Camera Raw Noise Reduction optimization

Question

When opening a RAW image in Adobe Camera Raw, I noticed something odd: if I apply AI Noise Reduction as the first adjustment, the process completes in just a few seconds. But if I apply it after making other corrections to the image, the AI Noise Reduction can take several minutes.

Is this expected behavior, or could it indicate a lack of optimization in Camera Raw?
Based on this behavior, I now run AI Noise Reduction as the very first step, and then apply all the other adjustments afterward.

Conrad_C · Answer

I haven’t seen that (Denoise seems to take the same amount of time for me either way), however, it might be expected behavior based on the guidelines Adobe has stated for the recommended order of operations. It might help to optimize the workflow to follow the sequence suggested by Adobe in the post and help articles linked and quoted below. (I don’t follow it exactly, but that’s what they recommend.)

Recommended order of Edits (Lr & CR)

https://community.adobe.com/t5/lightroom-classic-discussions/p-recommended-order-of-edits-lr-amp-cr/m-p/13928407#M328587

Effective with the June 2025 release, the new recommended order will be:

1. HDR (typically Phone captures with Gain Maps)
2. Denoise, Raw Details, & Super Resolution
3. Reflection Removal
4. Distracting People Removal
5. Generative Expand (Currently only in the ACR Tech Preview)
6. Generative and Content-Aware Remove
7. Lens Blur
8. Lens Profile
9. Crop /Transform
10. Profile
11. Global Adjustments
12. Local Adjustments (Masking)

See updates to the Helpx here: https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/kb/optimize-performance-lightroom.html

And this new Article here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/using/ai-edit-status.html

…Doubtless there will be changes in conjunction with yet-to-be released features.

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