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Nik Collection 3 released - anyone tried it?


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Slightly OT...

... but I see NIK 3 has been released!

Anybody tried it yet?

Jeff

Win 10 Pro, i7 6700K, 32Gb RAM, NVidia GTX1660 Ti and Intel HD530 Graphics

Long-time user of Serif products, chiefly PagePlus and PhotoPlus, but also WebPlus, CraftArtistProfessional and DrawPlus.  Delighted to be using Affinity Designer, Photo, and now Publisher, version 1 and now version 2.

iPad Pro (12.9") (iOS 17.4) running Affinity Photo and Designer version 1 and all three version 2 apps.

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Excited to see NIK collection 3, but miffed that there are issues (thanks MEB for the heads up) with Affinity Photo.  I think I'll dig around and see if I can download 3 for a trial and report back.  

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Tried it in Windows. No, Perspective Efex doesn't work here, either. Error message said, "Entry Point Not Found ... DXGIGetDebugInterface1 could not be located dxgi.dll"

I did some searching with possible cures, but I've been down that rabbit hole before and had no time for it. I removed NIK 3 and will let others boldly go before me.

Interestingly (and frustratingly), NIK only says the following about compatibility (and grudgingly, I think):

"COMPATIBILITY WITH OTHER IMAGING SOFTWARE

"Nik Collection 3 works perfectly with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, and DxO PhotoLab, as well as a range of third-party image-editing software."

The cowards. 😄

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1 hour ago, kdock said:

Tried it in Windows. No, Perspective Efex doesn't work here, either. Error message said, "Entry Point Not Found ... DXGIGetDebugInterface1 could not be located dxgi.dll"

I did some searching with possible cures, but I've been down that rabbit hole before and had no time for it. I removed NIK 3 and will let others boldly go before me.

Interestingly (and frustratingly), NIK only says the following about compatibility (and grudgingly, I think):

"COMPATIBILITY WITH OTHER IMAGING SOFTWARE

"Nik Collection 3 works perfectly with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, and DxO PhotoLab, as well as a range of third-party image-editing software."

The cowards. 😄

https://shop.dxo.com/en/photo-software/dxo-nikcollection?iframe=technical-details

The page claims compatibility with:

Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64-bit) through CC 2020
Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 through 2020 (apart from HDR Efex Pro 2, which is not compatible with Photoshop Elements)
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 through Classic CC 2020
Serif Affinity 1.8 and later

 

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@MEB has written elsewhere that "Perspective Efex" doesn't work with Affinity Photo.

During my, so far, brief use of the plugins, everything else seems to be fine.

Jeff

Win 10 Pro, i7 6700K, 32Gb RAM, NVidia GTX1660 Ti and Intel HD530 Graphics

Long-time user of Serif products, chiefly PagePlus and PhotoPlus, but also WebPlus, CraftArtistProfessional and DrawPlus.  Delighted to be using Affinity Designer, Photo, and now Publisher, version 1 and now version 2.

iPad Pro (12.9") (iOS 17.4) running Affinity Photo and Designer version 1 and all three version 2 apps.

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Hey Guys,
An Important Heads up for Affinity users looking to purchase NIK Collection 3 -
I purchased this software form DXO Today thinking that it would be an improvement on version 2 - with a new dashboard and easier access!
This is not the case! The new dashboard feature only works in Photoshop + The new perspective tool will not work inside affinity (Only as a stand-alone tool)
I cannot find any improvement in any other functionality - It strikes me that DXO has opted to develop this for Photoshop
I am seriously questioning the cost of the upgrade £49.99
To make things worse DXO is flashing up a sign saying that if you buy the software in the next 30 mins you will get 30 % off - This is rubbish! - They take 30% their offer is completely misleading.
Caveat Emptor on this one - Let the buyer beware
Simon
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Hi Simon-50,
Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
Photoshop plugins are developed using Photoshop SDK and take full advantage of Photoshop's functionality. Affinity Photo doesn't have feature parity with Photoshop/nor fully supports their plugin implementation. Only basic image filters are supported. Anything relying on custom UI/panels, automation, other plugin types (file formats import/export etc) will not work. Regarding Nik Collection 3 specifically this means some functionality is not available when they run in Affinity Photo: the Nik Collection Selective Tool and Brush Tool panels/functionality are not available, the Merge to HDR Efex Pro 2 command is not supported/cannot be used to merge a set of bracket RAW´s, the new non-destructive editing is also not supported nor is the Perspective Efex which can't change the image dimensions in Affinity Photo as required. Basically the functionality is similar to what you found in their previous version (v2) when running inside Affinity.

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2 hours ago, MEB said:

 Basically the functionality is similar to what you found in their previous version (v2) when running inside Affinity.

An important take-away if you are a tempted by version 3.*

Personal preference: Apart from Silver Efex (outstanding product) I simply started using other plugins like Noiseware Professional (fast!) and the marvelous classic plugins from Topaz. I probably dind't give them a big chance either. I have the U-point technology in DxO Photolab. I also have viewpoint as a separate purchase - integrates itself in Photolab (into their RAW converter!).

* What is great though is that the old free version of Nik Collection runs flawlessly in the newest versions of Photo, right? I am not sure DxO can add much to the old suite anyway.

  • "The user interface is supposed to work for me - I am not supposed to work for the user interface."
  • Computer-, operating system- and software agnostic; I am a result oriented professional. Look for a fanboy somewhere else.
  • “When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.” ― Confucius
  • Not an Affinity user og forum user anymore. The software continued to disappoint and not deliver.
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24 minutes ago, Jowday said:

I have the U-point technology in DxO Photolab.

Nikonians do have those in Capture NX2 and nowadays Capture NX-D.

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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10 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

Nikonians do have those in Capture NX2 and nowadays Capture NX-D.

Correct. I have both - they deliver excellent output, but UI wise especially NX-D is a bit cumbersome to work with. But free and does support Nikon cameras fully including colour profiles (landscape, portrait). Photolab doesn't. But still great RAW converters with superb output.

  • "The user interface is supposed to work for me - I am not supposed to work for the user interface."
  • Computer-, operating system- and software agnostic; I am a result oriented professional. Look for a fanboy somewhere else.
  • “When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.” ― Confucius
  • Not an Affinity user og forum user anymore. The software continued to disappoint and not deliver.
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5 minutes ago, Jowday said:

but UI wise especially NX-D is a bit cumbersome to work with

I think base is an OEM-tool UI (Silkypix-Software) - The raw development tools of several other digital camera manufacturers such as Casio, Fujifilm, Panasonic, Pentax / Ricoh and Samsung are also based on Silkypix software. In contrast the old Capture NX2 was build by NIK Software for Nikon once ago.

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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Just now, v_kyr said:

I think base is an OEM-tool UI (Silkypix-Software) - The raw development tools of several other digital camera manufacturers such as Casio, Fujifilm, Panasonic, Pentax / Ricoh and Samsung are also based on Silkypix software. In contrast the old Capture NX2 was build by NIK Software for Nikon once ago.

Perhaps - but plenty of the algorithms must be the same as those in the cameras?

  • "The user interface is supposed to work for me - I am not supposed to work for the user interface."
  • Computer-, operating system- and software agnostic; I am a result oriented professional. Look for a fanboy somewhere else.
  • “When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.” ― Confucius
  • Not an Affinity user og forum user anymore. The software continued to disappoint and not deliver.
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Silkypix

17 minutes ago, Jowday said:

Perhaps - but plenty of the algorithms must be the same as those in the cameras?

Sure, the OEM software is like a kit, which allowed Nikon (and other vendors) to put their own code routines into another L&F guise then.

☛ Affinity Designer 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Photo 1.10.8 ◆ Affinity Publisher 1.10.8 ◆ OSX El Capitan
☛ Affinity V2.3 apps ◆ MacOS Sonoma 14.2 ◆ iPad OS 17.2

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On 6/5/2020 at 2:59 PM, anon2 said:

https://shop.dxo.com/en/photo-software/dxo-nikcollection?iframe=technical-details

The page claims compatibility with:

Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64-bit) through CC 2020
Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 through 2020 (apart from HDR Efex Pro 2, which is not compatible with Photoshop Elements)
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 through Classic CC 2020
Serif Affinity 1.8 and later

 

So they do. However, they don't assert that it "works perfectly with" Serif Affinity 1.8 and later.  They do assert that it "works perfectly with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, and DxO PhotoLab, as well as a range of third-party image-editing software."  The third-party image-editing software is not identified anywhere I could find, but so far, it's clear NIK 3 does not work perfectly with Affinity 1.8. 

I did find in their Release Notes that Affinity 1.8 is listed as a System Requirement to use NIK 3 (
https://download-center.dxo.com/Support/docs/Nik_Collection3/current_release_note/Release_Notes_NikCollection3_byDxO_en.pdf)

I also found this list of Compatible host software (PC) in their on-line User Guide (https://help-nikcollection3.dxo.com/system-requirements):

  • Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64-bit) and higher
  • Adobe Photoshop Elements 13 (64-bit) and higher (note: HDR Efex Pro 2 is not compatible with Photoshop Elements) 
  • Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 and higher
  • DxO PhotoLab 2 and higher
  • Serif Affinty Photo 1.8.3 and higher

They don't name the range of third-party image-editing software.

Note that they specifically say HDR Efex Pro 2 is not compatible with Photoshop Elements, but they don't say that Perspective Efex is not compatible with Affinity Photo 1.8.3. Nor does it say it here: https://help-nikcollection3.dxo.com/how-do-i-add-b-2-2-2-2 which is specifically about installing and using NIK 3 in Affinity Photo.  And it doesn't mention Affinity Photo's inability to make use of Perspective Efex here:  https://help-nikcollection3.dxo.com/article-copy-copy-4.

It's possible they don't know there are incompatibilities.  For what it's worth, I've submitted a ticket with DxO.

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Okay, first I tried using Perspective Efex on Win 7.  Doh!  (Accompanied by a big ol' smack to the forehead.)  I was so focused on the version of Affinity Photo that I overlooked the O/S.  I've now tried it on Win 10 and my experience has been like everyone else.  I could only edit and save in standalone mode.  A disappointment, but there you are.  They still aren't up front about the compatibility with AP in regard to P Efex.  If it only works outside of AP, is it really a compatible plugin?

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I'm having a bunch of trouble with it.  The only plugin that actually works at this point and isn't "grayed out" is HDR FX Pro 2.  I previously had the free version installed and everything worked fine, but I wanted the upgrade and installed it (and reinstalled it to see if that would help), but I can't seem to get the plugins to function correctly.  I even tried moving the plugins manually to the Photo plugins folder, but no joy.  Anybody have any tips?  I'll probably uninstall and try to do a fresh install to see if they work.

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Trials first, purchases later.

  • "The user interface is supposed to work for me - I am not supposed to work for the user interface."
  • Computer-, operating system- and software agnostic; I am a result oriented professional. Look for a fanboy somewhere else.
  • “When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger.” ― Confucius
  • Not an Affinity user og forum user anymore. The software continued to disappoint and not deliver.
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Hi tonyk11,
Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
Most plugins only support RGB 8 and RGB 16 formats. You are probably working with an RGB 32 bit document. Go to menu Document > Convert Format / ICC Profile and change the first dropdown (Colour Format) to RGB 8 or 16 bit. The remaining plugins should then become available.

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  • 5 months later...

They were nagging again with the new version. I was warned because I  had "upgraded" to V 2.5 before and felt seriously conned. There was nothing new, they had various screens about new adjustment, as it turned out that was all about some crippled Studio they sold with it.

The rest were just 10 presets coloured in different shades of purple and sepia. jejeje. They had me once so this time I was VERY careful. Now look at my screenshot.

Click here to see what it says on their site!! 25 new filters...

but all you get is some previews for each filters

like this

or this ( at least they have translated the settings, but not the filter names now)

Still looking for the 25 new filters, I find at last what they really  are!

You just need to rename some presets «filter»

 

 

 

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More to : Don't waste your $$$

But this is not all . You might have been thinking what about the perspective tool.

Good news. I f you have one of their Studios from the last 5 years, it is just viewpoint.

on the left it is called perspective 'efex' on the right it is the same viewpoint you have known for years.

2020-11-23_14-24-01.thumb.jpg.3afee252c7c4469e9ed1578067478751.jpg

 

I'm not done yet. so I did the same file all with Nik, well DXO and the other one with my favourite denoiser and Viewpoint.

you know the left one done with Dfine didn't look right. Sorry about the file size, if it is too big I'll upload just a snip

 

la_rochelle_tranquille_de_nuit_(3_of_13).jpg

la_rochelle_tranquille_de_nuit_(4_of_13)_nik_neuf.jpg

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On 11/23/2020 at 6:36 AM, anita said:

So, if you want to buy this Nik Suite because you don't have it..it all works as fine in Affinity as did the same, 'older' version. Don't worry about perspective, it is just a new name for DXO viewpoint.

Do you have an opinion on the improvement of Nik 3 vs the old free version?

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Mac mini (2018)  3.2 GHz Intel Core i7  64 GB • Radeon Pro 580 8 GB • macOS Monterey

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  • 5 months later...

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