NIK Software

[Antonio Correia]

Viewing the videos by Rob Marshall made me think if that is not a good way to keep a consistent way to get the right treatment for many images.

Surely that depends on how much you know about the software and take advantage of it. That, we already know.
It also depends on the consistency of the original photos.

In Nik's I am kind of puzzled for their presentation and I wouldn't know which to choose. Silly perhaps but all solutions attract me.

COLOR EFEX PRO™4 is a strong candidate = 100 US$

SILVER EFEX PRO™ 2 is also a good bet = 100 US$

Is VIVEZA® 2 better or similar to COLOR EFEX PRO™4 ?

What do you people think ? Do you have any experience with these products ?

When I see the demonstrations I think they are a must have. But a demo is just a demo.

I must hurry before the € drops.

Thank you all.

[jiro]

Hello, Antonio. Here is my subjective comment on your question.

1. COLOR EFEX PRO 4.

- The mother of many post processing effects for NikSoftware. Your imagination is the only limit to what you can do with this awesome software. The new version 4 is far better than the previous ones, namely with its ability to cascade multiple effects on one image without leaving the interface. A lot of well known photographers are using Color Efex Pro on their work to give them that distinctive look on their images.

2. SILVER EFEX PRO 2.

- One of the best and easiest black and white conversion software available. You can achieve some of the style available using photoshop alone but not the versatility of its U-point technology. The version 2 seems to be processor dependent and RAM hungry but if your system is up for it you can produce amazing b&w images in a matter of clicks.

3. VIVEZA 2.

Viveza is more about light control. You might not need this as much as Color Efex Pro or Silver Efex Pro since this is more about subtle control of exposure per image area based on the versatile U-point technology. However, owning one is definitely a big advantage to you if you can harness how powerful this piece of software is in working with images.

Knowing your liking of B&W photography, Silver Efex Pro 2 would be my bet that would help you a lot on your work. Good luck.

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you Willie

[Donald]

The only Nik packages I have used have been and are, Silver Efex Pro (SEP) and Silver Efex Pro 2 (SEP2). SEP was a wonderful tool. But SEP2, if you can get it to run on your computer, takes it up to another level altogether. It is an amazingly powerful tool allowing for great subtlety of adjustment in the creation of the image.

[rob marshall]

Antonio

One thing you should watch with SEP2 is performance. There have been some performance issues. I upgraded my video graphics card to a 1GB version, and also upped my RAM to 12GB, and it's still not all that fast with SEP2. Of course, it could be my processor, but it's a fairly new medium spec machine. I'd try the trial version first, just to make sure before you pay for it. I think you have a MAC, don't you?

[Antonio Correia]

Thank you Donald.

Yes Rob, I do have a Mac with 16 Mb RAM. I hope everything goes well when I decide to jump into the app.

[The Blue Boy]

Hi Antonio

I use Color Effex Pro 3. It's got 52 (I think) different filters most of which I have never used. The B & W conversion in this package is the little brother to Silver Effex but is still very good and very easy to use. Other filters in this package that I like are the Polarization filter (great on blue skies) and the Pro Contrast filter.

I also use Silver Effex Pro. This is the daddy of B & W converters for me as it's ease of use can't be faulted.

Both of these have the use of the U-point tech which really is very clever.

As usual with using any PP, the real art is knowing when to stop as it's so easy to get carried away with both!

[Antonio Correia]

Mark, your comment has been of great importance to me. Thank you.

Not that others have been less important no, on the contrary, but because I was suspecting that Color Effex Pro 4 was able to make black and white conversions as the Silver Effex Pro 2 does.

I have already on my table the contacts for the sellers in Portugal for this software. However, I am assuming already that to buy on line will be less expensive.

This is something I have to do in the morning...

[Antonio Correia]

My impressions after buying and working with Nik software.

I finally bought the package from Nik software. The hole thing: "The Complete collection". Expensive business !

First of all I do not understand their commercial politics: If we live in Europe we must buy from Germany. Why ? No reason what so ever ! It is certainly not an issue about customs because the software can be downloaded from the web as it happens with "physical" products. I had to pay much more for a product I could have downloaded from the Web at a much atrractive price due to currency changes.

When using intensively the product I understood that it has not a complete coherence of commands. To duplicate a U-point in Viveza you push the button Duplicate while in Color Efex Pro you have another symbol for the same function for example.

All plug-ins use intensively the computer. OK that is not a problem. The problem is when editing an image and saving the sequence every time you apply a plug-in, CS5 may return an error and all the work is gone s the file is "clear" and you have to start from scratch. Shame.

Oh yes, there is always the excuse: It's from your computer. Not nicely configured, internal conflicts, etc. etc.
I understand that we do not have to master the machine/computer to master a plug-in or a software. I don't even care about the computer ! I just want it to do what it is supposed to. Simple.
I just want the programs to work the way they are expected to.

Sometimes the "Nik Software Tool" just vanishes. In the middle of a work. When repositioned it has an erratic behaviour: once a setting is up, the next time is down. If we close all the "windows" the next time it opens them all. It's funny. It' s playing with us. Very nice indeed ! Very funny

Do you use this software ? Do you have problems with it ?
Please tell me that I am wrong. Thank you