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SILKYPIX® enables to process RAW data of a digital camera and create image. We call this process "development." RAW data is a direct light energy information captured by an image sensor. While it becomes larger than usual JPEG data, it includes more information and enables various image processing at the level of light energy after photographing, which is a benefit of using RAW data. We have created SILKYPIX® to maximize the benefit and potential of RAW data. The software enables various parameter adjustments in development process.
Also, you can use high-level auto exposure bias function to adjust exposure immediately.
In addition, the digital shift function that have the same effect as a shift lens enables to control perspective and shoot a building efficiently. Of course, you can use JPEG instead of RAW data to record and adjust with a retouching software, but JPEG has only 256-tone, causing degradation of image quality when you make adjustment. Also, since JPEG includes no light energy value, and JPEG data is created by conversion to colorspace (for example, sRGB), which is appropriate for display or print, you cannot adjust white balance correctly. In order to adjust a shot image with keeping high quality, you have to select RAW data to record images. The software enables you to adjust the color and the look of the images during the development process in turn is the same as making the adjustments while photographing. It also provides smooth screen image without noise, which is impossible to obtain with JPEG, to increase the range of filming sensitivity. The advanced development algorithm of the software also provides the following features:
When you select RAW data to record images and use the software to develop them, you can obtain more exquisite picture, compared with JPEG.
This white outline makes the picture appear "digital," and this is caused by lower color resolution compared with brightness resolution. We have created a completely new de-mosaic logic and embedded it into the software in order to provide advanced color resolution. This logic allows delicate and advanced color resolution.
The R, G, and B sensor elements are allocated in order of Bayer array flatly. Each sensor can only capture one of the R, B or G, so false color appears on the edge of picture or area including delicate pattern. The software though, reduces this false color highly effectively with an advanced pixel value forecast logic. Fundamentally, high resolution, high separation capability, and false color reduction are not realized at the same time logically. High resolution causes increased false color phenomenon, and a trail of false color reduction results in low resolution. However, the software efficiently enables to realize these processes simultaneously to create natural pictures and colors.
These color noise spots appearing irregularly on the picture are very unpleasant to the eyes, and supposedly many photographers avoid high sensitive filming because of this phenomenon. The software provides the solution with the color noise reduction function to create surprisingly clean pictures for high sensitive filming. With the software, you can select wide variety of filming methods and objects, and create a new photograph.
For example, when taking a picture of a person, if you increase a development gain to make a skin color white, color shift phenomenon occurs and highlight boundary area often becomes yellow. The highlight controller of the software enables color control in over exposed area and creates fine color in the highlight area.
Many types of light source with various spectral distributions, such as sunray (natural light), fluorescent light, filament lamp, glow of sunset, electric flash and combination of them are supported, which realizes accurate color reproducibility. Based on this color reproducibility, you can utilize "3-dimentional color mapping method," which converts colors into 3-dimentional data to create "memory color" expressing similar colors with the colors in a human's memory, "portrait color" expressing highlights of the skin, and "film taste" expressing colors in a positive "film. "You can use these color modes according to its utilization or picture image. Also, '4.11 Fine Color Controller' can change color precisely to control colors delicately.
While various types of photo retouching software supporting RAW data are increasingly available in the market, there is a critical difference between them. Understanding of the difference helps you to use SILKYPIX® to the full. The important point is that the software is always starting every image processing based on RAW data. When you change parameters in image processing (for example, changing exposure, white balance or saturation), the software always starts processing based on RAW data. The parameters you used to change are stored in the separate file instead of RAW file. Therefore, although load of computer becomes larger, you can obtain a lot of benefits described below. (1) RAW file will not be changed
The basic concept of the software is "never change RAW file." If you use a photo retouching software or digital camera software to process JPEG files recorded with a camera, the original image data may get overwritten. However, SILKYPIX® never causes that kind of trouble.(*1)
For example, if you want to change brightness and then adjust color balance, you have to create the image with a new brightness level and then adjust color balance of the newly created picture image. In other words, a change is fixed sequentially when you adjust the image. If you want to change the brightness at the final sequence, you have to either reset all changes and start again with the first process, or adjust the brightness of the current picture image. These operation causes degradation of the picture quality. If you change the brightness of the picture image slightly darker again at the final sequence, the details lost in the process will not be restored because other values previously changed have been fixed already. However, SILKYPIX® always processes RAW data in appropriate order, so when parameters are determined, you can always get the same result. When changing the white balance and exposure, you can always obtain the same result whichever you change first. Therefore, you can change parameters any number of times until you are satisfied with the result.
You have to decide which one should be adjusted first, brightness or color balance. You also have to consider when you should adjust sharpness, tone curve, colorspace for working or lens aberration correction. These decisions require highly advanced knowledge and moreover, you cannot change the order halfway. Wrong order causes image degradation. Even if the order is appropriate, a certain combination of processes may cause some pixels clipped in the mid process. The design of internal process of the software allows appropriate combination of processes with high tone pipeline image process, which can transfer pixels brighter than stark white according to parameters and prevents image degradation that often appears with a photo retouching software. Therefore, you can always create pictures with the maximum quality even when complicated functions are combined. In addition, you don't have to care about the order for adjustment and just make adjustment as you want. There is no need to consider an appropriate order all the time.
You can also easily get the development result after partial changes so that you can use the parameters in other usage. Moreover, since the parameters are included in the development result (*2), you can take the parameters of the result from the image files of development result later. What you need are only development result and original RAW when you want to make a slight adjustment.
In other words, you can fix parameters in advance, make adjustment, and perform batch image process (development process) later. This feature allows you to handle a large volume of pictures all at once. *2...The development parameters are written in Exif information manufacturer note tag of a development result. When you develop without Exif information, it is not embedded (See 'Setting for Developed Image'). *We have developed this "nondestructive process" (we call "OIP technology") earlier on and have installed this technology in our digital camera software "Daisy Digital Camera Friend" released in 1999 and in other products. With SILKYPIX®, we have applied the technology to such processes that deform images like distortion correction and digital shift, and implemented a completely continuous image processing in those processes. The process causing rotation and deformation of image must be usually executed after development, however, this software allows users to skip this step and enables a complete set of smart workflow from the basic adjustment, such as exposure and white balance, to lens aberration correction. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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