Denoise software options

[Clovishound]

I currently have a copy of Topaz AI that I use for reducing noise and sharpening. I have been happy with Topaz with a caveat. I purchased the 3 individual programs several years ago, and was upgraded to Photo AI during the first year of purchase. I've had trouble with tiling artifacts on many images and so was unwilling to purchase upgrades until they fixed the issue. Well, now I discovered that Topaz has gone the subscription route and want $19 a month for their latest, and greatest. I have no idea whether they have fixed the tiling issue. I'm also unsure whether I would be able to transfer my current copy of Topaz to a new computer, when I decide to upgrade equipment, or the current computer fails.

I have heard some good things about DXO. It is not a subscription, for now. Any experience with it? Any other suggestions? I'm in no hurry to replace Topaz, but would prefer to do it on my timetable, rather than needing to purchase and learn new software in a hurry.

 

[nikonbill]

I see you have had no responses for a while. I can add some input on my own de-noising adventures.

I also have Topaz photo AI and a working copy (for now) of topaz Photo (the new one) I let that subscription run out last spring I'm at V1.3.3but it still functions. Topaz AI and photo work similar for most noisy photos I use it on regarding de-noise. What I do not like is the smoothing of pixels Topaz does to de noise, on many photos this looks worse to me than a "little" left over nose (I try different settings than the defaults).

For general editing I have discovered a workflow in Affinity that works great 99% of the time for me. I have found to work out "noise" in the develop module first, this is key to preserving details in the file for me. If I use a "de-noise" tool after developing that is when the details go south fast. I now go a few months and hundreds of photos without using Topaz (when I do I'm trying to save a poorly taken photo). A cool thing about Affinity is you can go back to the develop module from the normal editor to "tune" things in seamlessly effectively re-developing a file.

The point of opening this area of discussion is you may find you have the tools you need already (I think you are a Light room user) many find the Adobe AI de noise very satisfactory. Or a unique workflow that makes life easier and gives the results you like.

Learning new software is challenging for sure, I'm still trying to "learn" Print Shop Pro that I got free with the D850. Initially I thought is was horrible, but have found its just supper different to get a result I'm used too. I find Affinity much easier and faster for me with far less steps.

Ive never tried DXO but most reviews rave about it using a workflow I think is likely similar to yours.

 

[Clovishound]

Yes, I have LR, and I like their denoise, but it is extremely SLOW on my computer. We are talking 10 -15 minutes to process a single image. My computer isn't a speed demon, but it does have an i7 processor and 32 GB of RAM. Probably the biggest down side is it has a integrated graphics, although, I am under the impression that it is decent for integrated graphics. LR often runs slow for me, and I'm not sure why. Photoshop runs great, and I would expect it to be more of a resource hog than LR.

 

[nikonbill]

We are talking 10 -15 minutes to process a single image

Wow - that's crazy - Please forgive me for not remembering how much of a computer nerd you are (how much you dig in to your PC). Just for fun I googled the "issue" you lay out and found much relating to the maintenance and setup of light rooms catalog and hardware settings. to avoid some confusing content I screen shot one and provided a link to another. With caution it looks fixable, you have what looks adequate hardware to me.

and https://imagen-ai.com/valuable-tips/why-is-lightroom-so-slow-speed-up/

Hope this could help

 

[Clovishound]

Well, I'm certainly no computer nerd. I know enough to be dangerous and that's about it. I used to be pretty good at DOS, but that was a long, long time ago. Things have gotten extremely complex these days.

I tried to find HAGS in my settings, to no avail. I do think there may be something about my settings that is the culprit, and have researched it several times, but still haven't found the issue.

 

[nikonbill]

Assuming you are on Windows 11 if its there it should be here (see below) if its not there the on board graphics may not support HAGS

I looked at our lap-top and its not there - maybe try to toggle off optimizations for windows games as a test

 

[nikonbill]

Additional thoughts - If your PC has a standard HD and not a SSD that could be a limiter for sure.

For food for thought you could contact a trusted suppler of PC's for Photography (such as B&H) to see what their thoughts are to help with the slowness of light room. Someone like that could clue you into what will run on your current PC and if you need to upgrade what you really need.

If your game to something new Affinity runs well on modest hardware. Register only a valid email with canva and its free (without the AI enabled) in Affinity's case their AI does not have a great impact on photography editing. Should you try it let me know there are Affinity settings that "can" cause instability but they are all part of Affinity so no danger at all to any other apps on your system. The biggest hold back I hear is the lack of a "catalog" I have always used the standard windows file explorer myself. XnView MP has cataloging and I use it for culing (just not the catalog part).

All the best in figuring out your best path

 

[Clovishound]

Thanks for all the info. I don't see an advanced graphics settings on my computer. I used the search feature in Settings, and it garnered no results.

The only other thing that comes to mind for me is that I'm using an external monitor on my computer. I have tried unplugging it and running LR using the laptop monitor. No change.

 

[Needa]

It has been a log time (Win) but aren't some of those setting like the amount of memory used by video still available in the bios?

 

[nikonbill]

Good thinking @Needa - There maybe something there being on board graphics

@Clovishound - you likely know this but the bios settings can "mess things up" if incorrectly set (no warnings usually) take notes and don't fret if you have a no boot. Just go back and change back what you try.

A possibly safer bet is to find the forum for your particular lap-top (exact model) and seek advice/traffic for light room issues and fixes for that lap-top. Photo forums could help as well Back country Gallery (Steve Perry site) has good exposure to a large base and an area for the type of question needed.

 

[Clovishound]

Thanks again, I'll check that out. This is what the system is currently saying for graphics card: Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics (128 MB)

I went into device manager and hit the update for the driver for the GPU. The driver it is using is an older driver for a different GPU and only lists windows 10, I'm using windows 11. I downloaded the driver that appears to be the correct one for this GPU and generation for my i7 processor. I'm somewhat reluctant to install it. If it is incompatible with my system, I may have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get things up and running again. I've never had that issue before, but am just thinking that a bad graphics driver may make things rather difficult to resolve.

 

[nikonbill]

Thanks again, I'll check that out. This is what the system is currently saying for graphics card: Intel(R) Iris(R) Xe Graphics (128 MB)

I went into device manager and hit the update for the driver for the GPU. The driver it is using is an older driver for a different GPU and only lists windows 10, I'm using windows 11. I downloaded the driver that appears to be the correct one for this GPU and generation for my i7 processor. I'm somewhat reluctant to install it. If it is incompatible with my system, I may have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get things up and running again. I've never had that issue before, but am just thinking that a bad graphics driver may make things rather difficult to resolve.

Interesting, in my windows experience (all the way back to the beginning) if you received the newest driver from a trusted source (pc manufacturer site) I would try it.

When working on Windows machines and a non suitable display driver is installed a restart should give you enough display to roll back.

A little overkill would be to be sure you know the process to start your machine in safe mode (Google your machine) that will work for sure to roll the driver back in the device manager.

Outdated drivers can cause real issues with what you are doing. Maybe your machine was updated to Win 11 (that's fine and good). Windows just installs the best generic drivers, that's fine for basic PC uses. High end software suppliers take advantage of everything they can. Adobe is most certainly taking all assets you have.

I install my graffics drivers directly from Nvidia for my card a modest GeForce GTX 4060 each month

 

[Clovishound]

I pretty sure my unit came with Windows 11 installed, it's only about a year and half old. The driver I found was from Intel's website. The quick research I did says that I shouldn't have too much trouble getting the old driver back, if things go wrong. I did go ahead and set a restore point today, just in case.