Paris-based software maker Oloneo has released the first beta of an image editing software package – perhaps with the intent of giving Adobe’s Photoshop a little competition?  Here’s their official press release:

Oloneo® Launches PhotoEngine™ Beta 1

Photographers To Benefit From The Latest Advances In Computational Photography With Image-Based Relighting & Full Real-Time High Dynamic Range (HDR) Re-Exposure

Paris, France – July 13, 2010 – Oloneo today launched the first public beta version of Oloneo PhotoEngine for Windows, the only high dynamic software offering photographers full control over light and exposure in real-time, as if they were still behind the lens. Turn on and off light sources, deeply re-expose pictures in full 32-bit per channel without compromising details and color appearance. Oloneo invites photographers to take an active part in the final development stage of Oloneo PhotoEngine for Windows by downloading the beta version at www.oloneo.com.

While taking pictures, photographers need not to worry anymore about potentially incorrect exposures, white balances or lighting set-ups. It is now a fast and easy process to modify lighting or to recover details in deeply under- or overexposed pictures. By merging multiple photos of the same scene, Oloneo PhotoEngine not only offers an almost unlimited control over exposure and lighting but also provides a new level of creativity in digital photography.

At the core of Oloneo PhotoEngine is a fully real-time, 32-bit floating-point per channel (96-bit per pixel), ultra-wide gamut, full resolution and non-destructive image-editing engine. Oloneo’s color model handles a range of colors that largely surpasses what printers or screens are capable of displaying today. Combined with the suppression of any color shifting and clipping, it guarantees photographers against any loss of image data during the HDR process. With a simple, intuitive and responsive user interface, all image controls work in full real-time at a rate of 1/20 second or less on a general-purpose desktop or laptop computer.

“PhotoEngine is a completely new way to interact with lighting and exposure after photos are taken,” said Antoine Clappier, President of Oloneo and developer of PhotoEngine. “And because PhotoEngine works in real time, it is the first high dynamic software that is truly practical and productive: PhotoEngine users can now devote their entire time being creative instead of spending hours mostly waiting for an unresponsive product to refresh images on screen“.

Oloneo PhotoEngine Main Features

HDR ReLight™: take pictures then set-up lighting

An image-based relighting tool using merged RAWs or JPEGs to control in real-time the settings of individual light sources after the photos are taken. For each light source, parameters include white balance, brightness, temperature, tint and color. Other features are the auto-detection of ambient light and each light source’s color temperature.

Example uses:

– Set the white balance of each light source separately and independently.

– Switch on and off light sources in a picture.

– Create a realistic night view based on daylight photos.

– Take studio-quality pictures with a basic lighting set-up.

“Can you imagine how revolutionary it is to have the ability to change the settings of every single light source in your scene, including individual white balances, AFTER the shooting?” said Andreas Pfeiffer, professional photographer, expert and consultant in computer-based publishing and new media, and author of the Pfeiffer Report. “PhotoEngine with its HDR ReLight feature is a unique and productive software!”

HDR ToneMap™: high dynamic re-exposure in real-time

A full real-time, high dynamic re-exposure module to merge and edit multiple RAWs or JPEGs. Included are four tone mapping engines, auto-exposure correction with fine-tuning, auto-contrast, detail size and threshold controls, halo control, edge sharpening, auto-align, auto-orientation and more. Users also have the possibility to modify exposure the traditional way by turning off tone mapping while still benefiting from a 32-bit, ultra-wide gamut and full resolution environment.

Example uses:

– Completely recover details in overexposed areas in a photo, automatically or manually.

– Fully restore low-light areas in underexposed photos while removing noise, automatically or manually.

– Create infinite variations of an image, from the most realistic look to the utmost creative tone-mapping style.

HDR DeNoise™: remove noise and keep details

A powerful image noise and grain reduction tool using stacked RAWs or JPEGs, with the added benefits of full detail preservation, no smoothing and no artifacts, even with low-contrast and low-light photos.

Complete, high-end RAW photo processing

Oloneo PhotoEngine also comes with a complete RAW and image processing module including a customizable Color Curve Equalizer™ with hue/saturation, hue/luminance and hue/hue curves, a brightness curve, a unique color saturation curve, a color toning tool, an advanced white balance control and more. PhotoEngine handles most RAW photo formats, with thumbnail and metadata support.

Availability

The English/International version of Oloneo PhotoEngine Beta 1 for Windows is available immediately as a free download at www.oloneo.com.

About Oloneo

Founded by three veterans of the computer graphics industry, Oloneo provides digital photographers with tools that bring together flexibility, creativity and speed.

Oloneo Media Contact

Alexandre Clappier

press@oloneo.com

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© Copyright Oloneo 2010. Oloneo, the Oloneo logo, Oloneo PhotoEngine, HDR ReLight, HDR ToneMap, HDR DeNoise and Color Curve Equalizer are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Oloneo SAS. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.