I've been playing with it for a few days now, and and IMHO it was completely worth it. I should tell you that I'm running it on a Windows Vista 64-bit system, a triple-core processor and 4GB ram (soon to be upgraded to 8). I recently did some upgrades on my computer, so the speed comparison is against my old one which was a Pentium 4 running Windows XP, and while it had 4GB of ram, only 3GB was usable, and it was the 32-bit version.
All that being said, CS4 screams on this maching in 64-bit and the GPU enhancements. WOW! The large file performance, which in my world is anything above 200MB, is awesome.
ACR 5.0 has some really nice improvements with the localized exposure control and GND features and other little tweaks.
I really like the new pannels interface. It makes working with various adjustment layers much faster and easier. I especially like the feature where you can make adjustments by moving your cursor up and down over the area of the photo you want to change. For example, in curves, you hover over the dark area, click and roll up or down and only that area of the curve is adjusted. Move it to a highlight, move up or down, and only the highlights on that part of the curve are adjusted. You can do the same thing when adusting specific colors, etc. They've made many little improvements like that that eliminate extra mouse clicks or key strokes. While the pannels look different, I found it very easy to learn.
Although I've been hesitant to make the move to Vista (being a PC guy), I am very happy that I went 64-bit. Now, I can expand that RAM up to 128GB (if I wanted to), and the OS and applications can take advantage of it, unlike my XP 32-bit system.
There are several other nice little things that have been updated. If you've been thinking about it, I would go for it. It's faster (Bridge is noticably faster, and easier to navigate too), and some nice workflow improvements have been made in addition to several other things.
It's not imperative if you are on CS3, but if you are runnign Vista 64-bit, I'd say go for it. You'll be very happy with the speed improvements on large files. I've you are using CS or CS2 and didn't make the upgrade to CS3...now is the time. Go for it. The additions made in CS3 and those in CS4 make it a vast improvement over those versions.
Anyway, those are just some of my observations. For me, the performance improvements have been delivered as advertised, and the upgraded and additional functions are very useful.
Ok, you almost sold me. I built my PC with a Core Duo, x64 Vista and 8 gig of RAM. I dont remember reading about GND features. Would you mind telling a bit more Ryan?
Posted by Paul DeCesare on October 21, 2008 at 12:34 AM
Great review Ryan, thanks for posting. I NOW plan on upgrading to the production Premium so I also get Adobe Premiere. The 5D Mark II is coming and we've now got some VIDEO to deal with! Bring it on.
Douglas, CS4 should fly on your new computer! Enjoy!
ACR 5.0 has a GND function where you can simulate a GND, non-destructively in ACR. It's quite nice. You can drag the GND to the point you want and then adjust exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation, clarity, sharpness and the color of the GND. It works fairly well. the image I posted here as an example is pre-GND. I'll post another post GND.
Here is the same photo with GND applied (although I will say that I added a little blue, just to see what the effect would be, so not a true ND, but you get the idea. There is a little darkening at the top of the rocks, but it can be delt with with a dodge/burn layer pretty easily. I will say the new dodge and burn tool is much better now as well.
Okay, a couple other things. I like the fact that you can see the sharpness of your image at any zoom level (when PS can use a compatible video card to access the GPU). You no longer have to look at an image at 25, 50, 75 or 100%. There are no more "jaggies".
When you zoom in, you can clearly see each pixel, seperated by a little border that makes it very easy to make pin point adjustments if you want.
Another nice thing. The clone tool. You can now see exactly what you are cloning before you commit. For example, say you are going to clone something with a defined line, and you want that line to match up perfectly in the spot you are going to clone, well, inside your clone brush is a preview of exactly what it will look like. You then can get it lined up just perfectly and then click and hold to clone, and everything on that line is perfectly aligned. Pretty sweet.
Oh yeah, did I mention its very fast (on a comparable machine as mine)?
Posted by Paul DeCesare on October 21, 2008 at 8:29 AM
SOLD!
And I was thinking, "how much better could CS4 really be?"
One thing to keep in mind if you happen to be loading the 64-bit version. Most 32-bit plug-ins won't work with it. Most 3rd party plug-in developers are making 64-bit versions and most are offering them for free to upgrade, but who know how long it will take.
So, if you can't life without one of your plug-ins, and you are installing 64-bit, you might want to wait until your favorite plug-ins are available for it.
Discussion
9 repliesAll that being said, CS4 screams on this maching in 64-bit and the GPU enhancements. WOW! The large file performance, which in my world is anything above 200MB, is awesome.
ACR 5.0 has some really nice improvements with the localized exposure control and GND features and other little tweaks.
I really like the new pannels interface. It makes working with various adjustment layers much faster and easier. I especially like the feature where you can make adjustments by moving your cursor up and down over the area of the photo you want to change. For example, in curves, you hover over the dark area, click and roll up or down and only that area of the curve is adjusted. Move it to a highlight, move up or down, and only the highlights on that part of the curve are adjusted. You can do the same thing when adusting specific colors, etc. They've made many little improvements like that that eliminate extra mouse clicks or key strokes. While the pannels look different, I found it very easy to learn.
Although I've been hesitant to make the move to Vista (being a PC guy), I am very happy that I went 64-bit. Now, I can expand that RAM up to 128GB (if I wanted to), and the OS and applications can take advantage of it, unlike my XP 32-bit system.
There are several other nice little things that have been updated. If you've been thinking about it, I would go for it. It's faster (Bridge is noticably faster, and easier to navigate too), and some nice workflow improvements have been made in addition to several other things.
It's not imperative if you are on CS3, but if you are runnign Vista 64-bit, I'd say go for it. You'll be very happy with the speed improvements on large files. I've you are using CS or CS2 and didn't make the upgrade to CS3...now is the time. Go for it. The additions made in CS3 and those in CS4 make it a vast improvement over those versions.
Anyway, those are just some of my observations. For me, the performance improvements have been delivered as advertised, and the upgraded and additional functions are very useful.
ACR 5.0 has a GND function where you can simulate a GND, non-destructively in ACR. It's quite nice. You can drag the GND to the point you want and then adjust exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation, clarity, sharpness and the color of the GND. It works fairly well. the image I posted here as an example is pre-GND. I'll post another post GND.
When you zoom in, you can clearly see each pixel, seperated by a little border that makes it very easy to make pin point adjustments if you want.
Another nice thing. The clone tool. You can now see exactly what you are cloning before you commit. For example, say you are going to clone something with a defined line, and you want that line to match up perfectly in the spot you are going to clone, well, inside your clone brush is a preview of exactly what it will look like. You then can get it lined up just perfectly and then click and hold to clone, and everything on that line is perfectly aligned. Pretty sweet.
Oh yeah, did I mention its very fast (on a comparable machine as mine)?
And I was thinking, "how much better could CS4 really be?"
By two orders of magnitude evidently!
BTW Ryan, nice image, before AND after.
So, if you can't life without one of your plug-ins, and you are installing 64-bit, you might want to wait until your favorite plug-ins are available for it.