Capture One Oversaturated with Red Tones???!

[jeroth]

Ok, so after reading a million reports on amazing tones, in particular skin tones, on the capture one RAW engine, Ive decided to give the trial version a go (Coming from Lightroom). I have just imported a bunch of travel shots I recently took, and am at a loss. The skin tones and any similar tones in general, are saturated with reds??? The images look aweful. There are some shots, particularly landscape shots with AMAZING tones, especially the blue in the sky etc, but the people shots are just horrid. Im about to ditch this foray and go back to lightroom, but Im assuming theres something Im missing, or some kind of callibration I maybe need to setup? I have messed around with the skin tones section in the colour panel, and mucked about with some simple white balance tweaks, but it just seems I have to make drastic changes to my colour levels etc just to get the images to come out "neutral", which just cant be right?  Would greatly appreciate any help ASAP. Please see below for a sample pic, thats the difference from a straight import, NO adjustments in either package.

PS: Shooting with a Nikon D7000.

Regards,

Jeroth

[jeroth]

PS: When I go into the Skin Tone drop down lists under the "White Balance Panel" -> "Skintone Tab", no matter what option I choose (Beige - Light, Honey - Deep etc etc) the skin tones/tones of the image do not change. Is there something Im missing on how to apply these different skin tone presets???


Gaaaah, really not a good first experience with this software, please someone reinstate my enthusiasm to keep giving this a go.

[jeroth]

Ok so I sorted this out by changing the ICC color profile in the images Color panel in the top left from the D7000 preset to the Adobe RGB preset. Should I have needed to change this? Is there a way to set this permanently?

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

My initial impression may be that there may be a problem with white balance. The cardigan on the kid looks grey in your Lightroom image but reddish in C1.

You need to relearn from Lightroom to Capture One.

Personally, I don't feel C1 fits in my workflow, but I am used to Lightroom since it's inception (public Beta 3 in 2006). So, I actually bought Capture One but ditched it. On the other hand it has some advantages over Lightroom, especially if used with Phase One's own backs. A good product but it needs significant effort to learn.

Best regards
Erik

Ok, so after reading a million reports on amazing tones, in particular skin tones, on the capture one RAW engine, Ive decided to give the trial version a go (Coming from Lightroom). I have just imported a bunch of travel shots I recently took, and am at a loss. The skin tones and any similar tones in general, are saturated with reds??? The images look aweful. There are some shots, particularly landscape shots with AMAZING tones, especially the blue in the sky etc, but the people shots are just horrid. Im about to ditch this foray and go back to lightroom, but Im assuming theres something Im missing, or some kind of callibration I maybe need to setup? I have messed around with the skin tones section in the colour panel, and mucked about with some simple white balance tweaks, but it just seems I have to make drastic changes to my colour levels etc just to get the images to come out "neutral", which just cant be right?  Would greatly appreciate any help ASAP. Please see below for a sample pic, thats the difference from a straight import, NO adjustments in either package.

PS: Shooting with a Nikon D7000.

Regards,

Jeroth

[deejjjaaaa]

please someone reinstate my enthusiasm to keep giving this a go.

may I suggest to read a manual, may be ?

[jeroth]

I have looked through the manual, nowhere does it talk about these issues. Furthermore there is little to no resources online about using this software. To add to that, I dont see any reason why I should run into such massive issues right off the bat with something like this. When I install and launch lightroom, it works. I dont have to spend an entire afternoon fiddling around with icc profiles, colour spaces, colour adjustments and in general scouring the internet to try and get my RAW files to be processed neutral.....I relaise this is something I need to learn how to work with, but it just seems for a company creating such high end equipment and software, they should be able to at least streamline this process.

So, after messing around with changing the ICC profile to Adobe RGB, I realised that this is not the right option, as there are exposure issues once I do that, although the "white balance" seems to correct itself with this setting. Gah, getting close to ditching this all-together, glad I got the trial first and didnt pay the money upfront.

[Daniel Salazar]

hi jeroth, my personal opinion, and please don't understand it wrong, is that you are overreacting. You cannot have a plug&play approach with any software. I bet you that even using Aperture you might had "issues". You are just pretty use to Lightroom and want any software to act as.
C1 needs a lot of training is not a software for the masses, however, once you understand what is behind, you will love it.
I'm not paid by PhaseOne, nor sale their product or something similar. I am a simple user, that migrated from Aperture not so long ago and invested a good amount of money being trained (the Webinars are really good but will not help you to make the jump from beginner to medium user), they will help you more to learn some other tricks, etc. I will recommend you getting the training from LuLa and read.
You are also a Nikon User, I don't know how the colours and quality of the image of your camera are, however, the C1's colour rendition of any Nikon file compared to Lightroom will blow you up. Really, you should breath calmly, understand the software and you will be convinced.
Issues, yes it has a lot. The DAM is still in diapers compared to Aperture or even Lightroom. Keywording was bad in Aperture compare to Lightroom, but in C1 is worse as it best.
If you really want to get the best of your files, I will recommend you trying C1, otherwise, Lightroom will serve you in average pretty well.
Cheers,
Daniel

[jeroth]

Hey Daniel, yep I am definitely going to look into decent training with C1 now, although its mainly for the RAW processing and general global adjustments before moving into PS for most of the heavy lifting. And my frustration is nothing to do with being used to lightroom. If I was completely new to lightroom, I could buy it, download it, hit import images and my white balance/color profiles would be generally balanced/normalised, unless I shot the images in the wrong white balance setting in camera. I have spent an entire day trying to figure out how to get my RAW images to import with the correct white balance/colour profile, and still have not really got it 100% sorted, although I am about 70% of the way there (it turns out that the D7000 default profile is just horribly off, I have found other people complaining about the exact same problem with the reds with the D7000, in fact, when I switch to the D7100 or D7100v2 profiles, it improves the colour balance by about 70%). Thanks for the input though, I am definitely going to stick with it and try and get this sorted out, I can tell from playing with the colour settings/controls that this is a POTENT piece of kit, and even with the current colour balance issues on import, once I correct these slightly I can see why people rave about the C1 RAW processing in terms of tones, it is definitely way above what Lightrooom can do, I just think that the colour profile/space detection could be a bit better to avoid new users being turned off this awesome piece of software.

[Jimmy D Uptain]

Don't sweat it dude.
I am a Nikon/C1 user. I have been shooting with D70,D2h,D3, and now D800E.
Up to my latest camera, the C1 profiles have been very good. The D800E, not so much. Orange/Red cast like you are talking about.
So far, what I have found to do best with my 800 is the Adobe DNG Neutral profile/Linear curve to start out with. Then season to taste.
Out of the box conversion, Lightroom does do a better job. However, its the adjusting in LR I'm not fond of. Maybe because I have been using C1 for so long, but C1 just feels more fluid.
I'd like to see a "better" profile for Nikon as well, however their profile isn't a deal killer.
Oh, and you can change the default profiles. Its in the Base Characteristics tool tab you will find five symbols in the upper right hand corner. The first being a question mark "?". The fifth symbol to the right.( looks like three periods. my eyes suck sometimes).
Click on that symbol and you will see it.

By the way, you can pick any profile you like. One user I was chatting with was using a Phase One profile for his Nikon.

[Doug Peterson]

Looks like a simple WB issue.

AutoWB upon Import is one option, as is batch correction, styles-upon-import. Lots of ways to fry that fish.

We offer C1 training online and in person:
https://digitaltransitions.com/event/training

You can also find good-to-get-you-started videos on YouTube.

[ronaldnztan]

Jeroth,

In my experience with using CaptureOne (since 3.7.8. PRO)—long time ago in digital standards—it is unquestionably the uncontested software for skin tones. I also realize that we shoot different subject matter and photographic genre. Regardless, I completely understand your concerns with your perception of "pleasing" skin tones. Please don't give up on the software, you will eventually adapt and determine C1PRO8 to be one of the tools in your photography toolbox. Just like the tools in your real-life tool box, you have your hammers, mallets, and difference screw-drivers and wrenches of various sizes. There's not a "jack-army" tool. Use the right tool for the right job.

Concerning skin tones, consider trying the following:

1) In the drop-down option to select your ICC profile, try to find "No Color Correction." I think it's under "Effects" heading.

2) Set the Curve to "Linear Response."

You will immediately see the image looking "flat;" however with the color that best match what you think it is the right, pleasing colors for you. Since you're working with RAW files, you can use the full functionality within C1PRO8 to bring the image to life with adjusting contrast and invoking the levels and curves tool. If the image was due to white balance issues, try to use the WB dropper tool to sample something NEUTRAL or CLOSE TO NEUTRAL in the image. Since you were in the location, perhaps you remember something in the image or that's "neutral/near-neutral"? Perhaps in the series of photographs, you remember a white car or grey car passing by? As long as there was something neutral/near-neutral captured in those series, you could use that to get a good starting point.

Please try the tips and report back to see if you could achieve something acceptable to you.

Best in health and "coolest" wishes,

Ronald N. Tan | Photographer
http://ronaldnztan.com

[David Grover / Capture One]

Hi Jeroth,

You don't have your white balance tool up or the base characteristics so a little bit hard to comment.

Looking at the histogram its looks quite underexposed as well?  Have you tried compensating for exposure too?

I would keep things simple - don't worry about the skin tone tab in the WB tool (its simply another way of setting the Kelvin and Tint sliders).  Take Ronald's advice and go for using the WB picker on a neutral target, or simply adjust by eye.

In Base Characteristics the ICC profile should be set to Nikon D7000 and nothing else.  As Ronald says you could try different film curves but as I said, keep it simple first.

David

[Rhossydd]

may I suggest to read a manual, may be ?

Nice idea. Rather a shame there isn't one for the current version (.

[deejjjaaaa]

Nice idea. Rather a shame there isn't one for the current version (.

I think that OP clearly demonstrated the he did not bother to read anything at all... /baiting/ more over, in a manner so typical for a "LR" user, he demonstrated total cluelessness about how raw converters work in general...

[Doug Peterson]

Nice idea. Rather a shame there isn't one for the current version (.

Yes, there is a manual for v8.

In capture one select "online user manual".

[Rhossydd]

Yes, there is a manual for v8.
In capture one select "online user manual".

Wrong, there's no such menu option.
The closest option is choosing "Online user guide" and that's VERY sparse.

As far as I can see there's no actual manual as such available yet.

[deejjjaaaa]

Wrong, there's no such menu option.
The closest option is choosing "Online user guide" and that's VERY sparse.

As far as I can see there's no actual manual as such available yet.

that is totally irrelevant to the issue of getting the proper skin tone, documentation for v7 will be just fine along with the general understanding about WB for example... unless you want to show us how specific features, new to v8, are the key to get the colors right in this case

[Rhossydd]

documentation for v7 will be just fine along with the general understanding about WB for example... unless you want to show us how specific features, new to v8, are the key to get the colors right in this case

Which is why telling people to read the manual when there isn't one is such poor advice.

The OP's first and unanswered question is why CO8 delivers such poor results by default. I'm seeing the same here issue here with both Canon and Sony files, they're all too saturated by default.

[deejjjaaaa]

The OP's first and unanswered question is why CO8 delivers such poor results by default. I'm seeing the same here issue here with both Canon and Sony files, they're all too saturated by default.

and I am not seeing that with my Sony files by default... so ?

[deejjjaaaa]

Which is why telling people to read the manual when there isn't one is such poor advice.

it is a good advice to read manual, because he can get an idea about usingh some controls in UI = http://help.phaseone.com/en/CO8/Editing-photos/Working-with-colors.aspx