LR4 Questions Conversions

Naftoli

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

bobh665

Most LR3 presets don't work in LR4. There's a few reasons why. Fill light is now shadow and blacks, brightness is now highlights and whites and the curves adjustments don't carry over from LR3 presets. Exposure is somewhat different also. Personally I'm not converting any of my catalogs to LR4. For the presets I open an unedited image at develop module default settings in LR3, click my preset and record the changes and apply them to LR4. Its time consuming but for me its worth the effort considering the enhancements in LR4.

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.

Neil vN

This is an unfortunate lack of continuity.

bobh665

Its kind of like converting from Windows 32 to Windows 64. Not all Windows 32 programs and drivers worked. That's the price of progress I guess.

Mo4753

I use a laptop running windows 7 with a 32bit system

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?

Mgarber

I am using LR4 on a 32bit Win 7 machine, and I haven't noticed serious delays compared to my 64bit machine except when it renders RAW preview files (which takes forever). However, I'm still using the LR4 preview, which was free, so when I buy it I will definitely be paying for the 64 bit version (since this 32bit station will probably be replaced before my 64 bit PC).

Mgarber

Sorry, for clarity, I'm still using the LR4 *beta, until it gets disabled later this month.

Mgarber

@Naftoli - In LR4, if you want to get similar contrast to your example from LR3, you can use the Exposure, Contrast and Shadows sliders together. I see you raised the Exposure for a higher-key look, then raised Shadows to +9 (for fill) and decreased Highlights to -9 to regain some highlight detail. If you're editing RAW files, then you should be able to raise the exposure, contrast and the Shadows sliders together and get a pleasing, contrasty, result without banding or too much clipping.

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!

Naftoli

mcgarber the values i posted i didnt change they were what LR4 changed when i upgraded the procsess version i didnt even touch exposure,

also im running LR4 on a windows 7 64bit laptop and it seems to be moving alot slower than LR3, yes i shoot raw

Mgarber

Ah, now I understand your initial post (recalling teachers scolding me for not reading more carefully).

Well, then I agree with bobh665's method. I am retaining LR3 and its catalogs along side LR4.

Naftoli

played with the higlights slider (formerly Recovery) and it actually seemed to do a decent job in LR3 i never touched the recovery but in LR4 it seems to hardly affects skintones

Trev

Naftoli,

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.

Naftoli

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

yep, can also do that, but since my hand is already on the mouse [prefer mouse, old school] it's far easier to just scroll for me, or if I want to be specific just click in the value window to highlight it then use the up/down arrows for minor, or hold shift key and up/down for larger values, or just enter the figure. Guess it's just what one is used to.

Trev.

ButchM

Neil ... Lr4 has great continuity in that any images in your catalog using prior process versions are supported and not automatically converted to the new process version 2012 ... they still have all the same sliders as was available in pv2010 ... same goes for legacy images processed in earlier versions of Lr using pv2003 ... You can even select pv2010 for any troublesome images that you would feel more comfortable with until you get up to speed with the new sliders ... All in all though, pv2012 is a marked improvement ... but it takes a bit of using it to feel confident in the new process ... however, I am quite disappointed in the lack of new or improved features, or only half implemented features in the balance of the app ... to the point I'm not quite sure I'm going to upgrade at this point ... In the past there has always been such a dramatic offering that saved me time and effort, which in turn more than compensated for the investment in the upgrade price ... on this iteration ... not so much has been added to make it such an easy call ...

Naftoli

amazing short cut i just found from matt koslowski, if u want to quickly jump to any panel in the develop module ie;detail,lens correction,tone curve, etc. there is a shortcut for it! to jump to the Basic panel cntrl/cmd+1, tone curve cntrl/cmd+ 2, HSL cntrl/cmd+3, etc, now the only thing we need is a shortcut for red eye

Naftoli

if anyone is interested...
http://tambnguyen.com/4013-my-initial-thoughts-about-lightroom-and-its-hot-issues/

tambnguyen

For what it's worth, if you don't want your LR to start lagging too fast too often, refrain yourself from making way too many "history states". The more states there are, the more LR's Catalog has to keep track, the more memory it uses.

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.

Naftoli

i never understood that, what is a history state?

tambnguyen

Y'know, all the things you've done to your image. The History panel on the left hand side of the Develop module.

Naftoli

i know About the history panel but what is history state? like somtimes when i press cntrl z it says undue history state for this image but there is no apparent change

Trev

Ctrl Z will merely undo the last change you did to the image, so it could be subtle.

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.

kennykodak

just ran LR 4.1 with Canon 5D 3 raw files, no problem.