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Monday, 22 July 2013

Iridient Developer Workflow

Lots of people (Well one or two!) have asked about how I use Iridient Developer for my Fuji X files. Well its actually very simple. I use the existing X-E1 preset with some modifications.
Firstly I try and get as much dynamic range as possible by lightening the shadows and taking down the highlights.


Secondly I turn off all sharpening and noise reduction.

I do everything else in Photoshop which is much more suited to the job, better at sharpening, better at noise reduction. I'm just using the Iridient software to bypass the problems caused by the imbedded instructions in the file, which seems to cause the green foliage smearing.

 I've always spent very little time in raw conversion software, and this is the problem I have with Lightroom and Aperture. Though people use them as a means to produce the 'finished article' I've never been convinced that they can do this to my satisfaction. 

 The file I get from IR is quite soft and noisy, with both colour noise and moire. However, I then press one function button which contains a preset that reuces the noise, sharpens the file and also upsizes it to 24MP. I end up with a beautiful looking clean fine which I can then tweak to my satisfaction. 

 Don't expect Iridient Developer to do everything, it can't. Its neither intended for that purpose nor suitable for it. Its a raw file developer and thats it. Its always struck me that Lightroom and Aperture have 'ideas above their station' and they seem to be regarded as alternatives to Photoshop. They are not. I've argued long and hard on this and I've seen nothing that convinces me otherwise. For me all raw file conversion is a two step process. Get the cleanest most neutral image I can create and then finish it off it Photoshop. Using Iridient Developer is no different. I just substitute it for ACR.
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