Performance; PLv8 seems to be very stable (more so than PLv7);
I’m quite “rough” in my usage of PL (due to my workflow); continually moving RAWs into and out of the very folder that PL is focused on, renaming RAWs with an external tool, deleting sidecars, etc … and PLv8 stands up to this mistreatment MUCH better than did PLv7, which would regularly freeze-up in protest !
I have a marginally adequate GPU ; the GeForce GTX 1650, 4GB … taking 9-10 secs / image to export DeepPRIME.
I have now processed many 100s of images using PLv8, without any problem.
Upgrade to DeepPRIME XD;
I’ve experienced some improvements - mainly as banishment of artifacts in shadows … but I don’t have many images of the type that benefits from using XD (over standard DP).
Has been completely reworked, as a significant improvement over the previous rather basic tool. See specifics here.
Key new features are; the Tone Picker (which assists in identifying which part of the tone-curve corresponds to the area of the image sampled by the picker/pipette), and separation of the Luminence channel from RGB components of the tone curve.
However; there’s a catch to be aware of !
– Only the “Linear” Tone-Curve preset sets/resets ALL channels (RGB & Luminence)
– Other presets set RGB OR Luminence channels - NOT both.
– There’s a clue in the preset labels; eg, “Light Contrast (RGB)” sets the RGB channels - but NOT the Luminance channel … and the opposite for “Light Contrast (L)” preset !
To make this differentiation clearer/obvious, I recommend the Linear preset be relabelled; “Linear (RGB & L)”
Also, related to this anomaly, Ctrl+Z does not work to undo, in reverse order, previously applied presets …Instead, attempted undos can create seemingly random results !
Note: The Luminosity mask is still available only if one has a FP7 license.
The new Hue mask works similarly, but for colour/hues instead of “brightness” (luminosity)
However, there’s a conflict to be aware of - For example ;
– Set the HUE Mask for a range of reds/oranges in an image … and then select the blue-channel via the HSL sub-tool and attempt to change its Hue … and, of course, nothing happens - because the HUE & HSL selections are mutually exclusive.
I’m all for avoiding confusion for users, in which case, it would have made better sense for the conflicting HSL sub-tool to be disabled when the Hue mask is active.
Improved Comparison mode;
New ability to compare to a reference image other than a version of the current image - and additional comparison modes (with dedicated mode-switch toolbar button).
It’s mildly confusing, tho, that all VCs with Soft Proofing activated are labelled as such (instead of as “Virtual Copies”, which is what they actually are).
This is MUCH better than the dinky little review window that was previously provided when making Noise Reduction selections.
It reflects any/all corrections made to the image.
It’s a reasonable compromise, I reckon, between a full-screen preview (which involves rendering performance implications) and practicality - I like it, and I find I’m using it more than I initially expected I would.
It can be activated by the new “S” shortcut (“S” for ???), and there’s a not-so-obvious button at the bottom-LHS of the loupe window to change its size (with bigger being better, in this case, I reckon !)
Correction preview on roll-over;
Roll your cursor down any list of options (say, Tone Curve presets) and the result is immediately reflected in the image.
Yeah, whatever ! … I guess it’s what a lot of users expect of a modern UI.
Filmstrip performance improvement;
Not something I’d be aware of ('cos my workflow is such that I only work with PL in a folder containing no more that 20-30 images at any one time), - but, apparently it’s now faster to load-up the Image Browser - which, I’m sure, a lot of users will appreciate.
Not mentioned in PLv8 Release Notes;
All tools on the Toolbar now have a dedicated keyboard shortcut - even for the unloved/out-dated Miniature Effect !!
“Upgraded lens softness compensation, free of fringing and artifacts” – I’m not clear what this actually entails. Will we all be receiving downloads of new/updated optics modules ?!
The main one for me – [because it perpetuates potential for misunderstanding of Soft Proofing settings (which, ironically, was probably behind the orginal UI-design mistake) and because it would have been so easy to fix] – is the uncorrected bug in the Soft Proofing UI …
That is, the (Rendering) Intent drop-down continues to be WRONGLY enabled when the Soft Proofing ICC selection is made for a display/matrix-based profile … Whereas, in this case, rendering intent is actually replaced by the “Preserve Color Details” slider.
Whilst the new Local Adjustments user-interface does have its quirks (which make using it a bit “clunky” at times), I’m now happily adjusted to using the new LA UI … with one significant exception;
– when reviewing a previously assigned LA, it can be VERY difficult to see which slider settings were changed - especially when changes are small - and totally impossible for Temp/Tint slider changes.
Please note that I am in no way defending the old LA-Gizmo … However, one good thing that could be said about it is that it was very effective in reflecting any changes made to correction sliders … One could see, at a glance, which sliders had been adjusted (for the currently selected LA tool).
It would/could have been a great opportunity to slay this disadvantage (of the new LA UI over the old LA Gizmo) by highlighting changed LA sliders in similar way that changed Global sliders are highlighted … Perhaps, something like this; - eg. ClearView changed, Contrast not.
Summary:
A worthwhile update, I reckon - especially for anyone who held off from upgrading to PLv7.
Thanks for your detailed impressions and thoughts! It seems that the .0 version is already running reasonably smoothly.
On the other hand, with small fixes (your mentioned “howevers” and “missed opportunities”) PL8 would finally be what we probably want.
I broadly agree with your assessment. For me, the things I really missed after a testing session with PL8 and returning to PL7 were XD2s, the loupe, and being able to sample for the tone curve.
do you know what “luminance” stands for in the tool ( is it from HSL, HSV / HSB, YUV, etc alternative coordinate systems or something else ? who knows may be DxO was generous enough to use more proper things like CIE LCH or upLab ? )
You don’t seem to think this is a particularly important enhancement, but it allows users to quickly see the results of any option in any list before selecting it. That can be a major time saver. Before this you had to select a list choice, see if it worked for you, and if not select another. It was a very tedious process which required a lot of guessing and I am sure caused many people to avoid experimenting with a lot of the available list choices.
As an example, It makes selecting LUTs much quicker. It also makes selecting film types much easier and quicker as well. I suspect that a lot of people who have expressed no interest in purchasing FilmPack might be surprised to find out how useful the film types are If they could quickly preview each one of them on their images. This new tool makes previewing list options, in every feature that has a list, a piece of cake and was long overdue.
Not to mention, every test appeared in the edit history. While using the keyboard up/down arrows to scroll through menu options and see their result was similar, it was indeed tedious and had unwanted consequences. PL8 gives us a big usability improvement with this small change and doesn’t sacrifice the old way of doing things in case that’s preferred.
my question was in which colorspace (or if that is one of RGB colorspaces - for example DxOs “wide gamut etc” - then also in which alternative coordinates, that is what HSL and others are - they are not colorspaces ) it operates … “technical name” does not answer the question.
P.S.: For example, if it is simply operating on the L component of HSL coordinates in any RGB color space, there will be hue/saturation shifts by definition. If there is a more proper implementation, I am curious to hear about it (beyond marketing buzz).
Of course, regardless, it’s better to have something, even if not ideal, than to have nothing.
Yes, I do understand why many users would appreciate this (and it “looks good” too).
Personally , tho, I find it difficult to navigate my mouse down a list of options whilst trying to keep track of the differences each one is making to the image - Either, I’m carefully watching the image and losing track of where my mouse has drifted off to - or I’m tracking down the list and missing out in seeing the nuances of the changes resulting in the image.
I prefer to use the up/down arrow-key method … which allows me to fix my focus firmly on the image, so I can see exactly what has changed.
And, since I only rarely use the History log, it doesn’t bother me that every selection (resulting from the arrow-key method) ends up in the edit history.
The issue with that is reviewing a list takes much longer using the arrow keys since the screen refresh is slower and it writes every keystroke to the Advanced history list. I use the history list extensively.
- eg. ClearView changed, Contrast not.
