Photoshop Insider

Friday News Wrap-up (and a “Scott Thinks It’s Hot” Award Winner!)

By Scott on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 6:04 am | updates.

Hi everybody. I’ve been in Vegas all this week, first for some business, then I took a few days off with my wife and some friends to just hang out and see some shows (saw Cirque du Soleil’s “Love” show Wed. night, featuring the music of The Beatles and it was just unbelievable!!! My favorite Cirque show ever!). Now, I’m back, and here’s whaz up:

I’ve been working with Nik Software’s brand new Viveza plug-in for Photoshop, which brings the U-point technology used in Nikon’s popular Capture NX to Photoshop, and I have to say; it’s freakin’ incredible! In fact, so much so, that it’s getting my “Scott Thinks It’s Hot” award, given only to absolutely kick-butt products! The plug-in has a great user interface, pretty snappy performance, and it’s so fast and easy to use, that it’s going to become a part of my regular workflow. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out their video clip which shows it in action (click here); and you’ll totally get it, (and why it will change the way you do selective editing forever). Kudos to the gang at Nik Software for bringing Viveza to Photoshop. I’m psyched!!!
I saw a comment posted on my blog this past week from Adobe’s Vice President of Product Development, Dave Story, in response to my post called “Adobe’s Listening.” Here’s what Dave wrote:
Adobe is definitely listening, and not just to Lightroom requests. It’s absolutely common for me to require my team members to spend 10-20% of their time out in the community. Not just product managers, but software engineers and software quality engineers…everyone.

I really don’t understand why every software company doesn’t do this. It is harder, and it is definitely difficult not to be able to accomplish everything our customers want, but it’s critical if we are going to meet our customers’ needs.

One thing I will say, is that it takes some thick skin to read all the criticisms of our “beloved babies” that we poured so much sweat and tears into…but in the end it is all worth it to see what our customers create (in part) using our tools.

I say this all the time — Adobe has the best customers in the world!

Cheers,

Dave Story
VP Product Development
Creative Solutions, Adobe Systems
Dave is confirming something we already knew—that Adobe is listening to us, their customers, more than ever, but it’s still awfully nice to hear it direct from the horse’s mouth (so to speak).
We’ve posted our first online class from Digital Video Guru (and Photoshop World Instructor) Richard Harrington, and it’s one a lot of people have been asking for: Getting Started with Apple Motion. Here’s the link to Rich’s new online class over at KelbyTraining.com. Note: We’ve got a lot more classes coming from Rich very soon, so stayed tuned! (That’s TV talk. I thought Rich would appreciate that type of jargon).
If you’re in the Waipahu, Hawaii area (you lucky dog!), then you’ll want to catch a free seminar this Sunday, Feb. 17th, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm with Photoshop “WOW” books author Jack Davis. All you have to do is RSVP to 808-877-7022. For more info visit the Institute of Visual Arts site (link).
The monthly newsletter of celebrated landscape photographer Stephen Johnson is now available online. Click here to check it out.
Want to see some beautiful photography to take you into the weekend? Then check out the winners of PDN’s “World in Focus” travel photography contest. They’ve posted an online gallery of the winners right here.
I had my day made on Thursday afternoon, when I looked in my email in-box and there was a very nice email from Clement Mok. Apparently, a number of my readers had sent him the link to my story from Monday, and he dropped me a line, and was as gracious as ever. What a class act!
You’ve heard me mention the popular “Flying With Fish” blog (run by photographer Steven Frischling, who has dedicated his blog to helping photographers navigate the increasingly tricky task of traveling with pro-quality photo gear. Well, he’s now offering a series of one-day workshops called the “One Day No Jet Lag Photo Quick Course Seminar & Workshop” which are “designed to educate photographers on a wide range of skills and tools to make life on the road easier.” The next ones are coming up soon: March 15th in the Baltimore/Washington area, and then on March 16th in Manhattan (he just wrapped up his workshop in Hong Kong this past week). Check out the day’s schedule (it sounds surprisingly cool), right here, for all the details.

That’s what’s going on today. Have a great weekend everybody, and I’ll see you on Monday (which could be “Manic Monday” or “Mondo Monday” or “Manheim Monday” depending on how late I write the post). Have a good one!

Comment form for this post

^#1

Hey Scott,

The Viveza software does sound cool. Scott Sherman and Michael Stein did a brief little snippet about it on their last podcast over at the Digital Photography Show last week.

I liked the shot you had up yesterday - I know it’s probably randomized by a script, but the one with the curling colors in the sky and the dock extending out from the center bottom of frame is the one I saw. Beautiful scene!

Enjoy Vegas and have a great weekend!

Jason on February 15th, 2008 at 6:38 am

^#2

Mr.Kelby sorry I am not speak anglisch very well but I have ones question.
Wen I press Ctrl+ Alt+~ once selct and once not select bightness. Why?
This function dont´make corektli in Photoshop 7.
Please say me what I have to do make if to be right.
Thanks´very much.
Wisch plaesant Radek

Radek on February 15th, 2008 at 7:21 am

^#3

At € 249.95 it is quite expensive. Sorry, but Photoshop is already a huge investment, Nikon is getting a lot of amateur/semi photographers geared up with their fab, affordable cameras, so they need to start catering to the price limits of that group. My thoughts, of course.

Antonio on February 15th, 2008 at 9:22 am

^#4

Hi Scott,
Wow! Viveza looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it. Thanks so much for always keeping us up to date on the best and brightest in the world of photography!

Kathleen on February 15th, 2008 at 9:42 am

^#5

I am a HUGE Cirque du Soleil fan and Love was definitely the best. I showed my mom the program and now she wants to go to Vegas to see it. I also wasn’t a Beatles fan before that show either. All you need is Love!

Stacie Morris on February 15th, 2008 at 9:42 am

^#6

Yeah, Love is my favorite Cirque show as well. I’m heading back to Vegas for a conference next month and I’m seriously tempted to go for a second viewing (I’m out of Cirque in Vegas that I’m willing to go to alone, so Le Reve is on the list for this trip).

And I would like to thank you for for all your tips and referrals. I am just getting back into amateur photography seriously and your blog has given me the best pointers to other _useful_ places for info. Thanks.

Tad on February 15th, 2008 at 9:46 am

^#7

Had planned three days working from home this week but Joe McNally’s book and your Digital Photography Book Volume 2 arrived from Amazon (complete with 50% discount) so not much work was done but my photographic techniques just took off.
Great stuff, exciting times keep up the excellent work.

Bob on February 15th, 2008 at 9:55 am

^#8

Scott,

You have the greatest books on CS3 and Elements 6, etc. But last night I was a recorded version of your TV show on FOX. Please drop the feeble attempt at humor………..it doesn’t work. Sorry.

Regards,
Hugh

Hugh Campbell on February 15th, 2008 at 9:57 am

^#9

Scott,

I have been looking forward to Vivezia. Maybe you could get Nik on Photoshop User TV to talk about it. It does look like it will revolutionize editing photos.

JPO

Joe O'C on February 15th, 2008 at 10:14 am

^#10

Vivezia …

Pros: Simple, Powerful, Way Cool

Cons: Expensive

Paul M on February 15th, 2008 at 10:27 am

^#11

yep, true Adobe is listening…. and in a variety of ways too.

I had a student who was getting some strange errors after installing elements & via John Nack he put us in touch with Adobes tech support who responded very quickly. Yep a real person, not a link to a list of possible answers that you can’t decipher.

keith on February 15th, 2008 at 11:07 am

^#12

Speaking of books, my local Borders here in Hollywood is missing many of your titles Scott. There were like 2 on the shelf, cs3 for digital photogs & your new digital photo vol 2.

keith on February 15th, 2008 at 11:11 am

^#13

I look forward to your blog posts every day and you never disappoint. I would not know about the Nik Software offering or the PDN photo contest if you hadn’t mentioned them. Thanks for bringing the variety of news to us.

Dean Forbes on February 15th, 2008 at 11:15 am

^#14

Scott,
Wondering if you could expound a bit on the new Photoshop Tour program, called “Maximum …..” I think. I’ve signed up for it at Richmond, Va., as I was glad to see a “new” program. Can you explain more about what is being offered, why it was created, and any other “new” programs ahead?
Thanks

Howard on February 15th, 2008 at 11:35 am

^#15

Scott,

Viveza seems definitely cool. Any NAPP discounts available with NIK?

Thanks,

Jim

Jim Greif on February 15th, 2008 at 11:50 am

^#16

Viveza looks to be a great product, but it is ridiculously over priced. At that price I might as well buy Capture NX for $100.00 cheaper than the PS plug-in. It’s worth 49 bucks, tops.

Cliff on February 15th, 2008 at 12:18 pm

^#17

I saw Cirque du Soleil’s “Love” last summer. That really was an amazing show. I can’t wait until it hits DVD; even though being there and seeing it was unbelievable. I think the few songs that were really great was: Lucy, Mr. Kite and Revolution. I attended the 98th show and the next night Yoko and George Harrison’s widow were going to be in attendance at the 99th show. And of course the 100th show Paul/Ringo/Yoko and Harrison’s widow were all in attendance for the Larry King episode. It broke my heart that I missed them as I was flying out that day. I’m a huge Beatles fan. I’m glad to know you are as well. Seriously though, how badly did you want to bring in your camera? I somewhat was happy that I wasn’t able to because I probably would have seen the whole show behind the lens instead of just sitting back and being amazed. I had shot the whole day at Red Rock Canyon so it was nice to sit. But… I still wanted to secretly bring in my camera and a 50 1.4

Dan
http://danfrancisphotography.com/

Dan Francis on February 15th, 2008 at 12:50 pm

^#18

Howdy Scott!

I’m glad to hear how you are digging Nik Software’s Vivezza plug-in for Photoshop! I’ll have to check it out myself if they have a demo.

I enjoyed the last episode of PhotoshopUserTV, especially the moment after the credits where it looks like you are telling Matt off for one of his crazy jokes. I was in stitches!! Another fine, fine show! Lol!

Hey I really appreciate what Dave Story from Adobe had to say about how they try their very best to take on-board what customers want to see in future versions of their products. I’m sure it can’t be easy to do that at times! The reason why Adobe’s products are as good as they are is because ‘customer feedback’. Its very important, not only in terms of research and development, but also the success of a product. Its also the reason why Photoshop in particular has been a great success.

Paul Guy on February 15th, 2008 at 12:54 pm

^#19

Just to give a counter viewpoint, I didn’t like the result the Viveza demo achieved in the video. The flowers look a little out of context as if composited from another photo.

As earlier comments point out, Viveza is expensive, as is Photoshop itself. However, you can make Photoshop do all these tricks with the usual tools of curves, layers, and blending modes. It can be difficult at first to see how to get to your objective in Photoshop, but with practice it’s pretty quick.

Also, the sample photo is by Vincent Versace! I’m unfortunately working on my own meager photos with other more basic issues like color casts, noise, and so on. I’ve looked at other editing programs (e.g., LightZone) and decided it wasn’t worth the extra complexity to add it to my workflow.

If you’re willing to trade time for money, consider Scott’s reasonably-priced video training. Books and videos have really helped me make sense of the Photoshop Swiss army knife.

Kurt Shoens on February 15th, 2008 at 12:55 pm

^#20

Hey Scott, Great looking software! A little steep for me at the moment but it is on my wish list nonetheless.

As someone who is working hard to learn all about photoshop and photography in general, allow me to thank you very much for your very down to earth way of setting out these principles in inexpensive ways for others to learn.

My wife and I are moving to Spain for missions and there is plenty to shoot there. If you ever head over there look me up.

Manny Fernandez on February 15th, 2008 at 1:04 pm

^#21

Hi Scott,

Well I guess that’s another must have plug in I need to get. Looks incredible from the video link you gave.

Thanks for the ‘heads up’.
Have a great weekend,
Best wishes,
Glyn

Glyn Dewis on February 15th, 2008 at 1:30 pm

^#22

Hey Scott,

Regarding to Viveza.. now if only PS CS4 can include something like that in their next version. I’m surprised Adobe haven’t included that type of feature yet. I used an app called Alias Eclipse running on a SGI box in the middle 90’s that had this type of feature. Selective coIour correcting is a huge time saver without having to mask. Click the colour, set the range, type in the needed values, done! Great for product matching etc.

I hope Adobe is reading this current forum.

Mike Lippeth on February 15th, 2008 at 3:16 pm

^#23

Scott,

This is off topic for today’s post but I just got to thinking how nice it would be to have a podcast (like Photoshop User TV or Layers TV) for photography. I’ve been looking around and can’t find anything of the same caliber.
I’ve been doing graphic design for a few years now and rely on the above mentioned podcasts for tips, training and peeks inside the industry. I am becoming increasingly fascinated by the art of photography–absolutely blown away by The Digital Photography Book; brilliant!–and would love to see a digital photography podcast hosted by someone who’s insight and knowledge I have so much respect for with killer guests like Moose Peterson and Joe McNally.

Whaddaya think?

Brian

Brian McKray on February 15th, 2008 at 5:12 pm

^#24

Hi Scott-

Got McNally book and it is good, however best book out is “Digital
Nature Photography -The Art and the Science”. By John and Barbara
Gerlach.
yup, V iveza is a bit pricey.

hang in there

al

Al Gould on February 16th, 2008 at 1:22 pm

^#25

Hey Scott - I just got back from Vegas too! That’s twice we’ve been in the same town at the same time this year (Disney marathon too). I’ll be going to Europe in May. Want to have lunch or something then?

Barrie Brewer on February 17th, 2008 at 4:04 am

^#26

Scott, doesn’t anybody else think this feature would make lightroom unstoppable!! I would be so geeked up if they could include this in the develop module in lightroom!! Please I hope Adobe is listening to this!! Now that would truly cut my workflow in half!

Shaun Langdon on February 17th, 2008 at 5:48 pm

^#27

Dear Mr Kelby,
This looks to be a great plug in ! I will check out what this U tech mentionned there.

Keep up the good work, and I love your show and your humour. It is so entertaining, I think I have all your books and it took my pictures to a whole new level !

tks again,

Serge
www.photoserge.com

Ramelli on February 17th, 2008 at 6:56 pm

^#28

I’m also concerned about the price. I’m glad to hear this is an effective plug-in, but $249 is a lot of money for a cool interface to functions that PhotoShop already provides.

Wick Smith on February 18th, 2008 at 11:46 am

^#29

Hi Scott,

I agree with the above poster, this would be a KILLER Lightroom addition. Having this capability within lightroom would be a dream, hopefully Nik will make this a plug-in for Lightroom.

I hope NAPP will have a discount.

Jack Frazier on February 19th, 2008 at 1:11 pm

^#30

Viveza looks amazing - very much like the Lightroom Targeted Adjustment tools - One wonders how long it will be before this plug in will be a module available in Lightroom - seems like the ideal answer to local adjustments -

Suzanne on March 4th, 2008 at 2:12 pm

^#31

Nikon Capture is based on U-point as well. Will I need Capture after that? Although, $249 is indeed steep. The first release of Aperture 1.0 was priced in the range of $400 or something.

Tatiana Boyle on March 5th, 2008 at 3:49 am

^#32

Actually Nikon’s Capture Nx Software, which can be used by other than Nikon camera owners, has had this same technology in their software for at least a couple of years ago. What’s different with this new Vivenza it’s now available as a plugin to Photoshop instead of a stand alone program.

Skip Santo on March 11th, 2008 at 3:17 pm

^#33

Scott, I recently purchased the Viveza plug-in and wow, it absolutely is a kick-butt product! It was worth the investment!

Iris Muranaka on March 11th, 2008 at 5:15 pm

^#34

Dear scott,
I bought Vizeza and I have big version of 3.0 filters and 2.0 noise reducer. Why do I need Vizeza. I have used it and it does not seen that hot. I can do the same with the new 3.0 filters. What am I messing. Deborah.

Deborah McNamara on March 14th, 2008 at 7:10 am