OnOne Perfect Effects 9 for free

[Rob Bye]

One thing I dislike about Perfect Effects/Perfect Photo is that it's designed to close between image edits - like a plug-in. My preference would be for the software to remain up and running, while I go back to working on images in Aperture. That intentional behaviour is possibly the reason some people have crashing issues with it. If it were coded to remain open, it might demonstrate greater stability. I don't see any stability issues on my iMac, but it's new and fully loaded, with tons of brute horsepower.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Since I have got LR5 I never used my NIK Tools. After reading in this thread I tried

LR pp



View attachment 138291


NIK Viveza2 used. Just the greens darkened and the whites a bit down saturated

View attachment 138292

Now suppose you wanted to work on the yellow portion of those flowers. JUST the yellow in the center of those flowers and NOTHING else in the shot. Using LR or PS how would you do that and how long would it take you to do it? The Color Picker might work but that's a tonal selection and the selection it makes may or may not be precise to the flowers. You could always do a layer mask of course and won't that be fun with those gradient edges... Maybe there's a better way?

With Viveza you could drop four Control Points, Group them, Resize them and control the yellow centers of those flowers, and nothing but the yellow centers in those flowers, with absolute precision after 5 clicks of your mouse. In about ten seconds, literally, you'd be controlling everything from hue and saturation to exposure and contrast and doing so with pinpoint accuracy and perfectly smooth, natural looking results. On top of that you would only need to work with one Control Point out of the four; since grouped CP's "talk" to one another the changes will be perfectly uniform across the entire selection.

Could I do that in PS? Yes. Yes I could. Can I do it infinitely faster and with better results using Viveza? Yes. Yes I can.
...

 

[Kroontje]

Thanks

 

[sonicbuffalo_RIP]

Now suppose you wanted to work on the yellow portion of those flowers. JUST the yellow in the center of those flowers and NOTHING else in the shot. Using LR or PS how would you do that and how long would it take you to do it? The Color Picker might work but that's a tonal selection and the selection it makes may or may not be precise to the flowers. You could always do a layer mask of course and won't that be fun with those gradient edges... Maybe there's a better way?

With Viveza you could drop four Control Points, Group them, Resize them and control the yellow centers of those flowers, and nothing but the yellow centers in those flowers, with absolute precision after 5 clicks of your mouse. In about ten seconds, literally, you'd be controlling everything from hue and saturation to exposure and contrast and doing so with pinpoint accuracy and perfectly smooth, natural looking results. On top of that you would only need to work with one Control Point out of the four; since grouped CP's "talk" to one another the changes will be perfectly uniform across the entire selection.

Could I do that in PS? Yes. Yes I could. Can I do it infinitely faster and with better results using Viveza? Yes. Yes I can.
...

Some of it equates to bang for the buck....for $10 a month, I can have PS and LR CC and not have to worry about spending $150 + tax for yet ANOTHER program that does a few things quicker than PS. No thanks, I'd rather use the $150 on something else. Maybe, as @Pretzel said, when Google decides to quit raping people with their costs for a skimpy program, in so many words.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

Some of it equates to bang for the buck....for $10 a month, I can have PS and LR CC and not have to worry about spending $150 + tax for yet ANOTHER program that does a few things quicker than PS. No thanks, I'd rather use the $150 on something else. Maybe, as @Pretzel said, when Google decides to quit raping people with their costs for a skimpy program, in so many words.

Well you and Pretzel are certainly entitled to your opinion's on the matter, I fully respect those opinions and I do *see* your point even if I don't necessarily *agree* with it. I will say phrases like "raping people" and "skimpy program" seem a little over-the-top but your point is clear.

In the final analysis, it's good to have choices!
...

 

[sonicbuffalo_RIP]

Well you and Pretzel are certainly entitled to your opinion's on the matter, I fully respect those opinions and I do *see* your point even if I don't necessarily *agree* with it. I will say phrases like "raping people" and "skimpy program" seem a little over-the-top but your point is clear.

In the final analysis, it's good to have choices!
...

I know....I guess I was over the top with "raping us".....but $150 is quiet a lot for a processing program. To me it is overinflated. I hope that sounds better. Skimpy is basically referring to what you get for your money. Vivezia is the only module you noted. I know SilvrEffects is great for B & W photos...I agree that if it's your go to program, more power to you (and more money for Google). I'm sure if the price came down a bit I might purchase it again and check out the CP's you spoke of. I'd do it on a trial basis though, and like I said, 'skimpy' is referring to the other modules not doing very much different, and in most cases less than LR. I'm glad you found a different option for your PP work. I really am, and hope it turns out I'm wrong....but $150 + tax is a chunk for so little.

 

[Blacktop]

I'm not looking to start an argument, but I tried Nik Tools, and I have a different opinion. The only case where I think it does something that LR or PS may not be able to do is to HDR a picture. Other than that, it may do a few things I haven't figured out, but it looks simplistic and not very exciting to use for $150 + tax. That coupon does not work any longer as I tried. I asked for and got my money back on Nik Tools. Just not worth the money IMHO. But do what you like, some love it. I think LR does way more and combined with the CC Photoshop, you can't go wrong that way even though I hate paying a rental fee.

The only part of Nik Tools that I don't use much is the HDR efex pro. I prefer Photomatix pro over it by a wide margin. Other then that I would give up PS before NIK.

I also downloaded the 30 day trial of Photosuite9, and uninstalled it a few hours later. Slow slow slow

 

[Blacktop]

I know....I guess I was over the top with "raping us".....but $150 is quiet a lot for a processing program. To me it is overinflated. I hope that sounds better. Skimpy is basically referring to what you get for your money. Vivezia is the only module you noted. I know SilvrEffects is great for B & W photos...I agree that if it's your go to program, more power to you (and more money for Google). I'm sure if the price came down a bit I might purchase it again and check out the CP's you spoke of. I'd do it on a trial basis though, and like I said, 'skimpy' is referring to the other modules not doing very much different, and in most cases less than LR. I'm glad you found a different option for your PP work. I really am, and hope it turns out I'm wrong....but $150 + tax is a chunk for so little.

Chris, it sounds like that you have a bigger problem with using Google products then with the software itself.
I won't try and talk anyone into spending their hard earned money, but NIK is worth every penny in my opinion.
If you ever do give it a fair chance without any bias ,you will be blown away.

 

[Krs_2007]

One thing I dislike about Perfect Effects/Perfect Photo is that it's designed to close between image edits - like a plug-in. My preference would be for the software to remain up and running, while I go back to working on images in Aperture. That intentional behaviour is possibly the reason some people have crashing issues with it. If it were coded to remain open, it might demonstrate greater stability. I don't see any stability issues on my iMac, but it's new and fully loaded, with tons of brute horsepower.

If you open the software from Aperture it does what you say, but if you start it without going into Aperture first it will operate as a stand alone.

 

[Pretzel]

Don't get me wrong... never said NIK tools wasn't a good addition to one's editing tools. I just said I wasn't impressed for the price, as I'm already getting pretty decent editing results with what I have. I'm nowhere near the editing expertise of someone like Jake, though, and I know he uses NIK in his regular workflow. That, in itself, speaks volumes. If it were $100, I'd be all over it. Heck, I was going to pull the trigger a couple of weeks ago at the discounted price of $126... $150 just crosses my line right now, what with so many other purchase plans on my horizon (a simple lighting set up, 85mm prime, more classes).

Not sure why everyone is having problems with the OnOne software though, as it runs fine on my Mac? Maybe it's a Win-Thing. The new version (Effects 9 free) actually has an adjustment brush option, with a nifty "magic-masking" trick, so I can tweak the portions of the photos I want to work with. It's how I worked in all the effects I was toying with on my latest duck/reflection edit without messing up the duck or his reflection...

I guess it all boils down to what each person prefers, just like camera bodies, lenses, etc. Both have their merits!

For those of you with crashes, perhaps take the time to tell OnOne? I'd bet they're willing to fix it once they're aware. (at least, if they want to stay in business as a viable editing option)

 

[sonicbuffalo_RIP]

Funny....but I agree with what Pretzel said....when he said he never said it wasn't a good addition to someone's tool kit. I agree. There are a lot of programs out there that are good additions to the standard PS and LR. The more the merrier, if you want to ante up. I'm just saying for the buck, it's too expensive for what it does. It's not like it's a miracle cure for bad photography. I was surprised at how lean the tools were in Nik. There are literally 3 or 4 sliders in some of the modules. That's it! Not much bang in my opinion. But, like I said, if you have the money to burn, by all means buy it. It can't really hurt your photography.

 

[PapaST]

I'm sure if the price came down a bit I might purchase it again and check out the CP's you spoke of. I'd do it on a trial basis though, and like I said, 'skimpy' is referring to the other modules not doing very much different, and in most cases less than LR.

Control Points are one of Nik's main innovations. You should check them out before you decide the worth of the software.

 

[sonicbuffalo_RIP]

Control Points are one of Nik's main innovations. You should check them out before you decide the worth of the software.

What are Nik's OTHER main innovations? Or is control points pretty much it?

 

[Horoscope Fish]

What are Nik's OTHER main innovations? Or is control points pretty much it?

LOL... That's a bit like saying, "Okay, so it cures cancer. Is that *all* it does?"

I think we get your point already: You don't think NIK is worth what they're charging and those of us who did buy it, to use your words, have "money to burn".

We GET IT already... Your feelings are UNDERSTOOD. Point taken. Roger that.

*snappy salute*
...

 

[PapaST]

What are Nik's OTHER main innovations? Or is control points pretty much it?

I can't answer that question with a ton of certainty or experience. I've used Nik Software enough to know it's worth it to me. And enough to know that if you want to pass judgement on it you should at least become acquainted with if not proficient with CPs. As an example, to me, it's like not being versed with layers and masks and then saying there's nothing that LR can't do that PS can do. Most people would say that if you didn't know how to use layers and masks.

If you're really interested in learning Nik's worth you should probably start a new thread posing the question there, rather than jumping into an unrelated thread and polling another member to prove something's worth just because you don't understand it. Hopefully you'll get more definitive answers that way.

 

[Lawrence]

Don't get me wrong... never said NIK tools wasn't a good addition to one's editing tools. I just said I wasn't impressed for the price, as I'm already getting pretty decent editing results with what I have. I'm nowhere near the editing expertise of someone like Jake, though, and I know he uses NIK in his regular workflow. That, in itself, speaks volumes. If it were $100, I'd be all over it. Heck, I was going to pull the trigger a couple of weeks ago at the discounted price of $126... $150 just crosses my line right now, what with so many other purchase plans on my horizon (a simple lighting set up, 85mm prime, more classes).

Not sure why everyone is having problems with the OnOne software though, as it runs fine on my Mac? Maybe it's a Win-Thing. The new version (Effects 9 free) actually has an adjustment brush option, with a nifty "magic-masking" trick, so I can tweak the portions of the photos I want to work with. It's how I worked in all the effects I was toying with on my latest duck/reflection edit without messing up the duck or his reflection...

I guess it all boils down to what each person prefers, just like camera bodies, lenses, etc. Both have their merits!

For those of you with crashes, perhaps take the time to tell OnOne? I'd bet they're willing to fix it once they're aware. (at least, if they want to stay in business as a viable editing option)

I use a Mac and PE 9 (freebie) crashed 3 times in a row.
Maybe its a RAM thing but I recently installed an extra 4GB of RAM and am not going to install even more for a freebie.

 

[Vixen]

What are Nik's OTHER main innovations? Or is control points pretty much it?

One thing I also like about Nik is it applies it's actions as a layer in PS, so if you want to go back and play a bit more you can delete the layer and still save any basic editing you did before applying it. Some software doesn't apply as a layer and if you go back you have to start from scratch

 

[Pretzel]

I use a Mac and PE 9 (freebie) crashed 3 times in a row.
Maybe its a RAM thing but I recently installed an extra 4GB of RAM and am not going to install even more for a freebie.

How odd! I run the 27" iMac with 8GB of RAM and have had only 1 crash... lots of toying around with it in the meantime, though.

FYI - for those that were using Perfect Effects 8 (free), when installing 9, it gives you the option to delete older versions w/ a promise to import all of your saved presets and favorites. Long story short, it didn't, but oh well... I've already duplicated the presets I used regularly, and created a few new ones.

 

[Blacktop]

I'm just saying for the buck, it's too expensive for what it does.

That is not a fair assessment of software when you don't know what it does. I've been using it for 4-5 months and I still don't know half of what it does. I'm discovering new things everyday.

To be fair, there is one thing that I wish it did. Switch between modules.
If I'm working in Color FX ,I can't switch to Viveza or another module without first closing the program in one module, then re opening it in another.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

That is not a fair assessment of software when you don't know what it does. I've been using it for 4-5 months and I still don't know half of what it does. I'm discovering new things everyday.

To be fair, there is one thing that I wish it did. Switch between modules.
If I'm working in Color FX ,I can't switch to Viveza or another module without first closing the program in one module, then re opening it in another.

Pretty much my biggest Pet Peeve as well...

Since NIK operates as a plug-in, though, I fear we're stuck with having to break out of one module before we can initiate another. I'd be very happy to have a workaround as well so if anyone knows of a way... (!!)
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