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It's a question of workflow

From a relative confident position about my workflow I'm now feeling quite confused as to what is now the best solution for me.

I've been a avid fan of Apple Aperture now since it's release (I must have placed one of the first orders) as after it's announcement I knew it was the solution for me. It's all-in-one workflow and management was simply brilliant, and being so impressive it was no surprise that Adobe released a public beta of LightRoom some months later. 

Until that point I'd been using Capture One Pro 3 in conjunction with Photoshop 7, and although I loved the quality and control the PhaseOne RAW converter gave me, the interface was quite frankly shocking. Added to this the fact I just didn't get along with Photoshop Camera Raw and Adobe Bridge didn't exist, my options felt limited.

Fast-forward to today and I've been happily using Aperture exclusively, with Photoshop CS3 for the few more complex edits required.

So what's the problem?

The problem is that I'm now searching outside of the Aperture box for solutions and enhancements, and doing so is starting to get quick expensive.

The recent introduction of Nik's collection of photographic tools (and in particular the fantastic Silver Efex Pro) became an absolute 'must', even at the expense of my bank balance. And yesterday Jeff Ascough sent me his Silver Actions for Photoshop, some of which require Photoshop CS4. As I still use CS3 this would be another cost.

So I'm a bit fed up! To add insult to injury Aperture can not preserve settings of an external filter edit (e.g. Silver Efex Pro), so should I wish to make a small change I have to do it all from scratch. Nik do of course do a version for Photoshop which uses Smart Filters (allowing you to preserve settings), but these are substantially more expensive then the "Aperture Only" set I plumped for.

So, what's the score with Aperture?

I've been speculating for some time that Apple would release a new version of Aperture any time now. This hasn't been founded on any insider information or great insight into Apple's development cycles, it was based purely on that of "hope", and that (IMHO) Aperture has been losing ground to Lightroom for months. It needs an upgrade, and it needs it quickly!

In particular I want to see the ability to preserve edits from filter such as Silver Efex Pro. From a development angle I suspect this might mean a whole new plug-in architecture, but I would happily pay the upgrade of both packages to crack this nut.

What to do

As my workflow is now so fragmented using Aperture I'm starting to question if I should just use it for library management, perhaps even introducing CaptureOne Pro v4 whose interface is not only vastly superior to that I previously used, but with output quality neither Aperture or Lightroom can rival. From there I would work exclusively in Photoshop CS4 with the full range of Jeff's actions and the Smart Filter capability of Nik's photographic tools.

Of course this would cost me substantially, upgrades to CS4/Nik/CaptureOne would weigh-in heavily, and knowing my luck Apple will release an all singing-dancing version 3.0 with better quality and smart filters.

So

.. come on Apple, get a bloddy move on with the next version and let me see what you've got up your sleeve, amaze me!

One comment

I feel your pain re: workflow.

I have never got to grips with Aperture, though have recently started using it to get access to Apple’s recently improved printing (books) services (I find the blacks in their prints rather bland).

What I can say, having used CS4 and Lightroom for a while now is that the seamless interface/management is hard to beat.

I have used Capture One, Aperture, Lightroom, Adobe Bridge plus I use Drobo
Cameras, I shoot exlcusively in RAW using Nikon D3 & D2Xs, Leica M8, Canon 5D Mark II.
I find Adobe (Bridge) allows me to manage the HD movie files from the 5DMkII easily.
For actions, I use Silver Efex Pro, Kubota Action Dashboard and (rarely now) Jeff Ascough’s Actions 2.
Jeff’s actions don’t work well with my CS4 (lots of “command not available” errors) whereas Kubota has nailed it with their integrated OnONE Dashboard.

If you can get a free trial, try the Kubota Dashboard as it retains layered history of all your adjustments (Ascough’s actions flatten everything at each stage) which I now prefer.

For a wedding workflow, Jeff’s actions work well as when you’ve settled into your groove, you can apply a consistent look throughout the shoot.

I think it’s marvelous that so many software companies are allowing full-functional free trials.

I don’t think you’re going to manage holding your breath for Aperture 3(beta) so I’d heartily recommend making the Lightroom jump and embracing CS4 (I know it’s gallingly expensive).

If Jeff was able to offer a trial for his new actions, I’d gladly try them – I’m just finishing a (gay)wedding I shot on Thursday and it would have been nice to use his actions.

Good luck.

Conor Ogle (URL) - 25-04-’09 10:53