16 replies to this topic

[Steve Williams]

Lightroom 3 beta 2 can be downloaded here. http://labs.adobe.co...ies/lightroom3/

Video files are supported and the new noise reduction looks extremely good at first blush.

Video of new capability is here.

Have fun,
Steve

Edited by Steve Williams, 22 March 2010 - 09:19 PM.

[adamhanlon]

Hi All,

I notice that this beta is scheduled to last till June!

The features list is as follows

•Improved performance throughout the application for faster importing and loading of images
•Native tethered shooting support for select Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras
•Luminance noise reduction has been added to the previous color noise reduction improvements available in the first public beta for outstanding overall high ISO quality
•Support for importing and managing video files from DSLR cameras for better overall photographic workflow control
•Improvements to the import experience in the first beta to reflect public feedback
•Improved watermarking functionality from the first beta to reflect public feedback

Lightroom 3 beta 2 builds on the enhancements introduced in the first Lightroom 3 beta release:

•Brand new performance architecture, building for the future of growing image libraries
•State-of-the-art noise reduction to help you perfect your high ISO shots
•Watermarking tool that helps you customize and protect your images with ease
•Portable sharable slideshows with audio—designed to give you more flexibility and impact on how you choose to share your images, you can now save and export your slideshows as videos and include audio
•Flexible customizable print package creation so your print package layouts are all your own
•Film grain simulation tool for enhancing your images to look as gritty as you want
•New import handling designed to make importing streamlined and easy
•More flexible online publishing options so you can post your images online to certain online photo sharing sites directly from inside Lightroom 3 beta (may require third-party plug-ins)*

It is important to note that the betas will not allow you to upgrade your existing Lightroom 2 catalogs, nor will they be supported once Lightroom 3 proper (or beta 3!) is released

Adam

[adamhanlon]

I've just discovered that the beta 2 will upgrade your beta 1 catalog though!

Adam

[loftus]

Gotta love competition! Aperture 3 clearly got their attention, video is obviously going to become an important battleground for these 2 products. I wonder if we'll see Places and Faces in LR next.
I was surprised to learn that LR did not previously allow tethering as Aperture has, I've use it routinely for my pool shoots.
Cool thing is we all benefit, no matter which product you choose.

Edited by loftus, 23 March 2010 - 04:00 AM.

[sterlingz]

The support for video is pretty much the minimum they could have done. An icon indicates it's a video file with the duration, a thumbnail is generated, and you can launch the video in QuickTime or your default video player. This is what iPhoto has been able to do since early 2009. Aperture's support is much more robust, and for the casual shooter who just wants to trim and drop a video clip into a slideshow, I think it still wins in terms of simplicity. Adobe is playing catch-up here.

In reality though, this level of video support is probably all more advanced DSLR shooters really need. Just get the files off the card instead of ignoring them like before. Happily, LR copies the .thm files along with the .mov files from DSLRs, so you are able to add a DCIM subdirectory after the files have copied and use the FCP EOS plugin Log and Transfer option after LR ingests all the files off your card. You can see the original h264 videos alongside your photos AND transcode the bits you actually want to edit into bins in FCP. Seems like a win.

The import dialog, while slightly improved, is still god-awful. I just don't understand why they made such a substantial change from LR2 where it was absolutely fine. Now it takes up the entire screen and important settings are scattered all over the place. And it really would have been better to add options to import photos to one directory, and video to another. I haven't found any way to do this. This would have really helped with workflow.

Color rendering looks much improved, and performance rocks. So much faster than Aperture, especially on underpowered machines.

YAY Point Curve from Camera RAW - finally!! They listened!

I'm eager to do some head to head comparisons with Aperture. Overall, this is a killer update with a lot of great progress. Good for Adobe putting these betas out there and actually listening to feedback.

[Steve Williams]

I would just add that the luminance noise reduction they added in this Beta looks awesome. The other thing that impressed me was how stable it is. I have learned to avoid Adobe betas due to crashes and slow performance but they seem to have gotten it really right this time. I tried every tool and process I could think of and they all work. The updated Watermark feature will be a welcome addition for a lot of folks and the processing engine screams compared to LR2. I haven't loaded it down with a lot a video files yet but so far so good. If you've been on the fence give it a try. The download process is painless.

Have fun,
Steve

[adamhanlon]

I've just managed to add some files to the new beta.

They cite improvements in the Raw conversion engine and mine are certainly seem a lot better than in LR2/3 beta 1. As the others have said, it is really quick!

Colors are richer and smoother tones. The luminance slider rocks!

I agree with Stirling on the import dialogue-it just doesn't make sense to me either.

Adam

[echeng]

There is a great features bullet point list at Victoria Bampton's website.

[sterlingz]

There is a great features bullet point list at Victoria Bampton's website.

Wow - they are really on top of cameras. Already have support for T2i and new Panasonics! This is definitely where Adobe has the edge. I'm sure we'll be waiting for a few months for Aperture to support those cameras.

[sterlingz]

Tried some sunball tests from CR2 files using the "camera neutral" profile and the 2010 process. The images come much closer to matching those from Canon DPP, which has always been the gold standard for me with CR2 files. There is minimal ugly cyan banding as has been characteristic of the way Lightroom handled this type of image in the past. Great news!

Aperture is not even close with the same files.

[TheRealDrew]

I would just add that the luminance noise reduction they added in this Beta looks awesome. The other thing that impressed me was how stable it is. I have learned to avoid Adobe betas due to crashes and slow performance but they seem to have gotten it really right this time. I tried every tool and process I could think of and they all work. The updated Watermark feature will be a welcome addition for a lot of folks and the processing engine screams compared to LR2. I haven't loaded it down with a lot a video files yet but so far so good. If you've been on the fence give it a try. The download process is painless.

Have fun,
Steve

The tools are great and the liminance noise reduction does look awesome. Tried on a couple of shots and really nice. The only issue I am having is that it is really slow and hanging alot on my Mac. But does not mean I will not buy it anyway, I am a real software junkie sometimes

[Steve Williams]

it is really slow and hanging alot on my Mac.

This will fix you right up.

Steve

[jeremypayne]

Here's some more info on what's in it and what's new and different ...

http://www.computer-...lr3-beta2-1.htm

EDIT - corrected link ... sorry about that!

Edited by jeremypayne, 23 March 2010 - 12:06 PM.

[Steve Williams]

I think that's the old beta info Jeremy. doesn't mention video, luminance turned off, etc. Great info though.

Easy to get confused with multiple betas on the street. Wonder if they will finally release the thing when they get to Beta 4.9?

Steve

[jeremypayne]

I think that's the old beta info Jeremy. doesn't mention video, luminance turned off, etc. Great info though.

Easy to get confused with multiple betas on the street. Wonder if they will finally release the thing when they get to Beta 4.9?

Steve

Shoot ... sorry, my bad ... I was reading the right one ... then closed it ... then googled it ... and got the wrong link ...

Here's the right one: http://www.computer-...lr3-beta2-1.htm

[Gudge]

Wow - they are really on top of cameras. Already have support for T2i and new Panasonics!

Now all they need to do is let ACR catch up. When I went to open some of my images in CS4 from LR B2 last night I got a warning message saying that ACR 5.7 may be required to do this. Tried to update ACR to 5.7 but the latest version available is 5.6 (which I already had).

[jeremypayne]

Now all they need to do is let ACR catch up. When I went to open some of my images in CS4 from LR B2 last night I got a warning message saying that ACR 5.7 may be required to do this. Tried to update ACR to 5.7 but the latest version available is 5.6 (which I already had).

I heard from Eric Chan at Adobe that they will soon fix that ... but it sure seems like adobe is having some coordination issues ... right?