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The Digital Darkroom The In-Computer editing forum.

NX 2 discussion & (hopefully) tips

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  #11  
Old 19-07-08, 19:49
Don Hoey's Avatar
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Default Masks Part 1

My starter for 10. This is info gained from a crash around the program so any other finds/updates are welcome.

Due to the number of grahics this will be a several part series.

Masks can be used to perform a wide range of selective image adustments, and more than one adjustment step can be added to a single mask.

First set of grahics attatched.

Don
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Windows default view_ image open.jpg (102.3 KB, 10 views)
File Type: jpg NX 2 Toolbar.jpg (55.6 KB, 10 views)
File Type: jpg Mask 1.jpg (102.4 KB, 10 views)
File Type: jpg Control point mask.jpg (121.8 KB, 10 views)
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  #12  
Old 19-07-08, 20:23
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Last one for today.

Attatched graphic shows the full range of adjustments that can be selectively, rather than globally applied.

Don
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File Type: jpg Range of selective adjustments.jpg (99.9 KB, 9 views)
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  #13  
Old 19-07-08, 21:16
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Thanks Don, you have open my eyes to something new. Something I knew was there but I continued to edit photos in the usual basic way.

NX introduced control points that made it easy to use layers and masks used by Photoshop. NX2 seems to have turned away from exclusive use of control points and moved in the direction of a more traditional approach but in an easier way to apply.

I'll study this with interest and would be fascinated to know whether its a high quality companion to control points alone.
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  #14  
Old 19-07-08, 22:08
Chris
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I am looking on with interest Don and will be especially interested to see how you deal with the control point mask bleeding away bottom left. The worth of NX2 over NX 1.3 hinges on the quality of this tool, but I am yet to be convinced it does much that a quick 'brush around' with the brush tool would not have done; a rather similar situation that I was playing with on the dragon shot in the previous NX thread.

PS in the frame showing the mask tools isolated in a white surrounding area, have you done this using a copy+paste in another prog? Unless the PC version is different from the mac one, it is one of the big 'downs' in NX2 that I can no longer separate one group of tools like this from the main pallette, whereas in 1.3 I always do.

Later on perhaps you will also have worked out if the mask created this way can be reversed ie to (a) work on zone 1 (b) then do something diffrent on zone whole-pic minus zone 1. Again in NX1.3 a selection could be saved and passed on to use in further steps, so it needs to do something extra for my money.

Last edited by Chris; 20-07-08 at 07:41.
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  #15  
Old 20-07-08, 08:10
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The question of whether it is worth the money really depends on how much use you would make of the new features. The big snag I have found has been the lack of info on the net regarding NX2. A quick preview by Jason Odell then you have to buy his e-book. Nothing of real value on Nikons site yet, and then it took over a year from release for them to post a series of NX tips & tricks.

At least if we post experiences here, users of NX1 can decide if they feel the upgrade worth while.

On the mask then I used this a lot in NX1, but the moment you selected a tool to use the mask became invisible and you had to do the +/- brush by eye. I mostly put on the mask, then painted it all out, then used the + brush to selectively apply the effect. Because the mask was invisible I would often find areas that I had missed. CS was always a lot better in that respect as you could at least see a thumbnail of the mask. I never worked out how to see that larger than thumbnail though which has been a bit of a pain. This mask visibility thing has been well solved in NX2 as you can at anytime toggle between views on the full screen image.

Comming from NX1 there are odd things that I miss. In NX2 you HAVE to click 'New Step' to create that, otherwise you find you are in a previously closed step. In NX1 as long as you had closed the previous step the next tool you picked created a new step. Duplicating control points in NX2 can easily lead to creating a whole duplicate set. These are just two examples. Mostly a change in how you go about things solves these but until you realise the correct route then you can get a suprise. That is why I thought to post graphics as I go along.

More later.
If the weather holds then I am going for a sniff of hot steam oil and burning coal today . Weeting Steam Rally.

Don

Last edited by Don Hoey; 20-07-08 at 08:12.
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  #16  
Old 20-07-08, 08:33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris View Post
.......... will be especially interested to see how you deal with the control point mask bleeding away bottom left.
Chris,
The example I am using is the gallery shot of the Bald Eagle. So it will be in a graphic. In that case I applied a second point after applying curves.

All graphics are done in PaintShopPro7 so white areas around tool boxes are painted in.

Re moving tools around. That is something I will look into. Just been using default while I try to find my way around. Minimising the left side panels is good though. Quick and easy to view full screen and unlike my copy of NX1 they do dock properly when you revert. My NX1.1 was never quite the same when I reloaded it after my doomed upgrade to v1.2.

Don
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  #17  
Old 20-07-08, 09:03
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Hoey View Post
The question of whether it is worth the money really depends on how much use you would make of the new features. The big snag I have found has been the lack of info on the net regarding NX2. A quick preview by Jason Odell then you have to buy his e-book. Nothing of real value on Nikons site yet, and then it took over a year from release for them to post a series of NX tips & tricks.
The offical manual for Capture NX2 can be found here

It should contain everything we need to know about capture NX2
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  #18  
Old 20-07-08, 19:23
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Foxy, I have the manual but find that you still have to rummage through it to join up the dots on the bits I am not familiar with. Perhaps thats what Jason Odell's e-book offers.
Never mind, we will end up creating the WPF book.

A bit bushed after the Steam Rally so just two quick graphics for today. These are to show the effect that slight displacement when placing the Control Point can have a huge effect on the mask that is created. I suggest fine adjustment of position of the Control Point is made at magnification greater than 25%. Remember it is easy to toggle between mask and no mask.

I have found changing magnification, and the viewable part of the image on screen, is far easier done in the Birds Eye View, rather than using Magnifier and the Hand Control.
In Birds Eye View the displayed image area can be dragged around easily.

Don
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Control Point placement.jpg (124.5 KB, 6 views)
File Type: jpg Check Mask.jpg (99.7 KB, 7 views)
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  #19  
Old 20-07-08, 22:45
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Hoey View Post
Foxy, I have the manual but find that you still have to rummage through it to join up the dots on the bits I am not familiar with. Perhaps thats what Jason Odell's e-book offers.
Never mind, we will end up creating the WPF book.

A bit bushed after the Steam Rally so just two quick graphics for today. These are to show the effect that slight displacement when placing the Control Point can have a huge effect on the mask that is created. I suggest fine adjustment of position of the Control Point is made at magnification greater than 25%. Remember it is easy to toggle between mask and no mask.

I have found changing magnification, and the viewable part of the image on screen, is far easier done in the Birds Eye View, rather than using Magnifier and the Hand Control.
In Birds Eye View the displayed image area can be dragged around easily.

Don
inspired by your efforts Don & finding a heap of Tewkesbury Abbey interiors I had laid aside, I thought I would try the selection control point out on the classic problem of blowing the window glass in order to get the interior decently exposed.

I entirely agree on the manual business, indeed it hadn't ocurred to me that there was a pull down menu from the little face. Seeing the mask as black/white is a huge bonus....and as your graphics show it can make a huge difference moving the point quite a small distance; equally in positioning on the most 'blown' section of stained glass.

I duplicated the nef accidentally (intending to duplicate a control point) on purpose having corrected basics in 1.3 then tried the difficult bit in both. The result is not straightforward as there are differences in final image not accounted for after the branch, but the first positive indication so far of distinct advantage.

Missed Marcle Steam rally from too many prior committments so no divided loyalty this end !
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  #20  
Old 21-07-08, 09:50
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I may just have been tired yesterday evening but after Foxy's post re the manual, I had another quick trawl through it. Saw something really interesting - working on a black screen with menus that can be activated only to make an adjustment, or made visible for a series of adjustments. This is a feature I really like in PaintShopPro so followed the instruction - Top menu - View - and clicked Presentation.

PSP7 to return to normal screen view - left button click. To change view in NX normally go to Views and uncheck the curreny view, so I activated the control without further thought.

Here's the rub. The manual does NOT state that the top menu bar is inaccesssable in this mode, also that this is truely full screen mode so also no access to the task bar either.
You can only return to normal screen view through Manage Workspaces. Took me about 5 mins to discover that.

After going through that nightmare I will do a series of screen grabs of this today as it is a feature also new to NX2.

Chris, I do not have a pic similar to what you describe to play with. As all this will work on Jpegs perhaps you can post a 2000wide after basic correction we can play with.

Don

Last edited by Don Hoey; 21-07-08 at 09:53.
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