Aperture 3 from Apple - Released

[DiploStrat]

Not the Wrong Foot.

Trevor,

Aperture Phanboi that I am, you didn't get off on the wrong foot, Apple did. AP3 is a great program, arguably better than Lightroom, but the delicacy of the AP2 > AP3 conversion and the many, many reports of many experienced users having problems has cost them a lot. Had I not been using the program for years I would probably be running in the other direction.

Do the steps I suggested; they can't hurt, but don't warm up the vinyl until Apple comes out with at least one more bug fix/upgrade. If the screaming and shouting hasn't died down in a month, go elsewhere. There is no perfect software, but there is no reason to use something that doesn't feel right. Ironically, the look and feel is more important than anything else - much as the case of your choice of camera brand.

I don't know any good Lightroom sites, but, as noted: Rob Boyer (http://photo.rwboyer.com) and Bob Rockefeller (http://www.bobrockefeller.com/) are two good sources on all things Aperture. And while they like the program, they are quick, candid, and more to the point, informed in their criticisms. Rob has just posted an interesting "one month in" update - it, and the reactions, may interest you.

As for Lightroom, LR3 is coming. (Adobe just invited me to pay up.) It will be better than LR2 (which is certainly no slouch.) I think LR3b2 was released today; time for another update. A lot of it really comes down to what you like.

Speaking of liking; that much maligned feature, Faces, is really amazing. Thirty years of folks I have know, neatly tagged. And nearly instant location of new people - absolutely amazing. Sadly, it does not do animals. (Although it has identified a cheeseburger, a car wheel, the breech of an AK-47, statues, and various rock formations as possible people.)

Enjoy!

 

[nwoods]

Trevor, that article link to Rob's site that DiploStrat posted encourages user feedback. He seems to be the Scott Kelby of Aperature world, your concerns and issues might make a worthwhile comment on his article. From what I've read on his site thus far, I'll bet he'll take the time to investigate your issues and offer any suggestions he might find.

 

[DiploStrat]

If it weren't so late ...

I would post a snort about Apple forgetting the power of evangelists and the virtues of having members of the Aperture team post the odd comment, if only on the Apple sites. The Lightroom crew are absolute Chatty Cathys. As a result, every Lightroom user feels like he/she has the inside track on what's next and you never see posts like "Has Adobe abandoned Lightroom?" And I would argue that it was exactly this pressure and the arrival of LR3b which caused Apple to pop AP3 out the door a bit too soon. But what do I know about marketing?

Apple as a bit to learn about holding people's hands. This ain't like sellin' iPhones.

 

[Michael Slade]

Take a look at the last name on that Lightroom developer's list. Julianne is a personal friend of mine. I've known her for a long time, which is probably why my loyalty is with Adobe.

At least one function I came to her with made it into Photoshop. We're working on a small, but somewhat important feature for LR...we'll see if it makes it in. :victory:

 

[DiploStrat]

My Point Exactly!

Neither of these products is made by idiots or by people unaware of what photographers need.

I find that Lightroom's modular/modal layout gives me hives. But a few people who process way more photos than I (and who are probably a lot more disciplined/linear in their work habits), praise that very feature; first you cull, and then you develop your RAWS, and then, and only then, do you edit. Buy what works for you.

But do harrass Julianne about:

-- Full screen edit, and
-- On screen proofing in edit mode. :ylsmoke:

PAX!

 

[DiploStrat]

Cool Toy?

OK, for you production monsters, consider the Naga mouse:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2376419&tstart=0

I hasten to add that I have ever seen one of these beasts, but it doesn't take much imagination to see how a photographer who needed to blast through a lot of images, real fast, might really love this thing. Even does macros.

Company link: (with gamer approved black background): http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.169418900

 

[Lost Canadian]

That thing is a beast. I went with a tablet for edits, this guy to be exact, becuase I couldn't stand the lack of accuracy with my standard mouse. It never occured to me that a gaming mouse could be the ticket also. Pretty neat.

 

[Lost Canadian]

I think LR3b2 was released today; time for another update.

Playing,....liking what I see. If you have the time, give the luminance noise reduction a whirl on a dirty image and let me know what you think. I'm currently looking at a nearly spotless ISO 6400 image with very little loss of acuity...I'm pretty impressed by that, I'm not going to lie. That said, I rarely ever get anywhere near 6400, so really it's something that's nice to have but I doubt I'll ever fully utilize it.


Thanks for those links by the way. I may send Rob some feedback of my own.

 

[DiploStrat]

Sleep is for wusses!

So are you working really late or starting really early?

I actually followed my own advice and deleted my copy of LR3b. I had downloaded it as a sanity check, but did not find a need to change software. (I actually practice a bit of what I preach.)

I am suffering a bit from old timers disease, so I can't remember where I read it but somebody (perhaps Aperture or perhaps Nikon) just rewrote their noise reduction routine to really ********** chroma noise and worry less about luminance. The result was a loss of color blotches with little loss of acuity. The noise that did remain simply looks a bit like film grain, much less jarring. My D200 is the older generation of higher noise Nikons, so I rarely go above ISO 800. My son in law has a D90, shoots a lot of high ISO (mostly baby pictures) and then swats them with Nik's Dfine. The result is a VERY nice portrait effect; very creamy skin texture.

Speaking of Nik, I downloaded the Nik trials, found them very attractive - Upoint is very clever, but I didn't bite due to the price and due to the need to work from a TIFF. (Never having been a real Photoshop freaque, I do not automatically expect to "finish up in Photoshop." I try to avoid using Photoshop at all costs.) Now that Aperture has reworked their RAW cahnnel, I am waiting to see if Nik rewrites their stuff to work in the RAW pipe without the need to make an intermediary TIFF. Of course, one could argue that this is really stretching a point on staying on the RAW size; not that many images need that much work and for those that do, simply make a TIFF and dump them to Photoshop where you have layers and everything else.

Funny you should mention tablets. I have a ten year old Wacom Graphire and have just decided to replace it with the medium sized Intuos - should be here in a few weeks. The ability to brush sharpness onto eyes is very interesting. Similarly, Aperture's edge detect is a nice feature. Now, if they would replace burning with a simple exposure adjustment, that would be nice. (Or maybe I buy a reflector.

 

[DiploStrat]

Just When You Thought it Was Safe to Ignore this Thread ...

Seems the folks in Cupertino have heard the angst; Aperture 3.0.2 is out. And it will update the Trial without doing any sleight of hand.

Very interesting article here: http://aperture.maccreate.com/2010/...rives-major-update-with-minor-version-number/

Also quotes the Apple Support notes. Initial chatter is favorable. With my Internet speed, 75 MB will take all night, so I can't comment if I see any change.

Maybe they addressed your issues.

Enjoy!

 

[Lost Canadian]

So are you working really late or starting really early?

Right now I'm working late. My shifts are either 1800-0600 or 0600-1800.

Aperture 3.0.2 is working great after the update. I was grabbing brushes making random changes quickly just to see if I could get it to crash and the program kept up, it just ticked along nicely without so much as a hiccup. Sooooo much better. I was playing with Lightroom 3's latest beta earlier and was pixel peeping a bit. I have to say I really love LR3's rendering of my RAW files though. I see I'm going to have a really tough choice soon. Choice is good though.

 

[nwoods]

Nice link Diplostrat. That bit about the XMP sidecar files totally makes sense. I think I recall reading that Aperature did not use sidecar files. My camera provides an XMP file with every RAW image I shoot. I can see how adding the ability to work with (but not neccessitate which is interesting in itself...) sidecar files should immeadiatelly allow Nikon adn Canon and whoever else make presets to read the colorspace info straight from the camera.

Aperture 3 added the ability to import data from XMP sidecar files, but wasn’t able to read GPS data, color labels and ratings from programs like Lightroom. Aperture 3.0.2 changes this, all of this data is now imported automatically.... and...Metadata: Addresses compatibility issues affecting XMP sidecar files exported with masters. The Duplicate Preset command now correctly duplicates the data in all fields when duplicating a metadata preset. Fixes an issue that could cause a spinning wait cursor to appear when creating or duplicating metadata presets.

Trevor, your noted performance improvement is likely due to this fix:

Apple has tweaked the behavior of Brushes in 3.0.2. Previously if a brushing action was paused Aperture would resume background processing of images, which could sometimes lead to some slowdown between brush strokes. This would happen when a user would start a stroke, pause and Aperture would process the stroke, right as the user would start the next stroke.

Now Aperture holds off on processing the strokes on the RAW file until the user deselects the brush. The preview will still update, of course, but Aperture won’t do any background processing during this action.

Summary: Nice update! I found this comment interesting based on DiploStrat's early obersvation of the differences between Adobe and Apple's developer communications:

Normally pretty quiet about what’s been updated in their programs, Apple’s list for Aperture 3.0.2 has been very verbose

 

[Michael Slade]

But do harrass Julianne about:

-- Full screen edit, and
-- On screen proofing in edit mode. :ylsmoke:

PAX!

Yep. Those are definitely on the list. I also want break-out modules and leave the editing screen alone...so that I can work on dual monitors. I find I give away WAY too much real estate to those damn modules...as much as I love them.

 

[DiploStrat]

I have to say I really love LR3's rendering of my RAW files though. I see I'm going to have a really tough choice soon. Choice is good though.

Do me a favor, try one of Rob's presets - anyone, we are only talking about proof of concept. If you then watch his screencast, you can then crack the code.

Global presets came out in LR2 (I believe) but didn't appear in AP until AP3. For those who like an "instant JPEG" with sharpening/saturation/etc. pre applied, they are really great and were a real weakness in AP2.

I will get flamed, for sure, I am now ready to say that with profiles/presets and a tiny bit of work, LR and AP can match CNX and DPP.

I also want break-out modules and leave the editing screen alone...so that I can work on dual monitors. I find I give away WAY too much real estate to those damn modules...as much as I love them.

Dual Screens, 30" monitors, :drool:

Amazing how fast 23" starts to feel small.

 

[Lost Canadian]

Do me a favor, try one of Rob's presets - anyone, we are only talking about proof of concept. If you then watch his screencast, you can then crack the code.

I was speaking more to about the quality of the rendered file and how it looks at pixel level, but will do.:26_7_2:

I must say, for those that haven't tried them, the new noise reduction and sharpening algorithms in LR3 are downright sexy. Seriously. I pushed this night shot through LR3 tonight just to see, and I couldn't believe how nice it came out. The sharpening and noise reduction in Aperture is also really good albeit less sophisticated with respects to user input and control.

I will get flamed, for sure, I am now ready to say that with profiles/presets and a tiny bit of work, LR and AP can match CNX and DPP.

I agree 100%, I think the files in AP and LR3 are actually nicer. There's a quality to them that I haven't seen before. The best way to describe it is like a super ultra fine grain film. Both products do wonderful rendering.

In a bit of bad news, just when I thought things were going good for Aperture, this happened tonight. That's the 3rd time now.