Using DXO ViewPoint to Correct Distortion

entropic remnants

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John Griggs
I got DXO ViewPoint software for distortion correction while it's on sale for $49 and it's a mixed bag but I'll use it for some things.

For instance, some found the distortion of the ball a problem in the following shot. I thought it was kind of surreal looking, but it wasn't generally appreciated and that's a problem when an image doesn't present like you want it to.

This image and it's derivatives are all taken with a Panasonic G5 and the Lumix 7-14mm f/4 lens.

8689394569_ca6baff9de_c.jpg

Come and Play with Us! Forever, and ever, and ever... by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr

Okay so with the problem stated, I fired up Lightroom and made a virtual copy of the original image and right clicked on "Edit In" and selected "DXO ViewPoint".

Here was my first attempt letting the software select the correction. It completely corrected the roundness of the ball but made the shot into a mild fisheye shot doing it. As a result of the stretching, I lost the top of the arch and that bothered me.

8712616912_cbdfc42616_c.jpg

Come and Play with Us! Forever, and ever, and ever...(alternate edit) by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr

So I went back in and had another whack at it and reduced the amount of correction in manual. The ball is now not quite round, and the fisheye distortion is less. I also have more of the top of the arch. Not a bad compromise.

I've also made some other editing tweaks. If color/contrast and so forth looks a little different -- it is but it's not from ViewPoint.

8712693380_549f3f0112_c.jpg

Come and Play with Us! Forever, and ever, and ever...(alternate edit 2) by Entropic Remnants, on Flickr

Now you clever folks might say, "I can correct that fisheye problem now with Lightroom's distortion slider". No, you can't.

When you do that, the ball goes back to being oval and you've got the original shot again minus some edge loss, lol.

So if you get this software be advised: it's not a panacea for everything.
 
So the software is actually partially undoing the lens distortion correction?

Yeah, that appears to be what it is doing. Here it is not undoing any software correction -- it's actually turning an ultrawide shot back into a fisheye shot to remove the corner distortion. Not at all what I was expecting when I bought it but though disappointing it's still useful I think.
 
If you wanted to get really tricky, I bet you could probably correct in DxO then cut/merge the corrected round ball into the original shot in Photoshop to replace the ovaled one. Lot of work but might be worth it if you like the image enough to want to mess around with it that much.
 
If you wanted to get really tricky, I bet you could probably correct in DxO then cut/merge the corrected round ball into the original shot in Photoshop to replace the ovaled one. Lot of work but might be worth it if you like the image enough to want to mess around with it that much.

It's actually not that hard to do.

John, I hope you don't mind but I tried it with screen grabs from your two shots and it's fairly easy to merge a crop section of the DXO corrected ball shot with the original shot (minus the ball section). It would actually be even easier if both shots are processed equally, so that the tones match. If you authorize me, I can post the composite shot for you to see. Otherwise, I'll make sure to delete it from my files.

Cheers,

Antonio
 
It's actually not that hard to do.

John, I hope you don't mind but I tried it with screen grabs from your two shots and it's fairly easy to merge a crop section of the DXO corrected ball shot with the original shot (minus the ball section). It would actually be even easier if both shots are processed equally, so that the tones match. If you authorize me, I can post the composite shot for you to see. Otherwise, I'll make sure to delete it from my files.

Cheers,

Antonio

Have at it, Antonio! I don't composit like that, but demonstrating what is possible is instructive so feel free to post them.
 
Have at it, Antonio! I don't composit like that, but demonstrating what is possible is instructive so feel free to post them.

Here you go:

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This is how I did it:

1. Crop the DXO corrected just on top of the ball from the bottom up.
2. Crop the original shot from the top down, just on top of the ball.
3. Resize the shot of the ball so that it is the same width as the original shot.
4. Using Adobe Bridge, load both files as layers in Photoshop.
5. Align as necessary. Since the texture of the floor is quite even, it is easy to do.
6. Since the shot of the ball was processed slightly differently, the floor was slightly lighter than on the original floor. Using the burn tool set to a very low exposure percentage, burn carefully around the edge where the two shots meet until the tones match.

If you process the original file using the same settings, you should be able to skip step 6, which is probably the most difficult step.

That's it.

Cheers,

Antonio
 
Nicely done - I figured it could be done but my PS skills are near zero so it would have taken me lots of stumbling around before I sorted it out :)
 
Here you go:

This is how I did it:

1. Crop the DXO corrected just on top of the ball from the bottom up.
2. Crop the original shot from the top down, just on top of the ball.
3. Resize the shot of the ball so that it is the same width as the original shot.
4. Using Adobe Bridge, load both files as layers in Photoshop.
5. Align as necessary. Since the texture of the floor is quite even, it is easy to do.
6. Since the shot of the ball was processed slightly differently, the floor was slightly lighter than on the original floor. Using the burn tool set to a very low exposure percentage, burn carefully around the edge where the two shots meet until the tones match.

If you process the original file using the same settings, you should be able to skip step 6, which is probably the most difficult step.

That's it.

Cheers,

Antonio

VERY nicely done. I only have Ps Elements and not full Ps so I'm not sure if I can do that or not. I'd probably start with totally unprocessed images corrected/uncorrected and do all the processing after combining them which would indeed make it a bit easier. The relatively featureless "desert" of the floor helps with this I think.

I don't do this kind of compositing in general because I don't want to be accused of having a "fake" image -- but your skillful rendering of what this shot SHOULD look like may have me reconsidering.

Good job and thanks for educating us on how to do such a thing.
 
John, I used to a LOT of heavy manipulations and it was ALL with the "lowly" Elements. I honestly haven't figured out what can't be done in Elements that can be done in Photoshop. This kind of thing is pretty easy if you;re ready to dip your toes in the manipulation pool.

And a note to the "purists".....photos have been faked since before the turn of the LAST century, so get over yourselves :tongue:
 
I don't do this kind of compositing in general because I don't want to be accused of having a "fake" image -- but your skillful rendering of what this shot SHOULD look like may have me reconsidering.

I totally understand where you're coming from, but in this case it's just restoring the shot to what you saw (and captured) in the first place, minus the distortion. :)
 
John, I used to a LOT of heavy manipulations and it was ALL with the "lowly" Elements. I honestly haven't figured out what can't be done in Elements that can be done in Photoshop. This kind of thing is pretty easy if you;re ready to dip your toes in the manipulation pool.

And a note to the "purists".....photos have been faked since before the turn of the LAST century, so get over yourselves :tongue:

I have spent the last 58 years trying to get over myself, and utterly failing!!! :D

It's a choice one makes. I'm a fan of many manipulated works -- I just am not comfortable doing it and it's my choice alone. I don't think it's a "virtue" or anything, or that manipulation is a "vice".
 
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