NIK Viveza = awesome.

I've been playing around with Viveza for a day now, and all I can say is WOW, this software is amazing. It's gonna speed up my workflow so much. In literally less than 5 minutes, I managed to do what would have taken me a lot longer in photoshop alone. Here's a before and after, removing a colour cast from the BG and making the subject pop more. Check out the before and after:

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Very nice. Geno has recommended this to me before... I'm always hesitant because I spend so much $$$ on Adobe products, I want them to be able to do everything without having to buy more 3rd party things like NR and this Viveza... but hey, if it works...

Can you describe what "tools" you used in the software to do this and why it would've taken longer in PS?

I downloaded all of the NIK software 15 day demos. They're all pretty darn good. I think I am definitely going to buy and keep Viveza, and maybe the sharpening software (their output sharpening tools are SO good). It's all very useful stuff, so I might end up keeping them all though .

Edit: Time = money. Most of the stuff the NIK software does can be done in PS, but NIK does it faster, and with better results than what I'm capable of right now. From what I've seen so far, their plugins may reduce my workflow time by more than 50%. That is pretty awesome.

So the After is just (more or less) a one click tweak? Damn...

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #6844913
So the After is just (more or less) a one click tweak? Damn...

More than one click, but it just involved a few clicks, yeah. No complex masking or anything.

And remember this is from a newbie with the software. I just downloaded the demo last night, so I am a complete n00b to using viveza, and I could get these results. I've been using PS for ages.

perryge wrote in post #6844949
More than one click, but it just involved a few clicks, yeah. No complex masking or anything.

And remember this is from a newbie with the software. I just downloaded the demo last night, so I am a complete n00b to using viveza, and I could get these results. I've been using PS for ages.

I agree... I downloaded this a few months ago, and it's very easy to use, but much more compelx too if you care to delve into it. It's definitely a time saver.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #6844913
So the After is just (more or less) a one click tweak? Damn...

Viveza is a lot like ACR except better. It allows you to make points on the image to individually edit all the ACR-esque attributes for certain areas and blends them in nicely together.

I use Viveza and Silver Efex quite a lot. Viveza is just brilliant (when you get the hang of it) and Silver Efex gives great BW/film treatments.

http://www.the-aperture.com …rge/20080720__P​ER7474.jpg
http://www.the-aperture.com …rge/20080720__P​ER7400.jpg

TheSonofDarwin wrote in post #6846239
Viveza is a lot like ACR except better. It allows you to make points on the image to individually edit all the ACR-esque attributes for certain areas and blends them in nicely together.*Note: Most of the sliders except 3 are on default and this is a RAW conversion, don't blame Viveza. Just intended to show you what it offers in terms of tools.

Obviously you can do the same thing in PS and although I agree masking to one's heart's content is fun, sometimes it's nice to be able to do something quickly.

I love Nik Color Efex Pro much more than Viveza, but those are definitely my most used.

Thanks for the visual aid...

I'll have to look into this further!

Pete wrote in post #6846269
I use Viveza and Silver Efex quite a lot. Viveza is just brilliant (when you get the hang of it) and Silver Efex gives great BW/film treatments.

http://www.the-aperture.com …rge/20080720__P​ER7474.jpg
http://www.the-aperture.com …rge/20080720__P​ER7400.jpg

Those are great Pete...

Couple of the folks in the photo club to which I belong use Slver Efex as well and they're B&W stuff is killer.

Seems to print nice and neutral as well... Concur?

Those do look nice, Pete. I use Alien Skin Exposure 2 for b/w and film stocks myself.

Silver Efex:
The slider bar on the left is deceiving - there are 32 preset B&W (antique, sepia, etc included) and you can create your own.

So do they run as stand alone apps or are they PS Plug Ins?

Sorry, they are plug-ins. You can see the layers window from PS in the Silver image. You have a(n) [optional] window that will stay on top in photoshop to make getting to certain effects quicker as well - that's the tab on top of the layers tab in the Silver Efex image.

TheSonofDarwin wrote in post #6846385
Sorry, they are plug-ins. You can see the layers window from PS in the Silver image. You have a(n) [optional] window that will stay on top in photoshop to make getting to certain effects quicker as well - that's the tab on top of the layers tab in the Silver Efex image.

Ok, yup, I see it...

Thanks Much!