Announcing AfterShot 2: Intro'ing RAW to a wider audience!

[Greg Wood]

Hi Everyone,

Greg Wood here, for those who don't know me, I lead photo products here at Corel. I'm pleased to share some more news today about AfterShot. This week we've introduced a new variant of AfterShot Pro designed to introduce the more casual photographer to the power of AfterShot and RAW photography. We simply call the new version "Corel AfterShot 2." (ie. no 'Pro')

Windows-only AfterShot 2 addresses some important trends in the photography world, including some market factors identified by the AfterShot Pro community.

An increasing number of photographers are discovering the power of RAW and even more have amassed massive photo collections that need the robust photo management tools offered by AfterShot Pro.

At the same time, feedback from the AfterShot Pro community has told us that more people will buy AfterShot Pro (even if for some users the product is a bit too sophisticated for them) when the price is right.

On top of these factors, the Corel Photo Team is also seeking new ways to make the AfterShot Pro family a success (which of course means we can keep investing in the product, updating features, and delivering you new tools, etc).

In response to the above insights, we've introduced AfterShot 2. It offers many of the same management and adjustment tools that Pro does, but removes some higher-end features in a way that allows us to offer it at a lower price.

Who is it for? For the professional photographer or enthusiast (or simply if you want to best results) AfterShot Pro is the right product for you. But for more casual photographers, or those just getting their feet wet with RAW--or the millions of photographers who want to edit with a great tool like AfterShot Pro but don't have the $ they might want -- AfterShot 2 is perfect.

Photography can be expensive. Our goal at Corel, and a goal I hold personally, is to help as many photographers as possible, and photographers of all skill levels, achieve their goals and get better at their craft--even if they don't have a lot of $ at hand. Times are tough for a lot of people out there, and we really value the idea that we can offer a great product, at a great price, subscription free.

If you're reading this, you've probably already self-selected yourself as a AfterShot Pro user (!) but I encourage you to tell others, especially new RAW shooters or those shooting on entry-level gear, about how they can join the AfterShot family via the new AfterShot 2.

A few other notes while I'm here:
-AfterShot 2 is Windows only today. We are investigating demand for a Mac version--stay tuned! For the time being AfterShot Pro will be our focus on Linux
-There's a free trial available for AfterShot 2 at http://www.aftershotpro.com/en/products/aftershot/
-If you have AfterShot Pro 2, there's no need to buy AfterShot 2--you already have a more powerful product. The 2 versions don't coexist & installing "AfterShot" uninstalls "Pro."
-AfterShot 2 is just one part of our ongoing AfterShot efforts. ASP2.1, which will deliver HDR on Mac/Linux, more camera profiles (incl. Fuji Xtrans!) and a few other things, is still in development and will enter a testing phase shortly. Stay tuned for updates
-Bug fixes/feature enhancements -- we continue to have a roadmap of ongoing updates, as we had after the launch of ASP2. We're a bit quiet with the updates right now as we work on ASP2.1, but expect these updates to continue.
-We're watching this forum and Facebook for your ideas and comments, as well as mining insight from our internal databases via our support team and our list of ideas/issues that date all the way back to the Bibble days). That said, keep the feedback coming.

Thanks for your attention!

Sincerely,
Greg

[fukapon]

Hi, Greg.
That's good. I hope more people will choose AfterShot family I like.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to ASP 2.1 which will support 645Z.

[TheDude]

-AfterShot 2 is just one part of our ongoing AfterShot efforts. ASP2.1, which will deliver HDR on Mac/Linux, more camera profiles (incl. Fuji Xtrans!) and a few other things, is still in development and will enter a testing phase shortly. Stay tuned for updates
-Bug fixes/feature enhancements -- we continue to have a roadmap of ongoing updates, as we had after the launch of ASP2. We're a bit quiet with the updates right now as we work on ASP2.1, but expect these updates to continue.

Introducing X-Trans support is cool! However, the major problem of ASP are the prehistoric algorithms (e.g. for demosaicing or sharpening). Image quality is not competitive any more. Moreover, I have doubts that Corel will maintain and advance the strong layer concept, since the local contrast feature does not support layers.

[Hobgoblin]

One might be inclined to read all of that and conclude ' Linux is too complicated', we will keep trying but don't hold your breath.

Ideally, I would like to run the 64bit version of ASP2Pro but until - if ever - the missing 64bit plugins, Gradfilter in particular, are published I cannot do so.
Clearly the lack of these vital adjuncts to the 64bit version must limit its commercial penetration of the market.

[Dutchmm]

I agree that a 64-bit version would be nice, but I think getting the code right for all the acknowledged problems (including the vexed business of refactoring so that it is easier to add new cameras) probably has a higher priority for the users as well as for Corel. I have switched back to using the 32-bit version on my 64bit linux system; and I am guessing you did the same. Recent mail exchanges with Roger suggest it would be imprudent to hold our breath for the 64-bit Gradfilter, I'm sorry to say.

[Hobgoblin]

I agree that a 64-bit version would be nice, but I think getting the code right for all the acknowledged problems (including the vexed business of refactoring so that it is easier to add new cameras) probably has a higher priority for the users as well as for Corel. I have switched back to using the 32-bit version on my 64bit linux system; and I am guessing you did the same. Recent mail exchanges with Roger suggest it would be imprudent to hold our breath for the 64-bit Gradfilter, I'm sorry to say.

Hmmm ...
I agree and your observations on Gradfilter tend to confirm my thinking on other missing plugins as well.

Regards,
R.

[df]

Greg I will be blunt and this is not meant to be personal. I dropped AfterShot PRO because it didn't have the pro features I needed. I've since bought DxO Optics Pro and LR to replace it. Now if you ever get around to getting the features I need to stay competitive I will drop cash in Corel's coffers and buy it. Until then, I've got work to do.

[kumsa]

Thanks Greg, the AfterShot 2 announcement is sound. It's a good business model, and I do know some enthusiast photogs that would benefit, and I'll make the recommendation. The best review of it that I've read so far is http://www.digitalcamerareview.com/defa ... ewsID=4945 and I really like how they openly call out the difference in how ASP handles plug-ins. A LOT of people have purchased equipment with astonishing capabilities -- and they have no post-processing awareness other than Instagram or Picasa.

Also, I'm incredibly grateful for the Linux support--it does make a difference. Thanks for keeping the love alive for true multi-platform.

Some things I'm looking forward to in the next upgrade:

- feature parity between all the pro versions (e.g., HDR).
- more lens support. Samyang (Rokinon, et al) really deserves to be included; that company has awesome optics for the cost.
- on-line integration with hosting services
- add watermark to exports

Finally, there just has to be a way to support a YouTube channel devoted to post-processing on ASP. It doesn't need to be B&H/Adorama flash. How about a monthly 15 min Hangout interview with a software engineer, pro or semi-pro enthusiasts ? Favorite tips.

ASP for Windows is a good move !

[-cr]

-AfterShot 2 is just one part of our ongoing AfterShot efforts. ASP2.1, which will deliver HDR on Mac/Linux, more camera profiles (incl. Fuji Xtrans!) and a few other things, is still in development and will enter a testing phase shortly. Stay tuned for updates

Even Xtrans? This sounds almost too good to believe.
While Xtrans won't really make a difference for me in the forseeable future, the effort required tells me you're still serious about ASP.
... Which to me is important, as ASP still is my favorite RAW editor.

-We're watching this forum and Facebook for your ideas and comments, as well as mining insight from our internal databases via our support team and our list of ideas/issues that date all the way back to the Bibble days). That said, keep the feedback coming.

Good to hear!

[andysalay]

I will return to ASP only if image quality (denoise, demosaicing) raises significantly and start to be competetive to CaptureOne, which I am much happy with. Still I sometimes miss the flexibility and special editing capabilities of ASP+plugins.

Oh yes, and if that happens, you should offer remarkable discount for upgraders from ASP1.
This will be the only reason for me to switch back.
Now I am quite happy without quality problems of ASP, the work with C1 is quickly and easily done.

Regards,
Andy Salay

[brucet]

Are we all talking about After Shot Pro here or are we talking about After Shot 2?
My take on this is that are now TWO versions of After Shot. Yes No?
After Shot Pro is the full featured program while After Shot 2 has less features and is aimed at the beginner/enthusiast. Or have I got my wires crossed? Because the above posts seem to have confused me. If you go to the Corel web page is obvious that there are now two After Shots.

I think Greg needs to get back and make his post detailing the difference between the two. You see Corel has a very bad track record of communications. Here's another example of either users reading a thread and not understanding it or Corel slipping up with their message.

Right shoot me if you think I'm wrong. But all I want is to go back to an After Shot that works. Any After Shot.

regards

[df]

I understand this as Aftershot 2, no pro. A separate program all together with even less pro features. I was saying that Aftershot Pro 2 was already not in league with other pro programs. It's already not something a pro would use. Or not many pros anyways. There's just too many glaring holes in the feature set already so what's the point?

[brucet]

df is saw your PRO but I think there is general confusion among readers. Poor choice of name by Corel?
Personally I think Corel would have been better off putting all their eggs into a better PRO version rather than the backwards step where the market already has a zillion candidates for cheap/free converters. If the PRO was a market leader then great. But it's not.

regards

[SteveCase]

They sure couldn't call it AfterShot Express.

[TheDude]

Are we all talking about After Shot Pro here or are we talking about After Shot 2?

I think it doesn't matter, since the new non-proAS seems to be some kind of a subset of the pro AS. So I assume that it will suffer from the same problems as the pro version does. In particular this regards image quality. Unless they don't solve the veritable problems of any version of AS(P), they won't succeed. The coming X-Trans support indicates that there is little hope, since they are forced to modify the processing components, which would be a nice opportunity to update the demosaicing algo for bayer sensors. However, I'm afraid that they will just implement a very basic demosaicing algorithm, since this good enough for adding another point on their list of features. Yet, Corel did not prove to be interested in improving the quality ASP.