Photo editing software needed

Skip Miller

Skip Miller

Final Approach
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Skip Miller
If you were taking a time-lapse movie with a conventional film camera, you would seek a camera that featured “pin registration”. A pin drops into a hole in the edge of each film frame, to make sure the image was recorded on a consistent location on each frame: result – a time lapse movie wherein the background is not jerky. You would also use an industrial strength tripod.

I have been taking a time lapse movie of a building under demolition, and then the reconstruction of a new building. I have taken some 300 shots so far, one per day, and it is getting near time to put the still images together into a movie clip. I’ve done this with a digital camera, no tripod, and test clips I have put together show (not surprisingly) slight changes in the focal point and also of the rotation – “up” is not quite the same direction on each photo.

What is the best software to use to edit these photos? There is a high contrast corner of a building in the foreground to use to align the focal point and the rotation. All I need to do is set one photo up as a background, then drag a semi-transparent copy of the next photo on top of the background, align it, and save it. Lather, rinse, repeat. Finally, I will have to enlarge them all a bit to eliminate the white edges that the relocation will create.

Advice as to the right software for this task?

TIA!

-Skip
 
Skip, for my money, Adobe Photoshop is the best there is, but it's pricey. You should have no trouble doing what you described in it.
 
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 also has those features and is less than $100. It's essentially a less powerful version of the regular Photoshop.
 
Brian Austin said:
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 also has those features and is less than $100. It's essentially a less powerful version of the regular Photoshop.
Click to expand...

OK, the Adobe website has a 30 day test drive version. I have downloaded it and it will indeed do the job but the project will take longer than 30 days as a) the project is not yet complete, and b) unless I can build lots of speed on the project, it will take a lot of time.

But that is OK. I need new photo editing software. The one I am useing is Adobe Photoshop Business Edition (came with a computer many moons ago... in fact it is copyrighted 1998. :eek: ) and due to its age it is not 100% compatible with XP. And google reports several software houses selling it in the $50 range.

Thanks for the heads-up!

-Skip
 
Skip Miller said:
Thanks for the heads-up!

-Skip
Click to expand...
You're welcome. For those of us not ready for $600 software for hobby digital photography, Elements is a nice fit. It can do about 80-90% of what the big package can do and that's enough for me right now.
 
You could try try free and open source. http://www.gimp.org/

The Gimp has layers like Photoshop. There is a package that puts a Photoshop-like command structure on it, but that might only be useful if you were already familiar with Photoshop. There are a couple of good books on how to use it, but you'll find the best support online.

I just ordered a copy of Photoshop Elements 4.0 for the GF for $80 from Newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Ntk=all&N=0&minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=0&Go.y=0
 
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I haven't used Photoshop, but I like Paintshop Pro (JascSoftware) - they also have a trial version so as long as you're experimenting...
 
It all depends on what you are doing...

Paint Shop Pro is powerful and easy to use.

GIMP is free..and powerful and easy to use when you get used to it.

Photoshop is a BEAST...Once you get used to it..I'm sorry. But Photoshop is king.
 
Get a older copy of photoshop on ebay. Anything version 5 on will suite your needs. Photoshop is indeed a beast. Layers of stuff you will never ever use.
I think they are up to version 9 although they now call it CS2 (creative suite)
 
corjulo said:
Get a older copy of photoshop on ebay. Anything version 5 on will suite your needs. Photoshop is indeed a beast. Layers of stuff you will never ever use.
Click to expand...
I am still using Photoshop 4.0. It is plenty powerful, but it crashes occasionally with Windows XP.
 
corjulo said:
Get a older copy of photoshop on ebay. Anything version 5 on will suite your needs. Photoshop is indeed a beast. Layers of stuff you will never ever use.
I think they are up to version 9 although they now call it CS2 (creative suite)
Click to expand...

Yep. That's what I am using. Photoshop will let you do just about anything you can think of.
 
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