The other day when someone (Rondo?) initiated a discussion thread on AAI v. 1.0.3 Color Shifts and several of us commented/added our own observations after taking time to test on different images… what a number of us found - independently (e.g., not looking at the way the others tried to fix the color shifts until after we’d done our own tests) was that at least on Win PCs for the images we worked with using Auto Standard our images were skewed in their blueness by right around .45 (45%); when we moved the warmth (yellow) slider up to about the .45 mark the image started approaching more the warmth of the original.
Even during the beta stage - some users were seeing more blue tinge-ing in the HDR Auto whereas others of us - myself included - consistently were experiencing the opposite and only (or, mostly) seeing it in Auto Standard and not so in Auto HDR.
contrast changes almost always introduce some kind of hue shifts depending on the algorithm the software uses but AAI seems to add some (ugly) creative decisions for us not only colouring neutral areas blue. the tonality improvements with AAI are not bad so maybe they add a tool to get some control over color .
Since my last post, I thought I would at least try to work with Adjust AI a bit more. However, Adjust AI was just creating too many uncorrectable color shifts in most all images that simply shifting hue and temp did not solve. Also more often than not, it would simply increase exposure by sometimes almost a full stop and often increase saturation way too much.
Hue shifts are one thing, but complete color changes are something different. The thing that was the last draw that made me decide to scrap trying to use this “alpha” version app was a scene that took a red clay dirt road, changed its color to gray, took some yellowish foliage and totally blew it out in high saturated yellow and turned green trees and grass blue. Basically it seemed like the Ai was suffering from some psychosis in this not so unusual image.
Unlike some of the other AI products, I. think Topaz is trying to get AI Adjust to just do too much if it is trying to enhance contrast, detail, clarity and color balance.
totally agree ! the software seem to analyse image areas / content and than shifts the colors to the dominate color with some really funky results it also removes colors in this process too. to better see the effect of this AI image destruction set saturation to 100% and than turn AI on…
Interesting, will have to look at it again… I didn’t think the Raw → Noiseware softened that much. They looked fairly comparable. But what I did see (to my eyes) was that the post-Noiseware image had a slightly more Cyan/Greenish tinge to the sky. The High Pass appln. in Ps seemed to restore more of the richer, true blue of the Raw capture.
Color shifts are tough, since everyone sees colors slightly differently. But w/in the AAI product there are significant shifts (pre-manual correction) that go beyond the subtleties of individual eyes picking up nuances of hue shifts.
Makes me wonder if the “Auto” functions in AAI should just be dropped - b/c once someone has to start fixing them they aren’t “Auto” anymore. My suggestions:
1- Drop the “Auto” buttons for Standard & HDR Style
2- Take whatever algorithm/formula is being used for them and move them to Presets categories. “Standard” can become a “Basic Settings” preset (but likely will need a +1.45 yellow color boost for Win PCs (Program code = If PC then add 1.45 Yellow) to be effective in that way too. And the Auto HDR Style can become one of the HDR category presets - “HDR Basic”.
What that does is manage users’ expectations. If you think a button is supposed to produce - automatically (auto) - an acceptable direct output then one is frustrated when it doesn’t. If that same (or, a slightly tweaked code-wise alternative to it) is in the Presets catalog then it’s okay b/c (at least to me) I expect to tinker with presets to customize them (as starting points) to my taste.
Anyway, that’s my personal opinion of how I’d handle it if it were my product to adapt…
Either that or remedy the “Auto” code quirks across computing platforms
There are a lot of cool features in AAI. Not sure they’re more valuable than some of the classic Topaz plugins. But if someone didn’t have the former products for comparison I can see where some less discriminating, casual photog users (vs pro photogs or retouchers) might be pleased to have a virtually all-in-one, non-subscription-requiring digital processing product to add a bit of punch to their images.
Adjust 5 is much better because you can control the whole image. I would prefer to see Adjust 5 updated, then to continue with Adjust AI. Just because it is AI which is the new catch thing, does not mean it is better. In the case of Adjust, it is not, I don’t think and not from other comments I have read.
Or perhaps rename Adjust AI to something else like AI Color Clarity or something. Because it is nothing like the original Adjust.
I still have Adjust 5 installed, but it is not behaving. Since installing Adjust AI, Adjust 5 will not reset after adjusting sliders. It completely changes the image after pressing reset. What should take my changes from adjusting adaptive exposure, regions and contrast, after pressing reset back to my original image, does not. It actually changes the colour to much more vibrant and quite horrible. Not my original image at all.
Seems to be a conflict between Adjust 5 and Adjust AI, I think, somewhere in the naming of the two in the software algorithm, perhaps? Anyway, Adjust 5 is being affected. And that is the software I prefer over Adjust AI.
Windows 10.
PS - Uninstalled Adjust AI and Adjust 5.2. Reinstalled Adjust 5.2 without reinstalling Adjust AI and the same problem. It seems that the reset button is changing the whole color of the image in Adjust 5.2. Pressing the reset button after I have made however many sliders changes - 1 or many, changes the whole image to bright and horrible, after pressing the reset button - not the original image as it is supposed to do.
If I CTRL Z each time I have made any change/s, the image will eventually be returned to the original.
Since what I know from experience and I have read that Adjust 5.2 is a very successful and popular product, and you are not updating this anymore, could you please change your minds and do so please? At least until you can show that your AI range is as good? Unfortunately, I believe that AI for Adjust will never achieve the results we as users of Adjust want. It is a very individual, artistic plugin that can never be achievable with AI, simply because of the individual use.
