Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

KC Honie

Members
  • Posts

    206
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by KC Honie

  1. I wore many hats in my past and one of those was M&A professional (investment banker).  As I like to say "any trained monkey can do a transaction the real magic is in the integration of the two businesses to achieve the synergies that were used to make the financials work to justify the transaction".

    I would love to see the pitch deck to see how they justified creating value with two wildly different customer bases.  Maybe Canva acquired Serif at such a discount that the justification is trivial.

    I suspect that there are a lot of bullet points saying something similar to:

    • Sharing of code
    • Sharing of AI
    • Reduce the number of coders
    • Reduce admin staff
    • Both platforms will benefit from shared customers
    • Affinity V3 will transition to subscription (seeing how well it worked for Adobe)
    • [I hope we see] Rapid release of Lightroom clone and DAM
      • Importation of LR and Capture one Catalogs
      • Migration of LR and Capture One Catalogs
    • Partner with camera manufactures
    • Add Fast Raw Viewer to the portfolio 
    • Add CYME to the portfolio

    I suspect however that we are going to see two separate software portfolios languish and neither get the attention that they deserve and more customers move back to Adobe (I did months ago).  I still have Affinity loaded because I still have some assets that were created in one of the Affinity apps (and Capture One Pro), but moving forward it is Adobe only...

  2. @Chills Yes it is quiet, I don't expect Serif to add any guidance, they have been silent for years.

    For DPM or a LR alternative a starting point might be (this is off the top of my head):

    Image importing/exporting/tethered capture
    Fast Raw Viewer type features for fast image culling
    Keywording
    Numerical and color ratings
    Descriptions
    image organization (viewing, sorting and grouping)
    Finder/Explorer capabilities or integration
    Application of image development 
    Referenced file locations
    Unlimited catalogs
    GPS location (Maybe Maps)
    Exif editing capabilities
    Scripting

    I will keep adding to the list...

     

    I am going to leave it to other to add DAM requirements for multi file type assets...  Those of Adobe bridge would be a good starting point.  The challenge with a DAM is it should support multiple file types, no just Affinity files...  Another good starting point is neofinder's capabilities...

    Here is a link to Neofinders capabilities.

    https://www.cdfinder.de/

  3. 3 hours ago, Bit Disappointed said:

    Our exchange here reeks of us being in different places in the photography cosmos, so let's leave it at that.

    Hahahahaha, yes it certainly does.  We are certainly in different places with regards to many things, I personally try not to virtue signal.  You have no clue about my photography other than what subjects that I like to shoot.  You have no idea about my gear, my level of expertise and competence, or my technical background.  You have simply made assumption because I don't subscribe to your OPINIONS about Capture One Pro.  If you were as advanced as you would have us believe you would not be using and posting on the Serif Affinity forums.

    But I do have a clue about your technical understanding of raw developers, apparently camera sensors, and your over sized ego, so let's leave it at that.

    Ps. At this point it may be time to block you...

  4. 2 hours ago, Chills said:

    Actually, I have been suggesting a combination of Bridge and Lightroom as a DAM because I work on a magazine.
    However, most users of the three affinity tools would want a DPM.

    Certainly the APhoto users, but the APublisher users will certainly need images in their documents as will AIIllustrator users.

    That said, if starting new Seif can start with a clean sheet of paper and do something novel that isn't just a clone.
     

    I use DAM and DPM interchangeably and probably shouldn’t.  Like many others contributing to this thread, I have way north of a million images, plus huge numbers of other digital assets.  It would nice to seamlessly manage these assets among the various Affinity apps.  

    As primarily a photographer I make extensive use of the catalog functionality in Lightroom.  All we have been asking for (for years) is to add that cataloging functionality to AP. Clearly that is not going to happen, so moving on was the only option.

     

  5. @Bit Disappointed I personally see very little difference in COP’s and LR’s raw developers.  I still have both apps on my mac but I have nearly completely transitioned from COP to LR (camera raw) and I can make images from both systems look identical.  

    I can tell you that when I have completed the transition from Capture One Pro, I WILL NEVER USE ONE OF THEIR PRODUCTS EVER AGAIN!!!

    I can get close with AP but there is still a marked difference (libraw in its current iteration is just not up to the task).

    I shoot wildlife, landscapes, people in nature, motorsports, macro, astro, etc.  You will not catch me in a studio with people, and there is no amount of money that you could pay me to shoot a wedding.

    I do find your comments about studio photographers and camera raw, being good enough for them but not good enough for other photographers, to be completely off base.

    For the most part, it is how well you use the tools at your disposal… 

  6. Just now, Marshalleq said:

    I am struggling to keep up with this thread - but am interested, what do you use now?  Lightroom?

    Yes, I was using Capture One Pro and Affinity Photo...

    Capture One dramatically changed their licensing model.

    So I switch back to Lightroom and Photoshop.  I stopped using AP other than to manipulate an existing  AP file.  I was frankly shocked at how good both LR and PS were and was a little pissed at Serif for not providing a competing product to LR and upping the game on AP (particularly the raw developer).  Both Lightroom and Capture One have vastly superior raw developers as compared to most of the competitors.

  7. 9 hours ago, PaoloT said:

    99$ – or subscription – to get Apple Photos under a different name! 😁

    Paolo

     

    Not even close to apple photos, but believe that if you want.  I demo'd it and it is very capable, much more than apple photos.  But I already have 3 raw developer/photo editors so I don't need another.

    I was simply pointing out that nearly every photo app developer recognizes the need for a DAM.

    I have used Pixelmator in the past but no longer, although it is also fully featured...

  8. @Chills  I seriously doubt that Serif is even a blip on Adobe's radar screen. Serif is absolutely no threat to Adobe.  Adobe's top line per day is about $US55million, so Adobe generates more revenue in one day than Serif does in a year.

    (Adobe achieved record revenue of $19.41 billion in fiscal year 2023, which represents 10 percent year-over-year growth or 13 percent in constant currency. Diluted earnings per share was $11.82 on a GAAP basis and $16.07 on a non-GAAP basis.

    GAAP operating income was $6.65 billion and non-GAAP operating income was $8.92 billion. GAAP net income was $5.43 billion and non-GAAP net income was $7.38 billion.)

    We know that Capture One's top line is somewhere in the $US35M to $US40M range with a little over 50% from subscription plans.  We have an indication that Serif's top line is also in the $US35M to $US40M range with only perpetual licensing.

    Neither company is a threat to Adobe in any way, they are rounding errors in Adobe's top line, so it only makes sense to keep customers apprised of what is going one. I do understand that you have to be careful of the Osborne effect, but that can be managed.

    If Adobe sees something that they like in one of the other apps they can quickly implement their version on their own.

     

  9. If you look at the forum section "Feedback for the Affinity V2 Suite of Products"

    Other than the scripting discussion, this thread "Why won't Serif listen to customer needs and create a Lightroom alternative for us?" has by and far the most replies and views.

    Serif knows... for whatever reason they chose not to address the big white elephant in the room.

  10. 3 minutes ago, Chills said:

    There is a lot of this sort of thing that goes on. Microsoft was legendary for doing it.  Apple were better when Jobs was at the helm but since then..... 😞
    I am certain that MS Outlook was not a Microsoft development, Email, calendar, tasks and a contact database all in one.  My most used app over the last 30 years.

    I nearly went to Apple Aperture but at the last minute didn't press the "buy" and went Lightroom.  I think it was because Aperture wasn't on PC Also I knew that the Intel Macs were on the way and updates would only be on the Intel macs not the PPC ones.  Indeed Apple did an OS upgrade that didn't support Aperture before stopping support  

    Then again with Lightroom Adobe stopped support for the standalone V 6.14 Lightroom weeks before google changed the interface to the maps rendering the Maps section of the V6.14 inoperative. Adobe would have known the change was coming so they could update the CC version in time. I think this was in an effort to force people to the Creative Cloud Subscription system.  As the Adobe support page for this says "To continue using the Map service, it is recommended that you update to the latest Lightroom Classic version."    I didn't jump. 

    However a decent DAM like Lightroom +Bridge from Serrif would be great. I would pay for it.
     

    As photographers we are a small minority of Serif's customer base.  Aperture was by and far my favorite raw developer but alas...

    As stated above I am back to LR and PS...

  11. 4 hours ago, j3rry said:

    I have been waiting for (8!) years to see if Serif would develop a DAM and in this context also renew and improve the raw converter. But so far no sign of it so I've decided to renew my Adobe Abo. I will continue to monitor the Affinity Suite but will do my photo work with LR and PS.

     

    That is where I am as well, the shocking part is how much better PS is than AP.  Camera Raw really is way ahead of AP's raw converter.  Capture One is still the best IMHO, but their switch to a very expensive de facto subscription model drove me back to Adobe and away from Affinity.

  12. Pixelmator listened to their customers...

    Pixelmator has released a significant update to Photomator, its award-winning photo editing app for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro. Photomator 3.3 includes a powerful new file browser built on native macOS functionality, promising a fast and convenient photo browsing and editing experience, no matter where photographers keep their files.

    Plus it is non-destructive...

     

    photomator-3-3-featured-v2.jpeg

  13. 2 hours ago, ATP said:

    I want to pop in here and ask, are people happy with how Affinity Photo handles RAW photos?

    My old copy of Lightroom handles RAW pictures a lot better, so much so that I never use Affinity Photo for anything RAW.

    Their RAW processing needs to become a lot better if they create a Lightroom competitor.

    The short answer is no...  Serif uses LibRaw as the core raw handler then wraps its own develop algorithms around that.  

    AP is certainly not as good as LR, C1P, or DxO...

  14. 1 hour ago, Chills said:

    The good thing about Lightroom is the images stay where they are (and are not touched)  and there is a Library catalogue file.  
    Even if the catalogue fails (and the metadata sidecars)  the images and the file structure is unchanged.

    That was the challenge (and still is) with Capture One Pro.  Their catalog system is similar to Adobe's but it is unreliable.  So, many of us (current and former C1P users) simply use sessions or have a large number of catalogs (both defeat the purpose of an image DAM)...

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.