Viveza - interesting plugin

[StuartR]

I'll probably find that most of you already know about this plug-in but I only came across it today and I rather like the look of it. It's well worth watching the lessons to get a feel for it. I'm having a play with it this evening...

http://www.niksoftware.com/viveza/en/entry.php

[StuartR]

Re: Viveza - interesting plugin

Now playing with Color Efex Pro and Silver Efex Pro from the same stable, this is a nice suite of software (not cheap mind). There's a couple more modules (noise reduction and sharpening) that I've not tried yet. I'll have to post a couple of shots later. Color Efex has pretty good simulations of polarising and ND grad filters among a host of other effects.

[StuartR]

Re: Viveza - interesting plugin

I said I'd post some samples so here's a "before & after" Nik filters on a fairly old 350D shot of mine plus some "one click" mono conversions of the "after image".

The "before" image was processed from RAW through DxO as neutrally as possible. The "after" image was processed from RAW via CS3 and then Nik's polarizer, ND grad and Pro contrast filters applied (the latter with the windmill deselected). Nik's Viveza was used to select and increase saturation in the grass and the barn roof.

Could I have done all this in DxO and / or CS3? Probably, although I think the effects of the "polarize" filter would be hard to replicate. The Nik filters were also much easier and faster to apply than manual tweaking, especially with the "control point" method they have developed which enables very precise and complex selections to be made, more-or-less at the touch of a button. Some (but I don't think all) of the filters work as "Smart Filters" in CS3 (hitherto unexplored by me ) and Color Efex Pro is available for Capture NX2 (I assume as a plug-in).

I know I needed to spend a bit more time on dust spot removal - my 350D was a real PITA with that - It still is, but for my brother





Now some "one click" mono conversions in Silver Efex Pro using "neutral", "high structure" and "full spectrum":







All-in-all an interesting set of filters but you'd need to be a serious amateur or pro to spend 200 Euros on Silver Efex, 250 Euros on Viveza and 300 Euros on Color Efex. There are some (similarly priced) utilities for sharpening and noise removal that I've not tried and there's a couple of "boxed set" options at 600 and 750 Euros. Too rich for me unfortunately, although I've no issues with the software's functionality or the quality of the results. If they could just bundle it at 100 Euros.......