Hi all.
I installed few days ago the new version of darktable, with the new filmic module.
It is a rather complex module, which I am on my way to understand. I’d love to use it more, but:
Once I move the sliders and use the module if I want to “reset parameters”, well, parameters do not reset themselves. To be more precise, the sliders go back to their original values, but an effect on the image still remains, even though I reset everything. So to eliminate the effect I have to go to history and then click on a previous step to totally get rid of the filmic modifications.
I have the same issue with “raw denoise”.
Any suggestions? Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks.
M.
I do not see this as a problem of the filmic module, more modules have this behavior.
Let’s take ‘Shadows and Highlights’ for example. Once you activate it, it starts with Shadows set to 50 and Highlights also set to a value different than 0. Change this value and than click on reset it will go back to this default values and not to 0.
If you want to disable it completely, you will have to either click on a previous step in history (as you mentioned) or just simple click on the On/Off button and stop its effect (this is more useful if there are more steps after the module that you want to keep).
Also, a trick that you can use with some modules is to save a specific preset for it. For example, for the ‘Shadows and Highlights’ you can set the values to 0 and save the preset with a meaningful name. You can just apply this preset and the module will start directly with 0 as values and will have no visible change on your photo.
Fine.
Yet, I do not see why a thing that should (and is called) ‘reset parameter’ does not reset the parameter. What is the reasoning behind this behaviour? I don’t get it.
Thanks for the tip and trick! Nice.
best.
You can try to ask directly the module creator @anon41087856. If I understood correctly, the module tries to calculate the start values to help you start with something usable.
enabling the module has some effect on the image, yes. it runs the image through the filmic pipeline with the default settings, in the same way that if you enable the global tonemapping module, there is some effect on the image.
In darktable modules have on/off toggles. Defaulting all modules to have no visible effect would be very inconvenient. Some like exposure default to nothing, which makes sense, but to have sharpening etc set to nothing would be annoying.
I think what @nosle points out is that enabling the module at all would invoke its pipeline - even if the sliders are set to “0” or some default thing, there may still be an effect. Thinking about it now, it makes sense.
Ok.
But: let’s say I start messing around with the filmic module. Then, let’s assume that I am not happy at all with the results. Hence, as in other modules, to me it would be normal to reset parameters and start again from scratch. Yet, this way, I cannot, given that the reset parameter button does reset parameters at their original values, yet the images keeps maintaining “some” effects given by the module, notwithstanding the parameter reset.
I know I can switch the module on and off. But, how to reset the module (the effects on the image) without switching it off, in case I want to keep trying with the filmic module, starting from 0?
So does resetting the module bring it back to what it looked like the first time you enabled it without moving any sliders? If so, then that seems like it could be considered a good “reset”?
It is as you say (but I had to read at least twice your question jejeje!!)
If I think about it, the very same thing happens with other modules, such as highlights and shadows. Same behaviour.
So, either you enable it or not, and if you so form the enabling effects already given (and unmodifiable) you can start messing around with sliders.
So I guess everything is in order as far as software behaviour is concerned. I guess.
Thanks
Filmic has no neutral parameters (parameters that would result in a no-op, like in exposure, the parameter 0 does nothing). The default parameters are designed to have minimal impact on most images.