Didn't know where to post. Anyway, I just started using Lightroom 4 yesterday...

[birdman]

and coming from Canon DPP only, I can see some major improvements on my 5d2 image flexibility. Not to sound snobbish, but my life really hasn't allowed me enough time to learn PS or its variants for the past few years. I am just an amateur, but still enjoy photog very, very much as we all do.

LR4 doesn't seem overly complex, although you can spend several hours on just one RAW file if you needed to. Having a newer custom built PC (i7 2600, 8GB 1866 Ram) it runs seemingly much smoother and faster than DPP does on my machine. Also, I am not suggesting that LR4 has a much superior Canon Raw engine, although it may. I am simply stating that I see my "old" shots have "new" life to them. From the little I know, there are Noise Ninja plug-ins as well as other NR software and tweaks that work with LR4. Be nice to this noob please.

My main question is what steps do you guys use to process your RAW files? Do you run through LR or DPP, then reduce noise with another app, only to further adjust in another program? I admit my knowledge here is extremely lacking. Photoshop CS5 was always too intimidating for me to learn, giving all that I've had going on. LR4 seems like a good compromise between DPP and CS5. I want to start a critique forum soon (like on www.1x.com) about pullling shadows, post production techniques, exposure and filter effects, etc, etc, etc. I have noticed the dreaded low ISO "banding" in some of my older 5d2 shots while using LR4. I had to push the crap out of them to see it happen, as they were terribly underexposed to begin with. After using some LR noise reduction, some of the noise went away and some smeared away detail. So my journey begins. There's no doubt it is an ART FORM in knowing exactly how to get that look that will make a average photo appear very attractive and interesting. Share your thoughts please. And maybe I can post some shots on my flickr account for you guys to guide me on.

[Bosman]

Post in the software section.
http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?board=51.0

[snowweasel]

I've only used LR4.1 a bit so far, but coming from previous versions, my workflow in the develop module is to scroll down and turn on "enable profile corrections" under Lens Corrections if you think you may need it, then pretty much work top down in the develop module. In LR4, things are a bit more understandable than they were in previous versions, but I'd gotten used to the previous versions, so I'm having to relearn a bit, but it's much more "natural" in this version for everything to start out at 0 and then add or subtract from there. In my experience, I just use Lightroom and completely bypass DPP. I've never tried other noise reduction options. I've heard great things about noise ninja, but thus far, Adobe's noise reduction in LR is usually sufficient for me.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Have you viewed the Lightroom 4 Video tutorials by julieanne Kost?  Its a great place to help you get started with a understanding of the controls.
 
http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/lightroom-training-videos
 
I import my images directly into LR, but some prefer to import into DXO first, and then into a advanced editor. 
 
LR will let you apply selective effects by using the brush, so you can apply sharpening to the hair, nr to soften a face, lighten the eyes, whiten the teeth, and a gradient filter to darken the sky, etc.
 
It also is a organizer with very powerful search capability, search by text, dates, camera, lens, ISO, aperture, and more and combinations of these.
 
Its a huge benefit to take the free basic tutorials.
 
Here are more!  All Free!
 
http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/category/video-tutorials-adobe-tv

[RuneL]

and coming from Canon DPP only, I can see some major improvements on my 5d2 image flexibility. Not to sound snobbish, but my life really hasn't allowed me enough time to learn PS or its variants for the past few years. I am just an amateur, but still enjoy photog very, very much as we all do.

LR4 doesn't seem overly complex, although you can spend several hours on just one RAW file if you needed to. Having a newer custom built PC (i7 2600, 8GB 1866 Ram) it runs seemingly much smoother and faster than DPP does on my machine. Also, I am not suggesting that LR4 has a much superior Canon Raw engine, although it may. I am simply stating that I see my "old" shots have "new" life to them. From the little I know, there are Noise Ninja plug-ins as well as other NR software and tweaks that work with LR4. Be nice to this noob please.

My main question is what steps do you guys use to process your RAW files? Do you run through LR or DPP, then reduce noise with another app, only to further adjust in another program? I admit my knowledge here is extremely lacking. Photoshop CS5 was always too intimidating for me to learn, giving all that I've had going on. LR4 seems like a good compromise between DPP and CS5. I want to start a critique forum soon (like on www.1x.com) about pullling shadows, post production techniques, exposure and filter effects, etc, etc, etc. I have noticed the dreaded low ISO "banding" in some of my older 5d2 shots while using LR4. I had to push the crap out of them to see it happen, as they were terribly underexposed to begin with. After using some LR noise reduction, some of the noise went away and some smeared away detail. So my journey begins. There's no doubt it is an ART FORM in knowing exactly how to get that look that will make a average photo appear very attractive and interesting. Share your thoughts please. And maybe I can post some shots on my flickr account for you guys to guide me on.

I import directly into lightroom. I took me awhile to get used to its way of handling files with the libraries and such since I came from Capture One Pro where I just managed them myself (which I still prefer), but I get along with it fine. I don't do much reduction because most of the stuff I do is printed in low quality newspapers or shot in conditions where noise is not a problem.
If I do noise reduce I do it the way I sharpen: I apply it slightly to the files I export, the rest I take care of in photoshop in a rater varying process, depending on what I want to achieve.
One of my noise reductions goes like this:
When I'm all done with the image, flatten layers, duplicate layer, add noise reduction till I'm satisfied. Invert layer mask and paint noisy areas instead of blanketing the entire image in NR.
Sometimes I use a layer set to blend mode colour and kill the noise by applying a colour that matches that of the noisy area.

For killing banding I usually do this: Add a new layer, set to overlay and fill with 50% gray add uniformly distributed noise (around 2-3 %). This will remove the banding and the noise won't be visible in print.

I'm sorry I'm not able to tell your more about LR4 noise reduction. It's time for you to let go of your fear and give CS5 a try You can probably get a cheap one when CS6 is released.

[EvilTed]

I import raw directly into Lightroom and set the default behavior to apply lens correction.
This feature is the biggest advantage over Aperture 3 (both of which I own).

The in-camera lens correction of the 5D MK3 seems to do some good, Lightroom does the rest.
For lenses that aren't supported by the camera directly, such as the 50mm F/1.8, this makes a huge difference.

HTH

ET

[kballweg]

I found George Jardine's online tutorials to be incredibly helpful. Though some may consider them a bit expensive, they weren't that much more than a good book, and a lot more helpful.

http://mulita.com/blog/

Jardine has some freebies on his site that allow you to get a flavor for his style and depth of knowledge. They were easily my best teaching aid purchase starting out on LR.

[wickidwombat]

http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Lightroom-Digital-Photographers-Voices/dp/0321700910/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336358194&sr=8-2

this is an excellent book to help you get started with lightroom
even though its for the older version might still be helpfull learning the new version
I havent used LR4 yet so i'm not sure