Photoshop world 2011 @Vegas is over. The sweet news coming out is that the plugins suites from Tiffen, Nik and OnOne have all been upgraded and for a very limited time you can get the upgrades at a reduced price, and save yourself $40-60 bucks (if you own and upgrade all three)
TIFFEN Dfx V3
I’ll start off with Tiffen’s Dfx V3. It was the only Suite offered complete and available for immediate purchased/download. The other guys products are available as a discounted pre-order, with a target release in 30-60 days. With Tiffen Dfx you can also opt for a 15 day free trial. It is available in a few platforms, including a version for standalone, Lightroom/Photoshop plugin, Aftereffects Video Plugin or Iphone and iPad App.
I absolutely finish off all my images with Tiffen Dfx. This product never fails to deliver a creative spice which gives my work something unique and special. Their current marketing campaign has it right, this is a ‘Tool of the Imagination’. No other suite is as comprehensive with unique filters that jolt you into thinking about how you want your Image to be fine tuned. This suite leads you to that something extra better than the rest. Examples that come to mind, are special warming or cooling filters in shades of blues, reds, sepia and yellows. Or perhaps you have some white capped water that you want to send a light edge glow onto. How can you go wrong with a filter called GlimmerGlass ?
This release continues to bring you the ability to set up shop on dual monitors and we now have several new filters; such as debanding, deblocking, denoise, key light and 113 simulated film color and B&W filters. I also like the new glow dark (which glows and adds fill volume in dark areas, (think brunett/black hair)), they also have introduced a color match preset which I have yet to test out vs the Photoshop (Image/adjustment/match color). Finally you have some presets to create Rays. This effect is very creative. I’ve used it to augment lighthouse beams, sunbursts and god-rays. The effect looks similar to some actions that I’ve seen by Digital Film Tools(maybe Tiffen has bought the rights). Anyway, to get a visual look of these new filters go to the Tiffen site and check-out the before and after photos. View links below
I could go on and on over this product. I call it my #1 secret weapon for a reason. It is still the best keep suite secret out there. I still do not understand why it does not have the high profile endorsements of the big pros. I have never heard the group of pro’s which I track or attend workshops with ever mention it. Maybe they are on a no-compete contract…But damn, this is a real polished product and very professionally based.
It gives me a creative space to work in that is unique and with results that are creatively inspired.
Finally the user interface is the most sophisticated on the market. It is as functional as it is elegant. You can drag, peel and drop any on screen GUI module to any location that you desire, it is that simple and customizable.
Oh the price, for this release: $199 Upgrade Price $49.95 (what a bargain)
Tiffen Links
NIK Color Effect Pro V4
I‘ll wait until the actual software is available to give you my take on it. You can find discounts just about anywhere on the web for 15% off. NAPP members be sure to get your discount code. If you are located in a few nexus states, Nik will collect the taxes for you, so you’ll end up with 7% off.
All the big pros over at Kelby and Napp are fully engaged in touting this product. Nik has a complete Suite of products. While this can’t be considered a true suite like Tiffen or OnOne, it is very comprehensive for what it does, and this is the main engine of the NIK complete suite. Nik products now all have a homogenous interface across their products. You’ll find the icons in the same standard spot, and the GUI layout are easy to work with.
NIk has a reputation for quick and highly repeatable results and quality. I call NIK my workhorse products. You can’t find anything like tonal contrast, color contrast, ND filters, low and high key and an acceptable glow and spot effects like CEP. Nik also has that neat ‘U-point’ technology, that lets you drop a point and change the effects opacity.
I contacted NIK before my purchase and found out that this plugin will not upgrade your nikon NX2 CEP plugin, and that they don’t have any upgrade plans for NX2. It als will not harm your current CEP V2 that you may have previously purchased. So you are going to use this in Photoshop.
OnOne Photo Suite V6
You don’t have much time to preorder this product and have your card charged so you can get this in October. The Pre-order offer expires on 09/15, You can save $20 of the upgrade release price of $149 with code STE6U. If you want to buy the entire suite it is $299 less $20 discount. (they will sell you V5 for now and in October you’ll get your upgrade.
I don’t have the new software so I can’t comment on it. The entire world uses Perfect Resize, which used to be Genuine Fractals, and I use Focus point when I have a unique lighting or blur situation. All my Web Posted Images are framed using OnOne.
From what I gather about this new suite, is that they have a next generation of Phototools-Effects 3 (to compete with NIK CEP), a new Perfect Portrait retouching module and have new upgrades to Perfect Mask 5 and Perfect layers. The suite is not upgrading Perfect Resize V7, Photo frame V4.6 or Focal Point V2. All in All this looks to be a good value at $299.
