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As an adjunct to the Tangents blog, the intention with this forum is to answer any questions, and allow a diverse discussion of topics related photography. With that, see it as an open invitation to just climb in and start threads and to respond to any threads.
LR4 Questions Conversions
just got LR4 YAY! in LR3 i had a preset i made for B&W i would do the auto B&W conversion then i would give about +11 blacks and about+18 Fill Light and it would usually give me a nice high contrast B&W image with rich blacks and highlights when i convert a photo to LR4 it does some interesting changes kinda flattens out the image and makes changes to exposure even if i didnt adjust exposure in LR3, and i loose contrast i was going to convert my whole catalog to LR4 processing but im having second thoughts b/c then ill have to go through all my images again to add contrast or blacks as necessary,
in the two examples below the second one is from LR3 with the only ajustments r
blacks +11
Fill Light +18
the first image is what it looks like after converting to LR4 and it changes the settings to
exposure +36
highlights -9
Shadows +9
Blacks -2

Comments
EDIT: I should have said I will not be converting from PV2010 to PV2012. I will be converting my catalogs. When you convert a catalog the develop module adjustments remain the same (fill light,brightness etc.) as LR3 and the LR3 presets work as before. If you convert an image or folder of images to PV2012 that's when some presets and adjustments don't carry over but now you have access to the new LR4 adjustments.
I currently use lightroom 3.5 and it works great. Would you guys suggest I dont bother upgrading to lightroom 4 until I buy a new computer that runs 64bits?
As for the blacks and whites sliders, I rarely use them as they seem to lack subtlety.
And sorry everybody for bombing the thread with 3 consecutive posts!
also im running LR4 on a windows 7 64bit laptop and it seems to be moving alot slower than LR3, yes i shoot raw
Well, then I agree with bobh665's method. I am retaining LR3 and its catalogs along side LR4.
I have been testing LR4 last 3 days, and I agree with the Highlights slider [recovery], it does do a lot better job without adversely affecting sunlit skintones like LR3 did.
I still edit photos though like I used to, merely checking WB and dropping exposure if I need to bring back important highlights, then running action in photoshop, but I also see the Shadow [fill light] is much more subtle, and having much better control, so also will use that in future before exporting.
Overall I thoroughly recommend it to those who prefer doing full editing with LR, it is a marked improvement [as it should be] with this new version.
The only thing I still see negative [to me] is that I am not a 'slider' guy, I prefer to mouseover, and scroll wheel, this still works by clicking on the slider control then scrolling as long as the pointer stays there, but they still have it 'set' in larger increments than I would like, I prefer to have the units move one at a time to precisely control, eg. the 'Tint', etc.
The one thing I like though is the huge price reduction, I paid around $400 back in 06 I think it was, now a full version is only $150 with my upgrade price only $80. So on that front, for what the software does it's great value.
Trev.
as far as sliders i use the plus and minus keys to adjust exposure and hold down shift to adjust in 3rd stop increments, for the other sliders i hover over them with the mouse and hit the up and down keys to adjust them, as i prefer the track pad on my laptop rather than a mouse, or if u hover over the number value of the slider u can scrubby change it
Trev.
http://tambnguyen.com/4013-my-initial-thoughts-about-lightroom-and-its-hot-issues/
Each time you scroll your mouse wheel, it creates a state. I personally use the num pad to punch in how much I want. After using LR for a while (not LR4 haha), you sorta pick up how much is how much.
Plus, I have a major case of OCD, so "not-so-normal-looking" numbers bug the crap out of me.
The history state is merely the term used, as in the the history palette of photoshop, you can click back on any of the used history 'states' if you change your mind as Ctrl Z will only undo the very last 'state' you changed to.