(I'm running mini workshops to help people to move to Capture One Pro, if anyone is interested, at least in the UK).
Aperture is dead, and although people are arguing that they're going to stay with faithful devotion and see what happens with "Photos" they haven't realised that to remain competitive and productive you have to move on.
The arguments don't stick:
"Aperture does what I need it to and it's not going away for a while".
Well, it's already been going away. The lack of development has meant that Aperture's toolset simply hasn't been able to keep up with the competition. Apple gave up developing Aperture long ago, and it's more or less been dormant for around 4 years. You'll be surprised at what new things you can do in other applications. If it aint broke - don't fix it? Doesn't apply here. If it's lame, put it down.
"Aperture's file system really works"
Yes, it's true. But you'll find Capture One can match and even surpass Aperture in this regard, and the UI is much more customisable.
"I have Terabytes of RAW files - I don't want to re-process"
You can access your RAW files and open them in C1, or export them as TIFFs with your adjustments 'baked in'. If you're not going to spend time re-processing old files then this shouldn't matter. If you are then this would take the same time as it would do had you kept them 'safe' in Aperture, so what's the problem?
"It's a steep learning curve - I invested a lot of time in Aperture"
This is the "I don't want to change" argument. When you're used to a specific workflow it's hard to switch into a new way of working, so build in a transition. One of the things that happens is you will first notice what the new application CAN'T do when compared to your beloved previous workflow. Or keyboard shortcuts that you miss. That's OK, there will plenty of things that are new and will start to actually make more sense. For example; You can dramatically change the workspace in C1. You can move around your adjustments within their toolset. You can configure it to have only the adjustments that you need without having to scroll through everything just to get to your one adjustment at the end of your 'hud'. You'll be surprised at how something as simple as this speeds up your workflow.
"I hate Adobe's subsciption model/ C1 is too expensive/doesn't support plug-ins"
Get over CC - it's 9.99 a month - you spend more than that on diet coke. You get regularly updated Photoshop and Lightroom. It's good value. Capture One isn't expensive if you need the tools that it offers, and there is a trial and an LE version. The time you save in post processing is far more valuable. If it's too expensive, you'll probably be fine with Photos, but then you're not allowed to complain about the lack of features. Phase One is a relatively small team and they have a massively capable application. It costs money to support that, and no - I don't work for Phase One! They sometimes run offers which you could look out for, and yes, I think that they could be cheaper, especially in light of the Aperture announcement, but what are you gonna do?
"I love Apple, and their new Photos App is going to blow us all away, so I'll wait"
Really? It might do, I guess, but it's a bit of a gamble. Think about it: Apple have killed off Aperture. They haven't said we're going to release a new version - a rebuild. they've essentially said "we're not going to develop this product for this market any more, because other third party Apps have that covered and their focus is trained on that kind of development. we want to develop a universal consumer application that anybody and everybody will want to use".
Photos will likely be an incredible cross purpose application with tight iCloud integration across devices, iOS, OS X. Most interesting is the new extensibility and what the New universal RAW technologies built into the OS will be able to do. It's that Core processing in OS X that third party developers (like Adobe for example) will be able to leverage into their applications, or plug-ins if you will, to make professional editing even more capable than it is now. Photos doesn't have to be presented at the same level or to the same market as Aperture currently is, and that's part of the cunning plan.
It's a smart move by Apple. It gets consumers into the loop, it gets talented developers knocking on the door, and it saves a huge amount of their own resources by Not having to develop in house. Meanwhile, everybody is cleaning up their media fuelled life and living happily on OS X, iOS, and iCloud.
Basically, by opening up core technologies within OS X they've found a way to get more professionals back into the fold through third party developing. The only casualty is Aperture, but Aperture has actually been competitively in the way of this more open standard, and it hasn't really been able to compete anyway, when you look at what Adobe and Phase One are up to.
Sticking with Aperture in the hope that you're beloved Apple are going to rescue your old way of working is going to come back and bite you in the ass. In an unprecedented gesture Apple have even (kind of) said "We're giving you plenty of notice, and we understand that you love using the software, but Aperture isn't a viable model any more. The technology is changing and we're giving you the opportunity to get on board with third party applications. Shift your professional workflow, and get ready for the next phase now."
They've handed it to you on a plate. It's not a free lunch, but for photographers it's a very tasty meal.
Aperture is dead, and although people are arguing that they're going to stay with faithful devotion and see what happens with "Photos" they haven't realised that to remain competitive and productive you have to move on.
The arguments don't stick:
"Aperture does what I need it to and it's not going away for a while".
Well, it's already been going away. The lack of development has meant that Aperture's toolset simply hasn't been able to keep up with the competition. Apple gave up developing Aperture long ago, and it's more or less been dormant for around 4 years. You'll be surprised at what new things you can do in other applications. If it aint broke - don't fix it? Doesn't apply here. If it's lame, put it down.
"Aperture's file system really works"
Yes, it's true. But you'll find Capture One can match and even surpass Aperture in this regard, and the UI is much more customisable.
"I have Terabytes of RAW files - I don't want to re-process"
You can access your RAW files and open them in C1, or export them as TIFFs with your adjustments 'baked in'. If you're not going to spend time re-processing old files then this shouldn't matter. If you are then this would take the same time as it would do had you kept them 'safe' in Aperture, so what's the problem?
"It's a steep learning curve - I invested a lot of time in Aperture"
This is the "I don't want to change" argument. When you're used to a specific workflow it's hard to switch into a new way of working, so build in a transition. One of the things that happens is you will first notice what the new application CAN'T do when compared to your beloved previous workflow. Or keyboard shortcuts that you miss. That's OK, there will plenty of things that are new and will start to actually make more sense. For example; You can dramatically change the workspace in C1. You can move around your adjustments within their toolset. You can configure it to have only the adjustments that you need without having to scroll through everything just to get to your one adjustment at the end of your 'hud'. You'll be surprised at how something as simple as this speeds up your workflow.
"I hate Adobe's subsciption model/ C1 is too expensive/doesn't support plug-ins"
Get over CC - it's 9.99 a month - you spend more than that on diet coke. You get regularly updated Photoshop and Lightroom. It's good value. Capture One isn't expensive if you need the tools that it offers, and there is a trial and an LE version. The time you save in post processing is far more valuable. If it's too expensive, you'll probably be fine with Photos, but then you're not allowed to complain about the lack of features. Phase One is a relatively small team and they have a massively capable application. It costs money to support that, and no - I don't work for Phase One! They sometimes run offers which you could look out for, and yes, I think that they could be cheaper, especially in light of the Aperture announcement, but what are you gonna do?
"I love Apple, and their new Photos App is going to blow us all away, so I'll wait"
Really? It might do, I guess, but it's a bit of a gamble. Think about it: Apple have killed off Aperture. They haven't said we're going to release a new version - a rebuild. they've essentially said "we're not going to develop this product for this market any more, because other third party Apps have that covered and their focus is trained on that kind of development. we want to develop a universal consumer application that anybody and everybody will want to use".
Photos will likely be an incredible cross purpose application with tight iCloud integration across devices, iOS, OS X. Most interesting is the new extensibility and what the New universal RAW technologies built into the OS will be able to do. It's that Core processing in OS X that third party developers (like Adobe for example) will be able to leverage into their applications, or plug-ins if you will, to make professional editing even more capable than it is now. Photos doesn't have to be presented at the same level or to the same market as Aperture currently is, and that's part of the cunning plan.
It's a smart move by Apple. It gets consumers into the loop, it gets talented developers knocking on the door, and it saves a huge amount of their own resources by Not having to develop in house. Meanwhile, everybody is cleaning up their media fuelled life and living happily on OS X, iOS, and iCloud.
Basically, by opening up core technologies within OS X they've found a way to get more professionals back into the fold through third party developing. The only casualty is Aperture, but Aperture has actually been competitively in the way of this more open standard, and it hasn't really been able to compete anyway, when you look at what Adobe and Phase One are up to.
Sticking with Aperture in the hope that you're beloved Apple are going to rescue your old way of working is going to come back and bite you in the ass. In an unprecedented gesture Apple have even (kind of) said "We're giving you plenty of notice, and we understand that you love using the software, but Aperture isn't a viable model any more. The technology is changing and we're giving you the opportunity to get on board with third party applications. Shift your professional workflow, and get ready for the next phase now."
They've handed it to you on a plate. It's not a free lunch, but for photographers it's a very tasty meal.
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