Well after playing around with Topaz Adjust, and trying a lot of 'extreme' processings on throwaway shots, I also have begun to experiment with how to use Adjust much more mellowly, for helping boost contrast and color in some average shots to make them pop more without crossing the line into artificial.
And I also decided now would be a good time to try out the Topaz De-Noise software. ; I still have a fairly established workflow with PSP8 and Helicon noise filter that works well for a majority of my shots, but I think I may be finding a little more recovery room and more detail in my cleaned-up high ISO shots (1600 & 3200).
Here's an example of a harsh ISO3200 shot in POTC - 1600 is really the solid limit for my camera, with 3200 pushing it over the line into quite a bit of noise. ; I cleaned it with my normal processing technique in Helicon then tried to process a bit on my own in PSP8, and the best I could get was this:
[attachimg=1]
I opened up the original and tried reprocessing using just a few quick steps - 1. I denoised it, adjusting the sliders within the program to tune the reduction just how I like it. ; 2. I ran it through Adjust, using the 'clarify' default, and adjusting the sliders again to tune as I liked it. ; Then resize and upload. ; Here's the newer version (click for the 800 pixel wide version):
What do you think? ; It's subtle, but I'm seeing a pretty strong increase in detail in the crate, barrell, hair, and leaves. ; Chroma noise is gone, and luminance is reasonably controlled without going into plastic-look (other than the fact that the subjects ARE plastic!).
DeNoise takes quite a while to process - but it seems to preserve detail pretty well, especially in extreme noise situations. ; I've only ever used NeatImage, Helicon, and now this...so I can't compare to other noise programs. ; But for the package deal, it seems like a worthy addition as another alternative!
[attachment deleted by admin]
And I also decided now would be a good time to try out the Topaz De-Noise software. ; I still have a fairly established workflow with PSP8 and Helicon noise filter that works well for a majority of my shots, but I think I may be finding a little more recovery room and more detail in my cleaned-up high ISO shots (1600 & 3200).
Here's an example of a harsh ISO3200 shot in POTC - 1600 is really the solid limit for my camera, with 3200 pushing it over the line into quite a bit of noise. ; I cleaned it with my normal processing technique in Helicon then tried to process a bit on my own in PSP8, and the best I could get was this:
[attachimg=1]
I opened up the original and tried reprocessing using just a few quick steps - 1. I denoised it, adjusting the sliders within the program to tune the reduction just how I like it. ; 2. I ran it through Adjust, using the 'clarify' default, and adjusting the sliders again to tune as I liked it. ; Then resize and upload. ; Here's the newer version (click for the 800 pixel wide version):
What do you think? ; It's subtle, but I'm seeing a pretty strong increase in detail in the crate, barrell, hair, and leaves. ; Chroma noise is gone, and luminance is reasonably controlled without going into plastic-look (other than the fact that the subjects ARE plastic!).
DeNoise takes quite a while to process - but it seems to preserve detail pretty well, especially in extreme noise situations. ; I've only ever used NeatImage, Helicon, and now this...so I can't compare to other noise programs. ; But for the package deal, it seems like a worthy addition as another alternative!
[attachment deleted by admin]
