LinearChooser (LinearAction/Sharpen 2.2) beta out

[Pekka]

Hi,

In this version of the action I
- decided to call this "LinearChooser" (see below).
- did a new color conversion which is very true to Canon's own conversion. I like these colors very much... No what you see in D30 thumbnail is very close to what you get here in this action - only that this looks better than Canon's! :)
- Combined LinearSharpen and LinearAction to one package.
- Changed LinearSharpen to use curves instead of levels, so you don't need to touch anything.
- also, I made a Chooser action which does 5 different sharpening suggestions and places the results as snapshots. It's easy to choose the best one. An unsharpened version is also there for comparison and for other sharpening methods.
- included "make brighter" and "make darker" actions.

This version in for ISO 100-200 photos - I'll see later what changes are needed for high ISO shots.

Test it and let me know how you like it.

PC:
http://216.40.251.18/D30/linear/LinearChooser.atn

MAC:
http://216.40.251.18/D30/linear/LinearChooser.sit

Open a Linear TIFF, run "Chooser" and sit back!

Pekka

[KHogan]

Hi Pekka,

Wow, thank you for this latest version!! Just some preliminary comments for now because I've only done a few tests with this new action so far. More extensive testing later this week. But...

First thing, I absolutely LOVE that it now runs all by itself. This means I can batch it! How wonderful!!! I also really like the idea of the chooser. This is a great idea. That said, my first trials on a handful of files gave me results that I'd have to say the jury is still out on for now in terms of the sharpening. When I have time to go back and test more extensively, I will take a closer look at the sharpening parameters you're using. Since sharpening is subjective in my opinion, I don't see this as a problem with your action. It's very easy to tweak the settings to one's personal tastes/preferences. So that's not a criticism as much as merely a comment.

About the colours, YES, I do like the results better than what I was getting with the 2.1 version. Although, I think I mentioned somewhere in another thread that my favorite so far were the results from version 1.02. I didn't like at all the results from version 2.0 in terms of the colours. With version 2.1, I didn't have as much problem with the very slightly more saturated reds as others were having but I did have a problem with what I was seeing as a very slight but overall green cast. In this version 2.2, this green cast has disappeared which for me is a great thing. So I do much prefer the results from a colour perspective of this version. I will check later against version 1.02 to see the differences. But of your 2.x versions, this one so far is my favorite!!! Very nice work. IMO this is your best attempt yet at resolving linear files most accurately. I am happy with what I'm seeing. And again, I love the fact that I can now batch this action. :)

The "booster" now going both ways is a nice touch too.

So once again, these are just first impressions but so far, I like this version very much and love the extra "features" you have added here. Bravo!!!

And finally, since I've yet never really said anything about your linear conversion actions although I've been quietly playing with them since their first versions, I want to finally take this opportunity to thank you for this great work you're doing and for offering these actions up freely that we can take advantage of them and use them to attempt to get the most out of the D30. A great big thank you for this. It's much appreciated!! ;)

Regards,
Kharim

[John - NJ]

Pekka:

Maybe I'm not running it correctly or my PS6 settings may be off. I ran Chooser expecting to see various photos to choose from. Instead, I only had the last converted image. The others all disappeared or were overwritten. I can't tell which.

I did my own test making duplicates and running the actions myself. I was quite impressed with the results.

Any idea why the duplicates disapeared?

Thanks.

[Pekka]

Hi Kharim,

Thanks for a thorough comment!

I agree that sharpening could need more fine-tuning and variance, most of the work I did was on color tuning.

The sharpening has now two passes, first is on edges, and second is for everything else but edges. This is an experiment which I liked because it does not have the problem of overall USM over already USM'ed edges.

Snapshots B and D are probably most useful, C and E are very powerful on textures, and A is 'edges only'.
The biggest difference between B and D is that they behave differenly on sharp highlights (easily seen on tight net-like textures).

Let's see what develops - if you have any sharpening ideas let me know - this could very well be a joint project of all D30'ers! :)

Pekka

[Pekka]

John - NJ wrote:
Pekka:

Maybe I'm not running it correctly or my PS6 settings may be off. I ran Chooser expecting to see various photos to choose from. Instead, I only had the last converted image. The others all disappeared or were overwritten. I can't tell which.

I did my own test making duplicates and running the actions myself. I was quite impressed with the results.

Any idea why the duplicates disapeared?

Thanks.

Odd :( Are you using Mac of PC? Maybe the naming does not work on Mac? I am not aware of any snapshot size/number limitations....

Pekka

[igor]

Hi Pekka The Chooser works fine,colors are great,
but red channel is too much noisy.
I prefer Convert only -Make a bit darker,for sharpen
I use JB'custom smart sharpen with great results.
Thanks again for Your support.

[KHogan]

pekka wrote:
John - NJ wrote:
Pekka:

Maybe I'm not running it correctly or my PS6 settings may be off. I ran Chooser expecting to see various photos to choose from. Instead, I only had the last converted image. The others all disappeared or were overwritten. I can't tell which.

I did my own test making duplicates and running the actions myself. I was quite impressed with the results.

Any idea why the duplicates disapeared?

Thanks.

Odd :( Are you using Mac of PC? Maybe the naming does not work on Mac? I am not aware of any snapshot size/number limitations....

Pekka


I have a suspicion as to what's going wrong for John here. John, when the chooser is finished running, are you actually checking back in the history to see the multiple versions of sharpening that were generated? Once you have run Chooser, you only end up with one version of the image actually showing on screen. You must go in your History and select each of the other versions to see them. They are saved as individual snapshots while the action is running. Are you doing this?

This is my guess as to what may be the problem. Sorry if my suspicion is wrong.

Kharim

[KHogan]

Pekka,

I will be looking more closely at the parameters you are using for sharpening later in the week. I am intrigued by this aspect of your action. What I was seeing last night were results that made me think, "Hmmm, why did he do that?". But admittedly, I left it as a question for now because I must finish up another project before I get too involved in dissecting this question. But I will because I wondered a similar thing with version 2.1 sharpening and had gotten to using LinearAction and then sharpening on my own later.

I like this idea you're describing though of running two USM passes, one for edges and the other one for the complement. I think this would work nicely. Although, my initial thought is that a carefully adjusted curve could give you similar results with only one USM pass, no? Anyway, it's a bit of a rhetorical question because I have to have a closer look and at the moment I'm at work...nowhere near my PS. :)

I'll definitely let you know though if I have any ideas worth mentioning on the sharpening issue...

Regards,
Kharim

[John - NJ]

Kharim:

I did not check back in the history to see the other versions. I presumed that since duplicates were created that there would actually be five different images on the screen. I will try it your way tomorrow when I'm back in my office.

Thanks for the help.

KHogan wrote:

I have a suspicion as to what's going wrong for John here. John, when the chooser is finished running, are you actually checking back in the history to see the multiple versions of sharpening that were generated? Once you have run Chooser, you only end up with one version of the image actually showing on screen. You must go in your History and select each of the other versions to see them. They are saved as individual snapshots while the action is running. Are you doing this?

This is my guess as to what may be the problem. Sorry if my suspicion is wrong.

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Pekka,

Another interesting approach this time. I think for proper batch work some way to specify the preferred choice will be needed.

I have only done a few tests using a not vrey good image of a Q13 card. Here are some comparisons:

JPG conversion from BreezeBrowser

http://www.rogercavanagh.com/images/temp/linear_chooser/q13-jpg.jpg

Linear TIFF process with LinearAction 2.1

http://www.rogercavanagh.com/images/temp/linear_chooser/q31-la21.jpg

Linear TIFF processed with Linear Chooser

http://www.rogercavanagh.com/images/temp/linear_chooser/q13-lcbeta.jpg

For me the biggest problem with l/tiff is the blue and cyans. The LC curves look to have pushed these way off compared to LA21.

WRT to sharpening, I am trying a few ideas of my own, which I will report on when/if I have something useful to say, but I do feel (without actually comparing side by side) that the results I used to get with LS1.x were better than LA2.x or LC.

I also endorse the remarks of the other posters about the effort you are putting in for us D30 nuts.

Regards,

Roger
www.rogercavanagh.com

[Pekka]

Thanks Roger,

can you mail me that CRW for a few tests?

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Pekka wrote:
Thanks Roger,

can you mail me that CRW for a few tests?


Pekka,

I've just sent it (1020 GMT) - hope such a large attachment arrives OK.

Regards,

Roger