Hi everyone !
I would like to propose a lifting for the UI in the darkroom.
*Problem**
*
Currently, the modules are separated in 5 tabs :
* base
* tones
* colors
* enhancements
* effects
But :
* some modules in the color group affect the tones as well (color
zones, color balance)
* some modules in the tone group affect the colors as well (tone
curves)
* what is a "basic" module is rather arbitrary (basic == low-level
signal processing | traditionnal all-purpose features | simple
general settings ?)
* some modules do basically the same thing (local contrast &
equalizer, sharpen & high-pass filter, tonecurve & basecurve)
and yet you find them in different tabs
*Workflow**
*
Over 7-8 years using dt, I have converged (and advocated) to the
following systematic workflow :
/Step 1 : clean and neutralize the picture/
1. normalize the white balance
2. normalize the exposure to fit the histogram
3. normalize the contrast and tonemap
4. clean the noise
5. correct the lens
6. recover the saturated highlights
7. apply a color profile and LUT
At the end of this step, the image should look as close as possible
to the reality. This step is only aimed at correcting the input
signal to revert the flaws of the sensor technology
/Step 2 : tone the picture/
1. adjust the local and global contrast to be visually pleasing and
fit the photographer's intentions
2. adjust the lightness
This step is the first "artistic" step and is more efficient if the
image has been cleaned before. But this uses the colorbalance to fit
the gamma.
/Step 3 : grade the picture/
1. adjust the hue to set the atmosphere
2. adjust the saturation to get natural colors
3. remap some colors to get better skin or sky tones
This step is exactly what is done in video post-production.
/Step 4 : enhance the picture/
1. crop
2. fix the rotation and the perspective
3. fix the sharpness (sharpening, high-pass)
4. correct the skin, spots, stains, sensor dust, etc. (spots and
retouch)
5. correct the shapes (liquify)
6. add filters (vignette, frame, watermark).
This step is more or less what you would do in pixels editors (Gimp,
Photoshop).
*Proposal*
I would like to refactor the UI in 4 tabs :
1. *correction :* for all the signal-processing and purely technical
modules (mostly, the first in the pixelpipe, working in
camera-relative RGB) :
* *sensor patterns handling :*
o scalepixels
o rotatepixels
o demosaic
o flip
o rawprepare
* *color correction handling :*
o invert
o temperature
o colorout
o colorin
o colorchecker
* *dynamic range handling:*
o exposure
o clipping
o colorreconstruction
o shadhi
o highlights
o profile_gamma
o tonemap
o graduatednd
o dither
* *optics handling :*
o defringe
o hazeremoval
o lens
o cacorrect
* *noise handling :*
o bilateral
o nlmeans
o denoiseprofile
o rawdenoise
o hotpixels
2. *tones**: *for creative modules affecting lightness and contrast
* *global contrast :*
o tonecurves
o basecurves
o colisa
o levels
* *tone-mapping :*
o zonesystem
o global tonemap
o relight
* *local contrast :*
o atrous
o clahe
o equalizer (legacy)
3. *colors :* for creative modules affecting lightness and contrast
* *RGB :*
o colorbalance
o channelmixer
* *HSL :*
o colorzones
o splittoning
* *Lab* :
o colorcontrast
o colorcorrection
* *color-mapping :*
o colormapping
o colortransfer
o lowlight
o colorize
* *saturation* :
o vibrance
o velvia
o monochrome
4. *enhancements :* for creative filters and pixel alteration modules
* *sharpness* :
o sharpen
o highpass
* *shoftness* :
o bloom
o lowpass
* *inpainting* :
o spots
o retouch
* *structure deformation :*
o crop and rotate (what's its IOP name ?)
o liquify
o ashift
* *creative* :
o watermark
o borders
o grain
o vignette
*Benefits*
I think that would draw a path, mostly one-directional, to follow during
edits : every tab is a step, you go into the next tab only when you are
finished with the previous one. It would result in less clicking and
browsing and more guidance for new users. It would draw less confusion
as well regarding why some modules of similar functionnality are put
away in separate tabs.
Thanks for reading ! What do you think ?
Aurélien.
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