Been doing some testing on various issues, using the CXR uploaded by Jtveclipse12, here are my results so far:
- Is tone mapping done in the CIE saved to the various file formats?
It is for me, tone mapping done in the CIE definitely shows in the saved images in all formats.
- Why does the EXR look different?
What are you using to load the EXR into Photoshop? In my tests I have used EXR-IO. I do see a slight increase in contrast in Photoshop compared to the CIE (if I screen grab both and overlay them). I also opened the EXR in Qt4Image, and I see that it matches PS. If I open the saved EXR in the CIE, it looks the same as the original CXR looked (that is, "less contrasty" than the EXR opened in PS or Q4T). 32 bit EXRs can be handled a bit differently by different applications. We'll keep testing - let me know what you used in PS to open it.
- Why do EXRs saved from the CIE not open in After Effects?
It opened for me. Could a sample "problem" EXR be shared with us?
- Why does the background image change in intensity?
When the CIE saved the EXR, it premultiplies the alpha. This is what the standard for EXRs says - however, my understanding is that almost no other software follows that standard.
- Saving to PNG from the CIE
I have noticed one new thing here while testing. After Denoising in the CIE, if Blend is greater than 0.0, the transparency in the PNG is 254,254,254 for solid, and not 255,255,255 (in PS, can extract this info by Layer -> Layer Mask -> From Transparency, then turn off the RGB and view just the Layer Mask in the Channels, then use the colour inspector on the "solid" parts).
This doesn't happen if no Denoising is done in the CIE (save without denoising, or load a CXR that was Denoised in the VFB), nor does it happen from the VFB. We'll investigate further. The upshot there is that darker areas in a PNG may look a little less dark in Photoshop, as it is displaying a small portion of the empty checkerboard behind it.
Counteracting for that though, the PNG from the CIE is the same as the JPG from the CIE, and both are the same as how the image looks in the CIE. So only EXRs loaded into external applications show a slight increase in contrast.
- Handy hint!
If you post comparison images, could you post them as separate images please? It allows easy overlaying of each one and then flicking layers on and off to make differences more noticeable :) Thanks!
More info as we do more research, and any feedback, tests and input welcome too! Thanks!