TUAW Podcast #25: Aperture

Now that I'm on the home stretch of my undergrad (just a thesis project left to finish), I'm finally able to stretch my legs into some hobbies I've been meaning to pick up. One such hobby is photography, and since I've been flexing my digital tools, I've quickly become enamored with Aperture, Apple's professional alternative to iPhoto. Even though I am by no means a professional photographer (no laughing at my pictures!), there are a ton of features in Aperture that drew me away from iPhoto, and I thought highlighting some of these tempting tools would be ripe for a TUAW podcast. Aperture, in my opinion, isn't just for the photographers whose lens bags weigh more than most typical household dogs; it offers a wealth of general features for power users, photography enthusiasts and those who need something that lands right at the intersection of iPhoto and Photoshop in terms of both functionality and price.
Hence, TUAW Podcast #25 was born. For just over twenty minutes I explore some of Aperture's features that I think appeal to a wide audience. Pick up a copy from our iTunes Store Podcast directory, this direct link or our own podcast rss feed.
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Now that I'm on the home stretch of my undergrad (just a thesis project left to finish), I'm finally able to stretch my legs into some...
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#3: Honestly, I never noticed any difference between Aperture and Lightroom when testing on my Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro with 2 GB RAM. Both feel fairly snappy when browsing the library and making edits.
That said, I've certainly heard that isn't the case on older machines that get closer to the line of minimum requirements; I hear Lightroom performs better on that older hardware, but I have no personal experience either way.
great podcast. nice production and very informative. in fact, it's gotten me to switch over from iphoto. as u said in the podcast, aperture manages ur photos much better and there are more ways to tweak the image
June 01 2007 at 12:03 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI am debating to get Aperture or Lightroom. I am hearing that Aperture is slow on even the fastest MacBook Pros. I am hoping that Apple addresses that problem, so it can run as fast as Lightroom. If Lightroom would have the same features as Aperture, I wouldn't even consider Aperture anymore due to how slow it runs. What do you think?
June 01 2007 at 10:52 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyDaniel,
Iphoto's slideshows are still better. The slideshows from Aperture don't yet do the ken Burns effect. This isn't such a deal breaker for me because I can open my aperture library from within iphoto when I want to create one.
My only gripe is the the resources you need for Aperture. I wanted to get a macbook (non-pro) and use an external monitor. But it would have been too slow w/ the onboard video. Even w/ my iMac and 2GB of ram, I find it a little laggy.
I prefer Lightroom for editing, but the management ability of Aperture just... wins it for me. Although, it is now the only thing keeping me from switching back to a wintel box (mac pro is just too much money).
#7: I'm starting to think this warrants a post, cuz I'm getting asked often enough. :)
I'm using iShowU to do the recording, and a Blue Snowball microphone. They aren't cheap, but sounds *worlds* better than the built-in mics on MacBook Pros.
For the effects like spotlighting, I'm using Mouseposé from Boinx. It also has a neat feature that allows you to display whatever keyboard shortcuts you're using to do something, but it has the unfortunate side effect of *also* displaying the shortcut you use to display the spotlight effect. Not a very smart move in my opinion, and I can't figure a way around it.
FWIW, I just got a license for Snapz Pro, but it turns all my audio to staticy blown-out crap. I've been futzing with the settings but can't fix the problem. iShowU wins hands-down for now in this category.
I don't use Apeture, but congrats on you're upcoming graduation. Good luck on anything you have going on post-partying/hangover :-)
May 30 2007 at 9:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyGreat podcast! I have a question but it's not about Aperture though. What software did u use to make this type of presentation (screen capture, record voice, highlight the cursor's movement etc)? Thanks a bunch!
May 30 2007 at 9:15 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyaperture looks really great, loved the podcast coverage. one question i have is does it do the slideshows like iphoto. because leaving the pretty slideshows with kenburns fx and synchronized music is a dealbreaker :-(
May 30 2007 at 8:43 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAlso...if you have a dual monitor setup, you can configure what you want displayed on the 2nd monitor. I have a full-screen closeup of the selected image(s) on the 2nd screen. This is such a great feature when editing!
May 30 2007 at 7:28 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
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