tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312640351553996069.post8369798762007753187..comments2009-05-06T12:26:59.479+01:00Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01637794816032625118davidr.fenwick@virgin.netBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312640351553996069.post-33513897892107250172009-05-06T12:26:00.000+01:002009-05-06T12:26:00.000+01:00Hi Richard,<br /><br />You've done a terrific analysis here - many thanks for sharing this.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />DavidDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01637794816032625118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312640351553996069.post-39401774195710344892009-05-06T11:57:00.000+01:002009-05-06T11:57:00.000+01:00Hiya, clearly your process works perfectly well and is fast. <br /><br />As I learned, NR profiles are based on a specific pattern of noise from a device. Once you adjust highlights, contrast, crop, etc etc in an image - you change this pattern from what is expected, hence applying NR after adjustments is not as effective and will create artifacts that manifest when you then apply final sharpening. In my tests this is clearly noticable, as applying NR at the end of the process can create noise sparkles in your high ISO images. <br />After hours of tests on ISO 3200 images, (with sharpening options turned off) I can report:<br />a) Neat Image is the fastest option on the market, but not the most effective.<br />b) NikSoftware's Define2 gives the best results even in automatic mode - but is upto 3times slower than NI at processing. It also offers amazing regional NR scope if you are not batch processing.<br />c) Imagenomic's Noiseware2 is my choice for speed and very clean NR without killing detail.<br /><br />As part of my test I included a final application of USM on the images after NR. This really shows up any NR flaws. <br /><br />In your flow David you are applying NR to a colour adjusted Jpeg from Lightroom. Then you compress that Jpeg again on final export. Your 5D2 profile in NI should have been created with JPEG not RAW - if you missed this. Sharpening should then be the very last process applied after the creation of the final/resized jpegs.<br /><br />Of course it's all down to speed and storage requirements how users approach their post production. In an ideal world you would apply NR to your images directly on the imported RAW files. It also helps to slightly over expose your images in the first place when working at high ISO.<br /><br />Many thanks!Richardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312640351553996069.post-15136093179781413662009-05-06T10:21:00.000+01:002009-05-06T10:21:00.000+01:00Hi Richard,<br /><br />If I were shooting in JPEG removing digital noise would be the first thing I'd do.<br /><br />I don't do this when shooting RAW, however, as one of the most frequent procedures I use in post-processing is to increase fill light which brings out details in shadow regions and reveals further digital noise. It therefore makes sense (to me at least!) to get your tonal range sorted before you remove noise.<br /><br />All of my images go through the same Photoshop action of noise removal and sharpening. As you rightly point out, images shot at ISO 800 and below aren't radically altered by the NR process but, at the same time, they're not adversely affected, and so it's much more time efficient to run them all through the same process.<br /><br />Any thoughts?<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />DavidDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01637794816032625118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312640351553996069.post-50428078821860722992009-05-05T23:40:00.000+01:002009-05-05T23:40:00.000+01:00Just one final question here :)<br /><br />All NR software developers state to use NR at the start of the process with good reason. However, none of the software plugins I've tested support RAW. Is this why you use Neat Image at the end of your process? <br />David, do you also batch all your images across Neat Image - I was thinking that's quite a waste of time for images under 800 ISO, can these be skipped?<br /><br />Thank youRichardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312640351553996069.post-4279287346962077302009-05-05T18:05:00.000+01:002009-05-05T18:05:00.000+01:00Hi Richard,<br /><br />You are correct!<br /><br />Yours,<br /><br />DavidDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01637794816032625118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312640351553996069.post-25576498146176129242009-05-05T10:04:00.000+01:002009-05-05T10:04:00.000+01:00Thanks for that David, <br /><br />Should I assume then that in Lightroom you leave the NR and Sharpness settings at 0?<br /><br />Many thanks again<br />RichardRichardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312640351553996069.post-32505958654823619252009-05-05T08:22:00.000+01:002009-05-05T08:22:00.000+01:00Hi Richard,<br /><br />I do. I use an unsharp mask with:<br /><br />Amount: 100%<br />Radius: 1 pixel<br />Threshold: 0<br /><br />This crisps up the images nicely!<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />DavidDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01637794816032625118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2312640351553996069.post-2168158775879258122009-05-05T00:30:00.000+01:002009-05-05T00:30:00.000+01:00Hi David, <br /><br />Do you still use this same process?<br />I'd like to know which sharpening settings you use in Photoshop. <br /><br />Cheers!Richardnoreply@blogger.com