My LR Defaults to +50 Brightness and +25 Contrast?

[jhelms]

This baffles me, but I'm sure it's something simple (hopefully).

Short version: after I've imported pics and I'm scrolling through them in the library, I can sometimes briefly see a 'pure' (for lack of a better explanation) vibrant version of my photo before it renders/changes to a view that appears duller. The word "Loading..." appears on the screen whenever I notice this happening.

Weird, I know - here's some background info that will hopefully help...

My workflow is shooting RAW / .nef files on a D2'', and this view change happens whether I import with NO preset, or with a preset. My LR camera calibration is set to Adobe Standard. My computer is a Q66'' Intel Core2Quad w/ 3GB DDR2 RAM running Vista 32 bit. I have previews set to 1:1 in my import settings.

What is causing this? It's driving me crazy because I prefer the version of the photo that I see before the final rendered version shows up a split second later. I've also noticed that in my develop settings brightness is set to +5', black point to +5 and contrast to +25 (and some of the sharpening settings are set as well) even if no develop preset is in place - is that due to the camera calibration?

I hope I'm describing this correctly, are there any more details that would help explain it? Thanks!!

 

[stasber]

Hi John, it appears that the 'blip' of a preview you see is the embedded jpg before the RAW image renders and overwrites it. I have a similar 'problem' when using my Canon camera's Picture Styles. LR will not read them if I'm shooting in RAW, nevertheless the embedded jpg is still saved with the style's data, and that's what briefly pops up.

LR defaults to the brightness, contrast, black, etc, values that you mention - you'll notice others like sharpness amount & detail are 25 and NR color is also 25, etc.

You can permanently reset these settings if you wish by changing the values and not applying any other settings (like preset etc) and clicking the Reset button in the bottom right corner on the Develop module whilst pressing Alt (Reset becomes Set Default).

This new default will act on all images taken with that camera. If you have more than one camera you'll need to Set Default for each one.

Rendering standard previews is more than sufficient during import for most purposes as 1:1 previews are rendered on the fly when you first zoom in to a pic at 1:1 scale.

Hope this helps.

 

[jhelms]

Hi John, it appears that the 'blip' of a preview you see is the embedded jpg before the RAW image renders and overwrites it. I have a similar 'problem' when using my Canon camera's Picture Styles. LR will not read them if I'm shooting in RAW, nevertheless the embedded jpg is still saved with the style's data, and that's what briefly pops up.

Where is the jpg embedded from though and what settings are applied to render that split second preview? And is there a way I can develop them to look like what I see during that split second?

Rendering standard previews is more than sufficient during import for most purposes as 1:1 previews are rendered on the fly when you first zoom in to a pic at 1:1 scale.

Hope this helps.

Even though I import at 1:1 view, I still have to wait for a sec while it says "rendering higher quality" on the screen when I zoom in, is that what you are saying? So what does the 1:1 choice on import give me?

Your comments did help, but I still want some way to grab the settings of the preview that I see for just a split second... thanks!

 

[Kiwigeoff]

Have a look here John: http://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/showthread.php?t=15''

 

[WojteG]

Hello!
What RAW do You use?Just NEF or NEF+ JPG .In second case You can open both formats separately.Go to Edit>Preferences>Import and check box:Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos.
Greetings..................

 

[jhelms]

Hello!
What RAW do You use?Just NEF or NEF+ JPG .In second case You can open both formats separately.Go to Edit>Preferences>Import and check box:Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos.
Greetings..................

Check this here

Why did Lightroom 'ruin' my photo? - '3-16-2''8, '2:27 PM

Updated August 12, 2''8 to include references to DNG Profile Editor and Camera Matching profiles.
Updated December 23, 2''8 to note Lr 2.2 automatically installs the Camera Matching profiles.

By far the most common question asked on this Forum is:

"I took a beautiful picture! It was perfectly saturated and color balanced, and I loved it. When I imported the RAW file into Lightroom, I saw my beautiful picture for 5 seconds, and then Lightroom ruined it, and turned it into a bland muddy mess. Why?"

The picture you see in LR is exactly the picture your camera sensor recorded. It's likely that you are used to seeing the preview on the camera display. That preview is not your RAW file, but a JPG which has been processed by the electronics inside your camera. Or, you may be using your camera manufacturer's proprietary RAW conversion software. That software has a post-processing advantage in that it can utilize proprietary 'secret' information embedded in RAW files, which is undocumented and unavailable to third party programs such as LR and ACR.

Additionally, most third party viewer/browser applications show you the embedded JPG preview rather than the actual RAW file contents. In fact, LR itself shows you that preview for a few seconds at first, until it has time to render a preview in accordance with your current develop settings.

When you import your RAW file, none of that proprietary in-camera processing is applied by Lightroom. To a certain extent, you have to do it yourself. That is the purpose of Develop Presets. It takes some getting used to, and some practice, and some homework to achieve consistently good results. The amazing flexibility of Lightroom comes with some costs in terms of effort.

Now for another slightly confusing concept.
As part of configuring a new camera for LR or ACR, the Adobe engineers create two import profiles for daylight and tungsten lighting conditions. Your import will be treated with a mixture of those two profiles which attempts to match your lighting conditions. To take advantage of this default processing, you need to apply the default develop preset, which is unfortunately named "None". Well, not exactly, but that's the preset option you need to choose if you want the default processing.

To confuse matters a little further, there is a sample preset, called "General - Zeroed", which sounds to most people as what they want. "Give me the picture my camera took, with ZERO changes!" Alas, that particular preset simply sets all of the Develop sliders to zero, which is rarely the correct choice for photo processing.

Why would anybody choose to forego the sophisticated in-camera processing? The only way to take advantage of that is to save an RGB pixel-oriented format, typically JPG. Unfortunately, in applying that processing to the JPG, the camera makes many decisions which become 'locked-in', and unchangeable with post-processing. Fortunately, it's often possible to take advantage of both worlds. Many cameras offer a RAW+JPG save mode. Don't forget that the in-camera processing is a fundamental compromise between the manufacturer's engineering and marketing departments. Which achievable vision will sell more cameras? Your artisitic vision is what matters in the end.

Why would anybody choose to use Lightroom for RAW conversion with its inablilty to use the proprietary data available to the camera manufacturer's software converter? Many users cite ease of use, overall sophistication, and better fit to workflow, among others. That's an individual choice.

The main concept to glean from this tip is that:

"Lightroom provides a marvelous flexibility in post-processing photos. But, akin to many tools for the dedicated craftsman, it comes with a cost in terms of learning curve, and a much broader requirement for thoughtful practiced input."

With the advent of Lightroom 2.', Adobe also released the DNG Profile Editor in beta, along with beta versions of the standard Adobe camera profiles. In addition the available profiles include 'camera-matching' profiles which are specifically designed to allow LR2 to match the in-camera 'picture styles' available from Nikon and Canon cameras. This capability is revolutionary in a 3rd party product, and will go a long way toward addressing the issues discussed in this article.

Find further information on the product here: Profile Editor At present, Adobe has committed to providing the beta and subsequent Version 1 as a free utility for the photographic community.

With the advent of Lightroom 2.2, the revised Adobe standard profiles, and the camera matching profiles are automatically installed, and are available in the Camera Calibration panel, lower Right Hand Panel in the Develop module.

LR = Adobe Lightroom
ACR = Adobe Camera Raw

I just want to know what I need to do in LR to get my pic to 'stay' and look like it does during the split second that I see it befroe it becomes a sludgly mess

 

[Victoria Bampton]

Change your Calibration panel camera profile to Camera Standard and see how it looks.

 

[smilepak]

Hi,

I have the "EXACT" same issue. After spending much needed research, it comes to believe and understand that LR is only trying to decode NEF. By default, it pulls the raw (non camera setting) into LR. Unlike JPEG which has the camera setting built in. The view you see that looks nice contain the camera setting. Once it goes into LR, it get strip out by LR unfortunately.

A few ways around this

1) Use Nikon Capture NX 2, that retain the setting and allow you to still adjust raw

or

2) Create your set of lrtemplate preset with the variable defined. You can use some of these as a starting point.
http://www.prophotoshow.net/blog/2''7/11/'9/lightroom-presets-the-ultimate-free-list/

I end up creating a preset that applied each time on workflow import.

I also have Nikon D2'' by the way.

 

[edgley]

This is why I shoot RAW and JPG and end up using the JPG 99% of the time and only use the RAW if the JPG has a problem I cannot fix.
By doing it this way I have significantly cut down my workflow time, and have rich colours.