I have quite a few street photos that suffer from blur and I've written them off as mostly unusable, but today after watching your video and downloading the extension, I was able to salvage one that I'm pretty excited about! It's also great to be able to only selectively sharpen to give a less clinical look.
Very helpful episode, Anthony. I was taken aback when I installed the new extension, and found that two of the options of the beta version you had demonstrated were missing. But I've learned today that Skylum engineers weren't satisfied with the performances of these, so have delayed their release for a while. I also found that the processing was slow, so am pleased you addressed this. Thanks again!!
Great review as always. But a suggestion; when you do the "before" and "after" thing, keep you finger on the button a little bit longer. Often the changes are subtle, especially by the time they get to our monitors via UA-cam. Just as, or often before, I think "Ah, I see" - it's gone.
Superb feedback Spike. Thank you. It's not always easy to judge the appropriate pacing for the videos so this is gold. I'll take your advice for future videos 🙂
I often take photos of the family dog but my older DSLR doesn't handle low-light very well so I often end up with photos that have motion blur either from my end as the photographer or from slight movements from the dog. It's always nice to have the option in post processing to correct the sharpness without just over-defining the pixels and making the image look "noisy"
Thanks a lot. A very clear video excellently explained. You are right, it is very difficult for me the see differences on my iPad, but I’ll take your word.
I do use Topaz DeNoise and Sharpen and they do a great job, but the NEO All Extensions pack is a great deal. I'll have to try a comparison. By the way, I like your emphasis on viewing the results at a "normal" viewing distance. I would guess over 90% of viewers won't get close enough for 100-200% perspective. Of course, printing may be a different issue all together. Thanks for the video. Something to look into.
I like Neo, but I can't keep up with Skylum's requests for money. At one time, they offered me about a dozen different editing tools. If I bought all of them, the cost would have been over $1,300. I paid $106 for Neo, and that's where I'm stopping. As nice as the extensions are, the total cost - figured annually - would be out of the question. I would prefer one, complete editing program. I like your tutorials, and I'll continue watching them.
As I own a copy of Luminar Neo I am curious to see how much better the illusion of sharpening is, when compared to Topaz AI Sharpen, Gigapixel that I also have (which can also do a bit of this on enlarging) and Photoshop Sharpening in High Pass mode vs unsharp mask. I definitely will compare each to find the champion on my own work. Thanks for creating this video! Likely AI or machine learning software would do the best.
Yes, if you have all then definitely run your experiments. Currently, Topaz has the clear edge IMO. It also runs AI and has the advantage of years of development.
I would love to see more examples of subjects and objects that are not human, like, for example, three leaves, weird patterns in fabric, etc. I would like to know if it tries to calculate the motion blur and de-blur automatically, or is it trying to recreate objects and subjects based on the training of its neural networks. Those are two common but different approaches to motion blur problem solving. The de-blurring method can solve moderate problems, but it leaves original shapes as it is, just "de-blurs" them. The AI attempt to reconstruct from its database new shapes, works on more extreme cases but it’s dependent on the training. So it will work on human faces, etc. what is easy to train AI today, but it will struggle with unusual patterns and usually tree leaves, because it was not trained enough. This is an important thing to know, because it limits the usage.
Thanks for this demo. I must confess I haven’t been impressed by the demo. When I compare with Topaz Sharpen AI, which i have been using for a couple of weeks now, I find the Topaz stand alone app being more effective, fast, with much more options and ways to fine tune it and an efficient automatic masking. In addition, it exports files in DNG format, so without any information loss, compared with RAW files. Luminar Neo is still my final photo editor and I use Topaz sharpen before, even for giving a little bit of « crispiness ». I would personally recommend people to give it a try for free (free test with a watermark left) before adopting one or the other solution.
Topaz do indeed make excellent image improvement software. Sharpen ai is excellent. I've actually made the same recommendation in the description, that people check out Sharpen AI. I've put a discount code and link there too.
A lot of bugs in Luminar Neo. But as a basement we should always apply Noiseless raw AI first, then Develop raw; After that you can try Supersharp AI, mostly on low if the photo is good, med and high are only for problematic photos. Skylum should remove the noise reduction and sharpness from develop when those extensions are installed, since those are working significantly better (the best sharpness is in the noiseless AI settings).
@@nash100ful yes, that depends on the start photo, if you need micro-sharpness on low megapixel camera then it's best to have a low setting in noiseless AI, if there is a bigger blur or on a high megapixel camera then supersharp AI is best. If used the other way around or too strong you get contour ripples or double edges or oversharpen artefacts.
It really taxes the GPU but barely touches the processor. I have a pretty mediocre graphics card with 4 GB ram, and it sucks up 100% when using Supersharp AI. It takes about 5-10 minutes to finish. I imagine 8, 12 or 16 GB will help. I guess it's time to update the ol' video card.
That's my plan for the new year. A big system overhaul. So much of the graphics industry is moving to AI assistance and it's very resource hungry. I'm going 128gb ram and probably move up from my 16gb gfx card too. I don't like to upgrade too often do I try to future proof myself for a few years.
You may be male to also get more CPU and GPU performance by tweaking Windows quite a bit and shutting down many system tasks that are running in the background. Check Task Manager for that. There are many good and useful videos on UA-cam on ways to do this.
Thank you very much for this video. I love the way you explain the different futures. I have one question: what are the specs of your computer? I like the Skylum software but I find it so slow compare to the Lightroom.
Hi Anita. Thanks. Yes LR will always run faster because apart from it's newer masking features it isn't calling on the leverage of AI like Luminar does. I'm running 32gb Ram, an m.2 SSD and a ryzen7 2600 and geforce1070 but I'm well overdue an upgrade on this now 4 year old system. It's starting to get a bit cranky processing my 4k video, 2 monitors and Luminar + recording software.
I’m upgrading my pc GPU now so I can use this stuff more easily. When am done editing i upscale after I crop for ig then I add noiseless ai with the details up and sharpen down and then I add use sharpening ai for the final touch and I was plz
Hi Anthony! I still find Luminar's extensions far less effective and comprehensive that Topaz's equivalents. 😾 For example, Lumiar's Sharpen AI has only three levels of sharpness and all are limited to correcting blurred shots, whereas Topaz Sharpen AI has dedicated tools to general sharpening, motion blur, out of focus and soft photos each with the options for noisy and very blurred photos. Therefore, unless Luminar comes up with more effective extensions with a greater number of tools for fine tuning, I will continue to use Luminar 4 combined with Topaz plug-ins. Regards from Felix the Cat. 😾
Hi Darren, I haven't used the recent updates on Neo's version yet, but based on my experience I'd probably be going the topaz route for my go-to option (bit.ly/sharpen-ai)
Anthony. Thanks for another illuminating demo. A question not strictly about SuperSharp but masking. I was in Portrait Bokeh AI but applies to anything where Luminar defines a mask. I zoomed my photo so I could see the details and edit the mask but couldn't move the photo to reach all areas. The only way was to return to tools, move photo, then go back to tool under edits. Is there a simpler way?
Hi Bill, I keep trying to remember to look into this when I have Luminar open. As yet... I keep forgetting. Sorry. But if it's not a simple click,hold and drag then perhaps there's an issue you need to reach out to the help team with...
I was also told the supersharp has been pulled as it was not performing well at all. My upscale version is also not working and I sent them a video as what it does when I drag a photo into it. Still waiting for a reply.
Hi Bob, I'm not sure it was pulled, but I do know they're working to improve the processing speed and outcome. I'm never sure how their coders are affected when we here x number of people are without power in Ukraine etc. But I do know a lot of those guys are still working in Kiev so if you don't here from support straight away, that could have something to do with it.
@@AnthonyTurnham thank you so much for your response. Skylum did contact me asking if the problem has been resolved ,unfortunately it has not. Patience is a virtue as I can't imagine what the skylum team is going through in the Ukraine. Thanks again for your response and as always for your very informative videos.
@@AnthonyTurnham The SuperSharp Ai doesn’t work at all for me. Scans jpg and then returns rightly neon like screen in the edit window that is akin to a modernist printed circuit board board. All other Ai Extensions work fine, Topaz Photo Ai runs great doing Same images on my high end windows 11 Have been back and forth with their support team for two weeks it’s no solution to date. Any Ideas? Already uninstalled and reinstalled, increased virtual memory. All software and drivers up to date etc. Really like all your videos and am very sympathetic to their situation n the Ukraine.
How long does it take to process. You mentioned it takes a while. What's a while? I have tried it and after all the "processing" designs stop, the photo goes black. Any thoughts?
Tbh I wasn't timing and it'll depend on the size of the file. I'd estimate about 15-30 seconds for my 45mp file. Also everyone's system will perform differently too. As for the image going black... hmmm no. No idea sorry.
Okay, got it. I just wasn't sure if the blackness had to do with the image still being processed. I guess not. I will have to do some investigating of my system, as you mentioned. Thank you.
I have a good CPU but I need a good gpu because sharpening so and upscale I is a bit hard on the GPU. What’s the cheapest gpu that could get the job done ? Lol am burn out from buying so much photography equipment to be more efficient
Good question. As to the quality to price ratio of GPUs on the market at the moment I'm not too sure. I'm due to do a new PC build in the new year so I'll be checking all that out then. Sorry I can't be more help right now.
The thumbnail for this vid got me real excited but then I see it was just the old bait and switch. The blurred image is not the one you sharpened. I'm disappointed in you.
Yes. It's the image of my daughter on the trampoline. Used as the final shot in the example. This is a very negative thing to focus (no pun intended) on. I'm disappointed in you too 🤣. Just jokes. All good 🙂
@@AnthonyTurnham sorry, my mistake. It was stupid of me to assume that two images side by side like that were meant to be a before and after comparison.
The current best deal for Luminar Neo can be found here bit.ly/Luminar-NEO. You can try code ATNEO10 for an additional discount.
I have quite a few street photos that suffer from blur and I've written them off as mostly unusable, but today after watching your video and downloading the extension, I was able to salvage one that I'm pretty excited about! It's also great to be able to only selectively sharpen to give a less clinical look.
Excellent! 🙂
I never considered using it with a mask. So logical. Thank you for the review and tips!
I think that is one of the best features of NEO
Very helpful episode, Anthony. I was taken aback when I installed the new extension, and found that two of the options of the beta version you had demonstrated were missing. But I've learned today that Skylum engineers weren't satisfied with the performances of these, so have delayed their release for a while. I also found that the processing was slow, so am pleased you addressed this. Thanks again!!
Same problem Hope they can repair
it soon
Great review as always.
But a suggestion; when you do the "before" and "after" thing, keep you finger on the button a little bit longer. Often the changes are subtle, especially by the time they get to our monitors via UA-cam. Just as, or often before, I think "Ah, I see" - it's gone.
Superb feedback Spike. Thank you. It's not always easy to judge the appropriate pacing for the videos so this is gold. I'll take your advice for future videos 🙂
I often take photos of the family dog but my older DSLR doesn't handle low-light very well so I often end up with photos that have motion blur either from my end as the photographer or from slight movements from the dog. It's always nice to have the option in post processing to correct the sharpness without just over-defining the pixels and making the image look "noisy"
I appreciate these honest reviews. Plus the tips along the way. Thanks!
Thanks a lot. A very clear video excellently explained. You are right, it is very difficult for me the see differences on my iPad, but I’ll take your word.
Would love to see a Topaz/Neo head-to-head comparison.
I do use Topaz DeNoise and Sharpen and they do a great job, but the NEO All Extensions pack is a great deal. I'll have to try a comparison. By the way, I like your emphasis on viewing the results at a "normal" viewing distance. I would guess over 90% of viewers won't get close enough for 100-200% perspective. Of course, printing may be a different issue all together.
Thanks for the video. Something to look into.
Thanks Brett
I own Topaz Sharpen AI and its on another level than what Luminar gives me at the moment. I really hope they improve the Plugins.
I like Neo, but I can't keep up with Skylum's requests for money. At one time, they offered me about a dozen different editing tools. If I bought all of them, the cost would have been over $1,300. I paid $106 for Neo, and that's where I'm stopping. As nice as the extensions are, the total cost - figured annually - would be out of the question. I would prefer one, complete editing program. I like your tutorials, and I'll continue watching them.
Hi Jerry. Thanks for the comment. I'm curious what was going to cost $1300? Cheers 😀
As I own a copy of Luminar Neo I am curious to see how much better the illusion of sharpening is, when compared to Topaz AI Sharpen, Gigapixel that I also have (which can also do a bit of this on enlarging) and Photoshop Sharpening in High Pass mode vs unsharp mask. I definitely will compare each to find the champion on my own work. Thanks for creating this video! Likely AI or machine learning software would do the best.
Yes, if you have all then definitely run your experiments. Currently, Topaz has the clear edge IMO. It also runs AI and has the advantage of years of development.
I would love to see more examples of subjects and objects that are not human, like, for example, three leaves, weird patterns in fabric, etc. I would like to know if it tries to calculate the motion blur and de-blur automatically, or is it trying to recreate objects and subjects based on the training of its neural networks. Those are two common but different approaches to motion blur problem solving. The de-blurring method can solve moderate problems, but it leaves original shapes as it is, just "de-blurs" them. The AI attempt to reconstruct from its database new shapes, works on more extreme cases but it’s dependent on the training. So it will work on human faces, etc. what is easy to train AI today, but it will struggle with unusual patterns and usually tree leaves, because it was not trained enough. This is an important thing to know, because it limits the usage.
Very good point! Thank you.
That was excellent thanks, looking forward using it… the Halloween photo is very good btw
Thanks John 🙂
Thanks for this demo. I must confess I haven’t been impressed by the demo. When I compare with Topaz Sharpen AI, which i have been using for a couple of weeks now, I find the Topaz stand alone app being more effective, fast, with much more options and ways to fine tune it and an efficient automatic masking. In addition, it exports files in DNG format, so without any information loss, compared with RAW files. Luminar Neo is still my final photo editor and I use Topaz sharpen before, even for giving a little bit of « crispiness ». I would personally recommend people to give it a try for free (free test with a watermark left) before adopting one or the other solution.
Topaz do indeed make excellent image improvement software. Sharpen ai is excellent. I've actually made the same recommendation in the description, that people check out Sharpen AI. I've put a discount code and link there too.
A lot of bugs in Luminar Neo. But as a basement we should always apply Noiseless raw AI first, then Develop raw; After that you can try Supersharp AI, mostly on low if the photo is good, med and high are only for problematic photos. Skylum should remove the noise reduction and sharpness from develop when those extensions are installed, since those are working significantly better (the best sharpness is in the noiseless AI settings).
I think the best sharpness is in sharpen AI I feel like it make a bigger differences. Noiseless so sharpness is good but it often to much.
@@nash100ful yes, that depends on the start photo, if you need micro-sharpness on low megapixel camera then it's best to have a low setting in noiseless AI, if there is a bigger blur or on a high megapixel camera then supersharp AI is best. If used the other way around or too strong you get contour ripples or double edges or oversharpen artefacts.
@@AlexandreLollini You have a photography ig page ?
It really taxes the GPU but barely touches the processor. I have a pretty mediocre graphics card with 4 GB ram, and it sucks up 100% when using Supersharp AI. It takes about 5-10 minutes to finish. I imagine 8, 12 or 16 GB will help. I guess it's time to update the ol' video card.
That's my plan for the new year. A big system overhaul. So much of the graphics industry is moving to AI assistance and it's very resource hungry. I'm going 128gb ram and probably move up from my 16gb gfx card too. I don't like to upgrade too often do I try to future proof myself for a few years.
You may be male to also get more CPU and GPU performance by tweaking Windows quite a bit and shutting down many system tasks that are running in the background. Check Task Manager for that. There are many good and useful videos on UA-cam on ways to do this.
Same issue here. Supersharp takes minutes to process on my Surface Pro 6 with an I7 and 16gb.
Thank you very much for this video. I love the way you explain the different futures. I have one question: what are the specs of your computer? I like the Skylum software but I find it so slow compare to the Lightroom.
Hi Anita. Thanks. Yes LR will always run faster because apart from it's newer masking features it isn't calling on the leverage of AI like Luminar does. I'm running 32gb Ram, an m.2 SSD and a ryzen7 2600 and geforce1070 but I'm well overdue an upgrade on this now 4 year old system. It's starting to get a bit cranky processing my 4k video, 2 monitors and Luminar + recording software.
I’m upgrading my pc GPU now so I can use this stuff more easily. When am done editing i upscale after I crop for ig then I add noiseless ai with the details up and sharpen down and then I add use sharpening ai for the final touch and I was plz
is it useful for increasing depth of field?
Artificially, yes. Best to do it in camera but where you can't and your image starts to soften then this tool can be used for those areas.
Hi Anthony! I still find Luminar's extensions far less effective and comprehensive that Topaz's equivalents. 😾 For example, Lumiar's Sharpen AI has only three levels of sharpness and all are limited to correcting blurred shots, whereas Topaz Sharpen AI has dedicated tools to general sharpening, motion blur, out of focus and soft photos each with the options for noisy and very blurred photos. Therefore, unless Luminar comes up with more effective extensions with a greater number of tools for fine tuning, I will continue to use Luminar 4 combined with Topaz plug-ins. Regards from Felix the Cat. 😾
Hi Felix. You know I'm a fan of Topaz's products and I heartely agree how good Sharpen AI is.
Absolutely $hameful Skylum is charging extra for these single feature extensions that should be included for us Pro Neo members
Hi mate. They are included for the Neo subscribers. Im not sure what you mean by a Pro Neo member?
If you have to choose between Topaz Sharpen AI or this one which one would you choose?
Hi Darren, I haven't used the recent updates on Neo's version yet, but based on my experience I'd probably be going the topaz route for my go-to option (bit.ly/sharpen-ai)
Anthony. Thanks for another illuminating demo. A question not strictly about SuperSharp but masking. I was in Portrait Bokeh AI but applies to anything where Luminar defines a mask. I zoomed my photo so I could see the details and edit the mask but couldn't move the photo to reach all areas. The only way was to return to tools, move photo, then go back to tool under edits. Is there a simpler way?
Hi Bill, I keep trying to remember to look into this when I have Luminar open. As yet... I keep forgetting. Sorry. But if it's not a simple click,hold and drag then perhaps there's an issue you need to reach out to the help team with...
@@AnthonyTurnham click and hold doesn't work when you are drawing a mask. You seem to have to stop drawing, move, then return to mask ... a bit clunky
Sir which monitor is best for video & Photo editing
I've got a link to the one I use (and would recommend) in the description.
I was also told the supersharp has been pulled as it was not performing well at all. My upscale version is also not working and I sent them a video as what it does when I drag a photo into it. Still waiting for a reply.
Hi Bob, I'm not sure it was pulled, but I do know they're working to improve the processing speed and outcome. I'm never sure how their coders are affected when we here x number of people are without power in Ukraine etc. But I do know a lot of those guys are still working in Kiev so if you don't here from support straight away, that could have something to do with it.
@@AnthonyTurnham thank you so much for your response. Skylum did contact me asking if the problem has been resolved ,unfortunately it has not. Patience is a virtue as I can't imagine what the skylum team is going through in the Ukraine. Thanks again for your response and as always for your very informative videos.
@@bobpflum8411 you're welcome Bob.
@@AnthonyTurnham The SuperSharp Ai doesn’t work at all for me. Scans jpg and then returns rightly neon like screen in the edit window that is akin to a modernist printed circuit board board. All other Ai Extensions work fine, Topaz Photo Ai runs great doing Same images on my high end windows 11 Have been back and forth with their support team for two weeks it’s no solution to date. Any Ideas? Already uninstalled and reinstalled, increased virtual memory. All software and drivers up to date etc.
Really like all your videos and am very sympathetic to their situation n the Ukraine.
A serious developing problem with Neo is that each new extension comes with a fee, which is taking Neo into the realm of Photoshop subscriptions.
How long does it take to process. You mentioned it takes a while. What's a while? I have tried it and after all the "processing" designs stop, the photo goes black. Any thoughts?
Tbh I wasn't timing and it'll depend on the size of the file. I'd estimate about 15-30 seconds for my 45mp file. Also everyone's system will perform differently too. As for the image going black... hmmm no. No idea sorry.
Okay, got it. I just wasn't sure if the blackness had to do with the image still being processed. I guess not. I will have to do some investigating of my system, as you mentioned. Thank you.
I have a good CPU but I need a good gpu because sharpening so and upscale I is a bit hard on the GPU. What’s the cheapest gpu that could get the job done ? Lol am burn out from buying so much photography equipment to be more efficient
Good question. As to the quality to price ratio of GPUs on the market at the moment I'm not too sure. I'm due to do a new PC build in the new year so I'll be checking all that out then. Sorry I can't be more help right now.
T-shirt says "Atari (hit)"
Thanks :)
The thumbnail for this vid got me real excited but then I see it was just the old bait and switch. The blurred image is not the one you sharpened. I'm disappointed in you.
Yes. It's the image of my daughter on the trampoline. Used as the final shot in the example.
This is a very negative thing to focus (no pun intended) on. I'm disappointed in you too 🤣. Just jokes. All good 🙂
@@AnthonyTurnham sorry, my mistake. It was stupid of me to assume that two images side by side like that were meant to be a before and after comparison.
@@dktraveller8364 all good 👍
It just produces over sharpened looking images.
Unneccessarily long