Adobe is going to officially announce CS4 on 09/23/08. We mentions this on the last broadcast, but it warranted a post. There’s a thread on the forums and many think it’s a bit too early and that the updates are too small for what Adobe charges.
On the flipside Scott Kelby says it’s going to be impressive, and I have to give some solid wight to his opinions. I’m gonna be keeping my eye on it for sure. Whatever it turns out to offer, it’s worth signing up to get a look.
Talking about impressing clients, and surpassing expectations. The Purple Cowis a great book to help you get ideas on being remarkable in your business.
I‘ve talked about OnOne products in the past before being a fan of their stuff. We’ve been working out some deals lately, and this one is a great buy. Buying their plugin’s separately can be pretty spendy, but the Plugin Suite has a bunch of the plugins all in one package; including my favorites, Mask Pro, Genuine Fractals, and Photo Frame 4 Pro (included if you use this special). It also includes Photo Tools, Photo Tune, and Focal Point.
We have a special 100.00 coupon for you that is good from Sept 10th – 20th 2008. Just use promo code BTSPRO at checkout to get the discount. Check it out here. This is a pretty sweet deal.
We know that Sony has been pushing hard towards the DSLR market that Canon and Nikon have pretty well cornered. They have now announced the D900, their first full frame pro level version.
Inside we find 25 megapixels, a 3 inch screen, 5fps, Minolta (as well as their own) lens support and built in steady shot. Some pretty solid specs, but it looks like Sony is still going to be a step behind the big boys in terms of at least high ISO shooting. Sony is coming against a tough crowd with this 3k SLR, and people won’t go easy. Still their looking to be a future contender in this space.
DPReview has a nice little hands on. This seems like a nice body, with some good things going for it. If Sony sticks with this, and doesn’t pull any stupid stunts akin to adding invasive DRM to our lenses or images (wink) they may really go somewhere in the pro market. We’ll keep and eye on them, and if any of you are using Sony bodies let us know what you think!
We’ve worked out a deal with Nik and you an save 15% on any of their products with promo code PPS.
I finally got a chance to play with Nik’s new Silver Efex Pro. It’s a Photoshop/Aperture plugin for making Black & White images from color one’s. Here’s the straight scoop! The interface follows Nik’s fairly clean and simple window style that graces the rest of their plugin’s. When it open’s you’ll be greeted by your image; a sidebar on the right that gives you control over the effects being added; a sidebar on the left with some easy preset effects, and a few other tools around the screen that control the preview, etc.
Overall I liked the plugin. It suffers the the problem I find with most PS plugins, that causes me to stick with actions and presets for most images. When you open an image in the plugin you have to wait a few seconds and then use the tools in another window. Essentially PS goes away for that time, and when you commit those changes you are returned to your regular work environment. There’s nothing really wrong with this, it’s just not great for a workflow with large quantities of images, but more designed for those great images you want to spend extra time with.
I did find what’s inside to be simple and effective. There’s various preset options for making B&W images fast. You have color tones, film type, color filters etc to give you full control over making a nice piece of art. There’s also the ability to add some great looking grain effects is so desired, and the plugin; like many Nik products includes the U Point option that allows you to easily control effects on specific portions of the image (See Viveza)
BOTTOM LINE: I won’t be using Silver Effects for my everyday B&W images, because presets in Lightroom and actions in PS do most the the B&W effects I need, with more speed. I can also get most of the effects that the Silver provides by using the built in tools that PS provides (though with a bit more work)
All this said I think Silver is a good tool for getting great B&W effects on those images you want to spend some extra time with. It’s also great for trying out various effects with a lot of control and precision. I knocked off a half star because, Silver, at $199.00 costs twice what it probably should. Still if you have 199 to spare, and want a great tool for really fine tuning B&W images then pick it up (you can of course try Nik’s short 15 day demo).
is a great book to help you get ideas on being remarkable in your business.
We know that Sony has been pushing hard towards the DSLR market that Canon and Nikon have pretty well cornered. 