Golfdiesel,
You select the film types from the "Color Tool". (The little "paint tube" icon down the left hand side)
The default is "Standard Color" - just change it to "Film color V1" or "Film color V2".

However, you should also try out the "Tastes" - next to the cog at the top of the list. It is "Default" by default, but they also include some "tastes" that make selective colour adjustments in the "Fine color controller".

The fine color controller is definitely worth getting to grips with

Batch processing - yes, but not quite like C1. With SP you mark them (F8 key) so a little yellow mark appears, then use the batch processing option - menu "Development / Batch development for reserved scenes..."
Alternatively you can select them all and use "Development / Batch development for selected scenes..."

Silkypix processes them sequentially, but unlike C1 you can't get on with other adjustments while it's working.
I suggested this to them, but whether it'll happen I don't know. Only a small change of workflow though.

I've just been looking at the release version and am pleased the prices remained the same

Hope that helps!
Matt

Prieni - for a moment I thought I was getting myself into trouble again!!
I reckon that once you get the hang of SPDS3 you'll find it quicker than PS

Dan - when you get the K10D you'll be wanting SPDS3 as it supports DNG now, and no doubt with the Pentax connections will support the PEF rather soon. C1's release date for DNG is still next year (think it may even have been Q2).

As with all things RAW, it's a case of (a) understanding what's the controls do, (b) gaining familiarity with the software. For me, everything just "clicked" with SPDS3 - but I understand that it's not necessarily for everyone. Don't get me wrong - I still really like C1, it's just that I now prefer SP

Matt

LOL! I'm having real trouble writing these without including a smiley/emoticon of some sort...

It's almost as hard as ignoring the K10D and new lens lineup (See - just had to use an emoticon!)
Matt

Brian,
Actually, I much prefer the control and output of SILKYPIX compared to C1. After a lot of practise and use, C1 was king of the RAW, but this version 3 has taken me to a new level - probably akin to going from the *ist-D to the K10D

Yes the interface is different... but in v3 it's not that different. Version 2 was a real shock. Here's my list of points that put it above C1:

* Colour control. Unbelievable control with the combination of film types, and contrast tweaks. Plus the usual curves (with RGB available). Brilliant.
* Rotation and digital shift. I'd used C1Pro and the rotation was excellent, but SPDS3 does it better with perspective correction. A real boon.
* Output quality. I've found that enabling "Pure Detail", zooming in to 100%, then setting the noise reduction to somewhere around 3 to 8 is enough for ISO-200 to 400 on the *ist-D. To be honest, I haven't yet explored all the NR features, but so far I've been able to get beautifully silky smooth shadows, especially from underexposed RAW images - whereas in C1 the shadow area would still be mush after much fiddling.

You can customise keystrokes to your heart's content too

The batch process is different to C1 - you mark the ones you want with the F8 key (puts a yellow mark) and then process the lot in one hit. Unfortunately this ties up your machine. I've suggested background processing to them - let's hope they take the suggestion

Oh yes, and only C1 has tethered support - but it was never for Pentax anyway. (I know that tethered shooting is a big point for a lot of pros)

Hopefully Daniel you've worked out the thumbnail view - quite useful in that you can even adjust settings while in thumbnail.

As far as speed - it's much faster than C1 too, especially loading and closing. I have a dual Xeon machine at work with 2Gb RAM and it flies, whereas C1 takes an age to load and close. The C1Pro is much faster than C1LE... but not £300 faster Even on my notebook (with 1Gb RAM) it runs more than acceptably fast. Conversion time is about 10s on the Xeon, and about 25s on the notebook - I can live with it.

Put it another way - I was seriously considering forking out £300 for C1Pro for the extra features. Having played with SPDS3, C1Pro is now out of the window - unless version 4 is seriously better. In fact, I also bought RSPremium, so I should get Lightroom 1 when it's released - but I still prefer Silkypix

Did I say I like it?

Matt

Daniel,
There's more control than just saturation...

1. There are "tastes" (new to v3). At the top there's a drop down combo-box. By default it has a green text "Default". There's "Super Neutral" - that's probably what you're after.

2. In the colour tool there is a set of film types. The response varies tremendously. "Portrait x" are great for portraits with lovely skin tones.

3. The tone tool has contrast etc. Try adjusting the gamma, contrast, and contrast centre. Takes a little while to get the hang of it.

HTH!
Matt

LOL

Only trouble is that I'm spending far too much time re-processing all my older RAW files and not getting out and shooting!
Have already had some great results out of it - http://www.pbase.com/mattmatic/bluebell_2006

It's so much easier getting the exposure absolutely right having the histogram with RGB as well as luminance.

Matt

George,
Thanks for that - good to know! I was about to buy DS2 when DS3 beta came out. IMO the version 3 knocks the spots of version 2
And yes, the results have been superb

My colour in C1 was better having bought the Nikon D100 colour profiles from Magne Neilsen (http://www.etcetera.cc/pub/ ) A bit saturated in some parts, but much more pleasing than any of the default profiles... however, Silkypix just beats it all

SP DS3 definitely works with DNG - which is good news for the K10D.

Matt

Interested to hear whether anyone else has been using SP DS3...

I haven't touched Capture One since installing Silkypix, and I now find it much easier to get rich and warm colours out of my *ist-D RAW files. And the apparent resolution has increased tremendously using their "Pure Detail" sharpening along with the noise reduction.

I've emailed a whole list of English translation updates for the UI, as well as a few suggested features... and I'm hoping it'll be released before my trial expires on 15th November!!

Matt

Ok,
I'll take back the Black and White comment...

To the right of the Color icon (a little paint tube), select the combo box and change from "Standard color" to "Monochrome" or "Monochrome 2".

NOTE: If you select the Color group, the Monochrome set do NOT appear in the drop down box that appears there - you must use the one to the right of the paint tube (maybe this is a bug?).

Matt

Just a "heads-up" -
SilkyPix 3 Beta English is now available here:
http://www.isl.co.jp/SILKYPIX/english/sp_ds3/

I am seriously impressed by this RAW convertor!
The manual is a little "Japlish", but the following features are definitely worth checking out:

* Can reprocess JPG and TIFF - white balance, exposure etc!
* Has a "skin tone" colour picker for white balance as well as a grey picker. Seems excellent so far, but you should try different parts of skin
* Fast histogram with full RGB
* You can adjust the tint of the shadows - excellent!
* Highlight recovery algorithms
* Includes Curves (Tone Curve)
* Excellent detail and noise reduction - almost as good as my Sharpen-O-Matic! LOL!
* Be sure to read about and try the "contrast centre" control etc
* Has different film types (:shock - Velvia, Provia, Astia etc. This is great!
* Has rotation, CA adjustment, Vignetting adjustment etc
* Does DNG - so the K10D should work

Things I don't quite like:
- Blinking highlights and shadows warnings. Drives me insane!
- No black and white controls
- No background processing like C1. However, it only takes 10s for a full JPG output so it's not too bad on my machine (it's a fast machine )
- Only AdobeRGB and sRGB output

If you're a serious pro, then there's also no CMYK separation output (as is available in C1 Pro).

Also, the price is 16000 Yen for one home license. You can buy up to two additional licenses for 3000 Yen each. So that's around £100 for a 3 machine license - very attractive!

...in short... I reckon I'm about to shell out for this, but I'm giving it the 30 day trial.


I'll probably do a quick guide to SilkyPix in the next few weeks... as well as make a number of English suggestions to ISL

Today's sample: http://www.ephotozine.com/gallery/showlargepic.cfm?photoid=742368 - pretty much straight out of SilkyPix. Wow!

Have fun all!