AAUG Reviews

by Sally Donaldson, AAUG Member

Macs have become master-mind’s and to keep them running smoothly really takes advanced technology such as DiskTools Pro. This utility is the “army knife” for the Mac, because it is the only utility that allows us to schedule when to defragment files, and scan bad sectors, then repair them as well as to backup the volumes. DiskTools Pro will find and repair broken aliases, and keep a repair and maintenance log.

Having DiskTools Pro installed on my Mac makes inserting the original disk unnecessary. When opening the DiskTools Pro Application, the Main Task Menu appears immediately. For the Mac user, opening a new box of tools is exciting and making choices among them is difficult. I’d like to “select all” and order “run” then go to sleep and awake the next morning to a speedier, leaner, cleaner Mac. In one section of the manual, this seems possible, but in another I am lead to believe that it is not. This requires more investigation on my part.

Testing more than one volume at a time is possible. Shown in the left column are the external disks that are active as well as your main volume from which you are working. You may select one from any of the volumes then start the task of your choice among twelve tools to work your Mac.

I chose to begin with Defragment All Files. This task ran for about sixteen minutes, so I had went back and forth to my office from doing yard work etc. To my dismay, my computer reported that 275 Fragmented Files were found and the same number was not Defragmented. (more…)

by Mike Baranowski, AAUG Member

Auto FX Photo/Graphic Edges 7.0 Platinum Edition (PGE) adds multiple framing styles to any type of image, the main focus being the modification of photograph borders to give them creative impact. The installation on my MacBook Pro went smoothly; it is running OS 10.5.7 and also has PhotoShop CS4 installed. The install procedure is well written up in the manual and the onscreen wizard assists during the entire install even with screen captures to ensure a successful installation. It works for both Mac and Windows, and supports PhotoShop from version 7 to CS4.

PGE can work either as a stand-alone application or as a plug-in to programs like Adobe PhotoShop. Effects and borders are added as Effect Layers over the original image. You can adjust the layers as you want: turn them on or off, or use multiple layers together. All the while, your original artwork remains unaffected. With almost three times the number of effects as the previous version, this is a significant release for Photo/Graphic Edges, which first debuted in 1994 as Auto FX Software’s first product.

Their website is very thorough and well produced. You can see every effect in full galleries. Every effect is written up on their website to assist you in making a choice if your workflow/product could be improved with this application. Or you can use their web site just to get your creative juices flowing as to what this product can do for you. You should be able to shoot with these effects in your mind knowing which effects you will be using as well as grab images you already have and apply them. It is just that easy! (more…)

by Chuck Maas, AAUG Member

Digital photography is a subject both wide and deep, encompassing a lot more than just knowing how to turn on that convenient compact camera. Frustrating to many entry-level image makers is the realization not long after starting to shoot away that there are certain fundamentals that need to be mastered in order to avoid confusion and chaos as the number of image files grows exponentially. Making high quality images to start with, preserving the quality of image files while preparing for multiple uses, and creating a storage methodology that allows you to actually find the images you want when you want them are all dependent on learning a core set of underlying digital imaging principles.

This is a technical field with its own language — if you don’t understand digital imaging terms, it will be next to impossible to learn those underlying principles, and learning anything in these attention-challenged times is hard enough. Tim Grey has made it his business for nearly a decade to help explain digital imaging terms and processes in a precise but colloquial and highly readable style that has made him a standout among the host of educators who have flocked to the field. Tim started his free Digital Darkroom Questions e-mail bulletin in the fall of 2001 and has continued it ever since, answering questions from readers in a manner that illuminates the subject with unusual clarity for all subscribers. In this book he as compiled the most salient questions and answers into a highly readable and informative work both for beginners and seasoned veterans as well. The beauty of this collection is that it addresses a great many of the scattered but important fundamental digital imaging principles, which, though not very exciting on the surface are vitally important to developing a better understanding of what’s really going on. (more…)

by Chuck Maas, AAUG Member

One of the biggest challenges in today’s info-saturated environment is sorting out value…the wheat from the chaff, as it were. In books, you’d like to believe what’s promised — in this case, pretty much everything there is to know about digital nature photography from the absolute masters of the art, all in a mere 260-some pages (with lots of pictures). Here’s the jacket hype: “This book is crammed full with expert advice, taken from the world’s leading pros, directly from the field, that will empower the development of your skills to a professional level and fire your imagination. It starts with the basics of how to plan a rewarding field trip, whether locally or afar, for one day or a month, and covers all aspects of camera handling and photographic technique, including, how to make perfect exposures every time, ensure pin-sharp images of moving subjects, decipher the complexities of camera menus and controls, and break through the mysteries of composition.”

Right. That may have been the goal, but that’s not the result. What you get is a nice but fairly mundane and less than encyclopedic rehash of digital imaging principles with the occasional quote from a noted pro. It’s not that it’s bad information, but it’s pretty basic and falls far short of the jacket’s promises. So if you’re new to digital imaging and like the idea of making high quality photographs of natural subjects you’ll no doubt learn a good bit from this book. But take the optimistic advertising on the cover with a big grain of salt. Other authors have covered the topic of nature photography (with both film and digital) in far more compelling fashion.

by Gary Miller, AAUG Member

The future of talking while driving is here…. Thanks to Kensington’s new Hands-Free Visor Car Kit for iPhone or any Bluetooth phone, you can talk effortlessly, while keeping your hands on the wheel.

In the box are instructions( in many languages, but would be improved with simple diagrams in clear English…), 2 batteries( each fully charged lasted a full day or 8 hours+), a charger for your car and computer charger(USB), unit itself that easily attaches to car visor, and yes, it’s big enough for today’s fatter visors, like mine.

I quickly ‘paired’ my iPhone up with the unit in my car, by making my bluetooth feature active, then it showed my phone’s name, since I was using a new version of the unit, the sound was much louder, and easier to hear in the car. The unit has a great feature in that when you are away from it with your phone, it turns off, it also can pair with more than one phone in case more than one person drives the car. And it has 3 quick dial buttons that allow you to speed dial; I wish it had a display to show who is dialing incoming, or outgoing… (more…)

by Dave Enders, AAUG Member

With the iPhone utilizing 3G, GPS and push notifications the iPhone battery can get consumed quickly. Previous to this I had been using a Griffin PowerJolt in my truck and a Griffin PowerBlock Universal. This provided me with having power in my rig and at work therwise my battery would not make it through the work day.

So when I saw the Power Duo Reserve, I saw the opportunity to have a third additional charging opportunity in the form of an external battery. A few friends I have talked to don’t like the fact that the battery hangs off the iPhone. I myself don’t mind it especially if that is my only source of power for the iPhone at the time.

I like the overall design, the Power Duo Reserve provides the ability to charge your iPhone while charges the battery. The battery also snaps into place magnetically. I found the magnetic strength to be more than adequate in my testing. I fell though Griffin should have provided a dock connector cable with this unit. If I didn’t have cables from other purchases I probably would have wound up purchasing a cable. This would have added to the $59.99 price tag of the unit.

Up to this point I was excited (more…)

by Tom Shackle, AAUG Member

The new SonicFire Pro 5.1/Final Cut Pro Plug-In makes using SmartSound’s licensed music much quicker and easier during the video editing process. Designed specifically to work in conjunction with Apple’s Final Cut Pro, the software plug-in connects FCP (version 6 and higher) through SonicFire Pro to SmartSound’s considerable range of music, allowing custom time lengths to be set, and more.

I’ve been a user of SonicFire Pro (SFP) for several years, and have benefited from the software’s ability to create custom audio lengths with SmartSound music tracks from the nearly 30 CDs I’ve so far acquired. Historically, licensed professional music was composed and recorded in a limited number of time lengths: full length (about 2.5 to 5 minutes), and then shortened variations in lengths of 60 seconds, 30 seconds, and 15 or 10 seconds. Those lengths worked fine in radio and TV commercials, but they would usually be too long, or too short, for longer form film and television work.

SonicFire Pro music editing software solved that limitation. Need a SmartSound music track structured to fit a length of :43 seconds, or something longer such as 2:51:15 (minutes:seconds:frames)? No problem. Enter the desired time and SonicFire Pro will create an audio file to that length, or one that comes pretty close.

The beauty of the new SonicFire Pro 5.1 plug-in is that SmartSound music tracks used in Final Cut Pro editing sessions can now be sent back to SFP5.1 for timing changes, as well as changes in musical style. When the desired alterations are made, (more…)

by Bob Thomas, AAUG Member

I initially had purchased the Apple device (iPod Radio Remote) for FM radio for my iPod, however when I received my iPhone I did not have the ability to listen to FM. I enjoy listening to a variety of music and therefore I don’t download as much music as a lot of people who download music all of the time. When I saw that Griffin had come out with such a device I was very happy to have the opportunity to acquire one through the AAUG and also evaluate it as well. It works like a charm!

It weighs only an ounce or two and has about three (3) feet of cable. There are six buttons, play/pause, volume up, down, next and previous buttons, mode button and a sliding lockout switch on the top. There is the standard connection to the iPod/iPhone. It has a clip on the back for attaching to a belt or piece of clothing. However, due to the small size of the Navigate the clip part if small.

When you initially plug it in to your iPhone it goes directly to your iTunes playlist. There is an OLED screen display showing the artist and song. In the FM mode it shows the station. There are only four presets for radio stations. The local 98.1 classical music station [FLEF FM 98.1] comes in clear as a bell whereas in some other devices and even some FM radios you don’t receive the reception as well as the Navigate.

Supposedly, there is going to be an application called iFM by Griffin sometime this year, 2009. I checked at the App Store and nothing is listed as of this review date, June 2009. (more…)

by J. Robin Donaldson, AAUG Member

I was VERY excited to be getting my hands on this application. I do not use any other application like this so my experience is limited to relegating this creative process to someone else. A large part of what I do is to work with architects and of course, before I can do that, the land must be found, thought about, negotiated over and purchased. During this process, I can’t help myself from day dreaming building possibilities. As a way to unwind, I doodle my thoughts and ideas, apply the finance of building and sales, and eventually, pass ideas along to our architects to fully develop. So to become proficient at using this architect program was a thrilling idea, initially.

Now this is a very cool application so let me get the hard part over with early. The application did not allow for me to draw curved walls. This is my biggest complaint. It was frustrating. I also found aligning items on multiple floors, when you did not have the advantage of the ruler, a little tuff, specifically a spiral staircase. It just took a light touch and blowing up the screen large enough to see the alignment tics. Another difficulty I had was getting the doors to swing exactly as I wanted. There is a ‘flip’ tool, which was useful but not sufficient. It only flipped in a either / or direction and I didn’t or couldn’t find a way to get control of flipping it in the 4 points of the compass type of direction.

On the Pro side, BeLight has superb web support and I was able to get my questions answered very quickly. I just didn’t like the answer. BeLight also offers tutorials which were extremely exciting because it showed me what could be achieved, walked me through it, with ease, and everything looked so professional. (more…)

by Zachary Zaletel, AAUG Member

Who hasn’t said to themself, “Of course I want to go to Tasmania and learn Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2!?” If you’re like me, then this question hasn’t crossed your mind lately, but don’t let our collective failure to do some out of the box thinking get you down. Not only has Mikkel Aaland had that idea, they went and did it, and even brought a bunch of photographer friends along for the trip, collected a number of photos from each of them and then combined the end result into a book. But was all this effort worthwhile?

Rather than your standard How to work the latest mousetrap 4.3, which plods through each menu, from File to Help, then each window with little thought to narrative, rhyme or reason (unless left to right, top to bottom is a good reason), Photoshop Lightroom 2 Adventure (henceforth known as L2A) gives a nice change of pace with the Tasmanian trip as an excuse for a How-To book. While it’s hard to get away from left to right, top to bottom as a format for a manual, the variety of photographic material (both in terms of location and number of material generating sources) and depth of capabilities outlined in the program makes for a winning combination. L2A runs through the workflow, as laid out in Lightroom 2, giving a quick primer for each of the many tools. Sprinkled throughout are brief bios of the many photographers who were invited along on the trip, along with a ‘recipe’ for some sort of Lightroom wizardry pertinent to one of their pictures.

Lightroom 2 Adventure is as enjoyable a software guidebook as I’ve had the opportunity to read. As an added bonus, Leo Laporte makes a surprise guest appearance and introduces the tome to readers (this guy gets around (more…)