DXO Viewpoint 2 - Uses DXO Optical Correction Modules

http://www.dxo.com …-most-complex-perspective

Much needed and excellent improvement for those who want DXO optical correction modules without wanting to invest in the full DXO Optics Pro raw conversion application.

kirk

I purchased the upgrade for DxO Viewpoint 2 as I wanted the Optical Correction Module, only to find that I have wasted my money. The advertising material indicates that it is compatible with PS and Lightroom as plugins. However this is not the case with Lightroom. The Viewpoint programme is unable to read any of the exif data on an image which comes from Lightroom and it needs this data to perform an automatic distortion correction - the reason I purchased the upgrade. When I contacted DxO they pointed me to page 16 of the user manual which states that the software does not work with Adobe software such as Photoshop and Lightroom. So I would suggest that anyone considering purchasing this software should not be fooled by the advertising campaign and steer well clear of it as it does not do as it says.

I use it with photoshop. You simply need to point it to the original file (the raw file, for example) and it reads the exif from it. In the viewpoint GUI there is a link that opens a file browser to permit you to point viewpoint to the original file.

Ask DXO for a refund if you are not satisfied with this workflow and do not intend to use their product. It is also available as a free trial, so anyone considering using it should try it first. For free.

FYI - if you use a raw conversion utility that preserves full EXIF, and send the converted file to Viewpoint 2, it will load the appropriate module automatically. For example, RPP, ColorPerfect, Raw Therapee, DPP.

What is frustrating for Adobe users, I can imagine, is that if, for example, I open and edit an image in LR and then choose to export and open it in RPP (RPP provides a LR plug-in for this) and then save the file in RPP (which I can configure to automatically pass the file to Viewpoint 2) the EXIF data is fully intact and automatically detected by Viewpoint 2.

It appears the problem is with LR and Aperture and similar EXIF-limiting applications. The data are there, just not passed along.

Kirk

Here is a screenshot of a raw image imported into LR5, and then transferred to Viewpoint 2 using the Photo > Edit in... menu item in LR5. Once the raw is converted to TIFF, just like any roundtrip edit from LR, the Viewpoint interface comes up and prompts you to locate the original file if you want to use the optical distortion correction module. In this screenshot I browsed to the original and the correct module is applied, with the optical module information displayed as shown by the blue arrow.

Takes a few seconds to browse to the file, so if full automation is necessary, this may be a problem. However, the plug-in works and applies full optical distortion correction once it has the necessary EXIF data. To say that:

is misleading.

It does exactly what it says it does, it applies automatic optical distortion correction based on the thousands of modules DXO have developed over the years. This feature was sorely missing from the first iteration of Viewpoint, especially for those who do not want to spend the cash on the full DXO Optics Pro just to get access to the optical correction. You can choose to bypass this correction and apply generic manual correction (pincushion, barrel, fisheye) if you do not want to make the effort to browse to the original file.

I have tried that. All I get is that DxO Viewpoint can find no exif data on the original image. I attach a link to a website where someone else is complaining of the same problem. - http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/in​dex.php?topic=82634.0. Can I ask whether you convert your images to DNG when importing into Lightroom?

I usually do not use Lightroom as a raw converter - if I use the Adobe engine at all it is usually within ACR.

THat being said, I do not convert raw to DNG - there is no reason to.

I would be happy to try to recreate your problem with a raw file - what is your workflow, from the beginning. Do you use a card reader or transfer images to the computer via USB to the camera? Do you use Lightroom to transfer the images or copy them to a hard drive first and then import them in place?

What software do you use? What version? What camera/lens combination? Did you check to see if your camera/lens is supported?

I would suggest trying the following:

1) transfer a raw file from your card to your hard drive - do not convert it to DNG, just literally copy the file to your hard drive. This is a direct method of file transfer and it will be your reference, unmolested by any Adobe software.

2) open the raw file in your raw converter of choice - if you use LR, then import the file into Lightroom - first try importing it in place ("Add"), and do not convert it to DNG.

3) do some miscellaneous edits just to make sure the raw file is responding to LR,etc and you can differentiate the edited version from the original.

4) CHoose :Photo > Edit In... and choose Viewpoint 2.

5) The Viewpoint 2 GUI should come up once LR converts the raw file to a TIFF - it should prompt you to locate the original (raw, .CR2 file) to grab the EXIF. GO ahead and navigate to the raw file you copied directly to the computer in step 1.

6) Did this work? If so, your workflow is causing your raw file to have its EXIF stripped or otherwise manipulated so that DXO cannot get the information it needs to find the appropriate module.

If you can describe exactly how your workflow goes I will try to recreate that and see if I get the same problem.

kirk

I took the liberty of trying an experiment - I had a .CR2 file from my 5DII + 24-105L on my hard drive. I imported the .CR2 into LR and chose to "Copy as DNG" during import - this left the raw file in place and created a DNG in the specified subdirectory.

Fine.

Next, I chose the DNG in the Library tab, and made some edits in the Develop tab. I chose "Photo > Edit In..." and chose Photoshop CC. LR converted the image to a TIFF and opened it in Photoshop. In photoshop I chose "Filter > DXO Labs > DXO View Point 2" which opened the image in the View Point 2 interface, with the prompt for me to find the original file. I clicked on the link to open the file browser and I browsed to the DNG that LR had created during import...

This returned an error that the file contained no valid EXIF data.

I then repeated the browse from View Point 2 and browsed to the Original RAW FILE. This worked fine.

I also chose "Photo > Edit In... Viewpoint 2" from within LR - same results. Refer to the DNG = fail, refer to the RAW = success. Once the edit is complete and you save from within Viewpoint 2 or Photoshop, the edited TIFF is returned to LR.

Bottom line - the way the DNG is accessed appears to be the problem. I do not know enough about the DNG spec and how or what the conversion within LR does, but View Point does not like it. If I read the EXIF from the DNG with exiftool, it is all there.

You should always archive your raw files - if, for whatever reason you need to convert to DNG, you will always have the original raw to reference. Otherwise, you are deleting the reference file. If you choose to import the DNGs and you need DXO's corrections, you can simply point Viewpoint 2 to the original raw file.

kirk

I also tried using the AdobeDNG converter to convert to DNG and embedding the raw file within the DNG. Same error. The crazy thing is, in Lightroom, the EXIF data for the camera and lens are readable by Lightroom - see screenshots. The upper image is the DNG converted from raw during import into LR, the lower image is the DNG converted using the DNG converter with the raw embedded.

If this continues to be an issue, DXO will likely sort it out as more people with this workflow will complain - I am surprised that this was not sorted out during beta testing - unless there is something whacky with the EXIF spec in DNG.

kirk

It does seem to be a problem with the Viewpoint software not able to read the exif data from a DNG file. I attach a screen shot from their software which implies that it can read a DNG file as an original file (DNG is on the end of the list of image files). The latest communication I have had from DxO is that I am probably using a camera/lens combination which is not supported by their software. The camera used was a Canon 1DX with a 24-105mm lens. If that combination is not supported I don't know what will be. (Actually I checked the list on DxO's site and it is supported.) I feel that there is a bug in this software and they are trying to wriggle out of fixing it by blaming everything else.

My 5DII + 24-105 is supported I have been able to reproduce your issue.

THere is something funky about DXOs accessing DNGs. I can convert a raw to DNG and then to a TIFF in something other than an Adobe product and the EXIF in the TIFF is read automatically. As I said, exiftool shows that all of the information is contained in the DNG.

Have you tried going into the DXO forum and reporting the bug there?

sorry for the frustration.

kirk

I have finaly got DxO to admit that Viewpoint 2 does not work with DNG files and they say they have passed on my request for their technical department to look into it. However I get the feeling that they are just saying this to fob me off - so it other users who find that Viewpoint 2 does not work with DNG files could complain to them maybe they will do something about it.

I have a feeling they are getting complaints just like yours and, usually, they are pretty good about addressing them. LR and DNG are a pretty popular combination and they would do themselves and their customers a disservice to ignore the issue with this combination. The DNG aspect is critical (say, compared to a LR-generated TIFF not being automatically read) because some people do not archive or copy their raw files, choosing only to use DNG as their reference or master file. So, if this is the case and you export from LR to VP2, the only reference you have for the TIFF (or which ever file format you use for external edits) is the DNG, not the original raw.

Just for full disclosure, I was a beta tester for DXO Optics 7 and Film Pack 3 and the developers are very responsive to feedback. I hope they get you an update quickly.

I suppose, then, that your workflow does not involve copying/preserving your raw files as CR2, but immediately converting them to DNG? In other words, you have no raw file (CR2) to refer to on your computer, only a DNG.

kirk

Yes Kirk that is correct. As I upload my images to Lightroom I convert them to DNGs and these are then stored as my masterfile. I hope you are correct in that they will listen to my complaints and get the matter sorted.

ValMc wrote in post #16345604
Yes Kirk that is correct. As I upload my images to Lightroom I convert them to DNGs and these are then stored as my masterfile. I hope you are correct in that they will listen to my complaints and get the matter sorted.

Me too!

I'll keep an eye open for an update and post here when I get notice of one, just in case you miss it. One final workaround - when you import to LR and convert to DNG, to you have your preferences set up to embed the original raw file? If so, for images that you absolutely need to correct with Viewpoint, you can extract the original raw from the DNG and point to it to nudge viewpoint in the right direction.

As a quick hack, consider extracting just one raw that is shot with the same camera body + lens combination and refer any image with this camera+lens to this single raw file. I do not know if the viewpoint algorithm takes focal length on a zoom lens into account, so if the single lens (say a 24-105) at various focal lengths gives the correct result, then you only need one raw reference file to point viewpoint in the right direction.

I experimented quickly with a single raw image converted to DNG upon LR import (like your workflow). I opened the DNG in Photoshop (via ACR) with no corrections. I made a duplicate of this uncorrected image.

On the original conversion I opened VP2 and pointed it to the DNG's original raw file - it identified the correct module, and applied the correction.
On the duplicate, I opened VP2 and pointed it to a raw file taken with the same camera+lens, but on a different day, with a different focal length in the 24-105 range. The correction was virtually identical to the original.

Maybe this hack will work for you until they issue an update. Just keep a single raw for each camera-lens combination on your computer so you can choose it when you need to point VP2 to the reference image for exif data. Experiment and see if it gives you proper correction. If focal length on a zoom lens is critical, you may need to experiment to see if one file is "good enough" with this hack.

kirk

I have just received this email from DxO which leads me to believe that they are not going to do anything about this problem. -

"Actually, the feedback I got from the technical team is that the DNG from LightRoom does not contain information like focal length and focusing distance, this is why it technically can' t work to correct the distortion."