Skin Color in Various Converters

[barjohn]

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I have been playing with the following converters:

1. LR 1.2

2. ACR 4.2

3. C1 Beta 4

4. Bibble Pro 4.8.9e

 

To my eyes, there is a tendency with the M8 files for the converters to give skin tones a reddish cast that is hard to remove. I have uploaded pictures converted as follows:

 

1. LR with tone curve set to flat and WB hue set to 0.

2. C1 LE Beta 4 using the M8 JHR V1 Low Sat Profile

3. ACR 4.2 no changes

4. Bibble Pro no changes

5. Bibble Pro WB set to flash

6. C1 LE 4 Beta using M8 UV/IR

 

Which do your trained eyes say look the most natural with good skin tone?

[barjohn]

Here is the 6th one.

[Speenth]

Hello John,

 

The sheer range of variations was a real surprise to me. Each viewed individually might look acceptable (some more so than others), but seen collectively it is clear that few are even close to accurate in their rendition of skin tones.

 

If I must choose one that seems nearest to reality (albeit without having seen the subject 'in the flesh' as it were) I would opt for the first image.

 

I am a C1 user (and I am currently trying C1 4 beta) - I am more than a little disappointed with the two C1 images. The first is acceptable since it has not been matched to the M8, but the second is flat and seems to have given a plasticky texture to much of the skin - a quality not present in images 1, 2, 4 and 5.

 

The question is .. why?

[ChrisC]

John - It's hard to tell; by the end of summer people can have baked themselves to an odd colour and I think some of the files are exhibiting complex though subtle colour shifts. Given that they all look 'off' to me, I would choose as the easiest file to start with number 3, the ACR file.

 

................ Chris

[Guest guy_mancuso]

John just a FYI ACR 4.2 and LR 1.2 are identical processing engines. There is no difference at all in them they use the same engine so to make a test easier just pick one of them the results will be identical. Yes and someone at Adobe does like Red, I lower the red saturation a little on Portraits , something you may want to try. Right now i am not impressed with the C1 beta, hopefully that will change on release

[Ozkar]

You may want to try Silkypix. You can download the free version or try the full version as a 30 day trial. I find Silkypix is one of the best RAW converters for Kodak based cameras when it comes to skin tones.

 

SILKYPIX Developer Studio

 

Ozkar

[barjohn]

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I just realized that I made an error in the listings above. The third image is the C1 image with the JHR profile and the second image is another LR image with the M8 standard profile.

 

This shot was taken in St. Martin after several days in the sun, but since I know the subject well, I can tell you that the closest images to reality and my memory are the 5th & 6th followed by the third with a bit more contrast added. Perhaps I should give you the default settings images to compare.

[barjohn]

An attempt with no tweaks but using different profiles as well as default profiles.

 

1. C1 B4 M8 Generic UV/IR Profile

2. C1 B4 M8 Generic Profile

3. C1 B4 M8 JHR_V1 Profile

4. LR 1.2 Default Setting

5. LR M8 Default setting

6. BP Default Profile

7. BP M8 JHR_V1 Profile

 

I selected a crop from a 100% image to give you a better view of skin tones.

[ChrisC]

John - Someone recommended Bibble to me as I really do not like the C1 interface. I am amazed at how awful the Bibble processing is in both colour and definition, I think I will forget it as a processor. In another thread it was demonstrated that the Adobe Camera Raw process is not as sharp as C1, but to my [tired] eyes that is not demonstrated with your examples - it's starting to get a little confusing.

 

The close-ups are interesting, and I find myself most attracted to [4] the Lightroom [ACR] 1.2 Default setting, though there is a touch of whackiness in the red channel. I am still choosing ACR as the best starting point for tweaking.

 

What are less tired eyes seeing?

 

.................. Chris

[dspeltz]

3 and 4 are the most appealing although I cannot judge accuracy. The last one is terrible.

 

David

[guy]

This is a tough one! I would have voted for 5 even before you said that best matched your memory: the eyes in particular look true to me there. It's difficult to gauge skin tone, but I blue eyes don't tan, and in some of the other shots they have a very strong warm cast to them.

 

But if we want to be really accurate, here's how:

 

1) Get your subject to lend you a tube of the lipstick she was wearing. (I mean, look at the variation in the lip colour! )

 

2) Smear it on some Pantone swatches until you have a perfect match.

 

3) You can now colour adjust one shot to the Pantone colour. Bingo – you now have a colour-matched proof against which the others can be compared!

 

For even greater accuracy in the high-frequency end of the spectrum, get some of the eyeshadow too, and match the blues...