Nik HDR problem

[GrahamH]

Hi all,
Suddenly Nik HDR is giving me strange results, blocky images (see original and HDR below).
I've searched online, but really have no idea.
I have used it before on these very images so the change is recent and baffling.
I'm using it through Lightroom 2 if that helps.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,
Graham

[Andrew76]

Graham, I had a similar problem with Colour Efex about 3 months ago, and Silver Efex just last night. The help desk had two suggestions, and they worked both times. Firstly go to the manufacturer of your graphics card website, and make sure you download the most current driver, then restart the computer. If that doesn't work, go into the settings menu of the HDR plugin, and disable the graphics card. Then restart the computer. I worked like a charm for me each time. I was even able to re-enable the graphics card then, and it worked. Not sure what's wrong with the programs, maybe just a glitch.

**EDIT** I just realized this was looking at the image after saving back into Lightroom. Hmmm, mine was actually importing the images like that into the plugins - not sure if my suggestions will work, but may still be worth a try....

[davidedric]

I have also had (different HDR was crashing seconds after loading) problems with Nik HDR. The first time I followed the route Andrew suggested and it worked. The second time it didn't, but I downloaded and intalled the latest Nik software, and that fixed it.

The download of the latest version is free.

Dave

[GrahamH]

Hi Dave,
I downloaded the free upgrade last year (and still haven't played with it anywhere near as much as I would like to) when Google bought them out. Has there been upgrades since then that I am able to get for free?
I thought about uninstalling the upgrade software and reinstalling it, but not sure how to do that or if I need to uninstall the whole program and reinstall the original version and then download the upgrade again.
Any suggestions welcome. (I'm pretty decent with the Elements, but beyond that, very unsure as to what to do).

Hi Andrew,
good point about the other Nik plug-ins. So I tried accessing the image in Colour Efex through Elements, same result. So whatever has happened it is throughout the Nik software.
I tried to download an updated graphics driver ( after some searching I got to here - Control panel/Device Manager/Display Adapters/Intel(R) HD Graphics Family) and the report said I had the correct driver already installed.
No change to the images with Nik, still blocky as above.

Did I follow the instructions correctly?

Thanks very much for the help so far.
Graham
frustrated

Edit: - Also found similar suggestions on the Nik trouble shooting page. Driver download suggested that the windows update wasn't so good, try manufacturer (Dell in my case). Tried that, new driver, still nothing. Posted link to this page on the Google/Nik contact page.
Still broken.

[davidedric]

Hi Graham,

I didn't know if there had been upgrades (I bought my Nik earlier this year, pre Google), and there haven't been any published that I know of (other than Analogue Efex - which came free when I did the new download), but it just seemed sensible in case a few bugs had been fixed.

I didn't do any un-installing. I just downloaded the new version and it installed over the top, with no need to re-input keys. However, you have to get the download link from Nik/Google. It's not to be found on their web site. The Help Desk sorted me out (in the UK).

See this thread: A compliment for Nik/Google

I am using LR5 - so it is quiet a way on from your version.

Dave

[Andrew76]

Did I follow the instructions correctly?

You did, and I apologize, I meant to mention that you have to go to the manufacturers website - they don't recommend allowing Windows to determine if the driver is up to date - but you figured that out anyhow....

So, the only thing left to try, is to disable the graphic card entirely when using the plugins. Do this by clicking 'Settings' at the bottom of HDR Efex, then click "GPU", then disable the graphics card. Click "OK" to save the settings, and close everything down. Restart the computer, and try again.... If that doesn't work, I'll buy you a nice cup of tea, because I think you'll need it by that time!!