ACR calibration scripts...any preference?

[Philmar]

Currently I've been using the generic ACR preset for the 30D that I downloaded of the huelight.com site. I now have the Gretag colour chart and am about to calibrate ACR for my specific 30D. I see that there are a couple of calibration scripts. Are there any differences/advantages to either of these?

the Fors Script
http://fors.net/chromoholics/index.php

or

the Rags Script
http://www.rags-int-inc.com/PhotoTechStuff/AcrCalibration/

Note - I am a photo enthusiast hobbyist and not a professional photographer who requires absolute colour accuracy (plus I am lazy and don't want to embark on rediculously time consuming efforts that will result in minimal improvements to my attempts at ACR/monitor calibration and colour management)

[E Slagle]

The Fors script is certainly easy and I've generally found it moderately accurate; however, I've found using Lee Varis' Hue/Saturation technique both easy and more  accurate than Fors'. Also, Fors' method takes a while, about and hour so don't expect immediate results.

I'm not familiar with the other calibration script so no comment here.

Varis' method is similar to Fraser/Schewe's method outlined in Real World Camera Raw but provides direct adjustment numbers to be applied in the ACR calibration tab. The downside I suppose is that you have to go back and forth between Photoshop and ACR but with a fast computer this is really minimal.

With Fraser/Schewe you can make the adjustments right in ACR but there is definitely some give and take/trial and error with the RGB numbers until the best compromise is achieved.

Under any circumstance read Fraser/Schewe's Real World Camera Raw if you've not already--a must.

Cheers, Eric

[Philmar]

Under any circumstance read Fraser/Schewe's Real World Camera Raw if you've not already--a must.

Cheers, Eric
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Rats, I only have Fraser's RWCR book for CS2.

[MBehrens]

the Fors Script
or
the Rags Script

Note - I am a photo enthusiast hobbyist and not a professional photographer
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I fit into the same group as you - non-pro. On my Canon Rebel XTi I found the Rags script much better than the Fors. It seems to do a lot more sampling than Fors.

[Samotano]

Funny thing.  Just the other day I tried two different scripts (besides Thomas Fors' acr calibrator).  
One is Rag Gardners script, the other is Simon Tindemans'
I really like the results I obtained with tindemans' script.  Colors tend to be not nearly as saturated as with Fors' script.  Another nice thing is that I believe the calibration is computed on all patches.  It is also (marginally) faster than Fors'.

[Philmar]

Thanks for the replies thus far...on another forum I was made aware of the Tindeman's script.
Should others find this thread while researching, here's a link to it: tindeman
Someone also mentioned a Varis method but it seems rather involved for someone who is a hobbyist and for whom colour accuracy is not worth THAT much bother  

So which script did most of you people use?

[E Slagle]

Someone also mentioned a Varis method but it seems rather involved for someone who is a hobbyist and for whom colour accuracy is not worth THAT much bother  

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I believe the calibration in RWCR CS2 is the same as in Schewe's CS3. I do like Varis' method better, but I don't think that I would go as far as recommending his book "Skin" just for the calibration process.

Even for "enthusiasts" I believe in at least attempting a manual calibration--if for no other reason for better comprehension of what's going--then you can decide which produces the better result for your needs.

Eric

[Pantoned]

Found this comparison some time ago, hope it helps.

http://www.photoactivity.com/Pagine/Artico...l%20sole_en.asp

Arnau.

[Philmar]

Thanks everyone for the replies thus far - looks like tindeman's script is based on the other 2. I'll probably just use the Tindeman script since there's no point belly-aching over something that probably won't make much of a difference over something that is not critical.

I've spent a while googling the subject, but to no avail. Is Noldin the only one to have done a comparison?

I haven't read anything yet on the Varis method. Is it labour intensive compared to simply running a script? Are the results that much better than the Tindeman script? Remember, I am a photo enthusiast hobbyist and not a professional photographer who requires absolute colour accuracy (plus I am lazy and don't want to embark on rediculously time consuming efforts that will result in minimal improvements to my attempts at ACR/monitor calibration and colour management).

As always, sincere thanks to all those who've taken time to help me!!

[ejmartin]

Thanks everyone for the replies thus far - looks like tindeman's script is based on the other 2. I'll probably just use the Tindeman script since there's no point belly-aching over something that probably won't make much of a difference over something that is not critical.

I've spent a while googling the subject, but to no avail. Is Noldin the only one to have done a comparison?

I haven't read anything yet on the Varis method. Is it labour intensive compared to simply running a script? Are the results that much better than the Tindeman script? Remember, I am a photo enthusiast hobbyist and not a professional photographer who requires absolute colour accuracy (plus I am lazy and don't want to embark on rediculously time consuming efforts that will result in minimal improvements to my attempts at ACR/monitor calibration and colour management).

As always, sincere thanks to all those who've taken time to help me!!
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I had been using the Rags Gardner script in the past; this weekend I ran the Tindeman script and like the results better.  The thing I like about its latest incarnation is that I can choose weights for the different GM squares telling the script which ones I want most to be closely matched, rather than weighting them all equally.    Even so, the end result was a closer match for all squares than the Gardner calibration.

I once tried the Fraser/Schewe method and, besides giving me a lot of eyestrain, did not give good results -- tweaking one slider sent previously adjusted colors out of whack, and the process didn't really converge well.  The advantage of a script is that it automatically varies the sliders and does the optimization for you, using a measure of optimization much more accurate than eyeballing a few squares (ie simultaneously optimizing many colors).

[Philmar]

I once tried the Fraser/Schewe method and, besides giving me a lot of eyestrain, did not give good results -- tweaking one slider sent previously adjusted colors out of whack, and the process didn't really converge well.  The advantage of a script is that it automatically varies the sliders and does the optimization for you, using a measure of optimization much more accurate than eyeballing a few squares (ie simultaneously optimizing many colors).
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thanks - deep down (in addition to my innate laziness and desire to idle my time taking photos rather than calibrating my gear) I figured this process would be a major PITA. I hate trying to eyeball things - makes me hearken back to the days of calibrating with Adobe Gamma. I find that often after processing a RAW file that when I revisit it the next day that my 'eyeballing' was a bit off. So I'd prefer a system that isn't subjective or prone to error due to poor eyesight, concentration or eye fatigue.
So, the Tindeman script looks promising.

Just curious, from what I've read I never really got an idea of how long these scripts take to run...

[ejmartin]

Just curious, from what I've read I never really got an idea of how long these scripts take to run...
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=170838\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

That will depend on the speed of your machine.  On my old powerbook G4 1.5GHz laptop, they take the better part of an hour.  On my relatively new 2.66Ghz dual core Mac Pro, less than ten minutes, which makes it relatively painless to try several calibrations with different settings to see what matches best.

[Hellstan]

That will depend on the speed of your machine.  On my old powerbook G4 1.5GHz laptop, they take the better part of an hour.  On my relatively new 2.66Ghz dual core Mac Pro, less than ten minutes, which makes it relatively painless to try several calibrations with different settings to see what matches best.
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Does ACR calibrator allow to create several scripts for several cameras, and how ?
Or only one script at a time ?

[Philmar]

this weekend I ran the Tindeman script and like the results better. 
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I was going to run the Tindeman's script today but I don't think I know how. When I am at [a href=\"http://21stcenturyshoebox.com/tools/ACRcalibrator.html]tindeman's Webpage[/url] there is a link to "download" his script. When I click on it nothing downloads, it just brings me to another webpage with 'script'. Am I to copy and paste the script? all of it? from what point and up to what point? there seems to be copyright preamble, do I copy this also?

[KeithR]

I was going to run the Tindeman's script today but I don't think I know how. When I am at tindeman's Webpage there is a link to "download" his script. When I click on it nothing downloads, it just brings me to another webpage with 'script'. Am I to copy and paste the script? all of it? from what point and up to what point? there seems to be copyright preamble, do I copy this also?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=178724\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I'd like to get the answer to this also. Anyone able to shed some light on this?

[01af]

... there is a link to "download" his script. When I click on it nothing downloads, it just brings me to another webpage with 'script'. Am I to copy and paste the script?[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=178724\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Yes, exactly. Select the whole contents of the script page, including the copyright preamble, and copy it into your preferred text editor, e. g. Notepad (in Windows, Ctrl-A selects all, Ctrl-C copies the selection to the clipboard, Ctrl-V inserts the clipboard contents at the cursor position). Then save the text file under an arbitrary name with an ".jsx" extension, like "AcrCalibratorL_v2-8.jsx". Copy the .JSX file to Photoshop's Presets\Scripts folder.

Does ACR Calibrator allow to create several scripts for several cameras, and how?[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=174046\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

The ACR Calibrator does not create scripts but preference files (one at a time) which can be loaded into Camera Raw, to adjust the calibration settings. For each camera to be calibrated, you'll need a shot of a GretagMacbeth Color Checker card, then run the ACR Calibrator once on each shot.

And in case someone's wondering---no, you cannot download and print an image of the Color Checker card ... or you can but it would be pointless. You'll need a physical copy of that card (approx. $75 US).

-- Olaf

[ejmartin]

I was going to run the Tindeman's script today but I don't think I know how. When I am at tindeman's Webpage there is a link to "download" his script. When I click on it nothing downloads, it just brings me to another webpage with 'script'. Am I to copy and paste the script? all of it? from what point and up to what point? there seems to be copyright preamble, do I copy this also?
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Right click on the link to his script

[a href=\"http://21stcenturyshoebox.com/downloads/ACR-Calibrator-L-v28.jsx]ACR-Calibrator-L-v28.jsx[/url]

and save it (either in some folder in your home directory, or in Photoshop's scripts directory under Presets>Scripts wherever Photoshop is located on your machine).  If you put it in the Photoshop scripts directory, it should appear when you relaunch Photoshop under File>Scripts; or if you put it somewhere else, use File>Scripts>Browse...  and navigate to where you put it.  First you need to take a raw image of a color checker chart in good sunlight with the sun about 45 degrees off axis from the camera.  You might want to bracket the exposure in 1/3 stop steps, and choose the one that has middle gray at the right place in whatever color space you're working with.  Develop the raw file in ACR with *neutral* settings (no saturation, contrast, exposure, brightness etc corrections; however do use the white balance and tint sliders to get the neutral gray square to actually be gray) and open directly in Photoshop; use the pen tool to draw a path from the upper left to lower left to lower right to upper right squares of the chart; then launch the script and go do something else while it churns away.  The output of the script is a set of calibration presets which you can enter as calibration defaults in ACR.

[Philmar]

Thanks everyone !!

[KeithR]

Yes, exactly. Select the whole contents of the script page, including the copyright preamble, and copy it into your preferred text editor, e. g. Notepad (in Windows, Ctrl-A selects all, Ctrl-C copies the selection to the clipboard, Ctrl-V inserts the clipboard contents at the cursor position). Then save the text file under an arbitrary name with an ".jsx" extension, like "AcrCalibratorL_v2-8.jsx". Copy the .JSX file to Photoshop's Presets\Scripts folder.
-- Olaf
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=178866\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

HELP!  
I've tried the Ctl-A, Ctl-C, Then Ctl-V onto Photoshop's Presets\Scripts folder and nothing happens. I've tried to paste it into a folder on the desk top. Again nothing.
I've done hundreds of cut and paste without any trouble, but this won't go. What am I doing wrong?

[oldshadow]

HELP!  
I've tried the Ctl-A, Ctl-C, Then Ctl-V onto Photoshop's Presets\Scripts folder and nothing happens. I've tried to paste it into a folder on the desk top. Again nothing.
I've done hundreds of cut and paste without any trouble, but this won't go. What am I doing wrong?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=187314\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Right click and save as, copy to the folder previously mentioned.