MAMA's Techno-Geek Thread

[GadgetGav]

Quote: Originally Posted by snid

Anybody got any beta on raw file support in iPhoto 5? That's the biggest item of interest for me in the new iLife. Are there going to be editing functions that live in the raw domain, or is ist just going to know how to convert raw files to jpg, and edit from there? If it's the former, then yay... the latter is pretty pointless, other than wasting memory card space in the camera - at least as I understand things.

But, since I'm not a fan of post-processed images, I guess it doesn't matter a whole lot... unless I can get better exposure or white balance tweaking by working with raw images.

Who's got the deets?

Am I being geeky enough for the thread? Do I n33d 2 strt 0wning s0m3 l33t-sp33k?

What's that last bit..??
Don't know the details about iPhoto and RAW, but you should really think about using RAW. If you're not a fan of post processed images, that's a good reason to go RAW. At the moment you're relying entirely on Canon's firmware postprocessor to convert the CMOS data into a jpeg. There's a good amount of post processing right there. You certainly can get better exposure control and white balance tweaking using RAW. It takes a bit more work, but once you have a good workflow it's not too bad. I have a good book at home. I'll post the title when I get back. I generally use RAW when I'm taking photos and JPEG when I'm taking snaps If I know I'm just going to put the pictures on the web, I don't bother with RAW, but if I think there will be a good shot in there, I use it.
Agreed that if iPhoto does JPEG conversion as the first thing, it will be pointless. That is always the last step.

[jwardell]

If you watched the keynote he processed some raws including exposure. I'm pretty sure its safe to say it's pre-conversion. Question more is if it keeps them in 12 or 16 bit? When I take RAW and process/edit them, I save them as 16-bit JPEG2000 .jpf files.

[GadgetGav]

Don't know about your camera, but I think the DRebel is only 12bits of data (but stored as a 16bit).

The book I was referring to is in the Real World series, called "Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS" by Bruce Fraser. It's great for explaining RAW workflow with PS CS.

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by GadgetGav

The book I was referring to is in the Real World series, called "Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS" by Bruce Fraser. It's great for explaining RAW workflow with PS CS.

No photoshop CS here (just elements that came bundled with my scanner)... too expensive.

The lame Canon software hurts my head to use.

Hence, no raw for me.

Whaddaya know, Photoshop Elements does raw too. Maybe I'll try it out (beyond the sitting on the couch and taking a picture of the wall method) the next time I take some pictures. I think I'm still partial to getting it right when you push the shutter release, though.

[GadgetGav]

Elements3 looks very good. If we didn't have access to academic discount, I'd have gone with Elements.

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by GadgetGav

Elements3 looks very good. If we didn't have access to academic discount, I'd have gone with Elements.

Yeah, I upgraded the version of elements 2 that came with my scanner to elements 3. The raw editing in elements is so much nicer than in the crappy canon software. But still, having to change the way I import and organize photos is lame. I guess even if iPhoto's editing of raw files sucks, I can at least import / organize with iPhoto and set up iPhoto to send the raw image to Elements on a double click, and use Elements to edit. But, here's hoping that iPhoto does raw editing correctly. Knowing Apple, I bet it does...

Watching the streaming keynote as I type, waiting for the iPhoto part to see if I can spot anything new. Waiting until the 22nd when I can head to smalldog's retail store and pick up a copy of iLife for myself (assuming they don't sell out).

[snid]

iTunes album artwork screensaver! Why didn't anyone mention this? Too cool. It grabs all your album covers from iTunes and does a mosaic of them as a screen saver. It looked like there was some sort of "flip" going on with them too, probably to switch from one album cover to another.

Not that my Mac ever runs its screensaver... I'm either using it or it's sleeping. So, I guess a cool screensaver is silly for me.

[GadgetGav]

But if you've got Elements3 and Elements3 does RAW, why no RAW for you..?
I bet the RAW tools in E3 are the same as (or a subset of) the PS CS ones, so I bet the book would still apply.

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by GadgetGav

But if you've got Elements3 and Elements3 does RAW, why no RAW for you..?
I bet the RAW tools in E3 are the same as (or a subset of) the PS CS ones, so I bet the book would still apply.

I edited the post. The "no RAW for me" came before I realized that Elements did raw. Sorry.

[GadgetGav]

Quote: Originally Posted by snid

Waiting until the 22nd when I can head to smalldog's retail store and pick up a copy of iLife for myself (assuming they don't sell out).

Or order it from Apple now with free shipping and delivery by the 22nd - that's what I've done. Anyone notice how much more color there is on the Apple Store site now...? Must go along with the new look for iLife & iWorks.

[snid]

Well, the keynote presentation makes it sound promising that the raw support was done right, so, order placed on the Apple store. Now, let's see if I really do get it by the 22nd, or if it winds up being more like late on the 24th. Getting things shipped to my apartment is a pain. Both FedEx and UPS hit my building while I'm at work. Neither will leave something without a signature. The UPS truck doesn't get back from its rounds until 8:30pm. I forget what the story is with intercepting a package from FedEx. And, the 22nd is a Saturday, and saturday delivery usually doesn't happen. That's why I was going to get it in person at smalldog. But, too late now.

[GadgetGav]

Can't you have it send to you at work..? Mind you -that can be full of problems too. For instance, I was waiting and waiting for some LED to come in that were supposed to be on 2 day delivery. I finally contacted the company and they said "shipping on the 5th next day. Here's the tracking #" so I sent that to the shipping / receiving guy... he said "which package from them is it - there's two here with no name on". Turns out both were mine..! One part was on back order so didn't ship until the 11th The receiving guy didn't think to email the company asking who was expecting a box from this company..! Sorry, this isn't the rant about work thread is it...! But they are Techno-Geek LEDs... Check out www.lumileds.com

[jwardell]

Quote: Originally Posted by GadgetGav

Don't know about your camera, but I think the DRebel is only 12bits of data (but stored as a 16bit).

No it's 12bit. But there's no way to save it back to raw again after you've processed it. You could save it as a huge 16-bit photoshop file of course like what 60 megs? JPEG2000 does an amazing job and doesn't get lossy down to much smaller percentages than old jpeg. But the big thing is that it supports 16 bit (and transparency too, I think), so I can save it in 16-bit jp2 at around 7 megs and not lose the definition of the 12-bit raw. Of course I save another copy at regular jpeg so it can be viewed and processed into albums.

Adobe's PS RAW does an amazing job, yes Canon's is a headache and super slow (just bringing up the thumbnail screen of a folder of images can take 20 minutes). The raws have that "pop" to them, they really look like they're coming from film and not just from a digital camera.

Little secret to my photo albums, for example this one where I shot a lot in RAW (which I rarely do)
http://jwardell.myftp.org:81/pics/20...%20Ski%20Trip/
Unfortunately I don't think my album generated pays attention to color profiles as the generated thumbnails and larger versions usually look washed out in my albums. but if you click again you get the original jpeg. For all of my albums, they're stored in a /hires/ subdirectory.
Anyway in this case I store the jpeg2000 files separately in an /orig/ subdirectory.
http://jwardell.myftp.org:81/pics/20...i%20Trip/orig/
Try one out although it may only open in Photoshop.

[GadgetGav]

Is the JPEG2000 a plug in for PS or is it standard and I've just never noticed..?

[Actual Size]

Both...check here for info on the standard and here for a Photoshop plugin.