p.1 #1 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
See a brief DXO AI Mask demo here. I decided to download the PhotoLab 9 trial version to check out this new AI Mask feature for myself and compare to Adobe AI Masking results.
p.1 #3 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
The Rat wrote:
Huh, neat! Interesting that they've bumped up the release as well, I feel like in the past it's been more around Oct.
I'm not sure how much I'd use the masks, but then I tend to not bother with local adjustments much.
I wasn't planning to upgrade from PhotoLab 8 this year, but AI Mask or a better mask control than what they had previously, is one of the things I missed on previous PhotoLab apps compared to Adobe.
p.1 #5 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
I just got 3 more licenses for 8.5 when it came out. I'm not quite sure what the masking does, but is the processing changed otherwise, like are we at DeeplyPrime XD3 or something significant in NR?
p.1 #7 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
LBJ2 wrote:
See a brief DXO AI Mask demo here. I decided to download the PhotoLab 9 trial version to check out this new AI Mask feature for myself and compare to Adobe AI Masking results.
Any informed opinions on how the DXO AI masking compares to LRC? I have almost completely stopped using DXO 8 for processing because I find the LRAC masks o powerful, useful, and easy to work with.
p.1 #8 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
I tried out PL9 yesterday and it really is rounding into a very impressive package. The AI selection is honestly outstanding, though learning how to use it at first took me a while. Once I had that figured out, it is really impressive. It masks in a very natural way, such that those adjustments have generally perfect blending with the masked out parts. Being able to have a landscape image with an irregular bright area with trees and just drag a box around it, and it selects the area I naturally want - it’s really brilliant.
I also edited an image from Venice last year taken along a narrow canal between buildings, such that the sky and reflection were bright, but the buildings were in very deep shadow. (I wanted to find a difficult lighting shot). I did an AI mask of the sky (which also selected its reflection), inverted it and raised the buildings significantly…the blending was perfect, and the NR algorithms completely got rid of any noise from the shadow raise. In previous editing suites this would have been very hard to do without significant halos at the blend points, especially in the reflection.
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While the lack of a couple features will still have me keep Lightroom around (HDR and Pano merging, camera profiles), I was honestly super impressed and while I used PL8 mostly for very specific edits, I can see using PL9 for a large portion of my work and bouncing to LR just for specific purposes.
I did note that on my Mac Studio, having “high quality preview render” enabled massively slowed down slider performance, but once turned off it’s good to go, and allows you to see the edits during adjustment, which then update the preview fully a second after finishing the adjustment.
p.1 #10 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
Can apply different DXO NR modules to different parts of the image? For example the DP3 is good with the main subjects but often leaves too much noise in the out of focus zones, yet the XD/XD2 sometimes creates artifacts.
p.1 #11 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
For those that have experience using Adobe Lightroom and DXO PL8/now 9 how do they compare?
I noticed that with DXO8 there's no AI removal tool, but I've heard that achieving similar results is possible on PL8, would the new AI masking help? Or is it mostly for quickly making local adjustments to things that are in the photo.
p.1 #14 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
I found the automated AI portions of the masking in Dxo 9 to be really good.
It selects hair, feathers, etc a little better than the auto components of adobe masking.
Now if I need to adjust the mask- add or subtract small areas- I find the adobe workflow to be better. It could be that I still have a learning curve on the dxo product- but the adobe workflow just works better for me, more fluid.
So I use both.
But, the dxo product has me going through some old images- the new masks are terrific.
gary
p.1 #15 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
The more I use this, the more I am impressed. Especially with the AI selection box tool. This shot of the Pantheon had the building itself in significant shadow, so I wanted to raise just the building. Getting around the sky is easy in lightroom, but just this building? Much more difficult. In PhotoLab 9, I just used the selection square, dragged a box around the Pantheon and it selected the building perfectly first time. really incredible here.
Again, this was chosen as a test example, and not really as a great photo...but the edges are blended more than apparent by the mask, as can be seen in the unprocessed vs processed view - the blending is basically perfect.
I will say that the latest Lightroom does have better masking in some areas, though. If you want to select types of landscape type objects, it can be easier and better, such as selecting architecture, water, mountains, etc. which works great for large scale changes. Where DxO excels is selecting individual areas of these items that generally need adjustment, so areas in shadow, bright sections, etc. In this example, Lightroom would select all the buildings when choosing architecture, rather than just the Pantheon. Using select Subject in Lightroom does select the Pantheon, but the buildings in the background through the pillars, as well as some other overspill are also selected.
p.1 #16 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
I have an earlier version of CaptureOne and was anticipating buying the latest version later this year. This release is prompting a rethink, PhotoLab is much cheaper than C1 (I don’t want subscription) but it means learning a whole new interface.
Has anyone switched from C1 to DXO and had any regrets ?
p.1 #19 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
Jman13 wrote:
Might as well give it a try - it has a 30 day trial without limitations so you can see if, after the learning curve, you prefer it to C1.
PL's highlight/shadow recovery has always lagged behind C1 and LR to the point where, for me, there's no point in using it. My current workflow is PL for noise reduction and lens corrections for the files that need it and then export dng to finish in C1.
p.1 #20 · DXO PhotoLab 9 with new AI Mask Technology
LiveShots wrote:
I have an earlier version of CaptureOne and was anticipating buying the latest version later this year. This release is prompting a rethink, PhotoLab is much cheaper than C1 (I don’t want subscription) but it means learning a whole new interface.
Has anyone switched from C1 to DXO and had any regrets ?
I am a long-term user of Photolab and have added PL9. My experience with C1 is very recent. I started using C1 about two weeks ago and I really like the performance. Most of my recent work has been in C1 and I think this trend is going to continue. I like the colors of C1, but most importantly, it seems easier to adjust light in C1 vs PL. The Highlights, Midtones, Shadows, and Black sliders in PL feel crude, or too wide-range compared to C1, where the corresponding adjustments do not interfere with each other. For example, adjusting the Highlights in PL feels somewhat like adjusting exposure. Adjusting Shadows affects the Black. This doesn't happen in C1. DxO Smart Lighting is not very smart. It works sometimes, but other times the effect is detrimental. Masking in C1 and in PL is done differently. There is some overlap but the approach to local corrections is mostly different in the two programs. I cannot say that one is definitely better than the other. The new masks in PL9 work more slowly. Masking and corrections in C1 are very fast and efficient on my MacBook Pro M2 Max. I am not sure why the new masks in PL9 are slow.
For portraits, my feeling is that C1 is considerably better than PL. However, denoising in PL is way more efficient than in C1
This is a very brief summary of my experience (that is still a bit shallow with regard to C1). Basically, I feel like migrating from PL to C1, and I would not suggest migrating from C1 to PL. There is nothing wrong with trying PL9, and this can be interesting and entertaining experience. The interface of PL isn't dramatically different. I doubt this should be a problem. Thus, don't be too concerned - give PL a try, but don't be too disappointed if you should find that you dislike the adjustments of Highlights, Midtones, Shadows, and Black in PL.
