Explanation of batch Match, Sync, and Roll Analysis

Guides and How-Tos
1

I am a new NLP user trying to figure out how to properly use Match, Sync, and Roll Analysis. I have read and re-read the descriptions of Match and Sync Settings in the Batch Editing Guide, but the descriptions lack enough information for me to figure out the difference between the two and the situations each is best suited for. I have found no mention in the Guide of Roll Analysis. The discussions of Roll Analysis I have found in the Forum don’t provide enough information for a new user to figure out the difference between batch converting a roll of negatives without Roll Analysis and with Roll Analysis.

1 Like
Inconsistent with Negative Conversion and Roll Analysis On
2

Welcome to the forum @SnappyMilt

I never use match and sync, instead I adjust an image and make that a preset, then convert the image and all related images. Seems tedious, but works like a charm.

Roll Analysis:

Why: Sometimes, an image has not much (variety) of colours and tones and NLP provides conversions that are not what we expect. Colour balance, tonality and more can suffer under such circumstances.

Idea: Other images on the same roll might have a different or wider variation of colour and tonality, so why not use these images to fill in what’s missing in the other image(s).

Preparation: Capture all negatives of a roll with the same settings (iso, aperture, shutter speed) in order to provide the most suitable material for Roll Analysis and conversion.

Notes:

  • NLP works adaptively, based on what colours and tones are present in a negative. Think of NLP as stretching what it gets to fill the histogram. The more NLP has to stretch things, the bigger any unwanted shifts get and the more obvious.
  • A “roll” can be a roll in the sense of what you took out of your camera after a shoot, it can also be an arbitrary number of images, preferably shot on the same film stock.
  • Think of conversions as of starting points for further editing. Analog photography has simply too many variations for deterministic conversions. Roll Analysis helps to work around these variations.
  • If a conversion is way off, reset the image with NLP and convert it again with different settings, e.g. colour model, pre-saturation, border buffer, crop, white balance etc.
2 Likes
Can't Establish a Baseline for Conversion HELP
3

Thanks for your explanation of Roll Analysis! I now understand that feature. But I am confused by your first statement:

“I never use match and sync, instead I adjust an image and make that a preset, then convert the image and all related images.”

How is making a Preset based on a chosen image you have adjusted, and then using that preset to convert all of the other images, different from syncing all of the other images to the chosen image you have adjusted?

4

I found that I‘m not seeing that changes I apply to the first image find their way to the other images, mostly in the case of highlight and shadow rolloff as well as clipping limits.