DxO ViewPoint 2 is the brand-new version of DxO Labs’ volume deformation and perspective correction software which can be used as a standalone application and as a plugin for Adobe® Photoshop®, Adobe® Photoshop® Elements®, and Adobe® Lightroom®*. The major new features of DxO ViewPoint 2 include automatic distortion correction using DxO Optics Modules, manual distortion correction, a new 8-point perspective correction tool, and compatibility with Apple® Aperture®. This tutorial will cover both automatic and manual correction of distortion, and will touch on other corrections such as volume deformation (formerly referred to as “volume anamorphosis”) and perspective (formerly referred to as “keystoning” ) in order to abtain optimal-quality results. In version 1 of DxO ViewPoint, users were advised to use the distortion correction features of their host applications; with this new version, it is no longer necessary to do so. DxO ViewPoint 2 can handle all of the current and future DxO Optics Modules that are or will be available in DxO Optics Pro.
- Dxo Viewpoint 2 5 – Spectacular Perspective And Volume Corrections
- Dxo Viewpoint 2 5 – Spectacular Perspective And Volume Correction Notes
* See the DxO ViewPoint 2 User Guide for the complete list of compatible host applications and versions.
To follow this tutorial, you will need:
To get perspective and distortion correction tools, you'll need DxO ViewPoint 1, 2 or 3, or you can activate the DxO ViewPoint plug-in from within DxO PhotoLab 2. Please note that the best user experience is achieved by using the ViewPoint standalone program, which includes a dedicated perspective correction. 2.5 – Set the format of your final image. DxO ViewPoint 2 offers you an automatic crop tool that maximizes the space recovered after correction. If you want to display or print your image in a standard format, choose from among the possibilities in the Aspect Ratio drop-down menu in the Croppalette.
• DxO ViewPoint 2.
• Some images in JPEG or TIFF format.
• Some images in JPEG or TIFF format.
Contents
- 1 –What is lens distortion?
- 2 –Automatically correcting distortion in an original image
- 3 –Automatically correcting distortion in a modified image
- 4 –Manually correcting distortion
About distortion
Distortion affects all lenses to varying degrees, regardless of their quality. Of course, high-end lenses are generally better corrected because of their more sophisticated optical formulas.
What does distortion look like?
The two principal types of distortion are pincushion and barrel. In the first case , the lines, particularly those on the perimeter, are curved toward the center of the image, as when one squashes a pillow in the middle:
In the second instance, the lines are curved from the center toward the exterior of the image, producing a bulging effect:
Some lenses, such as zoom lenses, are frequently affected by both types of distortion: barrel distortion at short focal lengths, and pincushion at the longer focal lengths.
There is also a circular kind of distortion that affects fisheye lenses.
Correcting distortion
Only the use of specially-designed software will allow you to compensate for and correct problems with volume distortion or perspective. This is exactly what DxO ViewPoint 2 lets you do, thanks to DxO Optics Modules. DxO Optics Modules contain algorithms that are perfectly adapted to each camera/lens combination used to shoot photos.
2- Automatically correcting distortion in an original image
In this part, we will show you how to use DxO Optics Modules to automatically correct a JPEG image that has been downloaded directly from your camera.
Note
In order to automatically correct distortion, you must first disable the lens correction tools in your host application and/or in your camera. If you leave those corrections activated, you can end up with a double correction that will adversely affect the quality and look of your image.
2.1– Open the image you want to correct
When you open DxO ViewPoint 2, you will see a set of demo images that will allow you to easily see the kinds of distortion problems you may encounter and which will help train you to correct them.
You can also open an image from your hard drive. To do so, all you need to do is click on Open another file in the lower right corner of the main window. You can also go to the File menu, select Open, and then choose your image.
Note
If you use ViewPoint 2 as an external editor in Lightroom®, simply right-click on the image andModify withand then selectDxO ViewPoint 2. In Photoshop® or Photoshop Elements®, you can access ViewPoint 2 via theFilters > DxO Labsmenu.
2.2 – Install the DxO Optics Module
To automatically correct distortion, you will need to download the DxO Optics Module associated with the camera/lens combination that you used to shoot your image. Akvis noise buster 10 1 2954 14257 download free.
As soon as your image opens in DxO ViewPoint, the la paletteDistortionpalette will display a contextual message indicating the DxO Optics Module available for downloading.
A dialogue box lets you confirm the DxO Optics Module chosen, which is then downloaded and installed after you click on OK.
In certain cases, it is possible that more than one DxO Optics Module will be recommended for downloading. You will need to choose the DxO Optics Module that corresponds to the equipment that you used to shoot your image.
![Dxo Viewpoint 2 5 – Spectacular Perspective And Volume Correction Dxo Viewpoint 2 5 – Spectacular Perspective And Volume Correction](https://i.pcmag.com/imagery/reviews/04Umd0AnrWvhEejysESsspq-5.1569471881.fit_scale.size_1182x667.jpg)
As soon as the download is completed, the DxO Optics Module is automatically installed. You do not need to restart the application.
Note
If no DxO Optics Module is available, no automatic correction can be applied, and you will need to correct the distortion manually (see the section on manually correcting distortion below).
2.3 – Apply the correction
The correction is immediately applied, and theDistortionpalette displays both the camera and the lens model.
You can also adjust the correction using the Intensity slider, set at 100 by default.
Cropping is automatic, but you can also adjust the crop manually.
2.4 – Save the correction
After you have corrected your image, save it by clicking on theicon or by selectingSave Asin theFiledrop-down menu.
Enter the name of the corrected file in the dialogue box, choose its storage location, and then validate by clicking onOK.
Note
If you use DxO ViewPoint 2 as an external editor or plugin, click onSavein the lower right corner of the window. DxO ViewPoint 2 will close and the corrected image will automatically be returned to the host application.
3- Automatically correcting distortion in a modified image
If the image that you want to correct has already been modified by a third-party application, some of its EXIF data has already been removed. This means that DxO ViewPoint cannot determine all of the shooting parameters that are necessary for detecting the appropriate DxO Optics Module and applying its corrections.
Under these circumstances, a contextual message will prompt you to open the original JPEG- or RAW-format image so that DxO ViewPoint can read the necessary EXIF data.
Go into your hard drive and open the original image. Once you open the original image , DxO ViewPoint can then correct the distortions in a completely automatic way.
Note
DxO ViewPoint 2 does not modify the original image — it simply reads the EXIF data and adapts its corrections accordingly.
Now follow the steps listed in the previous section for applying an automatic distortion correction to your image and then saving the corrected image.
By following the directions below, you can manually correct the distortion in your images if your equipment is not yet supported by a DxO Optics Module.
4.1– Open the image
Follow the same procedure for opening your image as outlined in step 1 in the previous section.
4.2– Apply the manual correction
Dxo Viewpoint 2 5 – Spectacular Perspective And Volume Corrections
Click on theManualbutton (at right) in theDistortionpalette.
Three buttons will appear, each one handling a particular kind of distortion:
•Barrel: Corrects distortion that creates a bulge in the center of the image.
•Pincushion: Corrects the distortion that curves lines inwards toward the center.
•Fisheye: Compensates for the circular distortion that occurs when using fisheye lenses.
•Pincushion: Corrects the distortion that curves lines inwards toward the center.
•Fisheye: Compensates for the circular distortion that occurs when using fisheye lenses.
You can use the Intensity slider, set by default to 50, to modify the correction (strengthening it by moving the slider to the right, and diminishing it by moving the slider to the left).
TIP
Don’t forget that you can display the grid and zoom in to perform your manual corrections with even greater precision.
Note
In manual correction mode, DxO ViewPoint displays the frame of the crop by default, adjusted as closely as possible according to the correction applied, as well as the lost (grayed-out) parts—that is, the areas of the image that will be eliminated during cropping. You can of course readjust the crop if you desire.
4.3– Save the correction
To save your image, proceed in the same manner as for automatic correction (section 2, step 4 above).
Verdict: 4 stars
DxO ViewPoint 3 is a very effective and useful add-on for DxO PhotoLab but perhaps less useful these days as a plug-in for Lightroom and Photoshop, given that these have pretty good perspective correction tools of their own. ViewPoint also faces competition from the new and very similar Perspective Efex plug in that’s part of the DxO Nik Collection 3.
DxO ViewPoint 3 is the latest version of DxO’s perspective and distortion correction program. It works as a standalone application, as a plug-in for Lightroom, Photoshop and Elements and as a fully-integrated panel within DxO PhotoLab, DxO’s flagship optical correction and raw processing tool.
ViewPoint is designed to correct the converging verticals and other exaggerated perspective effects you get with wideangle lenses – DxO Optics Pro only corrects lens aberrations like distortion, chromatic aberration, corner shading (vignetting) and edge softness.
ViewPoint serves a very useful function, then, but it’s not unique. Lightroom has its own perspective correction tools, as does Photoshop. What it needs to bring, then, is either an easier workflow, better results or features the others don’t have.
Some of the new features in version 3 might help. These include new, automatic perspective corrections (Lightroom already has these, so there’s an element of catch-up here), automatic horizon straightening and a new creative blur (bokeh) tool for creating tilt-shift effects or defocused backgrounds.
ViewPoint already does something else that the others don’t – volumetric distortion correction. You know where you have a person or an object near the edge of the frame that’s distorted into too wide a shape? It fixes that, which is a pretty useful thing to be able to do with group shots, for example, or off-centre composition.
How does ViewPoint 3 work?
It sounds a complex job, but ViewPoint 3 makes perspective corrections pretty easy. Whether you’re launching it as a standalone app or as a plug-in, it opens with your selected image in the main window and a vertical tools panel on the right hand side.
Starting from the top, the first panel is for fixing Distortion. ViewPoint will identify the camera and lens combination from the image’s embedded EXIF (shooting) data and automatically apply the matching lens correction profile. If it doesn’t have it, it will prompt you to download it from the DxO website – it’s a quick and simple process.
That’s the theory, anyway. From time to time, ViewPoint may prompt you to locate the original image if you’re running it as a plug-in, presumably because the image version sent to ViewPoint doesn’t contain the necessary EXIF data. That seems quite odd, and it’s even odder that you have to manually locate the image using a Finder/Explorer window – you would have thought that the software would have had the brains to look in the same folder as the original.
Worse, you will get this message with any Fujifilm image, and that’s because DxO doesn’t support Fujifilm cameras and lenses in DxO Optics Pro (due the unique pixel layout of the X-Trans sensor), and presumably this carries through into ViewPoint. It would be better if it simply told you up front when cameras/lenses weren’t supported instead of sending you off on some EXIF/file hunting wild goose chase.
The distortion correction isn’t essential. You can move straight to the second panel, for fixing Volume Deformation. This is really useful where you’ve got people or other distorted objects near the edge of the frame, but if the distortion isn’t obvious it’s best to leave it because the Horizontal/Vertical deformation option loses a little image area at the edges of the frame and the Diagonal correction introduces some pretty strong barrel distortion.
The Perspective panel is where it starts to get more interesting. New in Viewpoint 3 is the ability to correct perspective automatically, fixing horizontal perspective, vertical perspective or both at the same time. It doesn’t always work well, especially if you try to fix both at once (generally vertical perspective correction is the most important), and if the perspective distortion is too strong or there are not suitable straight edges for the software to work from, but it works well enough, often enough, to be very useful. And if you do need to make some tweaks, you still have a full set of manual adjustments for forced horizontals or verticals, rectangles or more complex 8-point adjustments.
What’s good is that as you drag the manual correction nodes, ViewPoint displays a magnifying loupe over the cursor for more accurate positioning – and what’s even better is that if you hold down the shift key, the cursor movement becomes much more precise.
ViewPoint’s perspective corrections are easy to apply and effective – more so than Lightroom’s, probably – and while Capture One is very good for manual corrections, it can’t yet do them automatically.
Next up is the Horizon panel. This does what you’d expect, with a new automatic horizontal adjustment (if there is a suitable horizon line for the software to work from) with manual horizontal and vertical adjustments.
The Crop panel shows you the full image area after ViewPoint has made its corrections. It will automatically crop off wedge-shaped edges while preserving the photo’s original aspect ratio, so now’s your chance to change the area that’s been retained or its proportions.
Last but by no means least is the new Miniature effect panel. This produces the faux tilt-shift blur you see in so many other programs, with a horizontal in-focus zone and progressively defocused top and bottom areas. You can change the blur amount, the width of the sharp area and the sharpness fall-off, just as you’d expect. There is a twist, though – rather literally. You can rotate the defocused zones relative to each other to create independent planes of focus. Well, sort of. It takes a step further than other tilt-shift effects, but these are rarely particularly convincing and seems strange to get a tool like this in a program designed for optical precision rather than an analog emulation tool like DxO FilmPack.
Should you buy it?
DxO ViewPoint 3 isn’t expensive, but it does a job that’s already handled pretty well by most of the host applications you might launch it from. It probably makes a bit more sense when bought alongside DxO Optics Pro, where it gets its own panel within the main interface – though, paradoxically, this is offers just a simpler sub-set of its tools, notably the Perspective and Volume deformation options, presumably because its other tools are already offered elsewhere in the DxO Photo Suite product.
It’s also going to be a big disappointment to owners of Fujifilm cameras. Adobe and Phase One can work with Fujifilm raw files readily enough, so it’s not clear why DxO closes the door so firmly.
DxO Optics Pro is a great image correction/raw conversion tool, it’s great that DxO ViewPoint integrates with it so well and if you get the DxO Photo Suite you get both programs and DxO FilmPack too.
But if you use Lightroom, Photoshop or Capture One, it doesn’t make quite so much sense. You may prefer its perspective correction tools to those you’ve already got, and you may find it nicer to use generally, but really it’s offering alternative corrections to those you already have, not plugging a major gap.
Dxo Viewpoint 2 5 – Spectacular Perspective And Volume Correction Notes
If you intend using it as a standalone program, be aware that ViewPoint works with JPEG and TIFF files but not raw. If you shoot in raw, you’ll have to use it with a host program that can open your raw files. That’s a bit annoying when other programs like Skylum Luminar can work with raw files directly.