Post processing workflow

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Adamcski

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Adam
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Hi folks, I hope all is well

I had a quick discussion in the OM thread earlier but figured I’d also ask here.

Thinking about noise reduction (like LR AI denoise) when do you do this within your own workflows?

Do you do denoise at the start of the process (adobe appear to suggest this is the route to follow). There are other sources that do it towards the end of the process.

I’ve watched a couple of YouTube videos where people have done it at the end. A web resource about editing that has it at step 7 of 12 and another web resource as step 3 of 10.

Interesting, as it would appear that there isn’t a definitive right or wrong way (just asking I’m not stating there isn’t).

Just wandering what people’s thoughts were.
 
I use noise reduction at the end. I did research this a few years ago and like you found conflicting advice.
 
Most of the things we do in LR is overlaid on the original RAW file, but the AI noise reduction creates a new .DNG file. It seems most sensible to me to do the denoising first, then start editing the new .DNG afterwards.
 
LeeRatters said:
tbh, I don't think I ever intentionally use noise reduction.
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I've not really used it before but I have been reading around on the subject and had a little play earlier. I suppose it depends what type of photography you do and the equipment used?
 
I was watching a video on the exact same topic where they actually put it to the test by applying denoise before the edit and then again on the same imagr as a last step after the edit. There was absolutely no discernable difference between the two image versions.

Personally if an image requires denoise I apply it first before making any other adjustments.
 
I have read that if AI noise reduction can be applied to a RAW file, it doesn’t matter where in the process it is applied. If you are satisfied with the final image, all is well.
 
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I don't think it matters greatly as the results will be about the same. I generally decide on it if file looks dirty after processing which happens pretty rarely, or if I have to push exposure 3 stops then I know immediately this is necessary. Generally I get away without needing it
 
I am very far from an expert in these things,
but i prefer Topaz NR to the LR product and use this as a plug-in in LR and as the final step in my processing.
 
As others have said, I dont suppose it makes much difference when you do it. Personally, my thinking is that I should edit the newly created DNG, so I will open the RAW file, make any crop or straightening adjustment needed and then apply the denoise. Ive always been happy with the results doing it this way.
 
I see NR as an initial step in developing the raw file. Sharpening is usually the las at the end of post process. And everything else in between.

The reason I think NR is better first is that noise may well be exaggerated or manipulated by the in between steps - so better to deal with it early.

I would add that the amount of worrying I do about NR has dropped off a lot in the last 10 years.
 
I think LR applies the edits in it's own order on export. I suspect it makes no difference in the veiwing stage other than giving you a better idea of the effect of sharpening on the noise.
 
Adamcski said:
Hi folks, I hope all is well

I had a quick discussion in the OM thread earlier but figured I’d also ask here.

Thinking about noise reduction (like LR AI denoise) when do you do this within your own workflows?

Do you do denoise at the start of the process (adobe appear to suggest this is the route to follow). There are other sources that do it towards the end of the process.

I’ve watched a couple of YouTube videos where people have done it at the end. A web resource about editing that has it at step 7 of 12 and another web resource as step 3 of 10.

Interesting, as it would appear that there isn’t a definitive right or wrong way (just asking I’m not stating there isn’t).

Just wandering what people’s thoughts were.
Click to expand...
AI denoise is wayyyy too slow for regular use.

In fact.. I rarely even tweak LR's defaults unless I'm shooting at stupid ISO or have a 'hero' image which needs special attention.
 
Brentor said:
I have read that if AI noise reduction can be applied to a RAW file, it doesn’t matter where in the process it is applied. If you are satisfied with the final image, all is well.
Click to expand...

DxO PureRaw, at least, is better used early on in your work on a file. DxO say it should be used as the first step after import.

A very practical problem occurs if you're doing any fine masking in Lightroom (such as sky selections) before the round trip into DxO, then the geometry of any masks you have created are not adjusted by DxO's lens corrections.

That then leaves you with gaps between what Lightroom originally calculated as the mask boundary and the underlying image that was corrected by DxO. The only way to fix it is to delete the mask entirely and re-create it - something of a pain.

This is not a problem for Lightroom's own AI Enhance denoising.

A more minor issue is that (with Sony RAW files) DxO warms the image by about 400K after it comes back into LR; fortunately this is much easier to mitigate.
 
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Also, with modern AI denouncing tools like DxO, I'm inclined to go along with their suggestions to use it early on. With a lot of noise in an image, it's difficult to judge what is really going on in the shadows especially and it has an impact on the dynamic range of the image, or the perception of dynamic range.

Whether it makes a real difference or not (that's probably determined by the sensor at the time of capture) I will often make different choices about what I do with all of my tone adjustments when the noise is taken out. Better do get that sorted up front than to have to revisit a bunch of decisions later.
 
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