NIK Software

Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
edited February 21, 2012 in Digital Darkroom
Viewing the videos by Rob Marshall made me think if that is not a good way to keep a consistent way to get the right treatment for many images.

Surely that depends on how much you know about the software and take advantage of it. That, we already know.
It also depends on the consistency of the original photos.

In Nik's I am kind of puzzled for their presentation and I wouldn't know which to choose. Silly perhaps but all solutions attract me.

COLOR EFEX PRO™4 is a strong candidate = 100 US$

SILVER EFEX PRO™ 2 is also a good bet = 100 US$

Is VIVEZA® 2 better or similar to COLOR EFEX PRO™4 ?

What do you people think ? Do you have any experience with these products ?

When I see the demonstrations I think they are a must have. But a demo is just a demo.

I must hurry before the € drops.

Thank you all. :D
All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
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Comments

  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited December 1, 2011
    I use all three and I'm very happy with them.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited December 1, 2011
    Harryb wrote: »
    I use all three and I'm very happy with them.


    can you be a little more specific Harry, please ? :D
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
  • MarkRMarkR Registered Users Posts: 2,099 Major grins
    edited December 1, 2011
    Of the three, I use Color Efex the most, and Viveza the least. I honestly thought when I bought them that it would be reversed. I don't use Silver Efex a lot-- not big on black and white, but it is certainly powerful and capable.
  • Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited December 1, 2011
    MarkR wrote: »
    Of the three, I use Color Efex the most, and Viveza the least. I honestly thought when I bought them that it would be reversed. I don't use Silver Efex a lot-- not big on black and white, but it is certainly powerful and capable.

    Thank you Mark :D
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited December 1, 2011
    Like Mark I use Color Efex the most. I used Silver Efex great a bit on the captures from my recent Africa trip. If you take a look at my African Dream post in Journeys you can see the results I got with it. I don't use Viveza as much but when I use it the results are excellent.

    The ability to apply it globally or with their u points, paint the effect on, or to apply it as a layer mask gives one great flexibility.

    The best thing would be to download trial versions and give them a try.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • idiotabroadidiotabroad Registered Users Posts: 246 Major grins
    edited December 1, 2011
    I use all three and I use Denoise. I love them all but the package is second to Onone suite. If you asking to elaborate on why we are happy with them that's kind of hard to answer as we all use them a different way I'm sure. If you think you will use them as part of your workflow then use the trials first. You won't be dissapointed, unless of course you have Onone.
    Mark

    If you don't agree with me then your wrong.
    I can't be held accountable for what I say, I'm bipolar.
  • CameronCameron Registered Users Posts: 745 Major grins
    edited December 1, 2011
    For those that have Color Efex Pro 4, did you get the Select or the Complete edition?
    Photos
  • MarkRMarkR Registered Users Posts: 2,099 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2011
    Cameron wrote: »
    For those that have Color Efex Pro 4, did you get the Select or the Complete edition?

    Looking at the Select version, many of my favorite filters, including the new Pro Contrast (has the dynamic contrast slider from silver efex 2),and the detail extractor are not included.

    (Select does include Brilliance/Warmth, Midnight, Glamour Glow, Skylight Filter, which I also use a lot.)

    OTOH I believe you can buy select and then upgrade later at a reduced cost, if $$ is tight.
  • Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2011
    MarkR wrote: »
    Looking at the Select version, many of my favorite filters, including the new Pro Contrast (has the dynamic contrast slider from silver efex 2),and the detail extractor are not included.

    (Select does include Brilliance/Warmth, Midnight, Glamour Glow, Skylight Filter, which I also use a lot.)

    OTOH I believe you can buy select and then upgrade later at a reduced cost, if $$ is tight.


    I can't read one - one - bad opinion about this software. :ivar

    bowdown.gifD
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
  • idiotabroadidiotabroad Registered Users Posts: 246 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2011
    No bad opinions, it's good software. Try the Onone suite free trial too. It's worth the comparison.
    Mark

    If you don't agree with me then your wrong.
    I can't be held accountable for what I say, I'm bipolar.
  • Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited December 2, 2011
    idiotabroad wrote: »
    No bad opinions, it's good software. Try the Onone suite free trial too. It's worth the comparison.

    Thank you Idiotabroad :D

    bowdown.gifD
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
  • NeilLNeilL Registered Users Posts: 4,201 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2011
    I have Nik and onOne complete top level suites. I use Nik more often and work it harder. You can do that with Nik, it's tools are more powerful and flexible. With onOne it's more a matter of apply this filter, apply that filter etc, and there are many, many more filters in total than in Nik. With Nik you work the filters for every ounce of potential you can get out of them. You can explore ideas/individuality more in Nik. I use ColorEfex most, but SilverEfex is excellent, and I wouldn't be without Viveza for the times that it has done what nothing else can do. I would give Nik HDR a very wide miss. While onOne tools are more limited individually, they are equally high quality to Nik, no worries with IQ. Integration with Ps/Lr is equal in both. onOne uses way more memory and computing power. Nik is *very* lean. onOne crashes regularly unless you are very careful with RAM resources, Nik never. Both Nik and onOne however are presently overpriced, and I haven't upgraded to the latest versions because the differences are not worth the price asked. onOne has better after sales resources by far - training, lots of freebies, etc. US product tries much harder to make the customer happy beyond the bare essentials, better customer-serving package all round, than the lack-fun-factor/service Europeans.

    DxO Film Pack is a valuable little offering worth looking at.

    Neil
    "Snow. Ice. Slow!" "Half-winter. Half-moon. Half-asleep!"

    http://www.behance.net/brosepix
  • Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2011
    NeilL wrote: »
    I have Nik and onOne complete top level suites. I use Nik more often and work it harder. You can do that with Nik, it's tools are more powerful and flexible. With onOne it's more a matter of apply this filter, apply that filter etc, and there are many, many more filters in total than in Nik. With Nik you work the filters for every ounce of potential you can get out of them. You can explore ideas/individuality more in Nik. I use ColorEfex most, but SilverEfex is excellent, and I wouldn't be without Viveza for the times that it has done what nothing else can do. I would give Nik HDR a very wide miss. While onOne tools are more limited individually, they are equally high quality to Nik, no worries with IQ. Integration with Ps/Lr is equal in both. onOne uses way more memory and computing power. Nik is *very* lean. onOne crashes regularly unless you are very careful with RAM resources, Nik never. Both Nik and onOne however are presently overpriced, and I haven't upgraded to the latest versions because the differences are not worth the price asked. onOne has better after sales resources by far - training, lots of freebies, etc. US product tries much harder to make the customer happy beyond the bare essentials, better customer-serving package all round, than the lack-fun-factor/service Europeans.

    DxO Film Pack is a valuable little offering worth looking at. Neil

    bowdown.gif Neil :D

    I have been trying Nik's and I can see that it is rather demanding in terms of machine.

    Even with 16 RAM - at the maximum in fact - sometimes CS fails to work properly and has to start over.

    :D
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
  • NeilLNeilL Registered Users Posts: 4,201 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2011
    Antonio Correia wrote: »
    bowdown.gif Neil :D

    I have been trying Nik's and I can see that it is rather demanding in terms of machine.

    Even with 16 RAM - at the maximum in fact - sometimes CS fails to work properly and has to start over.

    :D

    I have much less RAM and as I said I have never had a crash with Nik, I find it much faster and leaner running than onOne. By contrast, I have found onOne temperamental, unless you usher it along carefully with an eye on RAM.

    Neil
    "Snow. Ice. Slow!" "Half-winter. Half-moon. Half-asleep!"

    http://www.behance.net/brosepix
  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2011
    My experience with both sets of plug-ins pretty much mirrors Neil's experience. I've found Onone's to be much more tempermental in the past. The latest version seems to run better but I still find Nik's to be much more useful in my workflow.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • idiotabroadidiotabroad Registered Users Posts: 246 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2011
    I'm not sure how you can work colorefx harder than Onone. If at all they are equal. Onone more filters and you can work the filters the same as NIK. What I like the most is that you can apply multiple filters and adjust them all at once instead of one at a time. Onone streamlines my workflow. 6 one way half a dozen the other.
    Mark

    If you don't agree with me then your wrong.
    I can't be held accountable for what I say, I'm bipolar.
  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2011
    idiotabroad wrote: »
    I'm not sure how you can work colorefx harder than Onone. If at all they are equal. Onone more filters and you can work the filters the same as NIK. What I like the most is that you can apply multiple filters and adjust them all at once instead of one at a time. Onone streamlines my workflow. 6 one way half a dozen the other.

    The latest version of Color Efex also allows you to apply mutiple filters at once.

    I like both plug-ins but I prefer Nik. Which set is better for someone else would depend on the individual. I would download trial versions of both and see which works better for the individual. If $ is not an issue get both. :D
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • idiotabroadidiotabroad Registered Users Posts: 246 Major grins
    edited December 5, 2011
    That would be why I don't use my NIK, I don't have the latest. lol Agreed get both. I let my NIK get old because of my heavy Onone use. Thanks Harry
    Mark

    If you don't agree with me then your wrong.
    I can't be held accountable for what I say, I'm bipolar.
  • glennpglennp Registered Users Posts: 171 Major grins
    edited December 13, 2011
    Also with Color Efex Pro 4 is the ability to go back after the fact and make changes, which you couldn't do before. It's non-destructive now. Making it a very big plus. If you are familiar with NX2 then you will appreciate the simplicity of using Viveza and the U-point technology. NIK has made my workflow much easier.
    Nikon D80
    Nikon D70s IR
    http://glennphotography.smugmug.com
  • NeilLNeilL Registered Users Posts: 4,201 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2011
    idiotabroad wrote: »
    I'm not sure how you can work colorefx harder than Onone. If at all they are equal. Onone more filters and you can work the filters the same as NIK. What I like the most is that you can apply multiple filters and adjust them all at once instead of one at a time. Onone streamlines my workflow. 6 one way half a dozen the other.

    With Nik you can alter individual filters, rebuild them, in a sense, while with onOne you can pretty much only adjust the application of a filter, basically more or less of it.

    Even with earlier versions of Nik you could layer the filters in Ps using Smart filters.

    Neil
    "Snow. Ice. Slow!" "Half-winter. Half-moon. Half-asleep!"

    http://www.behance.net/brosepix
  • NeilLNeilL Registered Users Posts: 4,201 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2011
    glennp wrote: »
    Also with Color Efex Pro 4 is the ability to go back after the fact and make changes, which you couldn't do before. It's non-destructive now. Making it a very big plus. If you are familiar with NX2 then you will appreciate the simplicity of using Viveza and the U-point technology. NIK has made my workflow much easier.

    Yes, but even with earlier versions of Nik you could adjust filters in layers in Ps using Smart filters, or if you were not using Smart filters you could simply delete the Nik layer in Ps and go back into Nik and the same filter with all your previously chosen settings would open for you again, to change and send to Ps again.

    Yes the U-point technology in Nik is a great feature.

    Neil
    "Snow. Ice. Slow!" "Half-winter. Half-moon. Half-asleep!"

    http://www.behance.net/brosepix
  • Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2011
    glennp wrote: »
    Also with Color Efex Pro 4 is the ability to go back after the fact and make changes, which you couldn't do before. It's non-destructive now. Making it a very big plus. If you are familiar with NX2 then you will appreciate the simplicity of using Viveza and the U-point technology. NIK has made my workflow much easier.


    With smart filters, yes. Very powerful. :D

    Sometimes I have to re-start CS or it becomes so "tired" that it returns craches. Rarely it is true.

    I wish there was more videos. I didn't understand - so far - how to use the Viveza - but I will get there - because I have tested it only two or three times in spite of having seen one or two of their videos.

    bowdown.gifD
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
  • rpcrowerpcrowe Registered Users Posts: 733 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2011
    NIK Complete Collection
    Antonio,

    I enrolled in a free set of courses at the San Diego Community College Continuing Education Program. This qualified me for an educational discount on both Adobe Software and on NIK software.

    The price of the educational discounted NIK Complete Collection was $150 USD. The complete program includes:

    Dfine 2.0
    Viveza 2
    HDR Efex Pro
    Color Efex Pro 4
    Silver Efex Pro 2
    Sharpener Pro 3.0

    I don't know if there are any post secondary level courses of any type available for you in your location. I also don't know if the educational discount is applicable for persons who are purchasing from another country.

    However, it might be worth it to research if you can take advantage of educationally discounted software.

    regards,
    Richard
  • Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2011
    rpcrowe wrote: »
    Antonio,

    I enrolled in a free set of courses at the San Diego Community College Continuing Education Program. This qualified me for an educational discount on both Adobe Software and on NIK software.

    The price of the educational discounted NIK Complete Collection was $150 USD. The complete program includes:

    Dfine 2.0
    Viveza 2
    HDR Efex Pro
    Color Efex Pro 4
    Silver Efex Pro 2
    Sharpener Pro 3.0

    I don't know if there are any post secondary level courses of any type available for you in your location. I also don't know if the educational discount is applicable for persons who are purchasing from another country.

    However, it might be worth it to research if you can take advantage of educationally discounted software.

    regards,
    Richard

    Excellent Richard. I have thought about this before as my wife is a teacher.
    When I bought my Mac I gave her name and we had a small discount.

    I will surf a bit and try to look if that is possible with Nik software.

    However, I need to know if the software works in two computers with the same key of course. This would give me the chance to play and work on the iMac and the Mac Book Pro. :D
    Do you know anything about this ? I have written them but haven't got any answer so far.
    I have to go to their forum and dig. mwink.gif

    There is one think that happens that I do not like. Well, it is not a question of liking or not. mwink.gif
    I am still in the trial period. But, when I will buy the product I want to buy from the US and not from German or any European country. So far, the site always sends me to the "Euro zone" when I want to pay in US$ for obvious reasons.

    I have even thought to create - why not ? - an adress, what is very easy to do on the web - to buy the products on line. I do not need any DVD, CD or whatever to place in the shelve.

    As you know we can buy software on line. So, what I want is not an extraordinary procedure :)

    Thank you Richard :D

    Almost forgot to say: I know there is nothing here in terms of educational courses. What do you think Portugal is ? Just a small market you know...
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
  • NeilLNeilL Registered Users Posts: 4,201 Major grins
    edited December 14, 2011
    Yes, it's very likely you will get a discount if you can show a teacher or current tertiary level student card. Nik uses a 3rd party service to process this in some cases.

    You can fabricate any address you like, but your computer will show your real location, and computers exchange certain information no matter what b/s their users are saying!

    It's basic these days for household licences to include more than one machine.

    Neil
    "Snow. Ice. Slow!" "Half-winter. Half-moon. Half-asleep!"

    http://www.behance.net/brosepix
  • Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited December 15, 2011
    NeilL wrote: »
    Yes, it's very likely you will get a discount if you can show a teacher or current tertiary level student card. Nik uses a 3rd party service to process this in some cases.

    You can fabricate any address you like, but your computer will show your real location, and computers exchange certain information no matter what b/s their users are saying!

    It's basic these days for household licences to include more than one machine.

    Neil

    bowdown.gif Neil :D

    I know now that the software works in two computers but not simultaneously what is - I suppose - perfectly normal. :D

    I have been searching and I found out about the discount for teachers. I am working on this.

    It is a shame that someone living is Europe can't buy the product in the USA via Web.

    I have to make my mind as the 15 days are coming to an end :cry
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
  • brocotbrocot Registered Users Posts: 165 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2012
    Hi,
    I love to make HDR, so for mi there is no better program then HDR Pro from Nik.

    latest exemple http://erikgodderis.smugmug.com/Other/High-Dynamic-Range-Images/9937211_M5nc2C/1666569702_9GzCtJ9
    Nikon Z5 - D7200/Nikon AF-S DX Nikkon 10-24mm/10-24dx/105mm prime/Nikon 200-500sb900/
    Hello, :thumb Mi Smug :
    http://erikgodderis.smugmug.com/
    http://www.godderis.be
  • Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2012
    My impressions after buying and working with Nik software.
    I finally bought the package from Nik software. The hole thing: "The Complete collection". Expensive business !

    First of all I do not understand their commercial politics: If we live in Europe we must buy from Germany. Why ? No reason what so ever ! It is certainly not an issue about customs because the software can be downloaded from the web as it happens with "physical" products. I had to pay much more for a product I could have downloaded from the Web at a much atrractive price due to currency changes.

    When using intensively the product I understood that it has not a complete coherence of commands. To duplicate a U-point in Viveza you push the button Duplicate while in Color Efex Pro you have another symbol for the same function for example.

    All plug-ins use intensively the computer. OK that is not a problem. The problem is when editing an image and saving the sequence every time you apply a plug-in, CS5 may return an error and all the work is gone s the file is "clear" and you have to start from scratch. Shame.

    Oh yes, there is always the excuse: It's from your computer. Not nicely configured, internal conflicts, etc. etc.
    I understand that we do not have to master the machine/computer to master a plug-in or a software. I don't even care about the computer ! I just want it to do what it is supposed to. Simple.
    I just want the programs to work the way they are expected to.

    Sometimes the "Nik Software Tool" just vanishes. In the middle of a work. When repositioned it has an erratic behaviour: once a setting is up, the next time is down. If we close all the "windows" the next time it opens them all. It's funny. It' s playing with us. Very nice indeed ! :D Very funny umph.gif

    Do you use this software ? Do you have problems with it ?
    Please tell me that I am wrong. Thank you :)
    i-mS2szrm-X2.jpg
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
  • NeilLNeilL Registered Users Posts: 4,201 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2012
    Antonio, gee those bad experiences are not what you want!eek7.gif I also have the complete set, but the previous version to the latest of ColorEfex, and I have the latest versions of Viveza and SilverEfex and the rest. I have a 5 year old computer with Intel Centrino Duo processor 2GBRAM with WinXPSP2 32bit. I run it very leanly, and it is fast. I have an extra expanded paging file on D drive, my software caches are also on D drive, and I frequently refresh RAM when I am using Photoshop, which I also run with lean preferences, by saving, shutting down and restarting. Nik plugins run very smoothly for me. I have never had any of the problems you describe. Were those problems happening with the trial version? Yes there are some gui differences between the tools.

    I suggest first immediately contacting Nik support. Meanwhile you could try doing a complete uninstall of Nik, including doing a search for items not uninstalled by Control panel>Install-uninstall programs, and deleting them, so everything Nik is gone. Then reinstall your registered version from your account on the Nik website. You could also Google around to see if any other users of the latest version of the complete edition are having problems. I haven't seen anything.

    Neil
    "Snow. Ice. Slow!" "Half-winter. Half-moon. Half-asleep!"

    http://www.behance.net/brosepix
  • Antonio CorreiaAntonio Correia Registered Users Posts: 6,241 Major grins
    edited January 11, 2012
    NeilL wrote: »
    Antonio, gee those bad experiences are not what you want!eek7.gif I also have the complete set, but the previous version to the latest of ColorEfex, and I have the latest versions of Viveza and SilverEfex and the rest. I have a 5 year old computer with Intel Centrino Duo processor 2GBRAM with WinXPSP2 32bit. I run it very leanly, and it is fast. I have an extra expanded paging file on D drive, my software caches are also on D drive, and I frequently refresh RAM when I am using Photoshop, which I also run with lean preferences, by saving, shutting down and restarting. Nik plugins run very smoothly for me. I have never had any of the problems you describe. Were those problems happening with the trial version? Yes there are some gui differences between the tools.

    I suggest first immediately contacting Nik support. Meanwhile you could try doing a complete uninstall of Nik, including doing a search for items not uninstalled by Control panel>Install-uninstall programs, and deleting them, so everything Nik is gone. Then reinstall your registered version from your account on the Nik website. You could also Google around to see if any other users of the latest version of the complete edition are having problems. I haven't seen anything.

    Neil


    bowdown.gif Neil. I'll un-install everything and star from zero. :D
    All the best ! ... António Correia - Facebook
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