[KyleNagel]

So I've read some threads on this topic (unfortunately after I shot my images) and I have an image I don't seem to be able to edit. See my issue below:

1. I shot the image as a DNG RAW file using Pixel Shift with Motion Control with my K1 using a Pentax FA 20mm f/2.8 lens (you may guess where this is headed)

2. I first attempted to edit it in Lightroom 6, I knew LR6 struggled with MC, but hoped the image may not have too many motion issues. The good news is 95% of the image looked beautiful when edited in Lightroom.

3. The bad news is there are some nasty artifacts in some rippling water that LR cannot deal with.

4. I read somewhere that you could open it in DCU, make some initial edits and then save as a TIFF and open in LR.

5. The first issue is DCU wouldn't open a full size editable image despite an hour and a half of vigorous attempts, research seems to indicate that since it was shot as a DNG rather than a PEF the DCU software won't do anything because DCU is a specially licensed Silky Pix component that is only licensed for editing of Pentax RAW files, which it can't seem to verify from the DNG.

6. Secondly, for some reason I cannot see or Import TIFF files into LR6, this is a whole different issue.

7. I didn't want to buy Silky Pix just to edit this one image, and from reading some articles there is no guarantee Silky Pix could/would completely eliminate the artifacts anyway.

8. While researching my above issue I learned that there was some free software called Raw Therapee that can read and edit Pixel Shift Motion Control files. On line examples seemed to show that it also did a better job than Silky Pix since SP would sometimes still produce artifacts that were generally non-existent in RT processed files, so I downloaded and installed RT. (One thing to note, the RT examples I saw online were shot as PEFs, not DNGs).

9. So now here is the crazy part, this is the only image I have ever shot with Pixel Shift and Motion Control, and it is also the only image that crashes Raw Therapee when I try to edit it. I can edit any other image in RT, but when I select this one (and only this one) image the program crashes and closes. I still had an un-violated image on my memory card that I placed into a new directory, 2 or 3 different directories in fact so I wouldn't leave any unintended software footprints on the image while testing them with different pieces of software. I then tried editing those images using PS with ACR, DCU-5, and RT 5.2. It does not appear a Pixel Shift Motion Control image shot as a DNG is editable with any software capable of eliminating the motion artifacts. The image looks great and is superbly editable in LR6, with the exception of the artifacts in the water, and it doesn't behave as if it is corrupted (other than crashing RT).

So my question here is, Pentax created a camera that allows you to shoot a Pixel Shift / Motion Control image as a DNG, but there isn't any software made by anyone that can properly process that image? This is information I needed a month ago when I was 1200 miles from my home.

Can anyone offer another option? also, why would RT state their software can process PS/MC images without the disclaimer the DNG files shot that way cannot be processed?

I have never been so frustrated, Pentax should have a disclaimer in the manual that states when using Pixel Shift with Motion Control you should only shoot PEFs since DNG files cant be processed with the software provided, or evidently any software for that matter.

Kyle

[Adam]

5. The first issue is DCU wouldn't open a full size editable image despite an hour and a half of vigorous attempts, research seems to indicate that since it was shot as a DNG rather than a PEF the DCU software won't do anything because DCU is a specially licensed Silky Pix component that is only licensed for editing of Pentax RAW files, which it can't seem to verify from the DNG.

DCU should be able to open DNGs just fine. Are you running an old version? Make sure you download the latest version from the Pentax site.
http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/digital/dc_utility5_win.html


If that doesn't help, given all the hassle, why not go back to the basics and extract the frame using DCraw?

Motion correction is just a metadata parameter, so it sounds like a software bug in that version of RT.

[Rondec]

I use RAW Therapee all of the time for motion control pixel shift shots and have no issues. Could you do a retry of the installation and see if there was some issue because that is my go-to software for processing those.

[biz-engineer]

Pixel shift conversion works out of camera. That's one thing. I've converted pixel shifted images with DCU without problem, and the last version of RT works great.

[awscreo]

Same, RT works for me

[Jens Lyn IV]

DCU works with DNG files, even with both pixel shift and motion corection enabled. There is something else at play here.

It's possible (but very unlikely) the copies you made are corrupted somehow; try basing your edits on the original file. No raw developer should directly modify the original in any way, and I've never heard of one that does - all output is written to a separate file.

If this still doesn't work, try creating a JPEG in the camera; if this also fails, there's something wrong with the memory card.

[pentageek]

I suspect damaged file or a computer which is too slow to process the picture with PSR and Motion Correction. I understand your frustration, but most likely there is relatively simple solution. For you reference, I tested PSR/MC/DNG combination in following applications:

Lightroom CC - artifacts visible, image useless,
DCU - compatible with such files, albeit processing takes ages,
Alien Skin Exposure X2 and RawTherapee - no problems at all.

BTW: do you use 32-bit operating system? It can severely limit resources available to your photo applications.

[KyleNagel]

I have a very strong computer, see specs below, I have found others commenting on line that DCU has issues with DNG files and assumed that is the problem. The key here is this is the first image I have shot with Pixel Shift and Motion Control. I was aware that LR6 would struggle with artifacts in areas with motion, what is frustrating is DCU5 and RT 5.2 struggle with this image (RT crashes). While I doubt a bad install of RT would cause crashing for only this one image I will try reinstalling when I get home tonight and see if that solves anything, I would really love RT to work on this image. FYI: I am also using an 6GB RAM drive as my scratch disk. I should also mention I have everything set to AdobePro Color-space.


My system:
MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard.
USB Support – 12 total (Front = 2 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.1 G1. - Rear =2 x USB 2.0, 4 x USB 3.1 G1, 2 x USB 3.1 G2)
6th Generation 6700 Intel® Core™ i7 Processor (Quad-core - 4 GHz).
240mm closed-loop extreme liquid cooling system.
16GB DDR4 2400 RAM.
MSI GeForce GTX 980Ti 6GD5 V1: 6GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready SLI Support ATX Video Card.
6 GB DDR5 onboard video memory - V1 option includes Grade 4 Military spec components.
256 GB Solid State primary HDD
2 x 1.5 TB internal storage drives.
Corsair K70 RGB Fully mechanical gaming keyboard
Anti-Ghosting, 104-Key Rollover on USB – USB 3.0 - Fully customizable backlit keys supporting 16.8 million colors. – Cherry MX Red™ mechanical key switches.
LG Blu-ray reader/writer disc drive
Corsair CX750M fully modular 750W Power supply
Windows 10 Professional
Sony Artisan Monitor profiled using xRite.

[pentageek]

Yes, this machine should process DNG with ease. Would you mind sharing problematic file with us? This way we could verify whether the file itself was corrupt.

[Rondec]

Not sure why RT is crashing things. It would probably be useful to upload the file to google drive or something like that and see if there is something wrong with the file versus the RT install.

[CarlJF]

Have you try with another picture taken with PS + MC ? If not, you could do a quick test in your back yard. If this test file opens without problem, it points to a corrupted file on the other...

What is happening if you try to process the file in camera ? Again, if it doesn't work it would indicates a problem with this specific file.

[KyleNagel]

UPDATE:

I checked my version on DCU and it was 5.5.1, there was a slightly newer version, 5.7.something-or-other. I downloaded that one and was able to edit it to some degree and save it as a full size image. Strange that recent of a version change made the difference To be honest I have not really used DCU for anything and I am extremely unfamiliar with it. I find the interface confusing and somewhat "cheesy" looking. Most of the editing controls were grayed out but I was able to make a minor exposure adjustment and save it as an uncompressed tiff. Strangely enough it was also very slow and jerky which surprised me because LR6 is fast as lightening while editing it and I assume LR is more resource intensive than DCU.

I opened the TIFF in LR and DCU had got rid of 97% of the artifacts. There was a very small amount showing in a couple of spots that I was able to manually manipulate away with the cloning and blurring tools.

It's odd to me that Pentax's provided software does not work better on the out of camera files. I can't figure out why they included a feature like this without having at least one piece of software available that was able to effectively process the images created by it.

FYI: I did shoot another image with Pixel Shift and Motion Control, It also crashes RT. It must be a combination of my system and some unknown settings, hardware, software, and/or drivers that it doesn't like, I know some of those shouldn't cause conflicts but since I can't figure out what it is I'm spitballin'. I am going to shoot another image this weekend as a PEF with the same settings and see if RT handles it the same way. I may have to play around and see what's up, now that I have it I really want RT to work on these images because LR sucks at those shot with Motion Control.