thank you for making this so easy and a monitor question

FocalBlade specific discussions
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gstepic

thank you for making this so easy and a monitor question

Post by gstepic »

I really appreciate that I can use this forum before purchasing any products or having to register. I am fairly certain I am going to purchase the Focal Blade program. I have been debating between this program, FM Intellegent sharpen, and the photokit program. I have read a few posts on DPR suggesting I can do everything myself on photoshop but a program that speeds up my workflow and is already automated to do what probably would take me a long time to learn is worth fifty bucks. Being able to ask questions from the developers and other users is worth a lot in my opinion as well.

My question is if a larger monitor will really help use the program more effectively or if this is more of a luxery than a neccesity. I really struggle when it comes to applying sharpening and I hope this will be less of a problem the more experience I have with sharpening. I have a Samsung 912N 19" which seems to me not too bad. I have it calibrated. I am debating about purchasing a Samsung 213T, a 21" monitor that is being discontinued at Best Buy, only one left at my local retailer.

I know eventually I will get a larger monitor but there are some other important priority purchases where I could apply the $700 bucks I would be spending on my monitor. If I can do a pretty good job with the Focal Blade program on my 19" then I will sit tight and probably look at getting another monitor sometime this summer. If going from a 19" 1280 resolution monitor to a 21" 1600X1200 resolution monitor will help me get much better results then I may rush down to Best Buy to get the Samsung. So should I buy it or just sit tight and feel confident I can do a nice job with Focal Blade and a 19" monitor?

HaraldHeim
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Post by HaraldHeim »

I would suggest you move your seat or face closer to your 19" monitor. That has the same effect as getting a 21" monitor. I think that answers your question :-).

gstepic

thanks

Post by gstepic »

You just saved me $700 bucks! My gut feeling was a larger monitor could be helpful but not really neccessary. Now my question is if Focal Blade would be really helpful. I printed out most of the manual and using the program seems a little complicated. I do like the fact you seem to feel applying one step of sharpening to a print folder and another to a web folder will work fine, unlike Photokit Sharpener that recommends a two step process.

i want to batch process folders and still get better results than if I use USM actions. i am especially concerned about digital noise as I shoot a lot of indoor sports. What would take a lot of fear out of using Focal Blade is if I could describe a shooting situation and then get suggestions for what setting to use. most of my shooting will fall under a limited amount of situations. i know I need to play around with the setting but any help on what settings to start would be very useful.

i will more than likely download tomorrow (too tired to try anything tonigh) and try to figure it all out on my own. I know you can't walk me through the process but from time to time opinions of what to use could help build my confidence in using the program.

HaraldHeim
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Re: thanks

Post by HaraldHeim »

I printed out most of the manual and using the program seems a little complicated.
Well, it depends on which FocalBlade mode you use. I don't think you can call the Novice Mode complicated :-).

I do like the fact you seem to feel applying one step of sharpening to a print folder and another to a web folder will work fine, unlike Photokit Sharpener that recommends a two step process.
PK Sharpener actually recommends three steps. I don't like this approach, because it means too much work and the risk of oversharpening is much higher.
What would take a lot of fear out of using Focal Blade is if I could describe a shooting situation and then get suggestions for what setting to use. most of my shooting will fall under a limited amount of situations. i know I need to play around with the setting but any help on what settings to start would be very useful.
If you right click on the Screen or Print button, you will see a context menu with four presets: Default, Landscape, Portrait and Nightshot. They should give you an idea what sharpening settings you can use for which type of photo.

You don't necessarily need to use them, but for example you can see that the Nighshot preset uses no surface sharpening which is recommended for photos with a lot of noise.
I know you can't walk me through the process but from time to time opinions of what to use could help build my confidence in using the program.
Feel free to ask any questions you like.

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