This post will detail some of the new AppleScript goodies and oddities of Aperture 1.5.

Goodies

• Selection: I can’t stress how much I love this feature. It will certainly make development of new features much faster now that I have access to the currently selected images.

Oddities

• Selection: If you select a stack of images, the selection property will return all images in the stack. There no stack property in Aperture yet. I expect something like that to come in version 2.0.
• Sublocation becomes SubLocation: The IPTC tag name has gone from Sublocation to SubLocation with a capital L. In Annoture 0.9.3, iView 2.6.4 and Aperture 1.5, this caused problems syncing the SubLocation IPTC tag.
• Caption becomes Caption/Abstract: The IPTC tag name has gone from Caption to Caption/Abstract. This caused problems syncing the Description IPTC tag.
• Keywords property: Not sure if this is working properly, but I’m unable to access the keywords property for the selected image
  

  tell application “Aperture”
  set theImage to first item of selection
  set theKeywords to keywords of theImage
  end tell

  This doesn’t return a proper keywords list for me. Boo hoo.

It’s available via Software Update!

One feature that I’m eager to test out is the AppleScript selection property of the Aperture application:

selection (list of anything, r/o) : The objects currently selected in the browser

Right now, I’m upgrading my Library to 1.5 format. There’s no turning back now. I’m going to spend some time this weekend rethinking how I want to organize my photo collection. Now that we don’t need to store the actual images in the Library, I can recreate some of what I’ve accomplished with iView Media Pro where my photos are stored and referenced on an external hard disk (my 1TB ReadyNAS). Like iView, Aperture 1.5 would simply access the files from there. I have a feeling that performance will be impacted, however, when the files are served from the network, so I might just have to invest in a 750GB external hard disk and use the NAS as a backup drive. To date, all of my original and RAW images take up 400GB of disk space. A 750GB hard drive would give me a couple more years of service.

Update: If you select a stack and ask Aperture for the selection in AppleScript, it returns all the images in the stack, not just the one in the viewer.

Aperture owners across the world are no doubt clicking on the Software Update Check Now button every hour to see when version 1.5 is available. Yesterday, iTunes 7.0.1 was released, and today the iLife suite was updated. This update includes media browser support for Aperture. Thus, 1.5 is just around the corner; my guess is we’ll see it tomorrow morning!

I’m really hoping for some performance improvements in 1.5. I’ve used Aperture for the past three wedding shoots. Compared to Capture One, working on images in Aperture is overall much slower. Part of this has to do with Aperture’s real-time RAW decoding and image updating. Capture One uses a large preview image when performing image edits. In addition, Aperture default color profiles are no match for Capture One and Magne Nilsson’s custom color profiles. It simply takes longer to get accurate color with Aperture. If 1.5’s new hue and saturation controls lets me make a custom color profile preset that matches Capture One, I’ll be a happy camper.

Of course, Aperture is great for selecting and rating images. As I mentioned in my previous post, the 1.5 feature set has me thinking of switching from iView completely for DAM purposes. I’ll need to update Annoture to make sure my annotations transfer from iView to Aperture. That should run much smoother with the new AppleScript functions.

Peter inquired last night at the SNUG meeting if anyone has a copy of Family Tree Maker, a popular genealogy program. He needs to convert a file from Family Tree Maker format into the generic GEDCOM format. If anyone has a copy of FTM, chime in and we’ll broker a quick file conversion job between you and Peter. Thanks!

There are some juicy updates in Aperture 1.5 with regards to AppleScript support. One of the biggest problems I had in developing Annoture was getting references to the currently selected images. There simply was no way to accomplish this in versions prior to 1.5. Now, however, we have selection available in AppleScript, as well as easier ways to tag metadata to images. The next release of Annoture might be written as an Automator action with iView. Stay tuned for more details once I have my hands on 1.5.

It’s no surprise that Apple has updated Aperture on the eve of the Photokina photography conference. Version 1.5 brings several new features to the table:

• Flexible Library Management: Taking a cue from Lightroom and iView Media Pro, Aperture now allows you to store your images wherever you want. This is one feature that I was really looking for
• iLife integration: One big drawback with iView Media Pro is its relatively poor integration with the iLife and iWork products from Apple. Aperture used to be on its own island as well, but no longer!
• Export metadata to XMP files: Not quite embedding the metadata with the image itself, which I would prefer, but at least Aperture 1.5 lets you export to a sidecar XMP file now
• Advanced Color Controls: Finer-grained color adjustment tools. What I’d really like to see are custom color profiles for different cameras. Capture One with Magne Nilsson’s color profiles provide me with very accurate and neutral colors from the get-go. This means less dickering around with the temperature and tint sliders, something I’m endlessly doing in Aperture.
• Metadata Presets: Not much to say here, but a welcome improvement. Eric and I were discussing this feature yesterday at his place.
• Adjustment Presets
• Image selection via AppleScript: Finally! This will allow me to update Annoture to be even more powerful. I’ve been falling behind on updating my syncing app between iView and Aperture due to new incompatibilities with iView 3.1.x and Aperture 1.1.2.
• Automatically Generated Previews: I wonder if this willl make Aperture run faster, especially since the app now runs on any Intel-based Mac. Capture One uses a high-resolution preview image for all of its on-screen image refreshing. Previous versions of Aperture rendered the final image every single time you made a correction. Even if you had a really fast video card, image manipulation could get really, really, slow.
• Improved File Renaming: I’ll have to see, but maybe it’s time to replace the venerable ExifRenamer from Stefan Robl? In fact, on paper this new update may be just enough to leave iView Media Pro for good.
• Export plug-ins: A new extensible architecture allows access to Aperture from third-party applications. I wish I had been informed of this for my Annoture work, but it appears that the focus of the plug-in architecture is on exporting to third-party web sites like Photoshelter or iStockphoto.
• Free Update: The best news of all is that this version of Aperture is a free update for existing owners!

I’m sure there are more features in this release that are waiting to be revealed. When it’s available later this week, I’ll share with you my experiences using the app.

Update: Ben Long from CreativePro has a beta review of Aperture 1.5.

Here’s a cool photo that I found while reading an article on new images of the “Face on Mars”. The astrophotographer, Thierry Legault, photographed the solar transit of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station on September 17, 2006. He used a Canon EOS 5D attached to a Takahashi TOA-150 refractor. The effective focal length was 2300mm. Now that’s a telephoto lens! The cool thing about the photo is that the solar transit lasted less than a second. Legault calculated the exact time of the event using calsky. How cool is that!

Anyone using a Roomba or Scooba cleaning robot? Being a homeowner now with plenty of carpet, hardwood floors, and tiles, not to mention a yard and a pool, I find myself spending more time than I care devoted to cleaning the house. I’ve read some good reviews on the Roomba and Scooba, but I have yet to meet anyone personally who owns one of them. Any readers out there using products from iRobot to assist them in cleaning their homes? I’d like to hear what you think!

Back in college, I took an AI class—CS221, taught by noted AI pioneer, Nils Nilsson—where we had to develop an application that navigated its way through a maze. I don’t recall how my app performed, but I doubt that it would have won any accolades in the annals of artifical intelligence history. I’ve read that the Roomba isn’t all that intelligent either, especially when compared to the $1800 Electrolux Tribolite. That product uses ultrasonic sensors to map out the room it’s cleaning. There’s no way I’m paying that much money for a cleaning product, but a couple hundred for a smarter vacuum might be in order.

The 2006-2007 Digital Vision Fellows have arrived at Stanford! Once again, I had the opportunity to photograph the fellows at the end of their first day on campus. The projects they are working on are all terrific, and I’m looking forward to tracking their progress throughout the year.

Time sure is flying by, as it’s been three years since I was a fellow in the program with Heather, Joe, Segeni, Raphael, Brij, and the rest of the gang! With the benefit of hindsight, I would have done a few things differently during my time in the program, including:

• Focus on the need, not the technology. There’s nothing like creating a product that serves no one’s needs.
• Solicit the help from professors and students. They are here to help you succeed in your project.
• Network like crazy. The year will go by in a flash, and you have to start thinking about your project after the year’s up.
• Hang out more with the fellows after hours. After the year’s done, everyone will go there separate ways. Profit from your time together in the fellowship.
• Enjoy the great benefits afforded by the Stanford campus!

Consider this as advice for a great fellowship year!

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At yesterday’s COBA meeting, we had a discussion about the latest announcements from camera manufacturers in anticipation of this month’s Photokina conference in Germany. A day later, a whole slew of announcements made my presentation obsolete, including the Canon PowerShot G7 and the Leica Digital M8!

I’ve been waiting for a camera like the M8 for a long time, and it’s good to see technology has finally made this possible. Of course, Leica has made the price of the camera equally high at over $5,000. Technology will get you what you want at a price!

The second presentation at COBA was on travel photography. For our trip to France/Spain, I decided to leave the super camera at home and bring a small digicam, the Canon PowerShot A610. It worked quite well during the trip, lightening my load considerably. No, I wasn’t able to use it in the Catacombs of Paris like I did my 1D Mark II two years ago. For what it is, however, the A610 took some quality photos. If I were to do it all over again, I probably would take an even smaller digital camera along with a Digital Rebel XTi (released while we were on the trip) or a 5D. With the M8, however, maybe I’ll rethink this decision in a couple of years!

I took the following photo in Barcelona while visiting the City History Museum. This guy was using a Leica M2, the same film camera that I have. There were plenty of digital SLRs (Nikon D50’s and Digital Rebels), a boatload of digicams, and quite a few film cameras still in use by tourists. Next time I see that guy, maybe he’ll be using a silver M8!