Back in January, the folks from Creaceed released version 1.0 of Hydra -- a Leopard-only, GPU-powered photo application for creating High Dynamic Range photos that competes with the much-renowned Photomatix Pro. Just in time for the Apple Design Awards version 1.5 of Hydra is available. With more tone-mapping options, an image-navigation HUD, RAW importing (should you wish not to convert to 16-bit TIFF before importing), a plethora of Aperture options (more on those in a moment), and many more new features it's certainly a compelling release.
As mentioned before, there's plenty of Aperture integration with this release. As well as being able to import photos from (and export photos to) Aperture, Hydra is now available as an Aperture plugin (beta) - based on the all-new Aperture 2.1 Plugin SDK - that allows you to create HDR photos from within Aperture.
Unlike the cross-platform Photomatix Pro, Hydra's UI is the epitome of OS X slickness -- replicating much of the look and feel of both Aperture and other iLife applications. We'll be taking a look at both Hydra and Photomatix Pro in the near future to see whether Hydra's charms are merely skin deep.
Hydra 1.5 costs $59.95, and is a free update for those we already have a license.
Apple released two Pro App updates bright and early this Monday morning:
ProKit Update 4.5: "This update improves reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, Aperture, Logic Studio and Logic Express."
Plugin Manager 1.7.3: "This update improves reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, Aperture, Logic Studio and related SDKs."
According the release notes for the Plugin Manager update, it addresses a backwards compatibility issue with Apple and third-party filters in the applications listed above. Users of any of these apps and Motion should fire up Software Update and install the recommended updates. No reboot is required (and there was much rejoicing!).
Update: These updates were new to me! Sorry for the false alarm all, I just installed FCP and jumped the gun. That being said, be sure to check out Apple's list of available updates. You never know what you'll find on there.
Thanks to everyone in the comments for setting me straight.
Posted Apr 26th 2008 11:30AM by Mat Lu Filed under: Developer
When Aperture 2.1 was released last month it added a plug-in architecture allowing third-party developers to add editing tools. While some of the bigger names have already been working on such plugins, Apple has now released the SDK so you can too (provided, that is, you can write sophisticated image editing code). The architecture basically allows the plugin to request an editable version of a picture from Aperture and then send back the result as well as adding metadata and manipulating image data, all within a custom interface.
The Aperture 2.1 SDK is available for download from Apple, through you do have to have an ADC account.
If you've been looking to get the perfect Mother's Day gift, Apple says to look no further than iPhoto or Aperture. It's that special time of year when we celebrate our mothers (of course, if you ask Mom every day is Mother's Day), and Apple is cutting us a break! You can now get 20% off of iPhoto books when you use the promo code LoveMom at checkout.
This promo code is valid for iPhoto or Aperture users in the US and Canada and is good until May 11, 2008. Apple recommends that you order by April 30 for standard delivery and May 4 for express delivery so that you get your book in time for Mother's Day.
If you love Aperture (or iPhoto) like we do, then you know that there are some nice plug-ins that allow you to export pictures to differing photo sites (i.e. Flickr, etc.). However, if you use Gmail's web based e-mail service, then you are out of luck ... until now!
Aperture2Gmail (or iPhoto2Gmail) allows you to export your photos in a new e-mail directly to Gmail. You can also resize on-the-fly, just like you can in Mail.app.
When Apple released Aperture 2.1 last week the big news was that the editing API will allow selection based editing in Apple's flagship image management application. But what good is an API without developers? So it's heartening to see how many are jumping on board. Rob Galbraith has a good post on what the editing API plugin means and also reveals that a number of well-known image plugin developers are hard at work on Aperture. Perhaps most exciting, to me at least, PictureCode is working on Noise Ninja, but Galbraith lists many more including Nik Software, dvGarage, Digital Film Tools and others.
One interesting thing about these developments is that most of these third-party developers offer these tools as Photoshop plugins. It's possible that getting some of these more advanced tools into Aperture will allow some users to get free of Photoshop. Given the recent developments with the next version of Photoshop CS4 being 32-bit only, this may mean that Apple will be more willing to step on Adobe's toes (or allow others to do so).
Today Apple has released an update to their photo workflow app, Aperture. Aperture 2.1, a free update for all Aperture 2.0 users, adds a new, and open, plugin architecture to Aperture. This means it will now be much easier for developers to extend Aperture's builtin capabilities by writing little bits of codes that plug into the Aperture frameworks (hence the name).
Apple is already working with some developers, and is including a dodge and burn plugin of their own with Aperture 2.1. Aperture 2.1 is available now, and if you don't already have Aperture it will cost you $199 (or $99 to upgrade from Aperture 1.0).
Today, Apple released Plugin Manager version 1.7.3 for Apple's Pro applications. In regular Apple wordiness, here's what the update says:
This update improves reliability for Apple's professional applications and is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, Aperture, Logic Studio and related SDKs.
You can download this update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update) or by downloading the installer from the Apple Support website.
If you happen to be a photographer who likes to take digital photos using the RAW format, then Apple has just released an update you might want to take a look at and, perhaps, even apply. Appearing today in Software Update is what Apple calls the "Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.0."
According to the notes in Software Update, this new update "extends RAW file compatibility for Aperture 2 and iPhoto '08 for the following cameras:
Hasselblad CFV-16 Hasselblad H3D-31 Hasselblad H3D-31II Leaf Aptus 54S Leaf Aptus 65S Nikon D60 Olympus E-3 Pentax *ist DL2 Pentax *ist DS2 Pentax K100D Super Sony DSLR-A200 Sony DSLR-A350
If you're curious, you can also find more info on this update, which according to this page seems to be a bit of a security update as well, by going to the Apple support site. Of course, as always, if you decide to apply this update and your Mac explodes or something, be sure to let us know.
One particularly annoying thing about plugging in my iPhone is that it always launches Aperture and prompts for permission to import photos. While you should be able to turn this off (in the preferences of the Image Capture application), what if you still want iPhoto (or Aperture, Lightroom, etc.) to launch when you plug in your camera or memory card? Capitalizing on the fact that Image Capture lets you choose any application to run automatically, Sam Stephenson over at 37signals has cooked up a fancy AppleScript to do just this. Once set up it looks to see what you've plugged it; if it's your camera it will launch iPhoto, etc.; if it's your iPhone it won't. The script is slightly complicated and must be customized for your particular camera model, but if you want the convenience of auto-launching your image management application for your camera, without the annoyance of the iPhone, it's worth a look.
Posted Feb 19th 2008 12:00PM by Mat Lu Filed under: Software
While everyone is still getting acclimated to the new Aperture 2, an overview published at Aperture Users Professional Network revealed an interesting tidbit that Apple itself has yet to talk much about. According to David Schloss, "Apple has added the ability to create editing plug-ins for Aperture."
Aperture has only supported export plugins thus far, so this is particularly interesting. It opens up the possibility of more pixel-level editing in Aperture from third-party plugins, even if Apple itself doesn't want to crowd Adobe's Photoshop turf. As Schloss notes, this will quite likely "revolutionize the program" in the long run. Now if only Apple would publish the details and let the developers get to work.
With murmurings of Aperture 2 maybe, just maybe, arriving on the scene 'very soon', this morning's store down-time left one blogger hoping not for new hardware (I picked up a new Black MacBook just last weekend) but that Aperture 2 would arrive.
I've been a huge, huge fan of Aperture since I picked up a MacBook Pro in January last year, leaving the then-beta Adobe Lightroom out in the cold. Ever since the launch of Leopard, Aperture has been one of the few applications I've had minor stability issues with -- and the now-resolved incompatibility with Time Machine made me choose my photos over my backups. Others were less impressed with Apple's apparent dithering on Aperture, with a number of customers venting their frustration on certain message boards. Thankfully, if the compatibility issue with Time Machine has now been resolved, and a much-updated Aperture 2 has arrived.
So what on earth is new with Aperture 2.0, and what are our first impressions here at TUAW? Read on...
Way back in OctoberNik (who is busily working on his Aperture 2 review) blogged about the problem combo of Aperture and Time Machine. It would seem that using Time Machine and Aperture could lead to some bad things happening to your Aperture database. Apple's suggestion, at the time, was to simply exclude Aperture's database from your Time Machine backups. Sadly, most photographers like to back up their photographs so this wasn't deemed a long term solution.
Enter OS X 10.5.2 and, according to Apple, the problem is solved. Time Machine will now happily back up your Aperture database (both Aperture 1.5 and 2) without a problem. That sound you hear is thousands of Aperture users breathing a sigh of relief.
Let's just say it: Aperture 2 is here - and boy are some of us here at TUAW excited. Amongst the news, the full-price of the application has dropped to just $199 US, with the paid upgrade being just $99. That's down from the previous full price of $299 -- a price currently retained by competitor Adobe Lightroom (we'll see how long that lasts).
re-engineered database for the application to allow Quick Preview touted to be snappy even with half-million-image libraries.
an all-in-one heads-up panel for Library, Adjustment and Meta-data controls.
a selection of new tools: Recovery for blown highlights, Vignette & Devignette, Definition , Vibrancy and Repair and Retouch
.Mac Web Gallery integration
and 'All Projects' view, not dissimilar to iPhoto '08's 'Events' view
improved RAW decoding
The new version is available to buy in the US online store now, and undoubtedly heading to other international online stores soon, though the Aperture site has yet to be updated to reflect the changes now got the low-down on the new features.
In the run up to Leopard Apple mentioned that they were adding support for more camera RAW formats, but it wasn't exactly clear which models would be supported. The final list is now available in this Apple Support Document. This means that native support for these cameras' RAW file format is in OS X and certain imaging applications, most importantly, Aperture. As it happens I was delighted to discover that my Panasonic DMC-FZ50 made the list after not being supported in Tiger. If you've been waiting for Apple to add RAW support for your camera you'll probably want to check it out.
Back in January, the folks from Creaceed released version 1.0 of Hydra -- a Leopard-only, GPU-powered photo application for creating High Dynamic Range photos that competes with the much-renowned Photomatix Pro. Just in time for the Apple Design Awards version 1.5 of Hydra is available. With more tone-mapping options, an image-navigation HUD, RAW importing (should you wish not to convert to 16-bit TIFF before importing), a plethora of Aperture options (more on those in a moment), and many more new features it's certainly a compelling release.
Apple released two Pro App updates bright and early this Monday morning:
When Aperture 2.1 was 
If you've been looking to get the perfect Mother's Day gift, Apple says to look no further than iPhoto or Aperture. It's that special time of year when we celebrate our mothers (of course, if you ask Mom every day is Mother's Day), and Apple is cutting us a break! You can now get 20% off of iPhoto books when you use the promo code LoveMom at checkout. 
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If you happen to be a photographer who likes to take digital photos using the RAW format, then Apple has just released an update you might want to take a look at and, perhaps, even apply. Appearing today in Software Update is what Apple calls the "Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.0."
One particularly annoying thing about plugging in my iPhone is that it always launches Aperture and prompts for permission to import photos. While you should be able to turn this off (in the preferences of the Image Capture application), what if you still want iPhoto (or Aperture, Lightroom, etc.) to launch when you plug in your camera or memory card? Capitalizing on the fact that Image Capture lets you choose any application to run automatically, Sam Stephenson over at 37signals has 
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