The HDRIHandbook: 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: $28.30
You Save: $21.65 (43%)
New (29) Used (12) from $28.02
Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 6186
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 23 more reviews...
 Excellent title for the beginner.... September 29, 2008
If you have an interest in learning what HDRI imagine is all about and prefer to know more about the more technical details of it rather than a laymans overview, then this book is an excellent starting point. It is very clearly written and Christian covers pretty much all aspects regarding it, from the science behind it, to file formats and the best software to work with it in. He also covers its use in Photography and 3D computer graphics. Though he doesn't go into any great depth in those areas as they both really would require a full book unto themselves for those 2 subjects. The info on tonemapping and linear workflows in 3D are especially helpful introductions. Add to that the fact that he tirelessly runs the companion website keeping it up to date and chock full of great information, this book really is a steal at any price.
very good!! September 22, 2008
i can only recommend this book. it greatly exceeded my expectations. this is not only on HDRI - this book gives you very good everview of image formats, how individual formats are supposed to be used for, its advantages and disadvantages, how to handle digital images correctly and how to produce your own HDRIs. this book should read anyone who wants to produce top-quality digital imagery. and 3d artists should read it twice.
 Very technical, valuable information September 22, 2008
Great book if you're interested in truly understanding what HDR is, how it works, why it works -- more than just learning how to do some techniques. You must be interested in the technical aspects of color, light, file formats, bit depth, sensors, etc to appreciate this book, but if you are, you'll come away with a much clearer understanding of HDR and how you can use it.
Outstanding Book August 31, 2008
Christian is an excellent technical writer. Specifically, he is very easy to understand while covering technical subject matter. The book is sprinkled with some light humor, which makes for some needed entertainment when attempting to digest the information. The book provides important background information on file formats and the limitations of each, providing the WHY of the related HOW to make great photography using HDR.
Very enlightening July 22, 2008
2 out of 2 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.
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