Focus Magic Plugin V5 not working on Mac (Monterey) with AP 2.2.1

[Remko]

I am running - for the moment - Monterey 12.5.1 on a M1 Max and have an issue with Focus Magic Plugin V5.

When selecting the plugin in AP 2.2.1 nothing happens. This is on a AP file (File name.afphoto). I used both Duplicate Layer and when that did not work, started anew and used Layer -> New Layer from Snapshot -> Background.

I have the plugin installed in the default AP plugin folder. I attach a screen shot of the Pref Photoshop Plugin.

Unfortunately Focus Magic Support is of no help at all. That has not been  my previous experience, they were really helpful in the past. Not so this time. I just got one line back, stating "Unfortunately, running plug-ins in Affinity is very hit and miss".

Your help is very much appreciated!

Kind regards,

Remko

[walt.farrell]

What kind of layer is selected in the Layers panel? What color format and bit-depth is your document?

[Remko]

Thanks Walt for chiming in!

As said I tried two different layers. A layer created by duplicating the background layer. And when that did not work, I started with a clean sheet and used Layer -> New Layer from Snapshot -> Background. The latter is what I always used when still working in Affinity Photo V1 with the Focus Magic Plugin (also V5). And there it worked great.

The image is a 16 bit one in the ProPhoto RGB color space.

Cheers,

Remko

 

[walt.farrell]

30 minutes ago, Remko said:

The image is a 16 bit one in the ProPhoto RGB color space.

And the layer is a pixel layer, not some other kind like an image layer or a RAW layer?

[stokerg]

Hi @Remko,

I've just quickly installed the plugin and it's working for me on MacOS Sonoma.  

I'll try this on Monterey this afternoon and will report back here if it works for me or not  

 

 

[Remko]

Yes, Walt, it is a normal pixel layer.

[Remko]

3 minutes ago, stokerg said:

Hi @Remko,

I've just quickly installed the plugin and it's working for me on MacOS Sonoma.  

I'll try this on Monterey this afternoon and will report back here if it works for me or not  

 

 

@stokerg

That is very encouraging, Stokerg! Is that V5 of Focus Magic?

I just got a new reply from Focus Magic, an answer to my reaction that I had expected more from them. They say that they are aware that Focus Magic is not working anymore with AP V2. And Support said, I quote: "In the early days of Affinity, we gave them a registered copy of Focus Magic so that they could get things sorted out on their end.  They got it sorted but at some stage it broke again.  If they want another copy we are more than happy to give them one."

For what it worth, as you have it working 😉

cheers,

Remko
 

 

[stokerg]

Hi @Remko,

Odd they say it's not working, as you can see on this screen recording it loads.  That screen recording was recorded Monterey.  I didn't have a great image to test the plugin on but it appears to work fine.  There's a small delay after clicking okay and you get the beachball but it does return to Affinity after a couple of seconds.

 

[Remko]

@stokerg

That is great news!! Yes, I find their reaction odd as well.

Still, at my side it is not working yet. Do you have any tips? Where do you have the Focus Magic Plugin installed? I have it at the default Plugin folder.

Does anything on the attached screen capture look wrong to you?

Is it perhaps that I have to give full disk access to the plugin?

Thank you so much in advance.

 

 

[Remko]

@stokerg

I would truly appreciate an answer.

What I cannot see from your screenshot is whether you used V5 of the plugin.

What also might make a difference is if the plugin was already installed in an earlier version of AP? Or did you a fresh install last Friday?

Thanks in advance!

cheers,

Remko