I am surprised that on this forum there has not been more speculation/expectation of what we will see at WWDC 2014. Everything I see, there is little expectation of an Aperture upgrade. Hopefully, we can all get excited by a flash of screen showing Aperture with a slider we don’t recognize!
Well … we have been sorrowfully disappointed with the past several WWDC announcements … it’s becoming more and more difficult to raise expectations with each passing year … and no significant indicators as to the future or the direction of development Apple has in mind for Aperture. Unfortunately, we have tempered ourselves to have low expectations … though I sincerely hope I am wrong.
While Aperture 3 can fulfill my needs for now … I’m growing very weary about what I should do in terms of planning for the future. My use of Aperture is not to feed my hobby … it is how I pay my bills and invest in my retirement. Doubt, in the future capabilities or availability of crucial tools is not a pathway to long term success in business. I do not have blind faith in any software developer … even Apple.
I’m willing to give Apple a little more time to either take the next step … or announce Aperture has met it’s end … but I’m not about to follow a company, with $150B in the bank, blindly into the abyss … Surely, they have more than adequate resources at their disposal to offer up something substantial for their loyal Aperture users …
While I have had my spirits lifted in the hiring of additional staff, over the past year or two, to work specifically in the area of imaging at Apple, with little to no movement for Aperture, It’s disheartening to witness that Apple seems to have so little regard for us.
It is going to be real interesting to see if Apple will make any sort of announcement. I like the rest is hoping something happens.
In the mean time I found these sites that are fairly recent but not sure I would put much faith in them as they always seem to pop up before WWDC.
http://www.softwarevoucher.com/apple-aperture-4-release-date/
http://www.bookdepository.com/Apple-Aperture-4-John-Lewell/9781133788904
So in about 24 hours from know we should know. Well, maybe!
Stuart
Website: http://www.stuartonline.com
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+StuartSchaefer/
In regards to your links … the first is a bit odd … the comments date back to July of 3013 … many months before Aperture 3.5 and 3.51 were released … how did they know Aperture 4 would be released a year out? …
And of course THE book … unfortunately, this tome has been cited far too often as proof of a pending Aperture version release … it has been a bouncing ball rumor for just shy of three years … and from an author who has zero history writing about any Apple specific products in the past …
I just updated my Perfect Suite to version 8.5, so I wouldn’t wonder that Aperture 4 will probably be released next month :-).
Greetz, Martin
Hi Butch
Look at it again as it was updated May 29, 2014. But like I mentioned I do not put much faith in his posting.
Stuart
Website: http://www.stuartonline.com
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+StuartSchaefer/
“… I do not put much faith in his posting.”
Indeed … considering his comments in the accompanying video, he seems to be basing his prediction solely on the book listing … and that cry of “Wolf” … is ages old now … the projected publication dates for that title have come and gone at least four times that I am aware of in the past two years …
No one would be more pleased if he is right … though, going by the criteria he presents … I’m going to have to see it (Aperture 4 or X) before I believe it …
I would be fall out of my chair shocked if we saw anything at WWDC. The glimmer of hope is that Apple has slowly updated its pro apps…first FCP 10.1 and then Logic X…So Aperture would be next. I am having real issues with my Library as its is growing too large and the current Mavericks/Apple system of photostream/sharing is just not working. I would also like to see some kind of functionality for the iPad…wishful thinking…
Let’s hope then that Mr Gruber’s musings don’t prove true (http://daringfireball.net/2014/06/wwdc_2014_prelude). Getting rid of Aperture?
“…Apple’s solution is from the Mac-as-digital-hub era: plug your iPhone or iPad to your Mac and import your photos into iPhoto. That feels antediluvian today, in a world where some photographers never move their photos off the iPhones on which they took them…
…here’s what I’d like to see: a ground up rewrite of iPhoto, designed as a client for an iCloud-centric photo library. You can keep all your photos on your Mac, but they can all be on iCloud too, and thus accessible from your iOS devices anywhere with a network connection. …
…Apple might as well get rid of Aperture while they’re at it, and focus on making iPhoto good enough for everyone short of true professional photographers — most of whom, I think, have settled on Adobe Lightroom. The writing has been on the wall for a while. If Apple still sees the need to separate truly expert features from the basic features most people need, they could do something like make the new iPhoto free for all users, and sell “iPhoto Pro” as an in-app purchase…”
Steve
Remember you can watch WWDC Keynote LIVE this morning 10AM PDT:
http://www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2014/
Also you are able to watch via AppleTV via the “Apple Events” channel.
Stuart
Website: http://www.stuartonline.com
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+StuartSchaefer/
I may be one of the super optimistic ones, but I believe Aperture is getting a big update today. It will be a rebuild in similar ways to what we’ve seen with Final Cut Pro and Logic. This app, may begin exploring UI elements for what Mac OS desktop app interfaces look like going forward.
Features? Theres the usual suspects like lens correction, better noise reduction, ect.. But I am thinking there may be a new tool introduced to the market that will set this version of Aperture apart, Think of how Final Cut X really reworked the editing landscape with its shift. I think we’ll see something similar in that regard. It will force you to rethink your workflow, or your editing process ect..
If it doesn’t happen today, I still don’t think we are going to see what Gruber suggests, that notion IMO went away when Apple launched the new line of Mac Pro’s. Is Apple still committed to its Professional Users? I believe yes, It just doesn’t look the same way it used to.
I also think we’ll see some form of a companion app for iPad.
-t
Aperture just died…
A new photo App was announced coming to the Mac in early 2015. However nothing mentioned about Aperture during the keynote. So now I guess the future of Aperture is up in the air.
http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-teases-icloud-centric-photo-app-for-mac-in-2015/
Stuart
Website: http://www.stuartonline.com
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+StuartSchaefer/
This is sad news. I would be hard to imagine that Apple would make a major revision to Aperture with a “ground up” redesign of handling photos on OS x/iOS is coming next year.
I would imagine we’ll still see camera support updates. But probably no “new” Aperture.
Perhaps the new photo app will be all that we wish for it to be. I wonder if we can wait that long?
Bob
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Bob Rockefeller
Midway, GA
www.bobrockefeller.com
Looking at the presentation specifically concerning “Photos” on OSX Yosemite, the only controls I could see were for photo enhancements and sharing and nothing to do with metadata.
Although as was said, you can search for specific locations, Albums and I would guess that there will be improved, automatic face recognition, too.
So important and indeed impressive features but short of what the likes of us AE contributors would like and need.
Russell
I have been using Aperture since version 1.5. One of the main reasons I use Aperture is for the file system. I find it easier to keep track of my photos in Aperture than any other system I have tried. At first I did almost all of my editing in Aperture but as it has grown “long in the tooth” I have started using third party apps for the finishing touches. I have tried using Lightroom several times but the layout just seems illogical to me. I also can’t figure out the file structure with collections and such. I will continue to use Aperture as long as it is functional but I am really disappointed with Apple for the way they have abandoned a fine program.
Milt
Their has been some very interesting postings via this Website since yesterdays keynote at WWDC. In my opinion the biggest issue is the fact Apple failed to mention anything about the future of Aperture. If they would just come out and make some sort of statement I and many other photographers would feel much better. At least with Adobe you know newer features and updates are in the works. In fact there is a live announcement coming June 18th about Creative Cloud new features. Will be interesting to see what new feature will be announced for Lightroom and Photoshop. Many of my photographer friends have now moved on from Aperture. As for myself I still go back and forth between both of them. The question is how much longer I will be willing to do that. I really do not care to wait another year to see what Apple will do.
Stuart
Website: http://www.stuartonline.com
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+StuartSchaefer/
Aperture is dead… long live Aperture…
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Facebook : www.facebook.com/moathillphoto
Twitter : www.twitter.com/moathillphoto
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Tumblr : http://moathill.tumblr.com
Well, we’re at the same place we’ve been. It’s a choice between using the Aperture we have, switching to Lightroom or Capture One, or waiting for Apple’s “next thing.” But now the choice is harder since we can’t tell, yet, if the new thing will be more of an Aperture replacement or more of an iPhone replacement.
Bob
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Bob Rockefeller
Midway, GA
www.bobrockefeller.com
The other issue is if you have an investment in plugins (Nik, Topaz) and Aperure goes away, currently the only other real option is Lightroom. I hope Apple does something, Not being an Adobe fan, I don’t want to feel like I’m being badgered into Lightroom.
Mark
www.markrosenphotography.com
I have had this dilemma for awhile. If not Aperture then where do I go? I’ve been thinking about Capture One. I have an older license of Expression Media which the own as well. I don’t see any reason to change now, but when the “new” photos app comes out I feel that will tell me what to expect for Aperture in the future.
Yes, and that is the real crisis for me. If not Aperture, what?
Adobe, to their credit, has taken most of the oxygen out of the high-end photo management/editing/adjustment market with Lightroom as they did in the photo adjustment market with Photoshop. So the choices are pretty thin if you really don’t like Lightroom, as I don’t like Lightroom.
Granted, Lightroom is a powerful application. I just can’t get in sync with it’s workflow and interface.
Capture One Pro is the only real alternative and it’s expensive at $299. It’s interface is no joy, either. And there are a number of hardware, GPU and video driver issues that seem to crop up in their forums. I can’t find anything that tells me if it works properly with my dual D700s.
For me, Aperture is still the best tool. And I’ll stick with it, probably until the end. But I will constantly be keeping an eye on Lightroom, Capture One Pro and whatever else crops up as potential competition to Aperture.
Bob
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Bob Rockefeller
Midway, GA
www.bobrockefeller.com
I’m not an Adobe fan either. I’m especially not a fan of Creative Cloud. When I realistically look at how I use Aperture as a hobbyist, there isn’t much that I can complain about. It’s just that I know we have been falling further and further behind.
Hopefully next spring there is something exciting.
The atttached link takes you to an article on CNET that is very happy with the photo part of WWDC. I am afraid that this is exactly where Apple is going and it does not support those who shoot in Raw or want to do extensive editing, ie the professional or strong enthusiasts. I would guess that Apple wants to keep us for the input/output/syncing of images, but would just as soon see us use more plugins for more extensive editing.
http://www.cnet.com/news/is-apples-new-photo-app-the-backup-and-sharing-…
JWS
People thought Apple had dumped “pro video” (whatever that means) users with the new FCPX, and yet they redesigned the new Mac Pro (which had a similar wall of silence about its future) to be a monster for FCPX.
A lot of what Aperture does in terms of metadata based file management (tagging etc) seems to be rolled into Finder these days. With Aperture and iPhoto already sharing library formats, is it that big a stretch to think Aperture could exist, with all of the same capabilities, as an “Advanced” UI option for a common replacement for both iPhoto and Aperture?
I’ve been using Aperture for about a year now, jumping straight in with D800 files on a late 2009 Mac Mini, and I’m genuinely not sure what amazing features are missing from the app that would make people be so desperate to find something new. Today, as it stands, this is a really good piece of software. The file management is great, the output options are great, the book prints are freaking incredible, and significantly cheaper than any of the local digital printers in my area have been able to offer. The fact that it had almost all of these features 2 years ago, it has no effect on how powerful the software is for me today.
All in all, I think the keynote showed a really interesting UI possibility that might just cut down on a lot of drudge work by letting me look for results at a glance on the slider.
*edit* and to get into Kremlinology about Apple’s future, given what they announced was bringing Photos - the built in low end Photo management app from iOS to Mac OS, it’s just as realistic to speculate that iPhoto is the one that’s due to be axed as a result of overlap (with its branding going out to pasture with iCal & iMessage), and Aperture re-emphasised as the raw editing solution from Apple.
Matt Godden
http://www.golgotha.com.au
Matt,
Two years between major FCP releases.
Aperture 3 was released Feb 2010. We are well over 4 years. I think you can stop waiting.
I’m not waiting for anything - Aperture works for me, it gets regular upgrades to keep it current with the OS, and it has all the tools I need.
The last genuine upgrade to the Mac Pro, prior to the nMP which didn’t ship until 2014, was the 2010 model (the 2012 being a minor bump of the same specs), and yet here we are with a paradigm shifting nMP, and all the exact same things were being said by people who bought mac pros prior to its unveiling.
In that time Aperture has gone from being a several hundred dollar boxed product, to an $80 download, and for people who are buying macs today, and just upgrading from iPhoto today, it’s still a brilliant piece of software.
Matt Godden
http://www.golgotha.com.au
Matt your hope is inspiring!
It would make sense that if Apple spent 4 years developing a revolutionary new professional computer for factor, they would also spend the time giving professionals a reason to buy it. After all, a great computer is only as good as the software running on it! Let’s hope Aperture 4 is announced sometime in the near future. If I knew Apple was committed to this platform I would switch back from LR in a heartbeat. I like Aperture more for usability, and love the books.
It’s a great pity that there no real clearance about the future of Aperture. Hopefully we will see a new version in 2015 together with Photos.
If not, you still have very good DAM. It’s way better then that of the competition. It also covers most of editing options needed. For the extras you could use Nik, Perfect Suite, Topaz or any other plugin. As long as Apple keeps updating its RAW compatability I think that’s a great way of working keeping you away from Adobe.
Greetz, Martin
I’ve posted a light-hearted view of the situation on my blog - here.
Russell
Thom Hogan had an interesting point of conjecture, in that maybe we’ll see a new version of Aperture living on top of the new iOS/Mac photo app. It may well be that iPhoto is what will take the hit.
“Photos for the desktop—which will arrive early next year—seems to be a new take that sits somewhere between iPhoto and Aperture. It has iPhoto’s simplicity, a bit of Final Cut Pro’s scrub and find technologies, and some new higher end editing capabilities that probably drifted down from Aperture. The demonstration I’ve seen is highly intriguing and suggests that there is much more going to be built on this new UI. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a new Aperture that sits on top of Photos when it appears.”
http://www.dslrbodies.com/accessories/software-for-nikon-dslrs/software-news/icloud-photos.html
Ralph Mawyer
San Antonio, Tx
www.RalphMawyerPhotography.com
Brilliant blog Russell. All I can say in response is “Where’s the DAM doctor?”
Thanks, Ian.
Russell
I think the keynote showed promise. I viewed it as a new “photography core”… that has attributes that are otherwise not available today… and can support a range of products, from devices… up through professional. I think the two new fundamental attributes of this new core may be:
If I am correct, then I think we should be able to get a new Aperture X which has capabilities not really attainable today with the more limited existing core.
The first was pretty obvious… and I believe the second was discussed during the DEV portion of the keynote.
/Jim
/Jim Pappas
Man Jim I hope you are right, I really do. I remain unconvinced. The photography core is aimed at consumers, not pros.
I watched the entire keynote live and the dev portion. No mention of pro level tools for photography. What I feel they are doing is making the new Photos app do more of the things they originally built into Aperture, but making them more consumer friendly. I see nothing helping the real photographers at this point.
“Man Jim I hope you are right, I really do. I remain unconvinced. The photography core is aimed at consumers, not pros.”
————————-
I think you are mis-interpreting what I mean by “core”.
Today’s Aperture “Core”… is a monolithic library that lives on one computer. In order to share… we can manually import/export projects, move them to a variety of machines… and then later combine. By contrast the new “core” seems to be based on a shared concurrent architecture. This is a non-trivial change.
Today’s Aperture “Core” is meant to be manipulated by built-in organization and editing functions. Anything beyond what is built-in… is a round-trip path to an external program, resulting in a new and totally independent version. By contrast, it appears that the new “core” supports 3rd parties to perform non-destructive edits to the existing image original.
Both of the above are massive changes to the “core”. What they showed with Photos is an elementary and consumer set of tools that just so happens to take advantage of the new core. If my supposition is correct… then there is nothing stopping a new pro application to use this same “core”… and bring Aperture to new capabilities well beyond what Aperture can do today.
In summary… consider the new base features of this new core: 1) sharing, and 2) nondestructive editing by 3rd party apps. Then consider what might be possible.
Here is a simple (and not very creative) example: You and your partners may be working on the same project… one applying non-destructive image enhancements (ex: non-destructive NIK)… while another is key wording, and a 3rd is creating a photo book organization and layout… all using the exact same base images, and all working in parallel.
/Jim
/Jim Pappas
That sounds awesome Jim, I was just hoping for lens correction profiles LOL.
Third party non destructive editing would leap Aperture ahead of LR IMO, because currently even PS and LR don’t play this way together. Sure you can push a PSD back into LR, but you just doubled your file space with the RAW + PSD.
Think of it this way, Aperture is going to become a scaffold. The new Apple paradigm is that apps can share their functionality, not just data - just like the part of the keynote where they showed adding widgets which were a projection of installed apps into the notifications palette, I expect the new pro photography solution to let you add or remove third party non-destructive adjustments, the same way we switch them on or off now in the adjustment palette.
Also, I wouldn’t get too hung up on the idea that Apple were showing us their new photos solution - that was a means to an end, what they were actually demonstrating was this idea of every installed app being able to act as a plugin within other apps, they just used Photos as an eat your own dogfood demo.
Matt Godden
http://www.golgotha.com.au
Its a perhaps little known fact, that Aperture actually already HAS support for lens correction profiles: Many new camera systems provide lens correction profiles within their RAW files. Aperture actually reads and applies the corrections based on that info. Prominent example is Sonys premium compact line RX100(II/III), RX10, RX1.
http://neonsqua.re
Hi Jochen, I am aware of the background metadata Aperture uses to correct lenses. The problem is not all lens manufacturers provide that metadata in the EXIF, OR if you use an adapter/speedbooster the lens isn’t read anyway. Not to mention the need for occasional manual adjustments. It just isn’t something suited for professionals, and Aperture is supposed to be a professional grade application.
duplicate
http://neonsqua.re
Well - my Sony A7 comes with an integrated lens compensation app that lets me setup vignetting (luminance & color), chromatic aberration, and distortion for ANY lens I use. Even those old manual adapted MD lenses. The settings get stored into the RAW files and Aperture understands that.
http://neonsqua.re
Yep I have the A7 and the A7R I understand. The in camera app is not to my liking, much like many of the Play Memories apps. Have you used LR? I am fully aware of what Aperture allows and I appreciate the clarification. Even so I would prefer to have control over this per shot, just my preference I guess.
As CC plan subscriber I also own LR. I do not really like it though - which is actually true for most of Adobes offerings I have to say. I really don't like theirs UIs and they have incredible bad customer service. On the other side: Some of the tools and algorithms actually ARE top notch, which is the reason I at least use Photoshop.
Regarding control per shot: I understand, that this might be an important feature for architectural photographers. My photography is mostly people and clothes. The thing is though: If an in camera app can write lens correction data that Aperture then understands, one should be able to write this data with some tool at the Mac too. I've not looked into it yet.
Finally there are the WWDC news about lens correction being part of the underlying RAW infrastructure. Extensions are now possible within the RAW development stages (!). Photo Edit Extensions can adjust images non-destructive. This looks to me like plenty of possibilities for third party offerings that perfectly integrate into a non destructive photo workflow.
http://neonsqua.re
WANTED
DEAD OR ALIVE
APERTURE
It would seem that WWDC has done nothing to alleviate the doubts over the future of Aperture. It has merely introduced a whole new set of if’s and but’s.
Personally I currently have an Aperture managed Library and a Lightroom catalogue which duplicate each other. There is little to separate the images processed in either software from each other, though there are images which I find impossible to process satisfactorily in Aperture. One advantage of LR5 is that I can use it on my iMac and my Windows laptop.
The situation as I see it is that Apple want to rents us storage space while Adobe wants to rent us the software.
Both are intent on getting our wallets into the Cloud.
As for me, I don’t have an iPhone or any other mobile phone, nor do I have an iPad or any other tablet, so cloud synchronisation is of no interest to me.
It does not have to be capable of handling hundreds of images a second or to be super-streamlined.
I do not need (or desire) maps, books, web or slideshow modules.
I do not need a button called “Auto-perfect-picture”.
I do want a reliable piece of software that enables me to get the best image I can and to print it to a printer or a file which I can have printed elsewhere.
A piece of software designed for photographers not one designed to tie me into an endless monthly outlay.
A piece of software that at least has the expectation of remaining available for some years to come so that the time and effort invested in it does not feel a waste.
A piece of software that keeps up with the new advances in processing and the new cameras being marketed.
A piece of software that gives me the freedom to continue enjoying taking photos and processing them myself to the best of my ability.
At this point in time the only software which fulfils these desires seems to be Capture One Pro7.
It seems to include the functionality which has long been lacking in Aperture, (lens & perspective distortion correction, gradient masks, masks which can be applied to multiple adjustments, better noise removal…..)
with the functionality missing from LR5 (a decent UI, customisability on a par with Aperture…)
and most important of all no association with the “Cloud” or any foreseeable requirement to pay a monthly fine.
I knew some cameras had lens correction data embedded and that Aperture could use some of that. But which ones? How about the Olympus OM-D E-M1?
Bob
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Bob Rockefeller
Midway, GA
www.bobrockefeller.com
I knew some cameras had lens correction data embedded and that Aperture could use some of that. But which ones? How about the Olympus OM-D E-M1?
Bob
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Bob Rockefeller
Midway, GA
www.bobrockefeller.com
I knew some cameras had lens correction data embedded and that Aperture could use some of that. But which ones? How about the Olympus OM-D E-M1?
Bob
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Bob Rockefeller
Midway, GA
www.bobrockefeller.com
I don't know about Olympus, but Aperture understands lens correction data in Sony ARW files. Newer Sony lenses provide the needed data. Additionally Sony provides an in camera app that lets you setup the correction for any lens you want.
http://neonsqua.re
“At this point in time the only software which fulfils these desires seems to be Capture One Pro7”
I agree, and I think I just made the same choice. They have a 1/2 price sale on for June.
I blame Russell. I read his blog and realised I hadn’t bought Capture One Pro yet, and felt the immediate need to rectify that. I do *really* miss the M key though (Show Original) and can’t really find a temporary equivalent.
Still hoping for an upgraded Aperture though.
Hm… in the developer video “Advances in Core Image” when the developer demonstrates the new RAW features there is an App-Icon in the Dock which looks like a black version o of the current Aperture icon. My guess: Will that be the new Aperture then? ;)
http://neonsqua.re
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