Niksoft Bundle and Lightroom

Fingertip

Am wondering if folks here have used the Niksoft bundled (Viveza, Silver Efex, etc) with lightroom. Does this really add to Lightroom's functionality, or add redundant capability? It looks all good, but don't want to buy unless it really is an excellent addition. Any help or advice?:dunno

ziggy53

I moved this to the Finishing School which is where we discuss software issues.

Unfortunately I don't have any of this software so I'll defer to others' advice.

pathfinder

Fingertip wrote:

Am wondering if folks here have used the Niksoft bundled (Viveza, Silver Efex, etc) with lightroom. Does this really add to Lightroom's functionality, or add redundant capability? It looks all good, but don't want to buy unless it really is an excellent addition. Any help or advice?

I own Viveza, Color Efex Pro, and Sharpener pro. I use them occasionally, and would not want to be without them. I have looked at Silver Efex, and at the price, and continued to do my B&W conversions the same way I always have, Gorham technique, BD's action ( which I like a lot), or channel Mixer in Photoshop, or the newer Black and White filter in CS4. Among these I can almost always create the B&W technique I like.

It all comes down to money. There are effects in Color Efex Pro that are rather hard to accomplish quickly in Photoshop only, and are not possible in LR ( by me anyway ). If you do a lot of B&W correction, it can be helpful I am sure. Viveza I use sparingly, but it can be handy on some images, and I think is much better than Lightrooms brushes.

If you can easily afford their package, and you enjoy the creative control they offer, go for it.

If you are on a tight budget, and only want something that you are going to use daily, this may not be your cup of tea.

I use Lightroom as my data base and image manager, and as my RAW processor. I do not like its adjustment brushes as well as a good mask in Photoshop personally. Sometimes it is a question of good enough versus extra time in Photoshop. Depends on whether you image is destined to be a 5x7 or a 24 x 36 in print sometimes too.

I don't really know how to answer any better than this. Sorry!.