I was excited when Topaz Labs announced (official release date is Monday Aug. 2nd) an update to their DeNoise tool. I use several Topaz Lab tools, including Adjust and Detail, quite a bit in my workflow, but I rarely used previous versions of DeNoise. However, when they announced DeNoise 5, I thought I would give it a run. Normally, if my image requires any noise reduction, I usually preform it right after generating the HDR/Tonemapped image and prior to any Photoshop work. In this image, after generating the HDR/Tonemapped .tiff, I brought it into photoshop, duplicated the base layer, and ran DeNoise 5 against it. Here is a quick list of things I found.
- Presets – I like software that offers its users a good starting point. Topaz DeNoise offers a couple of .jpg and RAW presets. In this image (a 16bit .tiff) I started off with the ‘RAW – Moderate’ preset. From there I experimented with a couple sliders and quickly found a level of noise reduction I was happy with.
- Ease of Use – The new DeNoise 5 interface follows the most recent release of of the product suite. It seems pretty straight forward, and ease to dial in.
- Preview Click – Like many tools, DeNoise allows you to click the image while you are making adjustments to quickly toggle between the original and processed images. This makes dialing in the settings you want a breeze.
- Speed – I’m not a numbers guy, but it seemed pretty quick.
Here is the before image:
Before
Here is the after image: (the volume control is not a feature. I was adjusting the background tunes)
After
This image had quite a bit of Noise in the sky. DeNoise 5 handled it pretty nicely, without much processing fuss. I have always liked Topaz products because of their power and price point. DeNoise 5 seems to be a welcome upgrade to their suite of products.
You can find out more about Topaz Labs and their entire suite of products here:
http://www.topazlabs.com/denoise/
Give the 30 day trial a run and see what you think. If you decide to buy it, you can use the coupon code LIGHTASMAGIC to receive a 15 percent discount on any purchase form Topaz Labs.
About the image: I made this image in the Spring along the scenic-byway between Cisco and Moab, UT. I have mentioned it before, but if you are ever driving west to Moab, don’t let people talk you out of taking the slightly longer drive. It is well worth the extra couple of minutes.
Capture Notes:
Nikon D300
Nikkor 80-200 AFD
Gitzo Traveler
Lexar UDMA Film
Processing Notes:
Capture – 7 images @ 1ev
Photomatix – HDR/Tonemapping
Topaz Labs DeNoise 5 – Noise reduction
Photoshop – Curves adjustment (2x)
Sized For Web
LightAsMagic.com
The truck, I assume was moving. Was it moving slow enough that Photomatix was able to apply the necessary adjustments or did you use some other process?
That backroad is a treasure of photographic opportunity. Have you ever made the side trip to Fisher Towers?
Thanks.
Good question Gary! I should have mentioned that. I had to mask in some of the original image because of the ghosting involved with the Truck.
Yep, been to Fisher towers several times…each time I was turned back because of lightning!!!
Justin:
I did some side-by-side tests with Denoise against NIK and ACR, and found this new program works the best of the three. I think I sent them to my Bud, Gary M. too.
But Gary’s question…. If you had used PS HDR with anti-ghosting turned on, I bet you wouldn’t have had to do any masking. Try it sometime.
– Rob
Thanks for chiming in Rob! Interesting results from you side by side comp. I think it is pretty darn nice. Way better than the previous versions of DeNoise. For $150 (with coupon code discount), the bundle is a nice way to go for someone not wanting to spend the cash for the other products.
Yeah, CS5 has nice ghosting control, but I still like the results and speed of Photomatix. I will mention that Photomatix 4 has some very sweet ghosting controls.
Thanks again Rob!
Justin
Is PM 4 available yet? Last time I checked, they had taken down the Beta version…. If Ghosting works as well as PS, I’ll switch back.
Thanks,
Rob
Rob, its not available yet. I’m not sure when they are going to release it? But ghosting is pretty darn slick!
This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I enjoy seeing websites that understand the value of providing a prime resource for free. I truly loved reading your post. Thanks!
I like this pic – it reminds me of an old movie with Dennis Weaver or Stephen King’s Christine…….scary!!!
The movie I was referring to is called Duel. It was released in 1971 and was Steven Spielberg’s first feature film.
We will have to rent it!
Ran a speed comparo between Dfine 2.0 and Denoise 5 on a cropped 28 meg, 8 bit TIFF file. Dfine took 18 seconds on Auto mode while Denoise took 34 seconds for RAW Moderate. The Denoise quality seemed to be slightly better at removing noise in the sky while retaining edge detail.
No hard and fast tests for me yet, but I am really liking the results. The edge detail and noise reduction is fantastic. Thanks for the info Rick!
I was surprised to read that you had stayed from the NIK software to process the noise in the photo. I honestly did not know there was another product that did that ( I am new to all this so please don’t be too surprised by my comment). I assume the Deniose program is a plug-in for PS?
It will also be interesting to see how the NIK HDR program that is coming works in comparison to PM?
Yeah, I use all sorts of programs for various needs.
I use NIK Define 2.0 for subtle noise, or areas of an image I need control over. I used to use NoiseWare for images that had high levels of noise across the board. The NoiseWare Landscape default used to be my ‘go-to’ setting. Now, for really noisey images or those that have noisey skies…I am using DeNoise 5 more and more.
Yep, it is a plugin for Photoshop and Elements. You can get the entire Topaz Labs bundle for $179 over here.
http://www.topazlabs.com/bundle/
Use the coupon code LIGHTASMAGIC to get 15 percent off the purchase.
I use DeNoise, Detail, and Adjust quite a bit.
Great work as usual Justin, you are an inspiration. I just cant see how you can say that Topaz’s DeNoise 5 can standup to NIK’s Define 2.0. The intuitive ease of use, the total control and intelligent design of the the editing screen is like comparing apples to oranges for me at least! I am using and enjoying Topaz Adjust and Clean for certain stylistic feels, though.
Thanks Ken! I appreciate the kind words. Topaz clean is a pretty cool product that a lot of folks don’t use. That is great that your using. As far as Denoise goes, I have been using it for heavy noise situations, and when I do I am normally brushing a mask. You are right, they are kind of apples and oranges. Denoise is more closely aligned to Noiseware in UI.