Aperture and noise reduction options ?

[Ew]

I've been on Aperture since v1.  There were many bumps along the road - most for me were performance related.  Keeping the library on an SSD with the media referenced on fast drives, and at least 8Gb ram has solved most issued.

The only thing which still bugs me, and I'm not quite sure how to optimize my workflow is aperture's less than stellar noise reduction tools.

Now with finally adding a 5D3 recently, I have the following to share -
Shot @ ISO 12800, 1.4 50mm wide open in near darkness. RAW+JPG.

The 5D3 produced a much cleaner JPG right out of camera than what I was able to get with Aperture from the RAW.  Perhaps this is just me, but I've gone out to Topaz or Noise Ninja to clean up anything which Aperture can't deal with (which happened often with the 7D).  My thought is that it would be best to get the first NR pass during the RAW conversion - but Aperture actually sends a tiff out to external editors - so this is actually post RAW processing.

The shot below shows:
1. CR2 opened w/ ACR, NR applied, saved and imported into Aperture.
2. CR2 imported into Aperture, "RAW Fine Tuning (developing)" NR and Noise Reduction tool applied.
3. JPG imported into Aperture (as processed by 5D3) without adjustments.

I'm actually thinking of running everything that requires NR through lightroom, then going into Aperture for lib management and further manipulations.  But all this round-tripping sure is a pain, time wise and disk space wise!

Any suggestions?

[stefsan]

You could try NIK Dfine 2 ( http://www.niksoftware.com/dfine/usa/entry.php ) as a plugin to Aperture where you should be able to use it on your RAW files. I use it in PS5 to clean up my TIFF's (produced by Canon's DPP) and I like the level of control and (mostly) the results.

[neuroanatomist]

I'm actually thinking of running everything that requires NR through lightroom, then going into Aperture for lib management and further manipulations.

I generally do my RAW conversions in DxO Optics Pro (which handles NR and lens corrections very well), and use Aperture for library management.

[sure shot]

@neuro. Any chance there has been an update to include the 1DX? I definitely want to give this software a try.

Thanks

I'm actually thinking of running everything that requires NR through lightroom, then going into Aperture for lib management and further manipulations.

I generally do my RAW conversions in DxO Optics Pro (which handles NR and lens corrections very well), and use Aperture for library management.

[neuroanatomist]

Any chance there has been an update to include the 1DX?

Not yet.  Their website now indicates (which it didn't a week ago) that support for the 1D X, initially with ~30 lens modules, is expected in October (except the 40/2.8 pancake which is due in November).

[Ew]

I'm actually thinking of running everything that requires NR through lightroom, then going into Aperture for lib management and further manipulations.

I generally do my RAW conversions in DxO Optics Pro (which handles NR and lens corrections very well), and use Aperture for library management.

@ neuroanatomist
If I understand correctly, your workflow is:
1. review/select & process preliminary w/ DxO
2. process to TIFF ?  DNG ?
3. Import to Aperture for further processing & lib/proj management

Experiments I've done roughly double my file size with the TIFF, and almost triple with DNG options.  Do you also keep the original CR2 ?

Thank you for your input.

[neuroanatomist]

Not exactly.  It's

1. Transfer files from CF card to HDD, import into Aperture as referenced files for triage (separate library, delete rejects and move to system trash, delete keepers and leave in place, triage library stays empty)

2. Open in DxO, process to JPG and export sidecars

3. Import RAWs in to Aperture as referenced files, import JPGs into Aperture as stored within Aperture

4. Backup RAW files to HDDs in two locations (work and home), then tag CF card as ready to format and use

Probably sound convoluted, but it works for me.  Aperture is better for triage (images load faster, loupe tool, easy multi-shot comparisons, etc.).  DxO is a better RAW converter, with better lens corrections (better than LR, too, IMO).  Aperture allows management of multiple libraries, including on external drives. 

The reason for separate RAW and JPG libraries is that my primary computer for editing is a 17" MacBook Pro with a 500 GB HDD (I also have a 13" MacBook Air with a smaller SSD).  At some point, that HDD will fill up, and at that point, I can simply move my RAW library to a (third) external HDD, and keep JPGs and a year's worth of RAWs on the laptop.

[crasher8]

Topaz DeNoise5 plugin for Aperture works well…enough. But then again I'm on Aperture 3

[wickidwombat]

Topaz DeNoise5 plugin for Aperture works well…enough. But then again I'm on Aperture 3

I use Denise with lr4 and it's pretty awesome never used aperture though

[keithfullermusic]

The best way to solve this is to switch to LR.  This is coming from a LONG time aperture user.  I had a library of about 100,000, but the new LR just blows it out of the water, so I switched.

The reasons I'm suggesting just switching in this case are as follows:

1-LR noise reduction is pretty amazing.  I've used noise ninja, NIK, and a few others, but LR is just as good.
2-you don't have to open the images in other apps which convert them to tiffs and flatten them.  This saves tons of space.
3-it's a billion times quicker than using multiple programs
4-LR 4 is just flat out a billion times better.  On top of that pictures just look better in LR and I'm assuming it's because of the RAW converter

I know it's a big step to switch, but it's worth it.  Not only that, it's cheaper than most of those third party things that only do noise reduction.