aperture 3 - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

05/16/2010 10:46:15 PM · #4

I use Aperture 3 for all my storage and organisation, for that it's invaluable, but for anything other than basic adjustment editing and spot clearing up, I still edit in PS.

Assuming I'm doing a typical shoot, my workflow in Aperture would look something like:

Create a new project
Import all photos for the project and keyword on import (if I remember)
Skim through the imported shots, reject the bad ones and rate the good ones
Filter by rating, look back through the rated shots, perform basic edits (colour, exposure etc) within Aperture, batch apply adjustments in some cases to group of photos (such as colour balance)
Export favourites to PS for any final editing required

At the end of this, I will have a new project, with all shots rated and keyworded, complete with stacks of those which have multiple different edits (including any edits done within PS). I find this sort of organisation absolutely essential when you take large amounts of shots in a single session, of which you generally are only looking for a few good ones.

Zoomdak

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

05/17/2010 01:42:44 AM · #5

I'm considering upgrading from from Aperture 2 to 3. Any input as to advantages of upgrading?

From what I've read, faces and places looks like blah. I don't want to organize by face (especially when it doesn't function well), and I don't currently use GPS or have time to geo-locate images in PP. I love Aperture's library capabilities though. And the little tweaks in Aperture 3 - x64 processing, copy smart albums, and being able to switch libraries smoothly - are what make me want to upgrade. But right now, it doesn't really seem like it is worth it.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/17/2010 02:05:03 AM · #6

Well, I have both--I bought a full fresh install of Aperture 3 because I have heard so many complaints about difficulties and bugs with the upgrade from A2 version.

I will say that I much prefer A3--the skin smoothing brush is worth it for sure. I had to go in and turn off face recognition, as at start up, it would go into a full library scan that really was a cpu hog.

It reverts back to 32 bit mode when using my Nik plugins, but it does so fairly easily. If you don't have Aperture at all, a fresh copy is A3 is great, and you likely won't regret it. Be sure you have a decent amount of ram though, for any of these, Lightroom included.

As for upgrading from 2 to 3, do some google searching and apple forum searches about the kinds of things you might encounter, workarounds or tricks, etc. I haven't done the upgrade, so I can't say good or bad about it. But I did choose to spend the extra $100 for a full fresh install to save potential hassles (if that tells you something).

tehben

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

05/17/2010 02:24:03 AM · #7

Originally posted by Zoomdak:

I turned off places and faces, not that useful without a GPS for the one and processor hogging for the other. I think one of the best features in 3 (I used 2 for a moth trial which expired the day 3 came out so I bought 3) is the selective adjustments options... Which I use all the time (for Advanced Editing of course ;P )

Aarthek

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

05/17/2010 09:36:55 AM · #8

Originally posted by Zoomdak:

I turned off faces and got a lot of performance back. Places I leave on, and I use my iPhone to take 1 photo when ever I go and end up taking a bunch of photos, I can then merge the iPhone GPS into the rest of my photos. I do find that rather useful.

If you end up having issues after upgrading just go to the apple support forums, there are a lot of help there, and the few issues I've had I've was able to quickly resolve.

All in all I feel it was a good upgrade as now I have software to get me into basic and advanced editing. (I never could figure out photoshop so I don't use it anymore).

Aarthek

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

05/17/2010 09:39:33 AM · #9

Originally posted by tomgm36:

Is Aperture 3 a real hot seller. I have Photoshop CS4 and Elements,...no real need to get Aperture 3 right? If so, what are the benefits?

I'll be honest I never felt like I could figure out Photoshop, I've been an Aperture using from the beginning. To me it's 10 times easier to work with your photos, downside is I wasn't able to enter anything into the expert edit rules rejected movie posters, cause aperture just doesn't work in that kind of setting. It does real well for Base and Advanced editing rules though. I also think it's the best photo organizer I've seen as well.

cdrice

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

05/17/2010 02:21:23 PM · #10

LR user here, so I can't offer much direct advice myself... I will point out that Scott Bourne is teaching an Aperture 3 3-week course starting today at 3pm PT over at CreativeLive (formerly CreativeTechs). Especially if you have time to watch it live (which is free), this could be a great way to see how it works and if it's "for you".

I will editorialize for a moment and say that most folks agree that Aperture 3 made a pretty big leapfrog over Lightroom. Many (myself included) are very disappointed with the current stagnation of LR, and the very marginal additions that LR3 (now in it's "second beta release" brings to the table). For those considering jumping ship, it's apparently the right time. And many users are. Just sayin'. One would hope Adobe would step up and make a bold move with the product release of LR3, but if the beta releases are any indication, that's not happening.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

05/17/2010 02:36:03 PM · #11

I think the leapfrogging is actually good in the longer run. Aperture was outdone by LR, until Aperture 2--which then stagnated for quite a while--and the LR leapfrogged it. Now, Aperture 3 made a leap, no doubt Adobe will answer (eventually). In the long term this is good for all users. In the short term, how it looks depends on whether you are the leaper or the leapee :-)

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

05/17/2010 08:09:58 PM · #12

If you missed the live presentation, due to technical difficulties they're putting it up as a loop all night and the loop should start in about 30 minutes.

//creativelive.com

Message edited by author 2010-05-17 20:10:43.

Aarthek

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

05/17/2010 08:37:45 PM · #13

Originally posted by cpanaioti:

If you missed the live presentation, due to technical difficulties they're putting it up as a loop all night and the loop should start in about 30 minutes.

//creativelive.com

Doesn't seem to be working.. sniff.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

05/17/2010 08:57:14 PM · #14

Originally posted by Aarthek:

Originally posted by cpanaioti:
If you missed the live presentation, due to technical difficulties they're putting it up as a loop all night and the loop should start in about 30 minutes.

//creativelive.com

Doesn't seem to be working.. sniff.

Click on the live drop down menu at the top and pick your feed speed. It's currently playing but the main content hasn't started yet.

Here's the link to the lowres version: //creativelive.com/live/lowres.html You can make this full screen if you want.

Message edited by author 2010-05-17 20:58:29.

05/17/2010 09:27:45 PM · #15

according to the FAQ, only the live broadcast is free, hafta pay for the looped version......

cdrice

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

05/17/2010 09:39:05 PM · #16

Originally posted by chromeydome:

according to the FAQ, only the live broadcast is free, hafta pay for the looped version......

This is a common point of confusion when they re-run videos on the live feed, and I don't their the FAQ really talks about this situation.

Heeeeeere's the deal --

If you want to buy the videos to watch them yourselves later (as much as you want, just like any other training video you'd buy online), you buy the videos. The "trick" with CreativeLive is you can watch the original "live" sessions (when they are being initially recorded) for free.

Sometimes, like today apparently, the live feeds have technical issues (usually from the large numbers of viewers), and to give everyone a chance to see it at least once free, CT/CL will re-run the program *on the live feed*. So, it's still free, since it's on the "live" feed, even though it's a recording of the class.

Normally the recordings are paid for, but in very specific cases like this they re-run them for free on the live feed. That's what's happening now. It's free. Just select the live feed (high or low resolution) you want to watch.

So, to steer this back to the OP -- if you want to learn some more about Aperture and you missed the first episode of Scott Bourne's class I mentioned above, you can still watch it all evening tonight, whenever you want. That's not "normal" for these classes, but there must have been some problem with ustream, etc. today during the recording.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

05/17/2010 09:52:36 PM · #17

Originally posted by cdrice:

Originally posted by chromeydome:
according to the FAQ, only the live broadcast is free, hafta pay for the looped version......

This is a common point of confusion when they re-run videos on the live feed, and I don't their the FAQ really talks about this situation.

Heeeeeere's the deal --

If you want to buy the videos to watch them yourselves later (as much as you want, just like any other training video you'd buy online), you buy the videos. The "trick" with CreativeLive is you can watch the original "live" sessions (when they are being initially recorded) for free.

Sometimes, like today apparently, the live feeds have technical issues (usually from the large numbers of viewers), and to give everyone a chance to see it at least once free, CT/CL will re-run the program *on the live feed*. So, it's still free, since it's on the "live" feed, even though it's a recording of the class.

Normally the recordings are paid for, but in very specific cases like this they re-run them for free on the live feed. That's what's happening now. It's free. Just select the live feed (high or low resolution) you want to watch.

So, to steer this back to the OP -- if you want to learn some more about Aperture and you missed the first episode of Scott Bourne's class I mentioned above, you can still watch it all evening tonight, whenever you want. That's not "normal" for these classes, but there must have been some problem with ustream, etc. today during the recording.

Yup. They're replaying it on a loop until the next class starts which I believe is tomorrow sometime so you can watch it over and over again if you want.

05/17/2010 10:02:28 PM · #18

well, I tried it on 2 different computers, 2 browsers: I got a black screen and other "chatters" saying they had no video either--so that's why I assumed it must be pay-per-view :-)

cdrice