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Microsoft Pix

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Re: Microsoft Pix

#171

Post by piyush_soni »

mspix wrote: post #78
ksml wrote: post #51

Ooh, they mention it includes Hyperlapse! I haven't looked into Pix too much so I don't know if this is a full implementation (someone commented on an unnatural-looking stabilization demo, but I think it was just a poor choice of an example), but Hyperlapse is one of the coolest research projects I've come across: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/hype... The video demo there is worth checking o…

Pix includes the full implementation of Hyperlapse Mobile, which shipped on Windows Phone and Android last year.

Incidentally, Google has very recently come up with something very similar to Hyperlapse : https://plus.google.com/u/0/+GooglePhotos/posts/ajfo6Nwyn5n

Re: Microsoft Pix

#172

Post by dimman »

kevinliang wrote: post #114

am i the only one who thinks the iphone 6s images look better?

Definitly not. Two faces, say 5% of the total image are correctly exposed at the expense of the other 95%. If you're serious with photo editing you increase the exposure of the faces afterwards a bit...

Thanks but no thanks Mickeysoft.

Re: Microsoft Pix

#173

Post by deviate_X »

The still picture faces look better with Pix ...

They are using face-tracking and stabilisation around the faces in the videos which look's odd to most people because we definitely are not used to seeing this and probably disturbs our brain neurons which have not evolved in any way to compute this..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3KvI4yDAwM

Re: Microsoft Pix

#174

Post by yitchelle »

SquareWheel wrote: post #166
mspix wrote: post #76

We're from the Microsoft Pix team, and we are interested in your feedback. Happy to answer questions.

The linked landing page is nearly 40MB. What's the deal? http://i.imgur.com/70wES9O.png On a 56K modem that would take 1.5 hours to download...

How many are still using a 56K modem? serious question.

Re: Microsoft Pix

#175

Post by awesomerobot »

rodgerd wrote: post #31
kemiller2002 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could be totally wrong, but if I had to guess, they are using it to show off / validate their work on Microsoft Cognitive Services (Project Oxford). It has facial recognition, along with a number of other things, and so this would be an easy way of getting data on possible problems they have and how well their algorithms work. Just a guess though.

Facial recognition is pretty much solid for most cameras now, though. Face registration, which Sony have been rolling into some E-mount cameras, would be more impressive.

It's a bit different if you're prioritizing exposure of different faces based on their attributes though right? If you're taking a photo of a black person and a white person together you're often underexposing someone or overexposing someone.

Re: Microsoft Pix

#176

Post by awesomerobot »

sp332 wrote: post #12
mattnewton wrote: post #3

My untrained eye can't really notice a difference except that the pix version looks brighter (even washed out), the live photo version looks really uncanny valley (where the faces don't move but the world does around them is an unsettling effect).

My first thought when playing with the slider was that the Apple version was much better. But, if you focus on the faces (which was probably the intent of the person taking the photo) they do come out better in the Pix version. I think all the examples had the faces underexposed, so the "fix" for each of them was to brighten the photo.

They're also using models with multiple skin tones (dark vs light), which is a classic scenario for underexposed faces.

Re: Microsoft Pix

#177

Post by wepple »

Analemma_ wrote: post #10

This feels sort of redundant... that feature list (multiple face detection with auto exposure/white balance, burst mode with an algorithm to guess which one is "best") is all stuff the built-in camera app on iOS does already. Okay, the color and white balance look a little better for Pix in the example shots, but everyone's RAW processing is better in some situations and worse in others. I'm sure Apple could come bac…

There's a certain threshold in terms of added-value that has to be met in order for "yet another" app to live on my home screen. This pix app looks like it may have a bit of cool technology behind it, but will I install it? big nope.

Re: Microsoft Pix

#178

Post by asuxx »

mspix wrote: post #103
tdkl wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice way to gather mobile numbers, not even needed to build a social network first.

We wanted to provide an easy option for users not currently on an iOS device, but only use the number for a 1-time SMS with a link to the Pix listing in the App Store. We do not collect or store the phone numbers, out of respect for user privacy.

I'm in the U.K and I never receive the text, despite saying it has been sent, is it available here?

Re: Microsoft Pix

#180

Post by etendue »

pawadu wrote: post #163
etendue wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was on vacation recently and used Pix all over---I got many great photos that were clearly better than what I would have gotten with the stock app (the built-in comparison feature is a great idea), even on landscapes where there weren't faces to focus on. Pix also managed to take a fantastic Live Image of my sister and me, which is really special because I don't get to see her very often. Thanks to you all for that…

Could you comment on the size of the generated files? live images in particular? On W10m live photos are just too large (10-15MB) to be sent to others.

The Live Image with my sister is an MP4 file, 852KB, 480x640 resolution, H.264 encoding.
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