I have to say that the exposure of the fur is changed, inside and FAR outside the circles. I'd consider this implementation unusable if for every control point, 10 negative points need to be set up.
Having seen your second post, my comments may be more appropriate directed to the larger thread audience.
Different tools with different uses. My example wasn't meant to show off Nik capabilities - I just threw some points on the image to show the difference in mask display. And don't forget - my third image is showing the mask color, not the actual color of the dog's fur.
The image I created had several 'positive' points and one 'negative' one (on the tongue). I would have added some negative ones on the fur is I were doing this to create an image. The dog's fur was not 100% black but contained areas of white and some whiter toned pixels. Since Nik's masking is based around tonality not just geometry, the effect can reach out to areas you may not expect - hence the need for negative control points. There can be both a positive and negative to the method.
The number of points needed depends on the nature of the image and the impact of the adjustment. Sometimes, moving a point just slightly leads to a very different mask. But, I would tend to use 10-15 points for most images to define the masking I wanted to use.
When I use the Nik Interface, I often work (at least in the final stages) with the mask display enabled as I add points. I will know where I want the effect to appear and will just add control points (and adjust their size) until I get the mask that I want. This is one reason why people are concerned by the absence of the mask display in Photolab - you lose that workflow and are adding circles without any feedback of the effect of your placement.
In the original Nik interface, you can add points very easily, using the 'opt' key (with a mouse drag) to copy an existing point to a new location. Then, you can group them to adjust them as a unit. It looks like the DxO interface assumes that all positive points are grouped until you define a new mask. The 'opt' key option works but, I couldn't find a way to delete a point that I didn't need or was badly placed. The original interface also allows for the control points to be applied with multiple adjustments (e.g. glow effects, , not just the few shown in the DxO list.
It definitely takes time to develop a feel for the different approach of the Control points. If it works for you, that's great. if it doesn't, that's great too - there are lots of other adjustments that can do the same thing.
Hopefully, DxO will expand the utility when they get past Version 1.0.
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Nick
Partly as a result, I've become less careful in reading comments and posts. When I first read your response to me, I thought you were telling me to go watch some videos to improve my understanding. People have been throwing those things around a lot over the past week. Hence, my mis-guided reaction.