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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> When do you Neat Image?
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 09/30/2006 01:22:45 PM · #1
Just curious when in the process others apply Neat Image.

Personally, I usually convert from RAW to TIFF, do my photoshop stuff, then Neat Image the TIFF, which I convert to JPEG in Photoshop later.

Are there benefits to different workflows?

Thanks.
 09/30/2006 01:26:04 PM · #2
for me it's a matter of the subject and what I know they want to see. I've been taking alot of shots lately of mid teen girls who think that the softer and smoother the skin is, the better they look and for them that means everything.
09/30/2006 01:26:17 PM · #3
Most people run Neat Image directly after onverting to TIFF. The reason being is that you want to get rid of noise before any processing makes it worse.

For example, if you boost contrast, you boost contrast of the noise too. Or if you sharpen, you also sharpen the noise.
 09/30/2006 01:27:40 PM · #4
Originally posted by Qart:
for me it's a matter of the subject and what I know they want to see. I've been taking alot of shots lately of mid teen girls who think that the softer and smoother the skin is, the better they look and for them that means everything.


I'd go with diffusion over Neat Image for that situation...

Another nice tool for that is nlk Color FX Pro... it has a Dynamic Skin Smoother that rocks.
 09/30/2006 01:30:03 PM · #5
See, I was thinking that it would be better to run Neat Image after, to ensure that I was cleaning up any extra noise generated by the processing (contrast, sharpening, etc).

Does this not just create more noise, therefore requiring you to run Neat Image again?

Thanks.
 09/30/2006 01:34:51 PM · #6
Occasionally I'll run neat image before and after editing a shot. Depends on how intensive the editing is. If I just run it once I do it after converting from raw.
 09/30/2006 01:41:00 PM · #7
Originally posted by shanelighter:
See, I was thinking that it would be better to run Neat Image after, to ensure that I was cleaning up any extra noise generated by the processing (contrast, sharpening, etc).

Does this not just create more noise, therefore requiring you to run Neat Image again?


Like any other tool, there is no set way that your are required to use it. I'm not fond of some of the results Noise reduction produces, so I usually only use it lightly, if at all, even on noisy images. I'll try to deal with noise in other ways.

Some people run several passes of light NI. I believe scalvert uses that method.

There are a couple of ways to introduce noise in post process. One being to try to rescue detail in shadows. But sometimes a bit of shadow grain is nice to look at, since most films produced similar results.

09/30/2006 01:43:26 PM · #8
Originally posted by shanelighter:
See, I was thinking that it would be better to run Neat Image after, to ensure that I was cleaning up any extra noise generated by the processing (contrast, sharpening, etc).

Does this not just create more noise, therefore requiring you to run Neat Image again?

Thanks.

I think the reasoning goes that sharpening, contrast, and such doesn't actually generate any noise, it just amplifies the noise that's there already. So the noise you've already removed won't be amplified. Also, maybe the amplified noise is harder to eliminate than the original straight-from-the-camera noise?
 09/30/2006 01:46:50 PM · #9
Originally posted by magnus:
Also, maybe the amplified noise is harder to eliminate than the original straight-from-the-camera noise?


That's correct... it can't be as easily profiles as straight from the camera noise.
 09/30/2006 04:42:08 PM · #10
Thank you, it was that last tidbit that I was "looking" for, about processing noise being harder to remove.

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