Virtual Photographer Filter - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

08/09/2005 09:10:53 PM · #1

Is this legal in Basic? Anything that it can do that's not legal?

Canon EOS-60D

08/09/2005 09:36:58 PM · #2

It's legal in advanced, not in basic. This was definitively answered by SC a few months back...can't find the thread off-hand. Nothing in the whole package is legal for basic. Sorry... :(

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

08/09/2005 10:21:21 PM · #3

Thanks Laurie!

LoudDog

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

08/09/2005 10:42:22 PM · #4

I'd like to see that thread if anyone remembers the title. Why would virtual photographer be allowed only in advanced editing? It makes changes to the entire image, there is no spot editing in it? ...and you can do the same effects using other adjustments that are legal in basic challenges.

Unless they upgraded VP and I have an old copy... Or I have a different VP?

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

08/09/2005 10:51:11 PM · #5

Originally posted by louddog:

It uses layers and layer modes, I believe. There's all KINDS of effects in Photoshop that you can't use in basic even though you can replicate 'em by hand, legally, if it comes to that.

R.

deapee

Kodak V803

08/09/2005 11:16:37 PM · #6

Originally posted by bear_music:

There's all KINDS of effects in Photoshop that you can't use in basic even though you can replicate 'em by hand, legally, if it comes to that.

R.

Yeah...you should be able to dodge and burn -- you can dodge and burn film heck they been doing that since the creation of film probably, no? :twisted

08/09/2005 11:19:35 PM · #7

Here's another "question" for something that I think is legal from previous discussion. What about Gaussian Blur and then Fade. Any restrictions on Fade and its options?

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

08/09/2005 11:20:41 PM · #8

If you mean "fade" from the edit menu immediately after applying the effect, it's ALWAYS legal. (But only in normal mode, in basic.)

Robt.

Message edited by author 2005-08-09 23:21:22.

LoudDog

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

08/09/2005 11:28:25 PM · #9

okay, per this post it may or may not be legal for basic editing challenges, depending on what you do:
//www.dpchallenge.com/forum.php?action=read&FORUM_THREAD_ID=192663

Unless something has been said since then?

08/09/2005 11:41:50 PM · #10

Looks like they softened their stance since the previous thread. Smart move IMO; just like with photoshop itself, there are some things in VP that are outside the the basic ruleset, but the fundamentals are ok, is how I read it.

Robt.

08/10/2005 01:00:29 AM · #11

Originally posted by bear_music:

Originally posted by louddog:
I'd like to see that thread if anyone remembers the title. Why would virtual photographer be allowed only in advanced editing? It makes changes to the entire image, there is no spot editing in it? ...and you can do the same effects using other adjustments that are legal in basic challenges.

Unless they upgraded VP and I have an old copy... Or I have a different VP?

It uses layers and layer modes, I believe. There's all KINDS of effects in Photoshop that you can't use in basic even though you can replicate 'em by hand, legally, if it comes to that.

R.

As far as I can tell, this filter is completely implemented "behind the scenes", in other words, it doesn't invoke steps as in an action.

This is where any distinction gets gray. For example, most of the "built-in actions" are allowed, as long as they operate on the whole image and do not use layers. Of course a filter that's coded directly rather than using PS functions can also use it's own internal form of layers, but unless I'm wrong (always possible), those aren't explicitly excluded from basic.

For example, various editing programs built-in sharpening functions are permitted, but of course we don't know what they do internally, so we don't know if they do something you aren't allowed to do in steps.

The reason I asked about the fade command is that I seem to recall that, when I only had PS elements, people were using Gaussian Blur and fade to achieve soft focus for the soft focus challenge, but since we didn't have fade in elements, we couldn't do that--even though what they were doing was EXACTLY the same as doing another layer with gaussian blur and adjusting the transparency.

So even after being here two years, I am still a bit fuzzy on when a built in feature violates the rules (like Fade). And is it in the rules that Fade has to use normal? That would be too bad because I found an interesting sharpening method which works without the side effects of USM. I'm not even sure how it works, but basically, you do a GB, and fade it using "Soft Light" as the setting. At least to my eye, it appears to sharpen the image without halos.