Author Topic: PM for New iPad Pro  (Read 34347 times)

Offline Riton

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PM for New iPad Pro
« on: September 09, 2015, 12:43:08 PM »
It looks that the new iPad Pro announced today may be an good alternative to the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Adobe has created a new Photoshop for iPad so we need a new PhotoMechanic usable also on the new iPad !!!!!!!!!!

Is there a chance it may happens ??????????

Offline Mick O (Camera Bits)

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2015, 02:21:43 PM »
Hi Riton,

Thanks for the inquiry. We do see why that would be exciting, but no announcements about something like this are likely in the near future.

Regards,

-Mick
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Offline neil@dg28.com

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2015, 02:21:17 AM »
I was just about to make the same request - this looks like it will be a big hit and I'd love to see Photo Mechanic on this new platform too.

Offline Kirk Baker

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2015, 08:23:37 AM »
I was just about to make the same request - this looks like it will be a big hit and I'd love to see Photo Mechanic on this new platform too.

The effort required would be similar to writing a version of Photo Mechanic for linux. (A tremendous amount of work.)  Catalog is our highest priority at this time.  I hope you understand.

-Kirk

Offline MacUnix

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #4 on: September 24, 2015, 09:07:22 PM »
There is already a Photo Mechanic for iPad : http://photosinfopro.com/

Works perfectly in my workflow :
Shoot photo's->transfer to iPad using SD cardreader or EyeFi->sort and edit in iOS photos app or pixelmator->add IPTC in batch using PhotosinfoPro->export to server->work is live in archive.

Offline Mick O (Camera Bits)

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2015, 02:38:24 PM »
There is already a Photo Mechanic for iPad

Thanks for the link! Just to eliminate confusion, that is not actually Photo Mechanic for iPad, but an app that Camera Bits has no association with.

I'm not sure if MacUnix uses Photo Mechanic or not, or since that is the person's only post.  We would exercise extreme caution in using that app. A comment in the App Store for that app mentioned some disturbing compression issues. Might be fine for casual use, but be careful when doing professional work. Apparently that app relies on the iOS Photos app for sorting and editing, which seems to me problematic for big shoots.

We're definitely keeping an eye on mobile workflows to see when the hardware and network connections reach a point where they're suited for the really high quality, high volume throughput that many of our users currently require. I'm finding more ways mobile devices fit into my own photography workflow.  I know the "new Photoshop for iPad" is severely limited in functionality compared to the original, and in some cases even needs to upload the image to the cloud for heavier computational tasks. It's an interesting start, thats for sure.

If anyone has real-world examples of how they're currently using iPads for serious photography work, we'd love to hear them.

-Mick
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Offline FVlcek

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #6 on: September 28, 2015, 09:42:38 AM »
There is already a Photo Mechanic for iPad
If anyone has real-world examples of how they're currently using iPads for serious photography work, we'd love to hear them.
-Mick

Hi Mick, since that seems like permission to mention other, not CameraBits related apps on iPad, I hope can share my workflow I use to file photos on the go :)

There is unfortunately no app even approaching the ease and simplicity of PhotoMechanic available for iOS, however, I have been able to find some workable workflow.

For some background, I am a photojournalist, working for daily papers and online news.

I can give a workflow example which worked for me reasonably well (apart from having to use several apps together) during a week-long assignment to cover the refugees in Europe, where we moved by car every day (sometimes several times a day) to newest flashpoint or camp or closed/opened border, filing photos to online coverage on the go. I had it a bit tougher than colleagues from wires, since they mostly transmit just the unedited untoned photographs to their picture-desk, I did my own simple toning on the iPad which necessitated switching between apps on the iPad.

I used iPad Mini 2 (retina display, not the newest one but still fast enough for working with jpegs), Eye-Fi Wi-Fi connected card and Apple SD card reader (mainly for backup if the Eye-Fi failed). I shoot RAW to CF card and Medium JPEGs (around 10MP on the 5DmkIII) to the SD card.

I transmit selected (via lock button) M JPEGs via Wi-Fi to Shuttersnitch iPad app, which can do some automatic actions upon receiving the photos (simple captioning, export to Photos, export to FTP - although captioning means recompressing the files, so be wary of that).

For simple toning, I would have the files exported automatically to Photos on the iPad, which as far as I can see didn't do any recompression (if you don't update metadata in Shuttersnitch though). Once I had a batch of files I wanted to edit and transmit, I would open them one by one in Filterstorm Neue, with default IPTC caption automatically added. In Filterstorm Neue, I had a simple action that made several automated edits, like shadows highlights, some contrast adjustment (sadly, Auto-levels and Auto-contrast are currently missing from the app, they used to be supported in the older version but not yet in the new one). Finally, I did some cropping if necessary. Depending on signal strength, I either directly transmitted the edited and captioned photo to FTP, or I exported it back into Photos for later batch transmission when I got better reception or hotel WiFi network. Working with roughly 10MP jpegs, Filterstorm Neue proved extremely fast doing most edits even on not exactly the top of the line iPad Mini 2 (it utilises the GPU for most operations).

All in all, I was able to import, edit and file photos on the go, noticeably faster then on a notebook, although with some limitations. Every evening, I did use Photomechanic to ingest the whole card full of RAWs and did normal editing and culling.

Some problems and limitations encountered with the software on iPad:

1) Foremost, there is none do-it-all app like Photomechanic to my knowledge. I had to use several (at least two) apps to manage importing, captioning, editing and exporting. Exchanging photos between apps is cumbersome, either one by one or via export to central repository (Photos) which doesn't allow any star ratings or tagging (only Favouriting manually). Shuttersnitch can do import, generic caption and export all in one go, but has no editing, not even cropping. And sometimes its FTP export just fails for no visible reason.

2) All of the apps tried are still somewhat cumbersome to use. Their creators certainly didn't take an Apple course on haptic UI at all. Most frequently used actions are several menus or touches deep, illogicaly. Examples:
  • Shuttersnitch - it allows you to import photos automatically from EyeFi card into a set (folder). However, and actions like captioning for that set have to be setup from the menu, not inside the set, but outside, requiring as many as 5 "clicks" to simply edit and save caption that should be applied to newly imported photos. That means it's easy to forget something (like outdated caption info).
  • Filterstorm Neue - even though blazingly fast with edits, again, even simple actions like editing, editing caption, exporting, require too many clicks to select and confirm, usually with the Done button on the complete opposite end of the screen than the info you are changing. Cumbersome.

3) If you apply automatic caption on import with Shuttersnitch, it resaves the photo - meaning recompression, at what compression level is not apparent at all.

4) Filterstorm Neue - only works one photo at a time, and when exporting (either to FTP or Photos repository), you have to select compression level manually EACH and EVERY time (the setting doesn't stick) - so to save time, you either leave it at 100% (meaning long transfer times), or hunt with your finger on the unwieldy slider. Also, there is no way to group frequently used edits together, meaning you have to go through different submenus to resize, crop, do curves, WB, caption, export. A lot of finger hunting (at least it's instantly responsive).

5) Doing some real captioning (like where in every photo the caption is different) is also not easy. No easy way like PM's Stationery. Filterstorm Neue does support some basic code replacement (lifted from PM it seems), but you have to load it up using a computer beforehand. No variables, et cetera. For my needs, just sending the edited photos to picture-desk with a basic generic caption with maybe few names added, it was workable. But writing a full story caption would be a chore.

6) Exporting photos to FTP cannot be done in the background. You have to wait for the transfer to finish before you can edit new ones.

All in all, even with those limitations (and limitations in cellular coverage), I was able to transmit edited photos very quickly just by taking the iPad out of the Domke, during any lull in the action. The only thing I needed the notebook for was backing up the daily takes. The key to my workflow is only importing selects (made in camera via the protect button). Over the whole assignment, I filed about 100-200 photos to our picturedesk directly from the iPad, out of something like 7000 photos shot in total.

If Camerabits ever released a simplified version of PM for iPad, I would readily plonk 50$ or more on it, if it just worked. An all in one app for iPad that could import photos, caption, crop, do basic editing and export all in one go would be a godsend. Being able to just take the tablet out of camera bag, instantly powered on, with its insane amount of battery life, ready everytime everywhere.





« Last Edit: September 28, 2015, 09:47:58 AM by Frantisek Vlcek »

Offline Kevin M. Cox

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #7 on: September 29, 2015, 11:13:02 AM »
This is one of the reasons that would have made it really nice for Apple to have OS X run on the iPad Pro instead of iOS. Similar to what Microsoft has done with the Surface Pro.

I imagine that would have seriously lowered the bar for Camera Bits requiring only the addition of touch controls but not rewritten the entire program.
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Offline Kirk Baker

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #8 on: September 29, 2015, 02:00:21 PM »
Kevin,

This is one of the reasons that would have made it really nice for Apple to have OS X run on the iPad Pro instead of iOS. Similar to what Microsoft has done with the Surface Pro.

I imagine that would have seriously lowered the bar for Camera Bits requiring only the addition of touch controls but not rewritten the entire program.

It absolutely would have made it much easier.

-Kirk

Offline Mick O (Camera Bits)

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2015, 10:15:51 AM »
[ I hope can share my workflow I use to file photos on the go :)

Well thank you for that wonderful overview, Frantisek!  I appreciate the details of your process, and I think many others will as well.  Are you happy with the precision of edits like shadow and contrast done on touch screen rather than with a mouse or keyboard?

-Mick
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Offline FVlcek

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #10 on: October 02, 2015, 05:58:03 AM »
[ I hope can share my workflow I use to file photos on the go :)

Well thank you for that wonderful overview, Frantisek!  I appreciate the details of your process, and I think many others will as well.  Are you happy with the precision of edits like shadow and contrast done on touch screen rather than with a mouse or keyboard?

-Mick

Hi Mick, not that much actually, at least in the few apps (not many iOS photo editors support IPTC) I tried. Some are ok (Curves), some edits (like Levels) have too small UI to be really usable. But that's a problem of the user interface. It surely can be done well. But for many photographers and wire services some few basic edits, fast cropping done ala Photo Mechanic (soft crops that crop upon export) and easy IPTC input with stationery are the only things needed for quick filing on the go. For any more major editing and culling, a notebook with PM is still the king. Unfortunately, I have yet to see any iOS developer do it right (presumably most of them don't have photographic background or haven't been working with the wires for so many years like you guys do).

The iPad Pro is just an iPad.  :(
I would rather spend my money on a Microsoft Surface or an entry level MacBook Aire.
Yes, it is just an iPad. I prefer to do my edits and culling on a normal computer as well. But you can also put it in your backpack, have selected photos transferred to it on the go without ever interrupting shooting, without taking out a card to ingest, for many hours on a single charge. You can flip it out easily while walking to quickly edit and send few photos, and if you have good picture desk staff back at work, you can send photos automatically with a pre-made caption the instant you take them (just like the wires nowadays do). That is important if you need at least few photos on the web ASAP and continue covering the unfolding event. And you can quickly drop it back into your camera bag if you need to go, run or shoot without turning it off. So it does have some advantages for certain type of work.

Offline ron_hiner

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #11 on: October 05, 2015, 06:21:19 PM »
  Catalog is our highest priority at this time.  I hope you understand.

-Kirk

YAY!!!!!!!!

Offline vAfotoriporter

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #12 on: February 15, 2016, 07:29:12 PM »
I bought and tried to use FilterStorm Pro for sending photos from iOS devices. It has some of the key features (sorting, selection, ITPC, captioning, sending and even some editing too), but I have UX and reliability issues too with it so I don't really like to use it at all.

Only after buying Filterstorm did I discover Picture Pro that seems to be a much more streamlined app quite probably inspired by PM. I haven't really put it on a thorough test but it seems to be much better for what it (and PM) is meant for. However it is hard for me to overcome the barrier in mind I'm not using my usual OSX based workflow. Some times it would come handy - especially if PicturePro would have an iPhone version too just to quickly select and send images without much editing.
« Last Edit: February 15, 2016, 07:47:53 PM by vAfotoriporter »
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Offline jose

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #13 on: April 09, 2016, 10:06:09 AM »
I bought and tried to use FilterStorm Pro for sending photos from iOS devices. It has some of the key features (sorting, selection, ITPC, captioning, sending and even some editing too), but I have UX and reliability issues too with it so I don't really like to use it at all.

Only after buying Filterstorm did I discover Picture Pro that seems to be a much more streamlined app quite probably inspired by PM. I haven't really put it on a thorough test but it seems to be much better for what it (and PM) is meant for. However it is hard for me to overcome the barrier in mind I'm not using my usual OSX based workflow. Some times it would come handy - especially if PicturePro would have an iPhone version too just to quickly select and send images without much editing.

Another user PicturePro in iPad. I have Photo Mechanic for my desktop, and changed the MacBook Pro & PM with an iPad & PicturePro.

And dreaming with PM for iOS. And the Catalog...
 

Offline JS

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Re: PM for New iPad Pro
« Reply #14 on: April 12, 2016, 04:34:59 AM »
There is a "Filterstorm neue pro" out now, which seems to deal with the problems. But one remains always: How to get the photos from a CF-card to the ipad fast and reliable?

-john