Unable to Register Noise Ninja in ASP Trial

[monkeymonkey]

Has anyone been able to register noise ninja in the ASP trial?

I've received a trial registration key from PictureCode but when I enter the details into the Help/Registration it won't allow me to save the details (save button is greyed out). I copy and pasted the details straight from the e-mail from PictureCode. Note, the registration key is for "PhotoNinja" as I can't seem to buy NoiseNinja on its own.

My setup:
* Ubuntu 12.04
* Downloaded ASP Trial for 64 bit Ubuntu only two days ago
* Canon 50D camera shooting in Raw

The reason I want to trial the full Noise Ninja before making any purchases is because I've been struggling to find a solution to for noise handling and USM that is competitive to Lightroom (I'm being very pedantic too). However, I don't want Lightroom because it involves buying a Windows 7+ License as well and then I have to deal with dual booting when I want to do raw processing (which I will end up not doing).

Some more background:
I've spent a few days trialling / testing various software products and ASP is on my list because of Linux support. I've also used DarkTable a lot and have compiled their latest code which includes a denoise profiling modules. The denoise of DT and ASP with NN are still very good, but LightRoom has a specific edge in how it handles sharpening as well by correlating the denoise and sharpness controls (AFAIK). Certainly the results are considerably noticeable and I first noticed it because I have some vivid photos of children with face painting on in front of a dark background. The shoot day was a rush and so I'm not happy with how I exposed the photos. I've tried many additional plugins and settings in the software and short of having a degree in digital signal processing, I don't believe I'll be able to get a result with my current tools that is as good as Lightroom. Also, on a side note I have quickly tested PhotoNinja (on a friend's Windows PC) and the preliminary results seem to be a minor step ahead of the lightroom results.

I'm also noting that how ASP interprets the CR2 files is not as good as DT or LR. There are some strange colour artefacts around edges, but I'll worry about this later. It's so minor I think NN could repair it (Note that I'm comparing images loaded with NO filters / modules / plugins applied between ASP, LR and DT).

I would appreciate any support. I was going to e-mail corel directly but they suggested posting here and want to avoid a flood of support questions from non-paying people (although, I will be paying the moment the software proves itself to be worth buying in my trial - which I really hope is the case).

[afx]

Note, the registration key is for "PhotoNinja" as I can't seem to buy NoiseNinja on its own.

Ask Picturecode whether they still intend to sell NN licenses for use in AS.....

The reason I want to trial the full Noise Ninja before making any purchases is because I've been struggling to find a solution to for noise handling and USM that is competitive to Lightroom (I'm being very pedantic too). However, I don't want Lightroom because it involves buying a Windows 7+ License as well and then I have to deal with dual booting when I want to do raw processing (which I will end up not doing).

I have LR running under Wine. No need to dual boot.

Try the Wavelet Denoise plugin in AS. Free and depending on image content, often better results than NN in AS.
I rarely use NN anymore. most of the time it is just color noise reduction with WD.

but LightRoom has a specific edge in how it handles sharpening as well by correlating the denoise and sharpness controls (AFAIK).

The masking slider is pretty cool to not sharpen background noise.

Also, on a side note I have quickly tested PhotoNinja (on a friend's Windows PC) and the preliminary results seem to be a minor step ahead of the lightroom results.

Since Adobe introduced the engine that is in LR4 only PN can best it, before v4, LR was nothing to write home about.

I would appreciate any support. I was going to e-mail corel directly but they suggested posting here and want to avoid a flood of support questions from non-paying people (although, I will be paying the moment the software proves itself to be worth buying in my trial - which I really hope is the case).

Corel does not give a fart about anything. They are currently running AS into the ground.

cheers
afx

[monkeymonkey]

I have LR running under Wine. No need to dual boot.

Is that LR 4.2 or an earlier version? I've been unable to get an earlier version and looking at WineHQ, there seems to be mixed results. Saying that, I will try with wine again. I've seen links on this forum to getting it working.

Try the Wavelet Denoise plugin in AS. Free and depending on image content, often better results than NN in AS.
I rarely use NN anymore. most of the time it is just color noise reduction with WD.

Thanks, I did try the Wavelet Denoise. It's worth noting that in DarkTable using the Equalizer module you can also perform wavelet denoise functions in combination to contrast/sharpening adjustments. I believe if I knew what I was doing I could get pretty close or equal to LR with the module, but I played with it for hours without much like. The Profiled Denoise module released into their GIT tree over december is also really good, but only at the noise part - no tools to assist with sharpening.

Corel does not give a fart about anything. They are currently running AS into the ground.

That's certainly what I see around the place. I was monitoring Bibble for years and it doesn't sound like Corel are doing it justice or being serious about this space. I believe that with the new aggressive pricing of LR on a Windows platform, why would you try anything else?

Thanks for your comments, much appreciated.

[KeithR]

http://www.picturecode.com/nn_legacy/index.php

Noise Ninja is no longer for sale, so if you don't already own a licence, you've got no chance of activating the full version in ASP: and - given that in theory ASP and Photo ninja are competing products (in practice there's absolutely no competition between the two) - I doubt that Picture Code is going to be inclined to make an exception and keep selling it to ASP users.

You could ask them of course, and - I hope you're sitting down for this - you'll actually get an answer from the company.

Imagine that - a provider of a Raw conversion solution that actually talks to its customers...

Incidentally: when you mention:

strange colour artefacts around edges

that's probably the "Noise Ninja edge artefacts" bug which has existed, and which has been completely ignored by devs, since early Bibble days.

Just one of many.

[afx]

I have LR running under Wine. No need to dual boot.

Is that LR 4.2 or an earlier version?

4.3

I've been unable to get an earlier version and looking at WineHQ, there seems to be mixed results. Saying that, I will try with wine again. I've seen links on this forum to getting it working.

Yup, the stuff Roland posted works.

cheers
afx

[fcoiffie]

Afx,

It's off topic but according to this Wine bug report http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=30164 , the LightRoom 4 experience seems to be better than several months but not yet usable : it seems to crash with Wine 64bits and several bugs with Wine 32bits (like no 1:1 zoom). And moreover, a required patch isn't yet upstream.
Have you get the same problems ? What is your version of Wine and Lightroom ? I would like to test this solution (even if it works quite well in a VirtualBox and I would prefer a new release of AfterShot...).

[afx]

It's off topic but according to this Wine bug report http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=30164 , the LightRoom 4 experience seems to be better than several months but not yet usable : it seems to crash with Wine 64bits and several bugs with Wine 32bits (like no 1:1 zoom).

I use it in 32bit mode on my 64bit box.
1:1 works. Some redraws are a bit funky, but that might be a problem with my Nvidia driver.
Some file folders show silly fonts in the title bar.
I don't do much with it but first adjustments and culling. As soon as things get color critical they are moved to my W7 box.

And moreover, a required patch isn't yet upstream.

I am confident that this is only a matter of time, some high profile people are onto this.

What is your version of Wine and Lightroom ? I would like to test this solution (even if it works quite well in a VirtualBox

Wine seems faster than Virtualbox apart from mode switching.
LR 4.3 on Wine 1.5.21 self compiled with the patch from Roland.

and I would prefer a new release of AfterShot...).

Hope dies last.

But when hardcore AS users start to work with different systems whose creators they despise as much as Corel, that should give you a hint.

cheers
afx

[monkeymonkey]

I'll try e-mail PictureCode and Corel and see who gets back to me first.

Also, got lightroom working using the latest GIT by following Rolands advice in combination with the Wineon64 wiki page for wine (ubuntu chroot method).

[monkeymonkey]

PictureCode confirmed that at the middle of February they will no longer be selling NoiseNinja licenses and are focussing on the PhotoNinja product.

I was impressed with the speed and detail of their response.

[KeithR]

I was impressed with the speed and detail of their response.

Yeah, it hardly hurts a company's reputation - or its customers' state of mind - to give quick, straight answers to legitimate questions, does it?

Mind you, Phase One is probably even worse than Corel in that regard, but that's another story.

[binoyte]

Try the Wavelet Denoise plugin in AS. Free and depending on image content, often better results than NN in AS.
I rarely use NN anymore. most of the time it is just color noise reduction with WD.

Yes indeed. I do the same and I'm pretty Happy with that.

[KeithR]

Yes indeed. I do the same and I'm pretty Happy with that.

As a matter of interest, what cameras do you use, and what kind of subject matter do you shoot?

[binoyte]

Olympus E-3 & Canon %D mk iii
I'm preferentially a landscape and a macro photographer.

[KeithR]

Olympus E-3 & Canon %D mk iii
I'm preferentially a landscape and a macro photographer.

Thanks - I imagine you don't do much low light/high ISO work then.

Wavelet Denoise doesn't come close to Noise Ninja (ignoring the bugs) in dealing with "challenging light" images, I'm afraid.