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Post by Sepiana on Jun 19, 2018 17:42:11 GMT
Hi everyone,
I thought you would like to meet the latest Pro Adjustment for Topaz Studio.
AI Clear |
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Post by Bailey on Jun 20, 2018 1:19:45 GMT
Hi sepiana, I use ACR Noise Reduction so out of curiosity I had a look at the link you posted. When I look at the Before and After images, ACR can just as easily produce the same results, so I would suggest to anyone before they part with their hard earned cash, they have a look at ACR's noise reduction panel. I believe it is always better to remove any noise on a RAW file before doing any other edits so I always use ACR Noise Reduction and have found in 99.9% of my photos it does an excellent job. As always, just some food for thought  |
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Post by Sepiana on Jun 20, 2018 6:02:44 GMT
Hi everyone, here is something handy.
If you already have Topaz Studio (v. 1.11.4), you can start the AI Clear trial from within this program. Just go to Adjustments>AI Clear on the top menu bar. When the AI Clear panel opens up, click on Try Pro.
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Post by Bailey on Jun 20, 2018 9:21:05 GMT
Yes, definitely try and compare before you spend the $59.99 to buy it.
I have now downloaded the Before and After images on their web site and opened up the Before photos (.jpg) in Adobe Camera Raw. I could easily produce in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) the same or better results (visually at least) as what is displayed in the After images.
I did the same thing a few years ago now with DxO when they released a "you beaut" noise removal application and found that I could easily get the same noise removal results using ACR.
My conclusion is that if you have ACR then AI Clear doesn't do anything ACR can't. If you don't have ACR (or something similar) then by all means have a trial of AI Clear and determine for yourself if it is worth the expense.
Another observation I have made over time is that the Noise Reduce filter within PSE itself is significantly less powerful than the Noise Removal in ACR.
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Post by fotofrank on Jun 20, 2018 16:06:37 GMT
Sepiana,
Thanks for letting use know about this. Most noise reduction software remove noise by blurring the image. Newer version of noise reduction software tend to use algorithms to remove the noise and preserve detail. ACR has gotten much better with each new release, but is not the answer for all. Most of the noise reduction software is a single click or choice with some sliders, while ACR is slider based and moving one may make you adjust the others.
Bailey, I would love to see your side by side results.
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Post by Bailey on Jun 20, 2018 23:27:14 GMT
Hi fotofrank, I downloaded the images from the web site for my own personal use and evaluation of their product by comparing it to Adobe Camera Raw on my computer. I deleted the images after I came to the conclusion, as posted earlier, that I can produce the same results as displayed in their "After" photos using ACR. I had no need to keep them. But even if I did still have them, I would be very reluctant to publish them without first getting legal advice regarding copyright. While I used them for my own personal use and evaluation of their product there is no copyright issue for me personally. Publishing my edited versions on the www might create an issue. Also, as I (and even Felix) have posted that imgbb for some reason blur some thumbnails of hosted images it would not be fair to use imgbb hosting to compare images for this type of evaluation. Although the enlarged version of their hosted images are clearer they are not always as sharp/clear as I see them in my PSE editor. So having said all that, let me say this . I am not saying AI Clear is inferior or superior to any other product. After all, no software manufacturer will give an unconditional 100% guarantee that their product will produce 100% quality results in 100% of cases. My observation/conclusion is that I can produce the same quality results as AI Clear based on the images on their web site by using ACR. Therefore, I won't be considering purchasing AI Clear.As I mentioned in my previous post, I would suggest to anyone considering AI Clear (or any other 3rd party application) to first " .....definitely try and compare before you spend the $59.99 to buy it." |
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Post by Sepiana on Jun 21, 2018 3:16:28 GMT
Sepiana, Thanks for letting use know about this. Most noise reduction software remove noise by blurring the image. Newer version of noise reduction software tend to use algorithms to remove the noise and preserve detail. ACR has gotten much better with each new release, but is not the answer for all. Most of the noise reduction software is a single click or choice with some sliders, while ACR is slider based and moving one may make you adjust the others. Frank, you are most welcome! Glad to share this information.
I quite agree with you regarding ACR. It has come a long way but it is still not at the same level with other noise-reduction software out there. This is more so with ACR in Elements. It lacks the Photoshop Color Smoothness adjustment slider which targets color noise in images shot in low light and removes low-frequency color mottling in the shadow areas.
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Post by Bailey on Jun 21, 2018 3:30:23 GMT
Hi sepiana ... It has come a long way but it is still not at the same level with other noise-reduction software out there. ... That is not my experience. I haven't found anything that is better. Every time I have compared ACR Noise Removal with other applications I have fount it to be on par or even slightly better in a few test images. I am convinced, based on my experience, ACR's noise removal is every bit as good as DxO and AI Clear. I can't see any real difference in quality between any of those 3. But really, everyone should do their own evaluation/comparison to decide for themselves |
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Post by Sepiana on Jun 21, 2018 3:38:15 GMT
Bailey , you have made your point (more than once) and it is appreciated. However, I am afraid the need to have the last word is taking this thread away from the intended OP.
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Post by fotofrank on Jun 22, 2018 0:01:37 GMT
I did a quick test of a few noise reduction programs that I have. It is very clear that Topaz AI clear did a much better job than most of the other program. The real difference between them and ACR is all of them are one click fixes - except ACR. Topaz AI Clear did a much better job of maintaining the detail and preserving the stars. As I stated before, most noise reduction programs reduce noise by blurring the image, clearly Topaz AI Clear did not. Please keep in mind that I am NOT suggesting that you run out and purchase the software, However if you are in need of some noise reduction software - Topaz AI Clear worked very well. The programs that I used included NIK Define, Topaz AI Clear and De-noise 6, Perfectly Clear, MACphun Noiseless. Here are the results of my testing.  |
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Post by Bailey on Jun 22, 2018 2:25:25 GMT
Hi fotofrank, thank you for the comparison and opinion but unfortunately from your image I cannot see much difference in any of the processed images on my screen. I have no idea how you removed the noise and what settings you used but a "must do" when sharpening or removing noise is viewing the image at 100%. I assume you did that. To properly evaluate the quality of the sharpening or noise removal, it also should be done at 100%. Obviously I don't have your actual original and processed images so I can't properly evaluate the noise removal in your posted images. Also, I see from your post when I view it in bbcode mode that you used imgbb to post your image. As you may or may not be aware, imgbb (for reasons only know to them  ) blur posted thumbnails to some extent and the enlargements are not always as sharp or clear as I see them in my PSE editor. Hence I am not convinced imgbb is a fair environment for this type of evaluation/comparison. But thank you again for taking the time to post what you did and your thoughts. |
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Post by Sepiana on Jun 22, 2018 2:49:51 GMT
I did a quick test of a few noise reduction programs that I have. It is very clear that Topaz AI clear did a much better job than most of the other program. The real difference between them and ACR is all of them are one click fixes - except ACR. Topaz AI Clear did a much better job of maintaining the detail and preserving the stars. As I stated before, most noise reduction programs reduce noise by blurring the image, clearly Topaz AI Clear did not. Please keep in mind that I am NOT suggesting that you run out and purchase the software, However if you are in need of some noise reduction software - Topaz AI Clear worked very well. The programs that I used included NIK Define, Topaz AI Clear and De-noise 6, Perfectly Clear, MACphun Noiseless. Here are the results of my testing. Frank, thanks a lot for your time and effort in conducting this testing! This is an invaluable service to our members. Your contribution to this thread is truly appreciated.
It comes to no surprise that AI Clear came on top. Topaz Labs are widely known for being on the cutting edge when it comes to technological developments such as AI. (As a side note, Adobe has also introduced AI in PSE and in PS CC.)
I also have Nik Define and Topaz DeNoise. Topaz DeNoise is my favorite noise-reducing program. Now I have to say that . . . AI Clear is definitely shaping up as a serious competitor.
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Post by Bailey on Jun 22, 2018 3:15:16 GMT
Earlier in this thread I just used the images on the AI Clear web site to see if I could get the same noise removal results using just ACR. I found that I could easily. But to be fair, and to evaluate AI Clear properly, last night I clicked on the 30 Day Free trial link, installed the application and this morning did some more comparisons between ACR and AI Clear itself. My observations are the same as earlier. I can produce the same high quality noise removal in both ACR and AI Clear, so imho ACR and AI Clear are on par with each other and I see no significant superiority in either of them. Therefore I couldn't justify the cost of purchasing AI Clear. I have now uninstalled the free trial. |
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Post by Sepiana on Jun 22, 2018 3:27:23 GMT
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Post by Sydney on Jun 22, 2018 5:25:19 GMT
The results of my testing of AI Clear since its day one release are that it appears to be less effective in noise removal than Topaz DeNoise. I conducted my tests on several high ISO noisy images. I noticed other users have also indicated similar results on the Topaz forum discussion threads. I would suggest to anyone considering purchasing AI Clear to trial it first and compare with any other noise reduction app they might be using so as to make their own mind up about its effectiveness.
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) blur posted thumbnails to some extent and the enlargements are not always as sharp or clear as I see them in my PSE editor. Hence I am not convinced imgbb is a fair environment for this type of evaluation/comparison.