Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Capture One Q&A => Topic started by: Ligament on September 19, 2014, 12:43:04 am

Title: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: Ligament on September 19, 2014, 12:43:04 am
Howdy All,

I'm considering using Capture One Pro 8. I'm rather picky about sharpening. Does this new version employ deconvolution sharpening? Am I better off exporting files from Capture One to Photoshop for sharpening in Focus Magic or Topaz In Focus?
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 19, 2014, 05:30:13 am
I'm considering using Capture One Pro 8. I'm rather picky about sharpening. Does this new version employ deconvolution sharpening? Am I better off exporting files from Capture One to Photoshop for sharpening in Focus Magic or Topaz In Focus?

Hi,

I have not read anything about changes to sharpening in version 8. I therefore assume it's the same as in version 7, and it's quite usable if you need quick output via an output recipe. However, for the best sharpening, I still disable it (checkbox) in the export recipe, which still allows me to judge the focusing while developing the file, it's just not applied in the end. I then apply deconvolution sharpening with Photoshop plugins (FocusMagic or Topaz Infocus) for the best results.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: Doug Peterson on September 19, 2014, 07:08:26 am
No change to sharpening.

Some improvement to luminance noise reduction which is tangentially related.

There are some nice new features (Better HDR sliders, more local controls including HDR and white balance, improved live view workflow). But in general this release was focused on speed and stability. Which I am very glad about.
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: gss on November 15, 2014, 08:00:24 am
I could be wrong, but it sure feels like Capture One 8 has added more deconvolution in its clarity adjustment.
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: ario on November 15, 2014, 11:07:31 am
I doubt Clarity has anything to do with deconvolution.
The new Natural Clarity is superb, anyhow.
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: allegretto on November 16, 2014, 08:26:35 am
I doubt Clarity has anything to do with deconvolution.
The new Natural Clarity is superb, anyhow.


sure is...!
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: brandon on November 16, 2014, 11:02:53 pm
Hi
New to the forum other than as a guest. Anything to choose (preference) between InFocus and FocusMagic for detail sharpening?
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 17, 2014, 03:54:00 am
Hi
New to the forum other than as a guest. Anything to choose (preference) between InFocus and FocusMagic for detail sharpening?

Hi,

FocusMagic tends to produce fewer artifacts, but InFocus can also achieve great results if used with care (=proper radius).

FocusMagic is a mature product which produces excellent results. It is relatively good at keeping the noise and detail separated (it even has settings for film scans), although low noise image sources will always give the best results (modest denoising before sharpening always helps with deconvolution).

InFocus allows to combine deconvolution with a more common type of sharpening and micro contrast boost in the same procedure. I'm hoping that the next version of InFocus will allow some additional user control, like user generated Point Spread functions (PSF) and maybe alternative deconvolution algorithms to choose from. Sometimes the estimated (based on actual image content) deconvolution method works quite well. I've also found that InFocus works well with upsampled image content, to compensate for upsampling blur.

It would be nice if Capture One would consider some improvements to its sharpening functionality, although they may assume that for additional post-processing people will already use Photoshop or other external tools and investing R&D into that functionality will not pay off enough.

It would be a pity if PhaseOne leaves it at what it is, because things like the already implemented sharpness fall-off correction can be a real bonus if combined with state-of-the-art sharpening. Also, the process of Capture sharpening is something that should be tied in with Raw conversion, maybe even at the demosaicing level, and can use input from the EXIF data to assist the user in selecting the best settings. Sharpening also ties in with the distortion and keystone correction, and with general output resampling functionality. There's enough benefit to be had from improving the sharpening quality, and it might be yet another reason to choose Capture One as one's main Raw converter.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: brandon on November 17, 2014, 05:38:32 pm
Thanks Bart for a detailed and thoughtful response (really helpful that you share your expertise/experience). You have made lots of points that are helpful (and hopefully hints to PhaseOne to improve their already excellent RAW converter). Im in part thinking of film scanning so the abilities to sharpen with grain that FocusMagic has as you note may be really helpful. Im familiar with (have) TopazLabs other products, they have some detail enhancement in Detail 3 with their "Deblur" tab posibly using deconvulution approaches I am guessing. Can always trial it in any case. Have a good day, Brandon
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: deejjjaaaa on November 17, 2014, 06:16:53 pm
It would be nice if Capture One would consider some improvements to its sharpening functionality, although they may assume that for additional post-processing people will already use Photoshop or other external tools and investing R&D into that functionality will not pay off enough.

C1 (beyond being OEM raw converter for P1 products) aims at LR, LR aims at more things to be done inside LR less outside... so logically just like C1 bothered to introduce a lot of postprocessing (and not raw conversion) enhancements they will eventually need to try to edge out LR on that feature too.
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 17, 2014, 06:26:47 pm
Im familiar with (have) TopazLabs other products, they have some detail enhancement in Detail 3 with their "Deblur" tab posibly using deconvulution approaches I am guessing. Can always trial it in any case. Have a good day, Brandon

Hi Brandon,

You're welcome. Topaz Labs Detail indeed has deconvolution functionality under the Deblur tab, and that works well. But its real strong points, which go beyond intrinsic sharpness, are halo-free detail enhancement based on feature size relative to the image size, and Luminosity detail based on complementary colors, while preserving natural looking colors ("Intellicolor" technology). It's a marvelous  tool for that (Creative 'sharpening') aspect of image quality.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: allegretto on November 17, 2014, 11:51:05 pm
@ Ligament

You can get a free trial for 8.0 with full function

Try it... see what you think...?

Should be a rapid Clinical Trial
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: eosnead on December 17, 2014, 08:55:24 am
I didn't see anyone mentioning using "Structure". I use this function for peaking sharpness. Is there some problem is using this method?
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on December 17, 2014, 10:17:01 am
I didn't see anyone mentioning using "Structure". I use this function for peaking sharpness. Is there some problem is using this method?

Hi,

It is more intended to make complex structures stand out a bit more but, if selectively used on an adjustment layer to avoid boosting noise in smooth gradients, it can help to bring out some simulated sharpness in feature rich areas. when used with a negative amount, it can help to subtly suppress some noisy areas.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Capture One Pro 8 sharpening capabilities?
Post by: eosnead on December 19, 2014, 08:11:53 am
Thanks for your reply. I have been playing with the Structure option and have no problem controlling noise but I'll be darn if I can see much change in the image structure. Maybe I don't have a developed eye of don't have an image that is effected by the action but in either case I do like the effect it has on peaking sharpness.