New Windows DarkTable Build

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Herbert123
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New Windows DarkTable Build

Beitrag von Herbert123 »

Partha just published a non-official Windows build of DarkTable.

I thought this might be of interest to anyone dealing with RAW processing. I tend to prefer to use Photoline in combination with RawTherapee, but DarkTable offers a number of very interesting features as well.

I have developed a bunch of RAWs and they look (very) good.

Here is the download: http://www.partha.com/
Direct link: http://www.partha.com/downloads/Darktable-2.0-64bit.exe

Official website: https://www.darktable.org/about/features/
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iosoio
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Re: New Windows DarkTable Build

Beitrag von iosoio »

Does it develop X3F files?
Papa, Papa, ich möchte ein Clown sein, wenn ich groß bin.
Bravo, sag deiner Mutter, sie soll dich nach Italien bringen, um als Richterin zu lernen!
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photoken
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Re: New Windows DarkTable Build

Beitrag von photoken »

123,
Thanks for posting the info.

I tried that version of Darktable, and it thoroughly disgusted me.

Here's my quick review of the program:
  • It stores its primary thumbnail cache in a hidden directory and does not allow specifying where to locate that directory. Unfortunately, it uses the System drive (C:), which disqualifies DT for me because I want to keep my System drive clear of application directories that constantly increase in size.
  • It also stores its thumbnails in a secondary "backup" directory that's never cleared out and is located God Knows Where.
  • It uses a database that is located God Knows Where.
  • With the exception of a couple of wavelets tools and the pre-demosaicing de-noise capability, all its other image manipulation tools are available in PhotoLine. PL's tools give better results and are much easier to use.
  • It's choices of de-mosaicing methods are severely limited. Specifically, it does not offer my preferred method -- DCB.
I uninstalled it and manually deleted its hidden primary cache directory on the System drive, hoping against hope that its other hidden directories have also been removed.

I agree with you that using RawTherapee in conjunction with PhotoLine is a great way to process RAW images. From what I saw, the RAW processing features that are not available in PhotoLine are far better in RawTherapee than in Darktable.
Ken
Yes, I think it can be eeeeeasily done....
Just take everything out on Highway 61.
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Herbert123
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Re: New Windows DarkTable Build

Beitrag von Herbert123 »

I believe DarkTable is more of a LightRoom alternative - which explains the database approach. I thought it was quite interesting to work with, although still a bit prone to crash.

I am not defending DarkTable here, but were you aware of all the additional modules which become available in the right bottom part? The zone system is a nice option, for example.

The paths can be changed when the executable is called with custom parameters. I suppose this is the Linux heritage :-)
https://www.darktable.org/usermanual/ch01.html.php
Although I have not tried to change the paths in the Windows version.

It uses SQLlite as the database manager. DT is more of a DAM similar to Lightroom. Therefore, I think we should not compare this directly to a RT/Photoline combo - that would be like comparing Photoshop to Lightroom. They have different target audiences and uses.
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Herbert123
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Re: New Windows DarkTable Build

Beitrag von Herbert123 »

iosoio hat geschrieben:Does it develop X3F files?
No, I do not believe so. You will have to use Sigma's tools to convert to 16bit TIFF files.
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photoken
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Re: New Windows DarkTable Build

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Herbert123 hat geschrieben: The paths can be changed when the executable is called with custom parameters.
If that can be configured in Windows, that's good, but awkward.

To be fair, RawTherapee has no easy way within it to configure its cache location, either. However, a global environmental variable (RT_CACHE) can easily be set to take care of that:
http://50.87.144.65/~rt/w/index.php?title=File_Paths

I'll leave it to others to analyze whether its modules (such as its "Zone System") provide any real benefits over PL's adjustments.

Its DAM organizer seems needlessly strange and complex with fewer features compared to XnView MP, for example.

So, in general, DT might appeal to those who want one program that does many things instead of using three separate programs, I guess....
Ken
Yes, I think it can be eeeeeasily done....
Just take everything out on Highway 61.
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iosoio
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Re: New Windows DarkTable Build

Beitrag von iosoio »

iosoio hat geschrieben:Does it develop X3F files?
Herbert123 hat geschrieben:No, I do not believe so. You will have to use Sigma's tools to convert to 16bit TIFF files.
As far as I know, DCRaw, thus all the programs based on it, should open Foveon files. I Knew Iridient Raw Developer on Mac could and I was told that Helicon Filter on Windows also could develop X3F. Then there certainly is Sigma Photo Pro.

In the incoming week I will run some test and let you (all) know.

Bye
Papa, Papa, ich möchte ein Clown sein, wenn ich groß bin.
Bravo, sag deiner Mutter, sie soll dich nach Italien bringen, um als Richterin zu lernen!
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iosoio
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Re: New Windows DarkTable Build

Beitrag von iosoio »

Sorry. I've aborted the idea to publish some test on x3f files because the output of DCRaw is ugly, with an unacceptable, strong color cast, never completely correctable. In the case of Helicon filter it's even graded: starting with a colour and finishing to another.

It's strongly recommended that you use Sigma Photo Pro to export a gross 16 bit tiff to refine in Photoline. Photoline, naturally, can open x3f files but with the result granted by DCRaw, I suppose… It's almost like to open Vuescan Raw, which returns an unusable, totally red picture.

Nowdays I don't have any Mac, nor I plan to buy one of them in the future, so I cannot say a word on Irident for Mac.

Bye
Papa, Papa, ich möchte ein Clown sein, wenn ich groß bin.
Bravo, sag deiner Mutter, sie soll dich nach Italien bringen, um als Richterin zu lernen!
pingssgp
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Re: New Windows DarkTable Build

Beitrag von pingssgp »

I've played with Darktable on and off, and it's great that we have a choice between this and Raw therapee that come free, and work on Linux. I don't care about the workflow, it's a free tool, but I think it still needs a fair bit of development to improve its core image processing capabilities.

These are just my totally non-scientific observations. White balance usually needs a fair bit of tweaking for me, specially for skin tones. Light and white shades sometimes give me slightly crazy results, with gray casts. Chroma noise reduction can do with a fair bit of improvement. The amount of fine detail it produces could be better. I guess I am too used to the quality of Capture One :D

DT has a ton of controls and it's easy to go overboard. It's just a bit hard for me to produce aesthetically pleasing results with DT or even raw therapee. That said, I am really hopeful for improvements, since this can be a great tool for hobbyists who don't want to pay lots of money for Capture One or Lightroom.