XtremeCamera

NIK Software specifically gears their software toward the photographer and not the digital illustrator. Each plugin or plugin suite created by NIK Software are powerful tools that every digital photographer would be wise to have in their virtual tool belt. With the release of Viveza 2 NIK continues the tradition of making dramatic improvements with each new upgrade and each new product, while providing competitive pricing and affordable upgrade paths. With Viveza 2 in your arsenal you’ll make an investment in your career that you can’t afford not to make. I was a fan of Viveza v1 and didn’t expect to be blown away by a new version. That said, the new features and improvements on past features were way beyond my expectations. I think you’ll agree that NIK Software has once again given the photographer a great postproduction tool.

Viveza 2 will bring out the best elements in your photographs easier, and faster then ever before. Our initial tests showed remarkable results with some purposely underexposed and overexposed photographs where we can honestly say that this particular plugin will see more use this year than any other in our arsenal of postproduction tools.

Regardless of how many positive descriptions or statements we can string together in a review like this (where we are more than impressed with the product) there is only one thing that can convince you to consider whether you need to buy this plugin during an economic upheaval the likes of which you’ve probably never experienced before, or to live without it. In the paragraphs that follow we’ll describe what Viveza 2 is, how it is used, and in the end we’ll give you some real world hands on experiences provided by some terrific tutorials on Nik Software’s website. We’ve also put together a couple of before and after” photographs that we think you’ll find insightful and convincing.

The two screenshots I’ve included in this review are just two quick down-n-dirty fixes to two underexposed shots in my Adobe Lightroom 2 library. It took less then 15 seconds to make these changes, now imagine the end result if you spent a decent amount of time tweaking your photographs in order to bring out as much detail as you could. The tutorial videos (see below) on NIK Software’s website show you exactly how powerful this plugin can truly be.

Viveza 2


In the competitive world of professional photography your product, the precious photographs you create day in and day out need to be the best you can possibly make. Despite the tremendous strides camera makers have made with dSLR technologies the need for postproduction will always be a reality. If, as a true professional, you shoot all of your photographs in RAW format then postproduction is something as necessary as the lens on your camera or the memory card that stores the images. In other words, postproduction is something all professional photographers and the vast majority of amateur shooters perform on nearly every photograph created. Viveza 2 is a tool for postproduction, and one that will provide that competitive edge you need to survive.


Viveza 2 is a plugin used by the pros to correct brightness, contrast, color, and more without the need to create specific selections or masks. Corrections can be made to the entire image or specific areas, and with a little practice you’ll save images that you once thought were unsalvageable. While the perfect exposure is always the Holy Grail it’s not so easy to obtain outside the controlled studio setting, and this is where Viveza 2 really shines.

As you become comfortable with the control points and how to massage the best color, contrast, saturation and even shadow recovery from the photos you work with you’ll soon realize that the percentage of photographs which you consider “sellable” have increased quite a bit. You’ll discover just how much your camera was able to capture and you’ll discover how easy it is to reveal those wonderful-but-hidden details.

Compared to…

While Viveza 2 can apply global adjustments to a photograph, and while you might need to do just that from time to time, the real power of Viveza 2 is the ability to isolate the smallest section of a photograph to bring out the best of it without having to apply changes to any other section. A hard to light corner, or an overexposed foreground element is now manageable areas that can be corrected without having to change the entire image. This kind of technology is what keeps NIK Software at the top of the industry and the plugin suites that most professional photographers include on their “must have” lists. NIK Software is serious business… make no mistake about that.


Specs

NIK Software makes Viveza 2 for Adobe Photoshop (including CS4), Adobe Lightroom and Apple’s Aperture. The universal installer will install Viveza 2 into all the applications in your Applications folder. If you own Photoshop and Lightroom (or even all three) the plugin will be installed, which is a huge money saver and time saver.

Viveza 2 is $249 for the full version, $99 for the upgrade from Viveza 1, and a fully functional 15-day trial is available for free from niksoftware.com. You can purchase Viveza 2 at any Apple retail store, Amazon, directly from NIK Software (boxed or an immediate digital download). Interestingly, NIK Software offers a generous Academic pricing ($135.00) and Volume pricing schedule. Students and teachers can receive NIK Software products at a great savings.

Resources:

Watch this short introduction video over at NIK’s website;

http://www.niksoftware.com/viveza/usa/entry.php

Then follow that up with these fantastic tutorial videos that shows you the incredible power of this great new version of Viveza.

http://www.niksoftware.com/viveza/usa/entry.php?view=intro/viveza2_lessons.shtml