Nik Complete Collection Review
Here I look at HDR Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Viveza 2, Sharpener Pro 3 and Dfine 2

Before we begin, if you're new to the term plug-in, please read the short description I wrote in my blog section titled “The value of plug-ins”, hopefully this will give you the mind set of where I’m coming from and what I’m attempting to write about, if you think you know what a plug-in is,…Humour me,… please read the short description I wrote in my blog section.

Today we are going to talk about some software, not just any software, but software from a company that has been setting standards in the industry since the end of the last century, 1995 to be specific, with a series of plug-ins predominantly for Photoshop that take the work and time out of processing images .over the years Nik has gone from strength to strength releasing a series of winners into the photographic community covering everything from colour management to complex HDR generation.

We will be covering Nik’s Complete Collection, available for Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture. Nik has spent this last year revamping most of its software to include 64 bit as well as 32, Multi threaded support, Photoshop is covered everywhere but extra support has been opened up for Lightroom, Apple Aperture and capture NX2 with smart object compatible throughout. As there are so many of them I will be talking about only what really is note worthy and what sets these plug-ins apart from the rest and some exciting new features that can turn anyone into an expert in a very short period of time, because this is one of the things NIK specialize in, saving you time. You’ll learn how to use it quicker than you will believe and secondly when you use it, it’s fast.  Some of the technologies Nik use have been worthy enough to apply worldwide patents, but do they work? let’s find out.

Viveza 2

"Good colour is a gift, great colour we have to work for”

Changing colour and light in specific areas of an image has always been a downright pain, for the beginner almost impossible but even I find it a chore to do it properly with a series of layers and masks in Photoshop alone to effect good change in specific areas and only those areas. This is probably Viveza’s strongest attribute and touches on one of the patented areas and that’s “U-Point Technology. Just click on “Add Control Point” to activate this feature then click on the image where you wish to make independent changes , this will pull up an adjustable circle that defines the area that will be affected with the changes you require, this circle is totally adjustable in diameter to cover the area you decide needs adjustment, in fact several control points can be placed on a given image and controlled independently or all linked together via the group or ungroup button in the vertical tool column to the left of the image. You can even copy changes from one control point to another or more. The main tool column to the left, this is the master or global control section of Viveza, changes here will affect the image as a whole or globally, sliders used here will affect the entire image.  A series of sliders imposed in the circle, covering shadow control, brightness, contrast and saturation to name a few now give you total control over the area defined and only the area defined, changes made to the sliders are in real time and blend in with undefined areas seamlessly, this is where it’s true strength lies Being able to make changes to skin colour, sky or a cars paint finish and colour without disturbing surrounding image quality  is why this is the undisputed market leader in quality, seamless work flow software.

Silver Efex Pro

“Superior mono is not a black and white subject;  it’s a subject in superior black and white”

Another one where “U-point Technology is a perfect partner giving absolute control over the entire image or that little piece that lets the entire image down. Now instead of hours, Minutes can be spent turning and tuning an image out of the waste pile into a keeper.  More importantly for me, sometimes you only get one shot at a given image; Silver Efex Pro gives me more of a chance at recovery than anything else. Something else under the hood is one of the best grain reduction Engines I’ve ever used in Mono software, this has a noticeable effect to images that are in need but produced still notable improvement to images that I thought where fine, remember small gains in many areas produce large results. All these gain are also achieved in a timely manner adding to a smoother workflow. It might sound just like buzz words but when you have many images to process or an image that need to go through several processes, a minute here and there can add up to remarkable savings.     

Advanced stylizing and film emulation come under the one heading for me personally, being able to emulate 18 odd film types including grain and colour sensitivity requires a prior knowledge of what the effect use to be like and what the author was trying to achieve with these different types of films, ask anyone under 25 and they may be hard pressed recalling even two . Where they are very handy is treating them like filter presets, being able to click through any number of filter effects to see a result on the screen, add to that with the ability to add tints and tonners increases the variable number exponentially and yes this can be done as thumb nails with the stylizing applied, edge burn and vignette darkroom tools are available to complete the mono-toolbox, they really have left nothing out for the most ardent mono-junky. One other thing I did not touch upon in Viveza and for that matter is the compatibility with Photoshop and other main stream parent products. Most of NIKs software installs into your plug-in folder of the parent editing software you have installed on your editing machine, always check the website for compatibility details.

Sharpener Pro 3

“Sharpening is not about the best sharpener, it’s about sharpening the best bits”

Is the sharpening tool that I use on every image that goes through Photoshop for print, projection or finished image archiving, its ability to outperform every other App in its class is a testimonial in itself, now let me expand on that. Having the ability to open a single sharpening tool for all my sharpening need is a feat in itself from a timeline perspective. But how many times have you finished an image, and for those who don’t know sharpening (post) by rule of thumb is the last process before print, projection or storage. You generally apply a global sharpening until your image “Pops” at that point you notice there’s an area next to the focal point in the image that could do with just a tad more,…applying sharpening to the entire image renders the image over sharpened forcing us to go back a couple of steps back into a sharpening mask at the very least or even layers. With “U-Point” you’re back in there in seconds, sharpening just the areas in question. Next point is the newly enhanced RAW pre-sharpener which in effect allows you to sharpen an image further than before with no increase in detectable noise. This newly enhanced feature in Pro 3 is very noticeable when used and has matured to an extent that has left the competition far enough behind to get a very notable mention as a star feature. Some other feature worth a mention are “Smart Filter Support” in effect compatibility with Photoshop’s smart object filter integration allows further fine-tuning of images even after changes have been applied, even Photoshop’s existing brushes can be utilized via a powerful selective tool to paint in any sharpening into the image and wait for it,…when using this feature layers and masks are created automatically. Soft proofing another flagged new feature (and apparently an industry first) and a very welcome addition when large print runs are in order, pre-inspection of prints just save money. The flexibility of this plug-in is limited by your imagination alone, being able to soften an entire image then selectively sharpen three specific areas with such integrated accuracy in minutes is truly stunning  well done NIK!

Dfine 2.0

“Noise, If you can’t hide something completely, make a feature out of it"

Noise! If you shoot digital it’s just a fact of life, it can be reduced by choosing the type and quality of your imaging sensor carefully, using low ISO values and shooting in only good light conditions all will reduce noise to some degree both colour noise and contrast noise. But do we want to shackle ourselves with such limitations?  There’s a plethora of software and apps out there that work in varying degrees of competence usually applying the noise reductions globally with no differentiation of the two types of noise and some loss of detail and or sharpness. But what of the people out there that think noise in some areas of a given image add to the overall effect, this is where Define 2.0 steps up to the plate. You want to get rid of the contrast noise but leave the colour noise, Define can do it, not only can it do it but do it without any loss of sharpness and detail that many other noise reduction apps actually introduce to an image, and again “U-Point is there to selectively apply these changes to even a small area of an image,…pretty smart Huh! With the new revamped noise reduction engine comes automatic camera profiling for your given body, profiles can be saved for batch processing and yet again … smart filter compatibility in Photoshop and Elements.  Brushes too can be used to apply effects. At a pinch you can do without it but if you want the best, most versatile noise reduction software you can get your hands on Define 2.0 is what you need not want. For an excellent video click on this link, shockwave required:

Color Efex Pro 3.0

“Over 50 filter you never have to clean”

Do not confuse Color Efex Pro 3.0 with Viveza, this is an entirely different product but works hand in hand with all NIK plug-ins but particularly well with Viveza. Because Photoshop is such a powerful tool with a huge stock of just about everything, to be fair it does have a fair stock of photo filters already on board. Most competent users say the only filters you need to carry in your camera kit nowadays are ND filters, UV and Polarizer’s, and I agree, these are the only filters that any software just cannot compete with the real item. Although isn’t it great to occasionally dust off some old filters and have a play, and or just muck about applying filter effects to some images. The only snag is when applied it’s a whole image or nothing affair within Photoshop, unless you decide the half hour or so is worth wasting to work with some layers and masks on a single filter type…Very frustrating when you finally decide the sepia filter just does not cut it and we need to start all over with a strong warming filter. This is when Colour Efex Pro 3.0 makes an entrance with a well thought out way of doing things, forget layers and masks and even entire global changes if you want too, imagine all you want to do is apply a star effect to one of the three light posts in your image and a warming filter to the girls face standing under it. Color Efex Pro 3.0 can accomplish this in under a minute because U-point is there again to help you out, just click, point, and click again, decide on the diameter of the targeted area to apply the filter chosen, another complex procedure done in seconds.

New! HDR Efex Pro

“HDR is proving to be the key in unlocking the next generation of advanced image quality”

There have been a lot of people including myself waiting for a HDR plugin or program with the ability to work selectively, HDR with U-Point technology was a Christmas wish held by many. A new Harry Potter novel release date paled with the buzz on the internet once NIK whispered “HDR and U-Point” in the same breath. No amount of grovelling and working for nothing could procure a pre-release copy but I do now have a review copy on the proviso it’s a head to head review with HDRsoft “Photomatix Pro” So if you want to read about the equivalent of Intel and AMD slug it out, stay tuned as this will be a review worth waiting for. One thing I will say is… 1) The result are surprising even me in areas I was not expecting, 2) NIK HDR and U-Point, potentially a marriage made in heaven and 3) ….You’ll have to wait for the head to head.

Conclusion

Well that went well, I almost wish I had something nasty to say about any of NIKs plug-ins to add a more human touch to the review but I’d be hard pressed to be honest, they perform as advertised at the least and in many areas outperformed my expectation by a sizable margin. I’ve been using Plug-ins for a couple of years now from various developers and NIKs contribution to the industry has been immense. Plug-ins have allowed me to perform well outside my true ability as I just don’t have the time to learn the intricate details required to perform the manipulation in the parent program without the help of plug-ins. Saying that, even if I had the knowledge there’s no way I could work at the speed that I presently enjoy. NIK have put together a fine collection where each one somehow complements the next no matter how you work with them, and  with the complete collection costing half of what it would be to buy the plug-ins individually, it’s not rocket science to see the value in the complete boxed set that’s avalible!

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By Aussie Allan