Help needed please with Noise Reduction Software

gemini

gemini

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Could someone please help me with which NR software I need.

I would like to do NR on the "backgrounds only" of some of my bird photos.

My problem is this:

I have downloaded the free version of Neat Image, as a plug-in, which I can use on images 1024x1024 pixels which is great for images to show on the web, but I want to print some of these pictures out at sizes of 4288x2848 pixels.

I have also downloaded Noiseware Community Edition which seems to work great but I can't get it to show up as a plug-in which means I can't select just the background to do the NR on.

Do I need to purchase a full version of Noiseware or Neat Image to be able to do what I'm asking?

I am using Photoshop Elements 7 as my editing software.

Any help much appreciated.

Alison :)
 
petersmart said:
Why do you want to use NR on backgrounds only?
Click to expand...

I guess it's because very often noise is more noticeable in the out of focus areas.

I'm interested in this as well. The shout for Nik Software's define is of interest. If it's as good a produict as their Silver Efex it might be the one to go for.

The trouble with noise reduction is the softening affect it has on images and that would be the thing which would bother me most :thinking:
 
cherryrig said:
Noiseware Professional is a very good Plugin for Photoshop to remove noise and what not
Click to expand...

Thank you, can you buy it over here or do you have to download it from the States?

petersmart said:
Why do you want to use NR on backgrounds only?
Click to expand...

Because when I've used it on photos with birds on before, people have said that I've lost detail in the birds feathers.
 
In all honesty, I've yet to see any NR software I'd care to run on the whole image, with the possible exception of Noise Ninja which I have been trialling on and off. Even then, there is a loss of detail where you don't want it, but Noise Ninja has an 'undo' brush where you can paint over parts of the image where you want to remove the effects of noise reduction.

My preference is still for running NR just on noisy backgrounds, I still find it the quickest, although it does need some practice with the magic wand and other mask tools, particularly with more difficult backgrounds.
 
CT said:
In all honesty, I've yet to see any NR software I'd care to run on the whole image, with the possible exception of Noise Ninja which I have been trialling on and off. Even then, there is a loss of detail where you don't want it, but Noise Ninja has an 'undo' brush where you can paint over parts of the image where you want to remove the effects of noise reduction.

My preference is still for running NR just on noisy backgrounds, I still find it the quickest, although it does need some practice with the magic wand and other mask tools, particularly with more difficult backgrounds.
Click to expand...

X2..........:thumbs:
 
You are quite right about losing details in bird feathers etc when using NR.

Oddly enough I have been experimenting recently with exactly the same problem.

A lot of the problem stems from the fact that many sensor/lens combinations cannot adequately resolve the very fine detail that exists in some parts of a bird's feathers.

This means that when NR is applied to these areas such detail as does exist is smoothed out.

I have found the only way to deal with this problem is to reduce the amount of NR in such areas and repeat the NR 3-5 times applying a very small amount of sharpening on each iteration.

I use Neat Image which lends itself to this approach quite well and find I can normally reduce the amount of noise present by 2-3 stops.

I am still experimenting.
 
cherryrig said:
Looks as though it's a States download job. I couldn't see anything for the UK :|
Click to expand...

Ok cheers :thumbs:

CT said:
In all honesty, I've yet to see any NR software I'd care to run on the whole image, with the possible exception of Noise Ninja which I have been trialling on and off. Even then, there is a loss of detail where you don't want it, but Noise Ninja has an 'undo' brush where you can paint over parts of the image where you want to remove the effects of noise reduction.

My preference is still for running NR just on noisy backgrounds, I still find it the quickest, although it does need some practice with the magic wand and other mask tools, particularly with more difficult backgrounds.
Click to expand...

fracster said:
X2..........:thumbs:
Click to expand...

:thumbs:

petersmart said:
You are quite right about losing details in bird feathers etc when using NR.

Oddly enough I have been experimenting recently with exactly the same problem.

A lot of the problem stems from the fact that many sensor/lens combinations cannot adequately resolve the very fine detail that exists in some parts of a bird's feathers.

This means that when NR is applied to these areas such detail as does exist is smoothed out.

I have found the only way to deal with this problem is to reduce the amount of NR in such areas and repeat the NR 3-5 times applying a very small amount of sharpening on each iteration.

I use Neat Image which lends itself to this approach quite well and find I can normally reduce the amount of noise present by 2-3 stops.

I am still experimenting.
Click to expand...

That's exactly it, NR does smooth out some feather detail when you don't want it to.

Have you got the full version of Neat Image?
 
Yes I have the full version of Neat Image.

If you go here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20926615@N05/4409062716/sizes/o/

you will find a photo of a sparrow taken at 1600 ISO and then cropped approx 50%

NR was applied prior to cropping and also some sharpening.

I usually batch process all my pics this way.

The picture retains virtually all the original detail with only a tiny, almost unnoticeable, loss of some very fine detail.

Taken on a 450D with a 70-300mm IS USM lens.

Some of the detail which has been lost wasn't there in the RAW file because the sensor/lens combination simply couldn't resolve it especially in the head area.

Most NR software will also lose detail in the fine downy feathers on the underside of the bird.

Which is one reason why I am now considering buying a 5D Mk II and L glass lenses.

I will probably buy a 70-200mm f4 L IS USM first and try it on my 450D to see any improvement.
 
gemini said:
Could someone please help me with which NR software I need.

I would like to do NR on the "backgrounds only" of some of my bird photos.

My problem is this:

I have downloaded the free version of Neat Image, as a plug-in, which I can use on images 1024x1024 pixels which is great for images to show on the web, but I want to print some of these pictures out at sizes of 4288x2848 pixels.

I have also downloaded Noiseware Community Edition which seems to work great but I can't get it to show up as a plug-in which means I can't select just the background to do the NR on.


Do I need to purchase a full version of Noiseware or Neat Image to be able to do what I'm asking?

I am using Photoshop Elements 7 as my editing software.

Any help much appreciated.

Alison :)
Click to expand...

Hi Alison, I'm in the same position, and although there are ways around the
limits of the free plug-in, I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm going to have
to buy the full version of NI. Annoyingly the stand-alone version doesn't
include the plug-in so it will have to be the $49.95 version :suspect:

regards Tony
 
Why don't you run noise reduction on the whole image, stick it over the top of the old one as a layer and then use a layer mask to brush back in the original subject? and if you use Gimp with the greycstoration plugin then the whole lot will be free :)

plenty of tutorials on the web..
 
I'm not quite sure what I paid for the stand alone Pro version - the pro version really is the only one to have - but I have a feeling that I was offered a good deal after a while.

I find that quite often you can get a good deal by waiting for a while.
 
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