Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: wolfnowl on March 06, 2011, 02:21:23 am

Title: Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
Post by: wolfnowl on March 06, 2011, 02:21:23 am
Downloaded this today to try it out on a couple of images... I really kinda like it.  Which means that I have to convince the 'boss' now!!   ;D

Mike.

Among Giants
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5501801308_8156fa09a4_o.jpg)

Garry Oak
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5501801930_73fa1fbeb9_o.jpg)
Title: Re: Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
Post by: francois on March 06, 2011, 05:38:19 am
Beautiful, I especially love the second one.

I haven't yet found the time to try Silver Efex 2…
Title: Re: Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
Post by: John R Smith on March 06, 2011, 06:59:10 am
Mike

What did you find that Silver Efex could do for you that Lightroom could not?

John
Title: Re: Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
Post by: wolfnowl on March 06, 2011, 11:26:33 am
John: I like the border effects that Silver Efex Pro has, although that, like everything, can be overused.  One could recreate that in LR using a print template or the Mogrify plugin.  I don't know that there's anything in SEP that's not available in LR but the UI is a bit different and easy to handle.  

There are many things it doesn't do - NR and sharpening for example.  I do like their version of doing selective edits.  It's something new to play with; that may be part of the charm!  So far those are the only two images I've tried it on.

Mike.

P.S. Thanks for the compliment, Francois!
Title: Re: Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
Post by: RSL on March 06, 2011, 11:53:44 am
John, I've used SEP since it first came out and I pre-purchased the upgrade to SEP 2 as soon as the announcement came out. I haven't had time to work with 2 as much as I'd like, but I agree with Mike that there's not much SEP can do that you can't do with CS5 or Lightroom. The big difference is that SEP lets you do it instantly, without the hassle.

There's one thing SEP does better than anything else I've tried: it can introduce a correct-looking grain pattern. The difference is that SEP takes account of densities and distributes its grain pattern the way film does. The other grain generators just plunk down in an even, globally distributed grain pattern, which never looks quite right. The grain feature isn't a big deal, but if you're trying to emulate, say, Tri X, it's a help. I also like the zone display SEP uses to show the distribution of your brightnesses. With that feature and Nik's control points, which Mike mentioned, you can do a really good job of tone mapping in less time than it takes to tell about it.
Title: Re: Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
Post by: BFoto on March 06, 2011, 12:44:43 pm
The only issue right now is that it there is a serious bug that corrupts your keyword list when using 'edit in' from LR.

If you edit in, have a look at your keyword heirachy!

http://www.nikforums.com/showthread.php?329-SEfex2-and-LR-keywording-bug. With one edit this is what happens.

If they can sort this out i will use it again for the control the new sliders in Brightness, contrast and structure give.
Title: Re: Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
Post by: fredjeang on March 06, 2011, 03:46:11 pm
John, I've used SEP since it first came out and I pre-purchased the upgrade to SEP 2 as soon as the announcement came out. I haven't had time to work with 2 as much as I'd like, but I agree with Mike that there's not much SEP can do that you can't do with CS5 or Lightroom. The big difference is that SEP lets you do it instantly, without the hassle.

There's one thing SEP does better than anything else I've tried: it can introduce a correct-looking grain pattern. The difference is that SEP takes account of densities and distributes its grain pattern the way film does. The other grain generators just plunk down in an even, globally distributed grain pattern, which never looks quite right. The grain feature isn't a big deal, but if you're trying to emulate, say, Tri X, it's a help. I also like the zone display SEP uses to show the distribution of your brightnesses. With that feature and Nik's control points, which Mike mentioned, you can do a really good job of tone mapping in less time than it takes to tell about it.
Russ resumed well. SEP is also a time saver and it generates a layer.
Title: Re: Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
Post by: wolfnowl on March 06, 2011, 06:34:33 pm
The only issue right now is that it there is a serious bug that corrupts your keyword list when using 'edit in' from LR.

If you edit in, have a look at your keyword heirachy!

http://www.nikforums.com/showthread.php?329-SEfex2-and-LR-keywording-bug. With one edit this is what happens.

If they can sort this out i will use it again for the control the new sliders in Brightness, contrast and structure give.

I ran into that keywording challenge yesterday with the two images I processed.  Found it easiest to go back to the original image, copy the keywords and paste them into the SEP-completed image.  Nice to know it's not just my computer.

Mike.
Title: Re: Nik Silver Efex Pro 2
Post by: BFoto on March 06, 2011, 07:28:31 pm
I ran into that keywording challenge yesterday with the two images I processed.  Found it easiest to go back to the original image, copy the keywords and paste them into the SEP-completed image.  Nice to know it's not just my computer.

Mike.

Sure, but that defeats the purpose of the 'edit in' functionality and keeping the workflow in LR.