DxO vs ACR -- redux!

[dfindr]

I was processing an image for another thread and I ran it through DxO defaults and ACR defaults and I am amazed at the accuracy of the color rendered by DxO compared to ACR. See images below. The color chart and Testor bottles on the right are dead on. I held the Testor bottles up the the computer screen and the colors are a dead on match. Now I am sure ACR can be tweeked to match better, but for my money DxO defaults straight out of the box, no muss no fuss, excellent.

DxO 1st - ACR 2nd

[expatdude]

What version of DxO are you using?

[Anke]

Wow, those four paint pots are vastly different in colour :shock:

[condyk]

DxO is very good but when i looked at it it wouldn't work with windows x64 so no good to me on my main machine. Did a good job on my laptop tho'. I went with Bibble Pro in the end and very happy. Worth checking it out alongside DxO. Not sure use use of defaults is a good way to test. doesn't it depend on the defaults? Wouldn't no settings be better, or the settings that one sets as defaults after playing around a while?

[Tsmith]

ACR works best if you have a Camera Profile set up to use. Makes a world of difference over using the default calculation as a starting point.

[dfindr]

What version of DxO are you using?


Ver 5.0.3, the most current

[dfindr]

DxO is very good but when i looked at it it wouldn't work with windows x64 so no good to me on my main machine. Did a good job on my laptop tho'. I went with Bibble Pro in the end and very happy. Worth checking it out alongside DxO. Not sure use use of defaults is a good way to test. doesn't it depend on the defaults? Wouldn't no settings be better, or the settings that one sets as defaults after playing around a while?


Excellent point. And for some the defaults are not the best starting place, and as I noted ACR and DPP probably can be tweeked to provide similar results. My point was straight out of the box, it was the best for my money. Also yes the best way to test is with all defaults off. This I did, see this thread:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=444138

Note: The comparison images in the above thread were taken in slightly overcast conditions outside about mid day. The images from this thread were taken indoors using a 75 watt shaded lightbulb. While the color from the outdoor images is closer, DxO matches the color chart when compared side by side, at least on my calibrated monitor.

[tim]

Did you set the color temp the same in each application?

[sadatk]

DxO looks really grey with lack of any contrast compared to ACR.

[philmar]

What each program does at default is ONLY of benefit to those whose would not change anything and these people should just be shooting jpeg. It is a worthless, trivial and arcane comparison.
DPP gives a better default rendition of my 30D files but ACR is my prefered choice because of where I end up, rather than because of my starting point.

[cfcRebel]

ACR works best if you have a Camera Profile set up to use. Makes a world of difference over using the default calculation as a starting point.Hi Tony,

Can you explain more on this "Camera Profile" that you mentioned above? I have ACR4.1 (CS3) but i am not aware of this profile setting. Any advice is greatly appreciated. :cool:

[jorl]

Hi Tony,

Can you explain more on this "Camera Profile" that you mentioned above? I have ACR4.1 (CS3) but i am not aware of this profile setting. Any advice is greatly appreciated. :cool:

I'm wondering the same thing.. I'd like to know also.

[philmar]

it involves taking a RAW photo of a Gretag Color Checker card with your camera under ideal conditions and running a script on the RAW file. This brings the original RAW processing closer to real colors. Everyone's camera is slightly different so this process helps get you to a better starting point for color accuracy. I only recently decided that I will try this and am still trying to decide when. I had a thread about which script to use but the repsonse was underwhelming. I guess few people do this with their ACR. It can also be done for Lightroom.


google: Bruce Fraser ACR calibration Fors script

http://fors.net/chromoholics/download/

See Bruce Fraser's "Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS2" for a guru's take on the Fors script, as well as a technique for do-it-youself calibration.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1032&message=19118848
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc0d857

[jorl]

Thanks for the info philmar,

will have to look into it and try it out.

joel

[dfindr]

What each program does at default is ONLY of benefit to those whose would not change anything and these people should just be shooting jpeg. It is a worthless, trivial and arcane comparison.
DPP gives a better default rendition of my 30D files but ACR is my prefered choice because of where I end up, rather than because of my starting point.

It may be worthless and/or trivial to you, but of interest to others such as the JPG shooters you mentioned. JPG shooters by definition do not convert from RAW, thus the reason they are called JPG shooters.

Now for those JPG shooters that may want to give RAW a shot, the various results from default settings in the different RAW converters could be of great interest and value in deciding if they want to go with the free DPP raw converter, which I used for several years until I learned a little more and wanted to improve the quality of my post processing. After some comparison and research these folks may want to invest some money and try one of the pay to play converters. i.e ACR, DxO.

Some folks do in fact like a simpler approach to post processing where they have to perform little or no tweaking. Thus, default settings are very important.

Further, your choice of the word "arcane" as a discriptor is suspect. There is nothing cryptic, enigmatic, or mysterious about the comparison, nor is it hard to understand. It is merely a simple comparison of default settings of RAW converters.

Economic policies are arcane. The underlying philosophy of Spongebob Squarepants is arcane. Why folks choose Nikon over Canon, to some of us here on POTN, is arcane. Your choice of the word arcane could in and of itself be considered arcane.

A comparison of default setting results in RAW converters is certainly not arcane.

Happy Shooting and post processing! :D