Kubota Image Tools Raw Workflow For Lightroom 2 - Plug-in software
Perfect your day-to-day Lightroom workflow and get a few presets thrown in for good measure
Why would you want to invest your time in money in Adobe Lightroom when you've already got Adobe Photoshop to perfect your shots and Bridge (media-manager software that even comes packed into the Creative Suite bundle) to organise and sift them? Well, that's a question we're were asking ourselves for a long time - unconvinced that Lightroom had enough extra features to justify splashing out extra cash on on top of CS4.
Photoshop Guru and well-respected Action creator Kevin Kubota was obviously sick of being asked those very same questions, and so, released a dedicated Workflow tuition disc explaning the merits and shortcuts available to Lightroom users - 'Raw Workflow for Lightroom'. Now updated for Lightroom 2 it covers all of the new features and performance enhancements in a handy video summary.
Presented in a lovely, silver 'showreel' case, the 'Raw Workflow for Lightroom' features three main elements for setting yourself up with a flawless Lightroom working method; the tutorial, the instruction e-book and a batch of handy Lightroom presets.
First up, we recommend that you make yourself a brew, start the tutorial rolling and sit back to let Kubota take you through the ins and outs of Adobe Lightroom. PC users may find the use of QuickTime for this a little frustrating (PCs just always seem to stall and jump when playing longer QuickTime movies, don't they?) but generally the set-up is user-friendly and convenient.
We can't rate Kevin Kubota's mentor-style enough. He's a pleasure to listen to and comes across as chirpy and knowledgeable without being a bore. There's over three hours worth of content here, so we either suggest you put aside a half hour or so a day to take everything in, or alternatively, use the useful chapter index to jump straight to the topic of your choice.
The video tutorial covers an impressive amount of content and, as efficient workflow is the hot topic, it is suited perfectly towards the professional photographer. Of course, a good, efficient workflow isn't just about software expertise and image-editing skill - it's a state of mind. Well... it's about being organised and setting up a structured and logical workflow system. It's brilliant then, that as well as spending a huge amount of time talking about the perks of using Lightroom, Kubota also share his secrets on setting up efficient client folders. That may sound dull, but we guarantee it will speed up your jobs ten-fold!
Explore the disc and you will find that as well as the lengthy instructional video, there’s also a selection of handy Kubota Lightroom Presets. These are separated into either ‘Mac’, ‘Windows Vista’ and ‘Windows XP’ folders so you can quickly jump to the correct presets for your operating system. Once you double click on this folder you will find an easy set-up shortcut, as well as a ‘ReadMe’ file to use as a guide if anything goes awry. One thing we did notice, when testing these presets out on a PC, was that the ‘ReadMe’ file didn’t mention the fact that Windows can sometimes hide the folders that you need to find in order to carry out the set-up. This means that you have to tweak your operating system's preference settings in order to view and select an essential folder. This is undeniably the fault of a messy Windows operating system, but, as this can affect a vital folder needed for correct installation, users may be baffled as to why they can’t get their presets up and running. It would have been handy if this was pointed out in the ReadMe file.
The presets themselves will give you plenty of extra scope to experiment with your shots. Everything from radical 60s effects to essential monochrome or colour correction tweaks are thrown into the mix. These prove much more useful and less wacky than Lightroom's built-in presets and are a good little bonus.
If, after you've worked through the video you want to glance back and read up on specific chapters the disc also contains an e-Manual and a printable PDF too.
Summary
We're never really great fans of Adobe-themed manuals and workbooks - essentially because it's very difficult to find a guide that talks on a pro level. Yet, Kevin Kubota's tutorial products always seem to manage to deliver really useful information at the right pitch. 'Raw Workflow for Lightroom 2' is no different.
A price tag of over £60 may seem a little hefty for what is essentially a video tutorial and a few presets. However, the tips and techniques offered by Kubota really do make a difference to your workflow. Not only does it give you the chance to learn some really nifty tricks using Adobe Lightroom's interface but it also gives you a wake-up call when it comes to day-to-day organisation. The time you will save once you've fine-tuned your method for image workflow and output means you should make back that £60 in effort.
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