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Author Topic: DxO Optics Pro 11: still confused after reading recent thread  (Read 5516 times)

ymc226

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DxO Optics Pro 11: still confused after reading recent thread
« on: September 21, 2016, 05:37:20 pm »

I want to try DxO OP 11 Elite and Film Pack 5 as a plug in to LR6 (asset management).  Currently, I use DxO Viewpoint as a LR6 plug in.  When I do this the .DNG file becomes a .TIFF when I import back to LR.

When I import files from my SD card to LR6 it undergoes RAW conversion by the LR/Camera Raw engine.  If I then process in OP11 as a LR plug in, does the RAW conversion occur from the original file and if so, when I re-import to LR, does the file remain a .DNG (raw) file?  I ask this as a .DNG file would be preferable as white balance and other adjustments can still be made or am I mistaken?

A follow up question is once I am in the Optics Pro plug in and adjust the file using a Film Pack preset or perform other adjustments and then re-import back to LR6, does that file remain in .DNG format?   
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fdisilvestro

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Re: DxO Optics Pro 11: still confused after reading recent thread
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2016, 08:12:23 pm »

When I import files from my SD card to LR6 it undergoes RAW conversion by the LR/Camera Raw engine.

When you import from your SD card to LR6, the file is still RAW. LR/ACR will generate a preview but will not change the original file

I If I then process in OP11 as a LR plug in, does the RAW conversion occur from the original file and if so, when I re-import to LR, does the file remain a .DNG (raw) file?  I ask this as a .DNG file would be preferable as white balance and other adjustments can still be made or am I mistaken?

A follow up question is once I am in the Optics Pro plug in and adjust the file using a Film Pack preset or perform other adjustments and then re-import back to LR6, does that file remain in .DNG format?   

When you use the OP plugin in LR you do get to open the RAW file in DxO, so the RAW conversion will be performed in DxO. You can then chose to output to DNG in DxO, but this DNG is not a Raw file, neither a completely processed file as a Tiff or JPEG. Some people refer to this as "half baked".

The DNG that you get out of DxO it is called "linear DNG, meaning that demosaicing has been performed, as well as any optical correction & edits, but it has not been encoded to a color space such as AdobeRGB, sRGB or similar.

You can open this "Linear DNG" in LR and be able to perform White Balance, Assign a DCP camera profile (you can even create your own custom profiles out of it, if you use a color checker passport with the profile creation tool).

There is a small issue or weird characteristic: If your image has blown highlights, then you should perform white balance in DxO, otherwise you will get non-neutral tones in those blown out areas when performing White balance in LR on the linear DNG.

Note: When you reimport the DNG to LR, you might see a dull image (may users report this). This is due to the assignment of a DCP profile that might be different than your preferred one. Just change the DCP camera profile in LR to your desired or custom profile.

A follow up question is once I am in the Optics Pro plug in and adjust the file using a Film Pack preset or perform other adjustments and then re-import back to LR6, does that file remain in .DNG format?   

Yes, if you choose DNG output from DxO, the same as the answer in the previous question. I'm not sure if it will keep B&W conversions. 

ymc226

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Re: DxO Optics Pro 11: still confused after reading recent thread
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2016, 09:43:33 pm »

Thank you Frank.

Hopefully, I understand your explanations correctly.  I use DNG as my reference for a raw file as I use Leica cameras which shoots raw "DNG" files. 

If as you explained, there would be a possible change in color profile after adjusting to your liking in Optics Pro and re-importing to LR.  If that is the case, even if you assign the correct DCP camera profile in LR, you could still end up with a file different in looks as I assume the DxO camera specific profile is not identical to the Adobe LR camera specific profile.  Too bad as there would be tools unique to each program that would be useful for editing.
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fdisilvestro

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Re: DxO Optics Pro 11: still confused after reading recent thread
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2016, 04:08:02 am »

If as you explained, there would be a possible change in color profile after adjusting to your liking in Optics Pro and re-importing to LR.  If that is the case, even if you assign the correct DCP camera profile in LR, you could still end up with a file different in looks as I assume the DxO camera specific profile is not identical to the Adobe LR camera specific profile.  Too bad as there would be tools unique to each program that would be useful for editing.

Yes, the color profiles are different. In fact, DxO uses ICC profiles while LR uses DCP profiles. You can create custom profiles in both tools, but it takas more effort to do so in DxO.

In my experience:

- Use the DNG workflow if you prefer the LR color/tone corrections and want to use DxO optical corrections, which are superior to those available in LR. Also the PRIME noise reduction is a great tool.

- If you like the color/tone edits from DxO, then output TIFF/JPEG. Actually you can still perform high quality edits in LR out of a 16 bit TIFF.

ymc226

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Re: DxO Optics Pro 11: still confused after reading recent thread
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2016, 09:31:25 am »

Yes, the color profiles are different. In fact, DxO uses ICC profiles while LR uses DCP profiles. You can create custom profiles in both tools, but it takas more effort to do so in DxO.

In my experience:

- Use the DNG workflow if you prefer the LR color/tone corrections and want to use DxO optical corrections, which are superior to those available in LR. Also the PRIME noise reduction is a great tool.

- If you like the color/tone edits from DxO, then output TIFF/JPEG. Actually you can still perform high quality edits in LR out of a 16 bit TIFF.

Thank you again Frank.

I feel the Lightroom color/tone adjustments are fine for me.  Since I will begin using higher ISOs when shooting (previously, I just used native ISO on my M9, MM and M) the Q, I still am seriously contemplating getting DxO 11 for the noise reduction as well as for the RAW conversion.  I tried the LR noise reduction and it seems to soften up the picture too much.  Does the PRIME NR in DxO work better? 

Forgive me, but I am still trying to wrap my head around adjustments that will follow from LR->DxO and back to LR again if a DNG work flow is followed; will the "improved" RAW conversion by DxO be seen in LR on re-importation?  If not, my plan would be to color correct in LR although that would change a bit when sent to DxO, adjust the geometry, noise all in DxO, and then export as TIFF to Imageprint.
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kirkt

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Re: DxO Optics Pro 11: still confused after reading recent thread
« Reply #5 on: September 26, 2016, 09:21:59 am »

You really should download the free trial of DXO and try the workflow.  As was mentioned earlier, DXO will install al plug-in to facilitate a workflow with LR.

kirk
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JoachimStrobel

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Re: DxO Optics Pro 11: still confused after reading recent thread
« Reply #6 on: November 13, 2016, 04:05:15 am »

This topic has been brought up in the DXO forum lately. It is strange that non one from DXO answers those question, which leaves me a bit in the dark.
I agree with that has been said here. To make sure I did a simple quick test: I applied changes in DXO and saved them to LR as DNG. All my DXO changes like Exposure, lightning, vibrancy, Clearview, contrast ( lens corrections of course too) made it into LR. Even changes in WB were visible in LR. But here comes possible problem: As often stated, one needs a camera profile, the original one, to see the correct color in LR. The DNG from DXO has lost that info (or linear DNG can not hold ). And even with the correct profile, the colors are not exactly the same. So I always re-do WB in Lr after DXO. DXO has no AWB so it would be a waste to spend time in DXO with manual WB only to re-do it in LR again, so doing it in LR is fine for me.
I feel better doing WB in LR  on a DNG, but of course it can be done on Tiffs too.
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