Introducing AfterShot Pro 2 and Greg Wood, product manager

[rjforster]

Regarding camera profiles. I don't know how practical it is to implement but might it be possible to have a 'pretend it was taken by this camera' function?

I only ask because the Canon G1X Mk2 is not a listed camera for ASP1 or 2 but if I use an exif editing tool I can make it work properly, certainly in ASP1 (not tried ASP2 yet).
The linux command I use is:
exiv2 -M"set Exif.Image.Model Ascii Canon PowerShot G1 X" filename.CR2
So the data isn't in a format that is alien to ASP, it just scans the file header for the camera model and refuses to process it further if it's not in the list.

It might help for some new cameras until you get the updated profiles rolled out.

Cheers

[awm03]

Yes, afx, I am working on a relatively small screen -- a 17 in. laptop with a touch pad. Sometimes I use a wacom tablet (oh, another thing to try with ASP2...) Perhaps that's much different than a big monitor/mouse situation.

Poor Arnfinn! Everyone dumping on him due to mistaken identity

Icon placements spread out instead of grouped: yes, that's a quibble I can agree with. It's one thing I don't care for in ACDSee Pro. But you get used to it, just as one got used to the stupid ribbon toolbars in MS Office. It's a matter of becoming familiar with where stuff is, which is something you have to learn with all software. Despite the outpouring of criticisms, I much prefer ASP's general UI. I like being able to get to file management with the hover of a mouse (or finger), same with the thumbnails and the editing tools. Quick in, quick out. I've come to dislike other software's Modes methods, where you have to be in Manage mode to work with your files, then you have to be in View Mode to see the pictures well, then you have to be in an Edit mode to do the actual work. I get weary of jumping back and forth: photo editing is mouse-intensive enough without adding needless mouse work. Then saving the file: I really like the drag & drop to the Output library in ASP -- make your settings in the beginning, then you can work on a whole set of pictures without having to put any thought into the final saved product. Just drag it to the library. Yes, I supposed there could have been some more fine tuning of the UI, but I'm just so glad ASP wasn't turned into Son of Lightroom or just another iteration of the other brands.

Unfortunately, my trial version has become crash prone & balky ("Not Responding"). Redownloading & trying again. Anybody else having this trouble?

[grcolts]

Unfortunately, my trial version has become crash prone & balky ("Not Responding"). Redownloading & trying again. Anybody else having this trouble?

No, actually the new ASP 2 has been lots more stable and much quicker on my Mac than the previous version.
I am still playing around with it trying to determine whether or not it is worth the upgrade price.
Unfortunately, at least for the time being the HDR function is not available for the Mac.
Won't be rushing into any quick decision as I want to really study this program.
GR

[awm03]

No crashes tonight, thank goodness. I don't know what got into it last night, but it wouldn't run for 15 seconds before the "ASP has stopped working" message would pop up. So far so good now, and I've been playing with it for about two hours.

I really, really like the HDR feature -- it's given some bland photos some punch. The HDR feature, the fact that I can get to the Topaz plugins quickly, & the general speed & ease of use -- yes, I believe I'll buy the upgrade after all.

[GoremanX]

- We need to deliver more frequent product updates, especially in terms of camera profiles.

My 6 month old Pentax K-3 still isn't supported. AfterShot has been useless to me for all these months. Software that I paid for, serving absolutely no purpose, taking up disk space. I was really excited to finally see any upgrade... only to find that it didn't support my main camera.

- And of course we need to consistently and openly communicate with you our AfterShot Pro users.

Considering the unexpected nature of this new release after endless months of users begging for some kind of status update, I'd say your objective is still a long way off in this regard. You'll need to work much harder to convince us.

You'll excuse me if I don't bring my hopes up regarding those supposed goals. They sound more like bullet points of what people want to hear so they'll stop complaining for a while, rather than meaningful steps towards those goals.

[imopen]

Yes I know that. I think you meant to adress your answer to imopen. I gave the workaround in a more general manner...

Thanks, Arnfinn, for clarifying. Hope this helped imopen.

Thank you awm03 and Arnfinn, but I'm using Linux and I'm unable to use standalone Windows software (even if I could try to run it in Wine emulator). I was hoping that ASP2 could be a bridge for those plugin but as you told me should be a nightmare, they are destructive and incompatible with ASP series.

By the way I tried ASP2 and I'll keep away from it, at the moment it gives nothing plus to me: I had the same UI problems and the same images quality, I patiently compared output images of ASP1 and ASP2, nothing is changed. I can't image why I should to gift my money for nothing. It's a mere revamped UI on the same software, without Noise Ninja support (I am a registered NN user)

[nipponichi]

GoremanX has expressed very well what I am thinking, after first excitement has gone.

I bought my Fuji X-E1 in December 2012, knowing that there is a certain risk, this camera won't be supported the next months.
The first X-Trans camera X-Pro-1 was available for 9 months at that time. Now 18 months later these cameras are still not supported.
Fuji offers sample code for raw converters and DCraw supporting X-trans is available in source code to look at, so no rocket science.

And suddenly Corel detects that they should spend more effort in supporting new (X-E1 is already discontinued ...) cameras,
and that market success of Fuji might have become better than expected? What has Corel done the last months/years?
(I assume technically close to nothing, but changed the business strategy 10 times ...)

And now I can hope that the next update, maybe late summer, might support more cameras and with some more luck X-E1 might be included?

I want a clear road map what cameras will be supported when and what features will be implemented or enhanced at what time!

P.S. Needless to say that this current update is totally senseless for me ...

[renebeau]

Hello Mr. Wood,

I am really exited about having news about ASP.

I really find the local contrast function in ASP2 useful, but unfortunately it does not work with layers. So when you want more texture on your subject, the blurry background gets more contrast too, which is in most cases not wanted.

Good luck to you in the new position!

René

[GoremanX]

And now I can hope that the next update, maybe late summer, might support more cameras and with some more luck X-E1 might be included?

I want a clear road map what cameras will be supported when and what features will be implemented or enhanced at what time!

Indeed... that would be a good first step towards keeping the community informed. That's one of those bullet points, right?

[mbellot]

And now I can hope that the next update, maybe late summer, might support more cameras and with some more luck X-E1 might be included?

After 2.5 years of next to nothing from Corel you honestly believe they will release an update to v2 within three months?

[df]

And now I can hope that the next update, maybe late summer, might support more cameras and with some more luck X-E1 might be included?

After 2.5 years of next to nothing from Corel you honestly believe they will release an update to v2 within three months?

Well Corel has been known to release a bug fix very soon after releasing the final version of a program. I believe Video Studio had an update the same day, if not the same week. Still it's usually a bug fix rather than a product improvement.