64-bit Plugin Alternative?

[Jan Shim]

Part of the reason I have been slow to switch to PSP 64-bit is this simple and very effective Perspective Correction plugin from Mediachance. There isn't a 64-bit version and the company in a pretty amazing sort of way has a 32-bit to 64-bit Plugin Bridge they're asking quite a bit of money for http://www.mediachance.com/pluginbridge/. I have tested it the converter and it worked well. Has anyone seen any grid based perspective correction tool that's native 64-bit?

[Ken Berry]

Why are you fixated on 64 bit? As you would be aware, the installation process of PSP these days recommends installing both the 32 and 64 bit versions. This is precisely because so many other plug-ins and filters only come in 32 bit versions. So if you absolutely must have Perspective Correction, you could always apply it in the 32 bit version of PSP. And if you then want to do something else which requires 64 bit, then simply reopened the Perspectively Corrected image in the 64 bit version to do so...

[JoeB]

PSP has its own simple perspective correction tool. Does the Mediachance tool work any better?

But more important, you have DXO Viewpoint, which can be used in as simple a mode as the Mediachance plugin (i.e., just drag the 4 handles) but still gives you many more options if you need them for a particular image. You seemed quite happy with how it was working with the script that we spent time discussing and working on, so I'm curious about why would you want to use Mediachance's filter, or why just using Viewpoint isn't sufficient to have you switch to PSP 2018 64bit?

Mediachance doesn't have a standalone version so you will not be able to get it to work with 64bit PSP. I don't see how that grid makes it work any better or simpler, and doubt that there are any similar tools that have a mesh other than perhaps Mesh Warp in PSP but it's not that simple and I doubt that it works well for your purpose.

If you're looking for all of the perspective correction options available in PSP just open the Help file and type the word perspective in the search box and you'll get half a dozen or so results on ways to use the correction tool, Pick tool, etc to achieve a result.

[Jan Shim]

PSP has its own simple perspective correction tool. Does the Mediachance tool work any better?

Mediachance doesn't have a standalone version so you will not be able to get it to work with 64bit PSP. I don't see how that grid makes it work any better or simpler, and doubt that there are any similar tools that have a mesh other than perhaps Mesh Warp in PSP but it's not that simple and I doubt that it works well for your purpose.

I have used PSP's own and Mediachance's works much better. Precision is a big factor when using PSP's. Mediachance's tool lets you make adjustments to correct vertical and horizontal likes easily and fast. It's not without issues, I can think of two. 1. The window size cannot be increased like you can with Nik tools 2. The grid lines are black by default which makes adjustments of dark areas in pictures very difficult or impossible. Would be great if user has option to change colours.

Now comes the bit where it matters most: Time it takes for each tool to do its job. The tools are used on a Windows 7 64-bit PC with SSD, 16GB overclocked RAM, Core -7-3770K 4.7GHz CPU, 2GB GeForce GPU.

Tools:..............Samsung Galaxy Note5 | Canon EOS 5D Mark III
..........................(5312x2988 pixels) | (5760x3840 pixels)
Mediachance........................19 secs | 24 secs
ViewPoint 3.0.......................36 secs | 36 secs

Because I work with images from my Note5 more frequently than I do EOS 5D, it's a 19 secs vs 36 secs each time I need to make a correction. For simpler, more straightforward correction of the horizon for instance, I use PSP's Straightener tool (no fuss and fast).

[jcrous]

Part of the reason I have been slow to switch to PSP 64-bit is this simple and very effective Perspective Correction plugin from Mediachance. There isn't a 64-bit version and the company in a pretty amazing sort of way has a 32-bit to 64-bit Plugin Bridge they're asking quite a bit of money for http://www.mediachance.com/pluginbridge/. I have tested it the converter and it worked well. Has anyone seen any grid based perspective correction tool that's native 64-bit?

2018-01-04_130918.jpg

Jan, try this one, it is only $24.00 and cheaper. You can then stay within you 64 bit version of PSP, without having to swop between two versions. Test the trial version first, then you can decide.

https://www.alphaplugins.com/products/p ... prod_id=19

[jcrous]

I have purchased the Alpha Plugin Launchbox for $24. I have tested it on Eyecandy 7 in both PSP 2018 64 bit and Affinity Photo which is only 64 bit. In both it work fine and brought up eyecandy 7 32 bit.
The mediachange Pluginbridge could not get eyecandy 7 32 bit to work properly.

[thuckabay]

Here's my experience after extensively testing the two alternatives with my particular set of old 32-bit Photoshop plugins:

Issues with AlphaPlugins LaunchBox (enumerates as "32Bit Bridge"):

Virtual Painter 3 (does not work; Virtual Painter 5, however, which enumerates as "VP5", seems to work after doing the Retry button that appears, but not 3)
Nik (demo filters)
Corel Knockout 2 (does not work)
Impressionist (missing from menu entirely)

- More traditional interface, though slower, than Mediachance's "Plugin Bridge" to load.
- Installation is less clean than that of Mediachances's "Plugin Bridge".
- As part of installation, it is necessary to 1) manually create an AlphaPluginsApp.ini file where the plugin is installed (e.g., in "C:\Program Files\Image-Editing Plug-Ins"), and add one line of text, which is "C:\Program Files\AlphaPlugins\AlphaPluginsLaunchBox.exe" inside it; and 2) to modify the security permissions of another .ini file by the SAME NAME in "C:\Program Files\AlphaPlugins" so that regular Users have the Write permission.


Issues with Mediachance's Plugin Bridge:

Ditherbox (does not work; Photoshop and Corel PHOTO-PAINT likely have better alternatives, so probably no big deal)
Corel Knockout 2 (does not work, and actually crashes / freezes the current instance of Plugin Bridge)

- Installer does NOT account for Corel PHOTO-PAINT, and so does NOT copy "32to64.8bf" to its plug-in folder, but I can specify my main 64-bit plug-ins folder. (NOTE: May want to search for the plugin file and delete it from 64-bit applicatoins where 32-bit plugins would not be used.)
- Remembers last-used 32-bit Plugin
- Does not always cleanly close down when a plugin fails to run.
- CAN remove non-functional plugins from the presented list, which CANNOT be done with AlphaPlugins LaunchBox.


Overall Winner (due to better compatibility with old plugins like Impressionist, and ability to remove plugins from the enumerated list): Mediachance's Plugin Bridge