Topaz DenoiseAI - jpeg, dng and raw

I'm a bit curious how people are processing raw files directly - I've been using it from within Lightroom and it won't let me "Edit In" Topaz without LR first converting it to a TIF file. For me, whether I do it from LR or move it into PS seems to make no difference and it's giving good results on TIF files.

Tony

Tony,

I don’t use DeNoise from within Lightroom because of this conversion to TIF. I go to . . . Edit in Photoshop and apply it there.  In this way, I am still working with a Raw file.

I thought I would try some tests too.


#1. Original raw file (Olympus .orc file) pulled into Elements2020 and saved as jpeg.
#2. Three tests: a) raw file into Elements2020, Topaz AI Clear filter (in Elements), the OnOne Sunshine/HDR ...[basically Elements than AI Clear then On1]
b) raw file into Elements2020, OnOne Sunshine filter, AI Clear filter, finishing with OnOne HDR filter .....[Elements then On1 back to AI Clear back to OnOne]
c) raw file directly into Topaz AIClear, exported as dng file, pulled into Elements 2020 and processed with OnOne.

It is interesting that pulling the raw file into Topaz AIClear first produced a dng file that was considerably lighter than the other methods and required further processing in OnOne.  
Also, please note that you need to click on the trial image and pull it into full sized resolution to see the changes.

I submitted a support ticket to Topaz raising the anomaly I discovered with Panasonic raw (rw2) files. I'll follow up here with their response.

Sorry if I ramble on but I've been trying to explain to myself what I and others are experiencing. This article was helpful in understanding raw and dng files.

One consideration is that Topaz DeNoise can never actually do anything to the raw file as it comes out of the camera because that never changes and requires demosaicing into an image format before it will even look like an image.

If you use DeNoise as a standalone on a raw file from the camera it must handle the demosaicing internally and it will let you save the result as a DNG - leaving the original raw file untouched. If you use it from Lightroom you have to create a TIFF file because Lightroom can't store the denoise edits in an XMP file as it does with its own edits. If you use it having opened in Photoshop you are likely using it on a dng file as that's what LR/PS uses internally but when you come to save the denoised file it has to be a new file (so again a TIFF file or one of the other available image file formats (but I don't think dng is available)

I compared all three (using Fuji RAF files) and the only difference I see is that using it as a Standalone gave that rather pale result that others have seen compared to using it in LR or going from LR to PS and using it there (and saving it back to LR). The latter two looked the same to me. It's possible that the standalone is different because of the different demosaicing compared to Adobe but more likely it's because dng files from Adobe automatically have a camera profile applied (Adobe Color for example which is Adobe's idea of a starting point for your adjustments) but the dng files from Denoise don't seem to have one so you would have to make your own or just apply more adjustments than you would with a camera raw file imported using Adobe.

I've seen different opinions on when you should denoise - I've typically done it towards the end of editing but before any sharpening and have seen that recommended but then I've also seen the opposite recommended so whatever works!

Regardless of all that technical stuff and trying to understand the best way to use it, it certainly does seem to work and I'll be finding it useful for theatre dress rehearsal shots where I usually have to use very high ISO with the resultant noise.

Tony