone curve and zero sharpening
export to 16bit tif that are saved to a sub-folder of the raw files
select the tif sequence in IMatch, go to my favorites tab and click on app button for Photomatix Pro 6.0.3 (64bit)
The sequence opens in Photomatix and I merge the tiffs and save to .exr (32bit with zip compression) PIZ compression is the other option in Photomatix which is better for grainy images.
I save the .exr file in an HDR subfolder of the raw files.

I can also create HDR images in graphics software where I'd have more options for the full feature set of openexr (channels, half float, probably other compression options). But that can be saved for another day if the need arises.

[Mario]

I have added .EXR as a standard format. You will have to remove your user-defined format and rescan  all affected files when the next IMatch release is out.
For some reason, the 3rd party image library I use has problems managing the results of the EXR WIC codec so I had to work around it.

It was surprisingly difficult to find some OpenEXR sample images. The only ones I'd found where the test images on their Github page and none of them worked with the FPV Coded or Affinity Photo (which handles OpenEXR files). I rendered some models in Blender and exported them to EXR and these files open fine in IMatch (which my changes) and Affinity Photo.

When I receive your sample image I'll let you know if it works.

[Mario]

I've added your sample file to a test database and it loads fine:



Don't forget to remove your user-defined EXR format and rescan all EXR files when the next IMatch version is released.

[Bri Wit]

Great news!
Thank you Mario!