Viveza 2 Software from Nik Software

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Viveza 2 Software from Nik Software

I decided to review this product from Nik Software called Viveza 2. The download comes as a Plugin which I wasn't expecting. I downloaded the software, and then placed it my applications folder of the hard drive. It took a bit of figuring out, but eventually, I was able to install it in Adobe Lightroom.

Here is the Nik Software Site

1. Open Photoshop or Viveza 2

You won't see any menus until you open up a file

2. Viveza 2 can be opened via:

 Filter Menu >> Nik Software >> Viveza 2

 Here is a menu that will appear.

"Brightness,Contrast, and Saturation" are terms that I'm sure you're familiar with.

The "Structure" function is interesting (please see lower down).

3. Once the Plug-in has been activated, 

you will be given 3 view options

The full-view window

Only the item is shown.

The split-view option

The whole is shown, but it's split in half.

The split-view option

The whole is shown, but it's split in half.

1/2 of the image will be the improvements, while the other 1/2 will be the original item.

The Untouched/Worked on Option

This one shows you 2 separate images

The Untouched/Worked on Option

This one shows you 2 separate images

I chose the "structure" function form the menu on the right.

I gave it a number of -100 to grossly exaggerate the effect.

I like it, I like it!

What this does is either smooth out the area around the main object, or sharpen it.

In the lower right corner is the magnification window or "loupe"

By moving the mouse , you can reposition the "loupe"

In this case, I chose to place the mouse over the penny.

Another "loupe" position.

This one simply shows the grey fabric that I use to place my objects on.

Here is the top menu window.

The "lightbulb" icon changes the background of the image.

There are 3 choices: 

> light grey

> medium grey

> dark grey

Here is the dark grey with lots of grey around the images.

What this does is to allow you to better see any incorrect colour in the photo.

My "default" colour is red-magenta.

I should do a white-balance on my camera!

 Dark Grey Background

 Light Grey Background

Medium Grey Background

The Help Menu

This super assistant is available in the lower left corner.

Having a help menu open up and show at the same time that you're working on the their Help Menu, and it can be frustrating. So I then do a search on the Net, and come up with 10,000,000 hits!

Because a plug-in is a small sub-program software, it functions by itself.

As such, Nik could incorporate the help menu in the sub-program.somehow segregate each menu, and allow stand-alone help menus to co-exist. In fact, I'm going to write Adobe!

Nik's idea is brilliant!

Here is the help menu in action.

It's helping with the "Eyedropper" function

Here is the help menu in action.

It's helping with the "Control Point List"" function

Here is the "Control Point List" Menu

What the control point menu does is to place a circle on a position.

The circle can be enlarged or shrunk, and has the "usual adjustments" as before.

You've seen this menu before, so I won't explain them

I placed a Control Point on the Item.

AS you can see, it has a group of lines.

The top most line os to increase or decrease the diameter of the Control Point.

The other lines are the same as on the menu:

 Brightness

 Contrast 

Saturation

Structure

You position the pointer on the line and drag left or right.

Clever move - having the menu right on top of the photo and in the place where you want to do adjustments!

With another button, you can have a better view of  what the "Control Points" will actually do.

Clever!

Here's the actual "effect" in being shown in the comparison window.

I have 4 "Control Points" in this photo.

An overly-exaggerated effect of the Brightness Control on

the Control Points"

Adjusting the Size of a Control Point

The last icon (small circle) is for colour sampling.

You select the eyedropper tool, and then place the eyedropper inside the centre of the hole.

You can then alter the colour accordingly.

Here is the result after I activated the "eyedropper" tool, then 

positioned the eyedropper next to its' icon.

The Actual "Change Colour Process"

1. Add a Control Point

2. Press on the Eyedropper

3.Move the eyedropper to the left 

or simply click the eyedropper icon

Here's the current colour

Move the cursor to the new blue colour and press

Here's the transformation

The regular price before shipping costs.

It looked like shipping prices were included.

The price seems to be the same for either downloading it directly to your computer or having the DVD sent to you.

You can search for a discounted coupon also to save some money.

If you're a Student or Teacher then this really is worth considering.

Also available is the entire "suite" of programs, however, this is quite expensive. I'll let you check out the prices.