Nik Collection v6

Hi,

The new V6 version of NC has just been released.
May 16, 2023 6pm CEST, 12pm EST, there will be a live youtube to present this version

Anyone know if it works on Apple silicon? It says it does in the blurb but 


It works very well on my M1 iMAC.

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Yes it’s indicated in the notes releases, here

Thanks for the link – just watched the video :slight_smile:
and wonder, what the new “Diffusion” for CPs is doing effectively.

→ DFine is rewritten now, while HDR + Sharpener will come in summer 2023 (if read properly)

Not a fan of the new user interface they are applying to all the plug ins, mainly because they have very little clear presentations between various sliders and sections of sliders now. Much less intuitive and overall less pleasing, but its decisions I see now its being used to “skin” all the NIK software apps, that in my view used to have a more pleasing and intuitive user interface. That being said its a solid refinement of previous features it seems, but nothing ground breaking and some of the plug ins really should be either left as some kind of legacy or replaced with more powerful technology, mainly the Define and Sharpener. I don’t think they are as competitive as they were when NIK released them and it does not seem underlying algorithms have been improved by DXO, only user interface has been changed and maybe made more compatible with latest host platforms and hardware. I wish DXO improved the algorithms to be in line with their DeepPrime technology. Some kind of AI enhanced thing.

Overall, it seems more like a refinement of legacy apps, new user interface added to all or most of the plug ins, and very few new features, nothing groundbreaking. Does it warrant the new version number, probably not, but I can understand DXO put a lot of effort in the coding under the hood and less in the feature set, so I guess they felt it was justified.

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Does this latest NIK release complete this process? Or are there still some of the plugins with the original UI?

Thanks! Wanted to check before installing

I haven’t tested in by installing it, but on their webpage about what is new
 and in their videos and promotion it seems some of it is implemented and some will come in the next few months as free upgrade.

What’s new in version 6?

Join our experts for our big announcement about Nik Collection 6

New interfaces for Nik Sharpener and Nik HDR Efex

New user interfaces arrive in a few months as part of free updates to Nik Collection
6
. Stay tuned!

The review here by Robin Whalley What’s New in The Nik Collection 6 - Lenscraft looks promising, especially the use of selection lines. So used to using them in DxO that when I switch to NIK it is still kind of annoying they weren’t there.

Control arm is another welcome return to speeding up worfflow, rather than having to go to the side panel for each tweak.

I mainly use ColourEfex and SilverEfex and skipped v5 as I didn’t feel there was anything it added to v4 worth the price.

The changes to NIK Perspective is welcome too. I don’t do much perspective correction and haven’t upgraded the Viewpoint 3 to 4 in DxO as the old tool was good enough for my needs.

So looks like I will go for this upgrade and at ÂŁ69, why not? My main use is calling it from Affinity anyway and I started with the old free Google NIK long before I started using DxO.

-will perspective work with affinity photo in this version?
-how will dfine work
 like prime or deep prime?
-sharpener pro
 using lens/camera combo from dxo mega library only or + manual implement?

nice as there was just that subject regarding v5 and what version work on apple m2 chip.

might be the version I was waiting for, as all plugin will be upgraded.

from the video → no

I watched the video and didn’t see that. Do you have a time point for that? (Btw, the audio cuts out at 45 mins on mine which is weird)

As Affinity calls the plugin, the file is sent to Perspective as a tif, worked upon and returned to Affinity after the changes have been made, over writing the original layer. Hence Affinity/NIK is destructive as Affinity doesn’t have smart objects (wish they would sort that out)

This is the same as using DxO, using Perspective and then saving the file. If I open it in Affinity, it shouldn’t lose any changes made beforehand in PerspectiveEfex

Or have I missed something?

According to what “Go64” shows, all parts of Nik Collection version 6 are “universal” and should therefore run on Apple Silicon Macs without Rosetta. Note: Not tested/verified it yet on Apple Silicon Mac.

The new collection definitely cannot be installed side by side with other (recent) versions of the Nik Collection. The Nik apps require additional resources that the installer puts into

/Library/Application Support/DxO/

Remove or rename this stuff und the apps will “quit unexpectedly”. This also means that there is no way to upgrade and fallback - except through the respective (un)installers.

Because of this, even a test drive can trash your trusted Nik install. Make sure you have an installer for the version that has proven to do what you need! All who have paid license(s) for the “Nik Collection by DxO” should find the respective installer(s) in shop.dxo.com.

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Which is why I asked if this latest release ‘completes’ the roll out of the ‘new’ interface to all of the NIK plugins. I don’t want to have to go through the hassle of installing the trial, and thus wrecking my current version, only to discover in a matter of minutes that the collection is still only half baked and thus have to roll everything back.

Can anyone answer my question? A simple yes or no is all I need.

Thanks

3 Likes

Thanks, very helpful. I’ve decided not to upgrade. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of benefit. Also I’m still waiting for a fix for PL such that the Neural engine will work with the latest MacOS, maybe I’ll upgrade after they fix that.

I bought NC 5 in June 2022, €79.00. Less than a year later, I’m invited to buy NC 6 for the same price. I read everything about What’s New for this new version, and I find that the improvements, etc., do not justify this price. Sorry.

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you can also check the recent release notes 


note – I’m still on Nik 5.x (+ Nik 3.3 / Windows)

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Old UIs have a green dot:

Note: Mac only info!

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that’s a good point
 Nik collection will be completely remastered with this v6 version right?