Google Releases $149 Nik Software Plug-in Bundle for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Aperture

[photographypro]

Not to worry!

I just got off my computer attending a webinar with Nik instructor Dan Hughes. For those of you who actually use the software, if you've ever watched any of the webinars, I think he is their best instructor. It was a live event. Dan answered many questions, and said that Google has been working on this release for many months, but obviously couldn't say anything about it.

If you look on their video page, they released 22 videos yesterday showing how to use the software. This is in addition to the already hundred and 50+ videos they already have.

Dan says that Google has 100 engineers working just on the pro plug-ins, and that there is a different team that works on the mobile platforms. Basically the mobile team looks at the pro effects, and decides which would be most popular and which could be adapted for mobile devices.

Nik isn't going anywhere!

 

[Glideslope]

Nice

While I clearly understand much of the feelings in here, it's too good to pass up for Free.

I've wanted HDR Pro, and Silver Pro 2 for a while now for Aperture on my Mac. I'm an Aperture person, and will be as long as possible.

Now it's all on my HD for $0. I simply can't take a stance against that. Even with Google.

 

[GuitarDTO]

Nik Complete user here along with Aperture. This bundle is a no brainer for $149 IMO. I bought it for $200 I think awhile back. The Nik plugins are great. They are a tad quirky sometimes with Aperture, but other than that I like them.

 

[Igantius]

...I think they're also responding to onOne's recent promotion, which was essentially "we'll always be here, when others won't" (no names, of course ) and responding to other criticism. Now, that said, google will drop software at the drop of a hat so we'll have to see, but I guess I view this as more positive than negative.

Yes, and also, I suspect, Perfect Photo Suite has become more affordable - $149 for the Lightroom and Aperture edition and $79 for the standalone one. The Premium Edition is half-price for a limited time (so $149) to Nik owners.

onOne has also been giving away quite a lot of free presets as well, which has been a very nice bonus.

...If you look on their video page, they released 26 videos yesterday showing how to use the software. This is in addition to the already hundred and 50+ videos they already have.

Nik isn't going anywhere!

Only one is dated as March, one in Feb, a few in January and so on - however, I didn't recognise them so perhaps the dates don't tie up with when they've been added to the site? One thing that had been of concern to me is how little new training material had been added since the buyout - as has the lack of communication about the products. Largely because of this and the lack of clarity about what was happening, I've sourced alternative products - it's nice to hear some news (although personally, I would have welcomed some new enhancements), it's come a little late for me. I'm still using the Nik plug-ins, but it's become less and less.

 

[photographypro]

Videos are here

Only one is dated as March, one in Feb, a few in January and so on - however, I didn't recognise them so perhaps the dates don't tie up with when they've been added to the site? One thing that had been of concern to me is how little new training material had been added since the buyout - as has the lack of communication about the products. Largely because of this and the lack of clarity about what was happening, I've sourced alternative products - it's nice to hear some news (although personally, I would have welcomed some new enhancements), it's come a little late for me. I'm still using the Nik plug-ins, but it's become less and less.

Here are the newest videos. 22 were released on the 25th, with the release of the Nik Complete Collection: http://www.youtube.com/user/NikSoftwareLessons/videos?flow=list&view=0

 

[Kebabselector]

Had a quick play with the plugins last night - I think some of my money might be heading to Google shortly

 

[jinxedluck84]

Anyone using onOne's suite on a MBP(R)? I'd download the trial but I'm currently in a country in which the Internet speeds are as slow as molasses.

 

[sevimli]

I just got off my computer attending a webinar with Nik instructor Dan Hughes. For those of you who actually use the software, if you've ever watched any of the webinars, I think he is their best instructor. It was a live event. Dan answered many questions, and said that Google has been working on this release for many months, but obviously couldn't say anything about it.

If you look on their video page, they released 22 videos yesterday showing how to use the software. This is in addition to the already hundred and 50+ videos they already have.

Dan says that Google has 100 engineers working just on the pro plug-ins, and that there is a different team that works on the mobile platforms. Basically the mobile team looks at the pro effects, and decides which would be most popular and which could be adapted for mobile devices.

Nik isn't going anywhere!

Is this collection an updated version of the previous versions, or they packaged them all into a bundle.

 

[Razeus]

Is this collection an updated version of the previous versions, or they packaged them all into a bundle.

Both...

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I wouldn't buy this beyond a need for the current supported version. IOW, I wouldn't expect this to be upgraded/maintained in the future, Google assurances notwithstanding. OTOH, if these are the full versions of the previous Nik offerings, that is a very good price. If I needed this for a project today, IMO it would still be worth the money (as a one-shot deal).



Adobe could integrate the bits and pieces of Ps useful for image processing (layers?) into Lr today if they wanted to. That would also be amazing. But they won't, because it makes people have to shell out for Ps or a CS subscription.

Too bad Apple took their foot off the gas by failing to update Aperture...

All Aperture would need is feature for feature LR 4 updates and add in Layers within the software. That would be killer. But Aperture is abandonware at this point.

 

[Mike Oxard]

Double check to be sure that it was six weeks ago. If it was on or after Feb 22nd you're able to get some money back.

http://connect.dpreview.com/post/4452357456/google-nik-software-plugins

From the link above:

"If you previously bought any of these plugins, Google isn’t going to leave you in the cold for already having dropped a lot of money. If you purchased any individual plugin within the last five years, you get the entire collection for free. If you spent more than $149 on plugins since February 22nd of this year, you’ll be refunded the difference."

The article also mentions that this software will continue to be developed further so it's not the end for this plugin package.

Thanks, we got it on the 13th! I'll send them an email, they may take pity!

 

[r.harris1]

Both...

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All Aperture would need is feature for feature LR 4 updates and add in Layers within the software. That would be killer. But Aperture is abandonware at this point.

I realize the above is your standard line on any Aperture discussion , but really, I'd challenge Apple to go well above anything LR 4 has to offer, not merely match some feature set. Not really a big fan of the LR UI or workflow so that's an area that Aperture can actually do more. And implementing their own approach to layers like some of the recent patents indicate they might do would be pretty cool too.

 

[Razeus]

I realize the above is your standard line on any Aperture discussion , but really, I'd challenge Apple to go well above anything LR 4 has to offer, not merely match some feature set. Not really a big fan of the LR UI or workflow so that's an area that Aperture can actually do more. And implementing their own approach to layers like some of the recent patents indicate they might do would be pretty cool too.

It just irks my nerves that Apple can't release a statement for their pro software users. But what Google just did with Nik Software is the same thing Apple did when they dropped Aperture 3's price from $199 to $79. Firehouse sale = no more support/updates.

 

[talmy]

But what Google just did with Nik Software is the same thing Apple did when they dropped Aperture 3's price from $199 to $79. Firehouse sale = no more support/updates.

There have been updates to Aperture since the price dropped to $79 that added some new editing features, some UI changes, and the ability to open and use iPhoto libraries. Last update was November 12, 2012. And there have been many OS updates to RAW camera support. Nik Software just released a couple dozen new tutorial videos. Both products are being supported.

 

[KdParker]

Yup you sure showed Google

Better get rid of your Mac and iPhone...Apples gonna get you to!

He is not completely wrong. They are alway's tracking your surfing habits.

 

[oldgeezer]

?
Why would you want to do that?
RAW only exists to keep the unprocessed data from the camera sensor.
If you want to show/print/manipulate the data it needs to be processed.
Converting the data back to RAW would be lossy guesswork.

Nikon's Capture NX software uses the NIK control point editing technology and it is absolutely great. The way it's integrated into Capture the changes are kept separate from the native raw data so that the original image sensor data is completely unchanged. The editing was so powerful that I fought the switch to Lightroom even though Nikon Capture's image management software was pretty weak compared to Lightroom.

Lightroom finally won out because of the tight integration of image management and editing. I figured I'd add Viveza to Lightroom as a plug-in and have the best of all worlds. That's where the conversion to TIFF problem became obvious. Now, in order to maintain the integrity of the original RAW file I have to save it but in order to use NIK's plug-ins I also have to convert it to a TIFF -- which is, incidentally, a much larger file than the original raw file. Now, instead of a 20 megabyte raw file, I have a 20 mb raw file plus an additional 70 megabyte TIFF of the same image. Do this to too many images and you'll eat up storage space like crazy - roughly 10 images per gigabyte.

Plus having two different formats of the same image just complicates the image management problem much further.

That's not to say the NIK plug-ins aren't good and useful, but having them work on the raw file without duplication would make them much better and more useful.

 

[John.B]

All Aperture would need is feature for feature LR 4 updates and add in Layers within the software. That would be killer. But Aperture is abandonware at this point.

Sadly, I agree with you.

 

[wvanbeckum]

Price cut is for expansion

Lots of people are saying that this is a move towards phasing out NIK software... I can say with certainty that this is not true. I work with NIK software, and I've talked with several higher ups at Google about this price cut. The price cut is an effort to make the software accessible to more people. Why would they spend all that $ and then just drop support for NIK? They're hoping to increase popularity by lowering price... no brainer.

 

[Razeus]

Lots of people are saying that this is a move towards phasing out NIK software... I can say with certainty that this is not true. I work with NIK software, and I've talked with several higher ups at Google about this price cut. The price cut is an effort to make the software accessible to more people. Why would they spend all that $ and then just drop support for NIK? They're hoping to increase popularity by lowering price... no brainer.

They told you what you wanted to hear.

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Nikon's Capture NX software uses the NIK control point editing technology and it is absolutely great. The way it's integrated into Capture the changes are kept separate from the native raw data so that the original image sensor data is completely unchanged. The editing was so powerful that I fought the switch to Lightroom even though Nikon Capture's image management software was pretty weak compared to Lightroom.

Lightroom finally won out because of the tight integration of image management and editing. I figured I'd add Viveza to Lightroom as a plug-in and have the best of all worlds. That's where the conversion to TIFF problem became obvious. Now, in order to maintain the integrity of the original RAW file I have to save it but in order to use NIK's plug-ins I also have to convert it to a TIFF -- which is, incidentally, a much larger file than the original raw file. Now, instead of a 20 megabyte raw file, I have a 20 mb raw file plus an additional 70 megabyte TIFF of the same image. Do this to too many images and you'll eat up storage space like crazy - roughly 10 images per gigabyte.

Plus having two different formats of the same image just complicates the image management problem much further.

That's not to say the NIK plug-ins aren't good and useful, but having them work on the raw file without duplication would make them much better and more useful.

That's not possible. Even Photoshop makes you use the RAW converter THEN creates a .TIFF for you to work with in Photoshop...Nik is no different.

 

[r.harris1]

Nikon's Capture NX software uses the NIK control point editing technology and it is absolutely great. The way it's integrated into Capture the changes are kept separate from the native raw data so that the original image sensor data is completely unchanged. The editing was so powerful that I fought the switch to Lightroom even though Nikon Capture's image management software was pretty weak compared to Lightroom.

Lightroom finally won out because of the tight integration of image management and editing. I figured I'd add Viveza to Lightroom as a plug-in and have the best of all worlds. That's where the conversion to TIFF problem became obvious. Now, in order to maintain the integrity of the original RAW file I have to save it but in order to use NIK's plug-ins I also have to convert it to a TIFF -- which is, incidentally, a much larger file than the original raw file. Now, instead of a 20 megabyte raw file, I have a 20 mb raw file plus an additional 70 megabyte TIFF of the same image. Do this to too many images and you'll eat up storage space like crazy - roughly 10 images per gigabyte.

Plus having two different formats of the same image just complicates the image management problem much further.

That's not to say the NIK plug-ins aren't good and useful, but having them work on the raw file without duplication would make them much better and more useful.

No one to my knowledge saves back to the original camera RAW file. ACR will save adjustments separately as a sidecar file or other method, but when you edit, you're editing TIFF, as I understand it, Nik or otherwise.

Edit: whoops! Didn't see Razeus' response.

 

[oldgeezer]

No one to my knowledge saves back to the original camera RAW file. ACR will save adjustments separately as a sidecar file or other method, but when you edit, you're editing TIFF, as I understand it, Nik or otherwise.

Edit: whoops! Didn't see Razeus' response.

Photoshop doesn't do non-destructive editing. It allows edits at the pixel level and thus saves the file to a format other than raw. Lightroom, on the other hand, does non-destructive editing. A file of edits to the raw image is saved but the original raw image data is totally unchanged.

This is also true of Nikon's Capture NX.

If you edit a Tiff or jpeg there's no going back once you save it. With both Lightroom and Capture NX you always can go back to the original raw image and re-edit to you heart's desire.

 

[oldgeezer]

They told you what you wanted to hear.

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That's not possible. Even Photoshop makes you use the RAW converter THEN creates a .TIFF for you to work with in Photoshop...Nik is no different.

Yes, Photoshop makes you use a raw converter. But what that raw converter does is interpret the myriad of different raw file formats from the individual camera manufacturers to a common internal format for adobe's use. Every time Canon, for example, comes out with a new model Adobe Camera Raw must be updated to be able to read the raw format for that new model. Hence the number of updates Adobe issues to ACR.

Adobe has been pushing a format called .dng which is a "standard" raw format so in the future files in that format will be readable even if the camera manufacture drops support for their native raw format. It will still be a raw file, but the data format will be "standard" - much like Adobe has created the PDF standard.

 

[r.harris1]

Photoshop doesn't do non-destructive editing. It allows edits at the pixel level and thus saves the file to a format other than raw. Lightroom, on the other hand, does non-destructive editing. A file of edits to the raw image is saved but the original raw image data is totally unchanged.

This is also true of Nikon's Capture NX.

If you edit a Tiff or jpeg there's no going back once you save it. With both Lightroom and Capture NX you always can go back to the original raw image and re-edit to you heart's desire.

Yes, sorry, I thought you were originally saying that LR saves your changes to the original RAW file, which it doesn't do, but yes, it does save the edits separately, similar to Aperture and other tools. Only when you are going to do something with it outside of that system (printing, pixel-level editing, plugins) will it save it off in another format (TIFF, JPEG, PSD, etc).

 

[boombashi]

I just bought the NIK bundle like 2 weeks ago and I was wondering why there was a credit for $150 on my CC. Thanks Google, here some were saying you may kill it.

Lets see, you give me the PS filters for free and you give me back $150...nice

 

[Razeus]

Worked on some photos last night. Having these work in Photoshop is REAL time saver. My LR workflow was pretty lame with only the LR plug ins since each plug in created it's own .tiff. To be able to do this in Photoshop via layers in go (and be able to save the individual layers) is freaking fantastic.

 

[Analog Kid]

Warning: Includes Google Software Update payload.

Wish they warned me about that before I purchased, never would have wasted the money. It's now clear that I can't install any Google software under OS X-- apparently putting that little trojan in is their first priority after any acquisition.