Silver Efex Pro 2 questions.

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Gerry M

Gerry
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If this topic has been beaten to death, my apologies. I am curious about the learning curve with this software. I used PS CS2 for a while, and abandoned it in favor of PS E7. This for color only. My post processing is very basic. Having said that, how steep is the learning curve with SEP2? For b&w, I have been using film, and use hybrid process and/or conventional darkroom. Boiling it down, if the time to learn the software is too involved, maybe I would be better staying with film? I'm asking this because I have seen some very excellent digital conversions on RFF. Thanks for any input.
Gerry
 
Its very intuitive software. The way all Nik software is laid out makes it easy to try different effects and see how they look in real time, before applying them.
 
It is not non-destructive editing (that means the changes you make are written permanently to the image file). So you might like to always make copies to work on in SEP2.

Also, for Lightroom users, be aware that there is a bug in the way that SEP2 handles keywords in the image file, and it scrambles them. If you use Lightroom and have a good keyword hierarchy worked out, beware of importing files that SEP2 has worked on. The work-around is to export a copy from Lightroom with the keywords stripped from the file (see the export dialog) then work it in SEP2, then reimport the worked file and reassign keywords as needed.
 
Not to highjack the thread but I was wondering if anyone could compare Silver FX Pro with Viveza. I have Viveza and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth getting Silver FX Pro. It seems to me that, other than grain and presets, if you start with a grayscale image, you could do same thing you do with Silver FX Pro using Viveza. Or is there something different (better?) about Silver FX Pro's algorithms for B&W images?

Thanks!
 
ChrisN said:
Also, for Lightroom users, be aware that there is a bug in the way that SEP2 handles keywords in the image file, and it scrambles them.
Click to expand...

Same for Aperture :(. I have learned to only apply keywords after I've done my SEP2 work. Have yet to get around to cleaning up my keywords. It's a real mess.

That being said, SEP2 is super-easy to learn and pretty quick to get really great results. I bring flat grayscale film scans into it and bring them to life there. Great stuff!
 
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ChrisN said:
It is not non-destructive editing (that means the changes you make are written permanently to the image file). So you might like to always make copies to work on in SEP2.
Click to expand...

In PS5 you can apply it as a separate layer leaving your original unaltered. The resulting files are a bit larger though.
 
Here is an image shot using Kodak BW400CN that was processed using Silver Efex.
You won't get this look any other way.

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looks nice on the screen - very dramatic. But how is 5x7" or 8x10" print?
EDIT: I mean the Kodak shot
Click to expand...

Prints out quite nicely on an inkjet.

I've gone up to 8x12 on 11x17 paper and it holds well.
 
Randy,
Your two , above, posted images are one of the reasons that I am seriously considering SEP2. Great job and thanks for the examples.
Gerry
 
Randy,
Your two , above, posted images are one of the reasons that I am seriously considering SEP2. Great job and thanks for the examples.
Gerry
Click to expand...
Gerry,
You might want to find a copy of Silver Efex Pro, 1st version.
Unless you have Photoshop CS5 and a really good graphics card, version 2 is not a big change.
I tried the new version using CS3 and the new one seemed slower.
Should be cheaper as well.
Just a thought
 
They have a trial to download and try. I just love the plugin. Love that second shot, Lewis.

5360278541_7e55f60f5d_z.jpg
 
v_roma said:
It needs a host program: photoshop, pse, lightroom, or aperture.
Click to expand...

Actually you can run it as a standalone, but it doesn't have a file-open dialog. You can create a desktop shortcut for the executable, then drag-and -drop image files onto the icon to make them open in SEP2.

But yes - easier to run it from a host program. I usually have SEP2 open a file after exporting an image copy to a separate folder. (The export dialog has a setting for an after-export action.)
 
SEP is super easy to use, you will have no problems figuring it out! If it were not for SEP I could not have made the leap to digital, it is essential to my workflow these days.
 
Gerry M said:
If this topic has been beaten to death, my apologies. I am curious about the learning curve with this software. I used PS CS2 for a while, and abandoned it in favor of PS E7. This for color only. My post processing is very basic. Having said that, how steep is the learning curve with SEP2? For b&w, I have been using film, and use hybrid process and/or conventional darkroom. Boiling it down, if the time to learn the software is too involved, maybe I would be better staying with film? I'm asking this because I have seen some very excellent digital conversions on RFF. Thanks for any input.
Gerry
Click to expand...

This site may be of some help as well:
http://www.nikforums.com/forum.php

Best regards,

Bob
 
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