Mask tool fails

[pbandurian]

The mask tool doesn't work on my new machine and repeated attempts eventually causes PWP to crash. (Perhaps you've seen the report I've let it send out. Or was that a Microsoft crash report?) I'm running Windows XP-Pro, 32-bit, 4GB RAM, Athlon xp64 processor, and PWP5.0.1.11. I tried rebooting to no avail. I've not had this problem on my laptop or my previous machine but they might have been a slightly earlier version of PWP. The machine is newly built up, though the hardware isn't the newest, and last night is the first time I've tried to create a mask. I'll play around again tonight. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Peter

[Dieter Mayr]

Peter, did you try to freshly download the installation file from the dl-c website and reinstall the program ?
Would not be the first time here that a problem occured because of a corrupted file.

[pbandurian]

Last night I tested creating a mask again on a different image file. Worked fine. Then another. Worked fine. Then back to the image file where this started. Failed. Hmm.

The file where it fails is a bit unusual. It is a longish exposure, ~40", image of the sky and landscape: the Milky Way over the Grand Canyon. In the image histogram it is evident that the stars are saturated pixels, the sky and landscape result in two broad bumps, and the histogram is essentially zero from about mid-intensity level to the top. Also, the image itself is a bit noisy. (ISO1600). My guess is that PWP's algorithms are failing in this scenario. I hope the esteemed author, Johathan Sachs, would comment? Thanks.

Cheers, Peter

[ksinkel]

I need more specific information to be able to follow up on your post.

I need to know what tool you are using within the mask dialog and as many details about the tool's settings as possible. The image you were using may also be helpful. You can e-mail the information to support@dl-c.com.

Kiril