12" Pbook / 12" iBook & Aperture - Experiences?

Hi all,
I am wondering about comparative performance using Aperture on either of the 12" Apple portables. One has more video memory but the other has a more modern graphics chip...
Anybody care to share their own experience of how well either of these works?
Obviously we know neither is officially supported and that I will have slow performance... but it is possible to run Aperture on these machines. No need to go into the details. Assume we are looking at the latest PPC models with at least 1gig of RAM.
FWIW I am interested in these models as they are the most portable and I do not wish to wait for possible future 12 or 13" Intel portables. I will be using Aperture as an on the spot proofing and workflow tool in conjunction with Nikon Capture and Photoshop.
Thanks
Gaberdine.
EDIT: If this thread sounds familiar, it is because my earlier one of the same name was deleted by the Mods. I have absolutley no idea why it was taken down - it broke no rules as far as I can tell[> - but it did make an oblique reference to other posts detailing how it is possible to run Aperture on 12" portables which are not officially supported. (Maybe they don't want us to know?)
So please, if you must reference enabling Aperture on 12" portables, do not use the word h_a ck as it can be misconstrued as something naughty - instead use the Apple-approved term, "workaround". Thanks.
12" Al Powerbook G4 80GB, 768MB, SD Mac OS X (10.4.4) ... and half a bottle of Laphroaig.

sounds like a malfunction with the adapter...if u unplug adapter does the battery still charge computer and show a high charge ro does it slip as soon as u unplug it?

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IMac & External Display & Aperture - Experiences

I have been thinking of getting the new quad core iMac to use with an external monitor for photo editing, relegating the iMac built in display to doing what it does best - acting as a looking glass!
From my own experience and reviews I have read on the web, the performance of Aperture is significantly affected by the graphics card. So what I want to ask is, has anyone here tried this and if so what effect on Aperture's performance does connecting an external display have? If it has an effect do you still find Aperture 'fast enough'? Yes I know 'fast enough' is a relative term and what one person deems fast another may find slow.
Thanks in advance any answers appreciated.
P.S. Is there any way to switch the iMacs built in display off and just use the external display?
John

Hi John
You can not turn off the iMac display, but it shouldn't be a problem if you run the setup in Extended Desktop Mode and then use the connected display as your main Display. Go to: System Preferences > Display's > select the Arrangement tab, then turn Mirroring Off and drag the menu bar to the connected display.
The display on the right is my 17" iMac Display, but I use my 21.5" LG on the left as the main Display. I run most of my Applications on the 21.5" LG Display and use the 17" iMac Display for Finder, iTunes, Tools, Preference panels and other Utilities.
Dennis

Getting new Mac for Aperture and have a question...

I totally realize that this is a personal preference with no "wrong" way to do it. However, I would appreciate some thoughts so I can form a better idea of how I will set up an Aperture workflow that will work for me for a long time and how to configure my new iMac.
I use the referenced library workflow and store both my masters and Aperture library on my current internal drive with both backed up to externals. I'm getting a new Mac with the SSD drive for apps and OS (and Aperture library as well). The question is, should I get the mega 2 TB internal HDD along with that SSD for all my masters (which would also include my music and home-made movies)?
My current photo storage adds up to only 130GB right now and grows slowly. I don't even think I would double that in the next year. I realize that if I had, say, a 1.5 TB size Masters library, the the answer would be obvious that I would need to store externally because the iMac HDD isn't big enough. But that isn't my situation.
But since I would be able to fit all my photos on an internal HDD (2TB) to use as referenced, is there a better reason to skip the internal 2TB HDD and just get hooked up with some good, high-speed external system and stick with an internal SSD to just handle the OS, music, and apps? In other words, all my media (photos and movies) would always be stored AND edited from an external drive (I will actually edit on the SSD and then move the referenced files to the external). This means that from now on all new Macs I ever get will only need a moderate sized SSD for OS and apps. I would basicallt forever keep all things media on externals.
I hope this makes sense. Thanks for any help with this.

jbshanks wrote:
One other thing... the only way for me to get a 1GB VRAM now is to buy the top-of-the-line iMac. That's the issue.
I've seen that also. That's why I added the "If you can wait.." statement.
If you need to purchase before say late October, then the specs you list for the 21" iMac are quite good and the possibility of developers designing GPU threads that require caching in the VRAM may or may not need amounts beyond 512 MB. The fact that Apple offers an upgrade to the 2 GB VRAM video adapter on their high-end machine tells me that they know that the Pro Apps will be able to take advantage of that amount (not that it is necessary for the enthusiast looking to have a good Aperture experience).
SierraDragon has much more experience than I with Aperture, so he may be able to shed some light on this one.
For my part, I run a 17" MacBook Pro (late 2011) which has the 2.5 Ghz i7, 8 GB Apple provided RAM, and the AMD 6770 with 1 GB VRAM. I installed an OWC 480 GB SSD and I am connected to the Apple Thunderbolt Display (because this machine only offers a Thunderbolt port to connect video signals with). Aperture runs fine on my machine (although for some reason cropping takes a couple of seconds now, where it was immediate before the AP 3.3 update). I run Photoshop CS6 and Illustrator CS6 without any issues on this machine, so it is definitely capable of running in a professional environment.
Since your specs call-out a 2.8 Ghz i7, 16+ GB RAM and an SSD, I personally would not hesitate to purchase that machine if you need to purchase soon. I just mentioned the 1 GB VRAM due to your wanting to be able to handle 4+ years of updates to the OS and software. That doesn't mean the 512 GB VRAM won't work great, just that the 1 GB VRAM would be additional insurance (sort of like Apple Care).

Version name is not shown in browser, Aperture 3. I had it, but by accident I removed it.

Version name is not shown in browser, Aperture 3. I had it, but by accident I removed it.
I could not find the solution in Aperture Help.
What is the command / option that makes the version name visible in the browser?
Best regards,
b adrian

View->Metadata Display will show all the oprions and shortcuts.
Metadata display is very rich in Aperture and appears in a lot of different areas of the display. Getting familiar with it all will make your Aperture experience a lot more rewarding.
See Working with Metadata in the manual.

IPhoto and Aperture... working together? Tips please?

Hi there, I'm a new Mac user. I moved over from the PC where I used Adobe Photoshop and ACDsee image viewer. I wanted to get the Aperture experience so I now have Aperture 2.
The 1st part of my problem is, a lot of my photos are already "in" iPhoto '08. I imported them before I got Aperture 2.
The 2nd part of my problem is that I don't really fully understand how iPhoto '08 works. I can't seem to wrap my brain around the notion that it's primarily a database. I have all my photos carried into my computer via iPhoto, but I immediately copy them over to my external hardrive, rename them, then import them BACK into iPhoto. Is that the scenic route, or what? But right now, it's the only way I can really get a grip on how the whole process will work to my benefit of understanding. After the pictures are back in iPhoto I then "understand" them to be existing in 2 separate places; one on my external hard drive, the other on my internal drive where iPhoto stores them (wherever the heck that is!).
This brings me to my ultimate problem. I don't, at all, understand how Aperture and iPhoto would collaborate together to allow me to edit the pictures in Aperture, while still allowing iPhoto to present them to me in a "photo viewer" type of way.
I don't know how to work with BOTH programs at the same time; Aperture AND iPhoto '08.
I want to use Aperture to edit my pictures but I still want to use iPhoto to view my pictures. I think iPhoto is a neat little program, and would really like to keep using it. I'm just recently exploring iWeb and the two really work well together.
Would anyone have any good tips for a beginner?
Thank you so much
YahYah

Hi and welcome to the Mac!
Alright. Before you do anything else, you need to stop, sit down and - as William said - watch the tutorial. In fact, you need to watch all the Aperture tutorials. Second, Aperture is database. Repeat after me: +Aperture IS a database. Aperture manages my pictures... I don't touch them, move them or copy them.+
If you're worried about that well, don't be. Although it appears like a monolithic file in the Finder, there is no weird compression going on that makes pictures unreadable. You can always get to a photo through the Finder if need be. But I've never had to.
With Aperture you've bought into the mother lode in terms of photo management. So please understand this: Aperture HAS to be the master here. Believe me, it'll make your life a lot easier further down the road. There are all sorts of ways to integrate Aperture in the iLife workflow. In fact a lot of iPhoto 08's (fun) functions have made it into big brother Aperture 2. My advice to you would be to use Aperture for ALL your importing, cataloging and editing and then use iPhoto on a per need basis. You can import select pictures from your AP library into iPhoto without duplicating the files by going into iPhoto's preferences/advanced and unchecking "Copy items in the iPhoto Library". This means you'll be able to drag photos from the Aperture library panel into iPhoto without duplicating anything. IPhoto will simply link to your AP library package. Things you need to be aware of:
• read up on Aperture previews. Any picture that has a preview can be shared amongst any iLife app (iWeb included). To create an iWeb photo page for instance, you simply open iWeb, choose your template and drag the pictures you want from the media browser. Not much more difficult than iPhoto.
• read up on import strategies. Your process as described is quite convoluted and will only lead to duplicate files all over the place. It could also generate serious problems eventually.
Using Aperture to only do editing is like buying a Ferrari to drive in a school zone. You absolutely need to grasp the concept of the application, how it integrates with the rest of your computer life and what it can do for you. I know it may seem daunting at first and you might be tempted to revert to your old ways of doing things. But don't. You'll be a lot happier in the long run AND you'll also be making the most of your recent purchases. Trust the Mac young jedi....

Laptop needs an "Aperture Lite"? Just for reviewing projects.

I am never going to run Aperture on my powerbook or older
computers. I do need to show clients their weddings.
Apple! Any chance of an Aperture Lite that can view projects only on
our 1.25 12inch powerbook? I don't need the conversions or other
tools that drag down the speed. I do need to show client and would
love the same interface for that purpose.
Sure would be nice to see a light table, book design and review
interface on our powerbook.

There are many software programs that have lite
versions. I don't see why
Aperture can't also just for all of us with older
powerbooks and computers that can meet the high end
requirements. Aperture could read the powerbook
requirements and install a lite version for viewing
only. A lite version that is not so power hungry
would be a great idea for client review. A lite
version could read the raw files and display proxy
that would open fast, show a light table or even have
the book design feature.
I was thinking out loud about what would be nice for
those of us with the older powerbooks that can not
install or use Aperture. A trimmed down version
would still be valuable in the way we want to use it
as a library and for showing clients our wedding
galleries.
iPhoto or Preview would work for this and they both cost nothing, actually even on my iBook Aperture is very usuable for browsing and proofing.
iBook G4 12" 1.33 1GB ram, iMac 233 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Turning the corner with Aperture. Performace improved, a few issues remain

First off, let me apologize for being a harsh SOB early on.
I have made improvements in my Aperture understanding and workflow. My machine is a dual 2 GHz(not dual core) G5, that HAD the stock Radeon 9600 card, 2 GB RAM, and the Aperture library is on a second 250 GB SATA internal drive and vaulting goes out to a Lacie D2 500 GB external FW800 disk.
After reading this and other boards, I decided to upgrade my video card to the X 800XT which made my Aperture experience very snappy and in turn me happy(er). I have yet to try overclocking the card(with software) to see if I get a further perfomance bump.
Another thing that has improved my experience is adding another display. This was cheap for me as I still have my four year old 17" Apple Studio Display that came with my DP 800 G4. I really need to eBay that!
Calibrating that display with my 20" was a snap with a Spyder2PRO.
Faster graphics and an extra screen has made a big difference in my workflow with being able to have a separate display for viewing/adjusting/cropping and doing compares.
THAT said, improvements that are still needed:
Speeding up the jpg generation(exporting and web pages)
--Sharpening doubles the time to export, this can be an issue on weddings with 500-600 proofs
Posterizing/loss of gradients of shadow areas
Output from D2X NEFS is chock full of aliasing(ya OS update for that)
More templates for web, contact sheets, and books, books really need shadow/glow effects as well
More book sizes, PLEASE!
Integration with other pro labs like WhiteHouse Color, Kodak's prices are way out of line with their competitors
11x14 not offered for ordering
More printing options similar to CS2 picture packages
So, I am turning the corner with Aperture and looking forward to the release of 10.4.4 and Aperture 1.XX
-John

Dual monitors - I'm running a 22" CRT as the main monitor with a 20" Cinema Display as the secondary monitor, and found for most purposes that the best combination is to have the main monitor set up as 'multi' but without the viewer pane showing, and the secondary monitor set up as 'span' - any thumbnails you select on the main monitor are shown on the secondary monitor, leaving you lots of space to see big thumbnails.
Obviously for books and web galleries you need to show the viewer pane (V), but you still get to see selected images large on the secondary screen.
Ian

Airport Reception

I have been tempted to upgrade from my 5 month-old iBook G4 to a Powerbook 15" (refurbished unit), but I'm always stopped by reports of lousy Airport reception. Is it an established fact that PBooks get worse wireless than iBooks..or is it just Apple legend? Are there any PBook users out there with positive (at least as good as iBook) Airport experiences?

I have a hard time believing the problem MOST of us experience is due to a loose AP card. A loose AP card doesn't suddenly heal/reseat itself with a machine restart.
It seems that the only successful fixes for this problem in the last 15" PBs are:
1) Repair Permissions (I'm joking here, it worked for one guy; I've tried it countless times with no luck whatsoever)
2) Another AP base station installed in the home. (Another joke.) This one sounds like it was as much of a signal issue as anything else. That is, the home it was in sounded too big for adequate AP reception with only one BS.
3) Restart your machine. Which does work like a charm, but is not what was advertised by Apple in PB ads. Not even in tiny legal type hidden somewhere.
SO...that leaves us all with only one recourse (actually two, but hopefully the first will be all that's necessary): to constantly call Apple and complain in a firm but civil manner until this issue is resolved. We might have better luck going through Customer Relations. They can be accessed via the regular help line; you just have to ask a person to connect you with that department.
I think a good idea would be to tell the reps that there are multitudes of 15" last-gen PB owners experiencing this same problem (as evidenced by Apple's own boards right here) and we want to know what Apple is doing to address it...or if we need to pursue "other avenues" to get the problem rectified.
It might be warranted to call them oh, let's see...whenever the problem occurs. Or some close variation of that. For me, that would be literally almost every single day. PITA. But if enough of us do it and raise enough of a stink, my guess is they'll realize it will cost them more NOT to address it than to ignore it. As it stands, this lack of ANY official response is simply unacceptable.
The help line is 1-800-SOS-APPL. Dial early and often, people.

Dead hard drive? replace myself?

Hi folks,
My hard drive was making a funny clicking/vibrating noise while spinning for the past 2 months. I have backed up everything, fortunately, to an external HD. Today, the HD seems to have died. When it spins, it makes a worse clicking/grinding sound, and the iBook freezes and becomes unresponsive (except to reboot, and the boot sequence freezes when the HD starts to spin). Currently, I have my backup external firewire HD attached and I'm actually loading OSX.3 onto it now so that perhaps I can boot from it and get access to files.
Now for the hard stuff. I've been quoted by local Apple Store and another Apple local shop $350-$450 for replacement HD and recovery of files. For another few hundred, I could buy a used PBook or iBook on eBay, which is tempting, but my current iBook is fine except for the HD, so it seems. And I see plenty of quite inexpensive replacement 40-80 GB HD's on eBay for less than $100. Questions are two:
- is it reasonable to assume HD is dead, and if so,
- should I buy a replacement and install it myself?
My technical skills: I have installed memory cards into my Lombard PBook, memory into my Dell subnotebook, and on occasion I can use hammer, nails, and drill. I am a doctor, but not a surgeon.
Yes, no, maybe?? Tell me if I'm getting in way over my head.
-- Josh

Hi Joshua,
Does wen you said it freezes, does it actually freeze or do you get the spinning wheel? Can you move the mouse? I would wait a couple of days before thinking about installing a new hard drive. The reason being, we might find that it isn't necessarily a failing hard drive; it could be something else. You might want to look at Mac OS X v10.3 Tutorials - Troubleshooting a Mac that Won't Start and Knowledge Base Document #106464 on Your Mac won't start up in Mac OS X (Mac OS X 10.3.9 or earlier).
You may also want to try reseting the PMU (Knowledge Base Document #14449, which covers Resetting Powerbook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)). What does it say next to S.M.A.R.T. status (Checking the S.M.A.R.T. status of your hard disk (Disk Utility 10.5))?
Jon
PS The iFixit guide is a great guide as long as your patient and read it over a couple of times before you begin. Remember it's not a race; if you find yourself getting frustrated, stop, walk away, and come back when you have relaxed.
Mac Mini 1.42Ghz, iPod (All), Airport (Graphite & Express), G4 1.33Ghz iBook, G4 iMac 1Ghz, G3 500Mhz, iBook iMac 233Mhz, eMate, Power Mac 5400 LC, PowerBook 540c, Macintosh 128K, Apple //e, Apple //, and some more... Mac OS X (10.4.5) Moto Razr, iLife '06, SmartDisk 160Gb, Apple BT Mouse, Sight..

WD Passport

I'm considering a Western Digital Passport Essential 320GB external hard drive to use with my iBook G4. Experience with a different USB-powered external drive leads me to assume the iBook won't provide enough power for the Passport. A "power booster cable" is available for the Passport, but I have what I think would be a better solution for my particular needs -- if it'll work.
So here's the question: If I were to plug an AC-powered four-port USB hub into the computer, and plug the Passport into the hub, would the hub provide the necessary power for the Passport?
(And yeah, it sounds like kinda a dumb question, but I want to be certain about what I'm doing before I start buying $100+ items.)

Given the limited port power in the computer, use of a powered USB hub is
recommended when adding items to use with the computer. Be sure you do
not attach a keyboard to the USB powered port. It would work, but may not
be adequate in that configuration for use with certain keys on startup. The
external powered USB port can support a mouse, in addition to printers and
other items (camera downloads, etc.) A self-powered externally enclosed
hard disk drive is sometimes a better answer; especially when it may be
expected to be able to boot a computer from an on-board clone.
(For that, I use a FireWire externally enclosed hard disk drive with AC adapter.)
After you set up a USB powered hub, you should be aware that if any odd
issues result with the peripheral components, to test them separately. And
when performing system upgrades or updates, you may be best advised
to only have the computer's keyboard, mouse, and power cord attached.
Both of my computers have powered USB hubs and other items attached.
There may be times when things stop working; or act odd. It is possible
for a powered USB hub to fail or partially fail and make trouble.
(I use a standard USB keyboard and mouse, printer, etc; with my iBook G4
on a powered USB hub; and also have a keyboard tray with the Book on top.)
Good luck & happy computing!
edited 2x.

Adding Color to Areas of a Photo

Hello All,
Amateur/hobbyist with limited Aperture experience here, so please bear with what will surely be a novice question.
I want to add color to a picture. For example I have a picture of the front of my house with my front lawn in the foreground. The lawn looks great, but the parts near the road are fairly burnt out and brown. What I would like to do is "copy" the color from the best parts of the lawn and brush them on/over the brown parts. I've searched the forum and tried some of the tips that I read, but I haven't been able to achieve the correct effect.
I'm sure this is possible, but the novice in me is looking for some direction. Thanks much in advance for any assistance.
Marc

Sovelin,
Thanks for the reply. Using your suggestion I tried "Retouch" and selected "Clone". It took a bit of practice and some patience, but the lawn in the photo is a nice lush green. Thanks much for the advice.
Regards,
Marc

Airport firmware

I was updating the firmware to todays latest on my airport extreme (previous gen), and it was possibly interupted by a power surge. It booted up fine, and broadcasts the wifi and things work as normal, however I can configure it, or even see info about it. I get the message: "This version of airport utility requires this airport extreme use firmware version 7.3.1 or later. Go to airport service and support for more information"
Same is true on my iPhone and iPad using the Airport Utility on that. What Should I do? is there a way to manualy restore the firmware to the newest version? Thanks!

In answer to your questions. I would assume the settings would transfer. Also did you look under the Apple in top menu bar, Software Updates, Software Update Preferences, Installed Updates? And I could be wrong, but I would think it would overwrite, but maybe someone knows better. I never had to do what you're asking, because for , I think $6 & 2 or 3 $ shipping I got my Graphite, works great and was up and running in 5-10 minutes. But I think the reasoning behind the Graphite was I had two G3 PBooks and IBook G4 running and it fit the bill for those older machines. And there is the Airport discussions http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=140

Any news on G5 dual-core graphics cards?

Still waiting for something faster than my lame 6600LE. Any news?

Keep us posted doug. Carsten (?) did exactly the same as you a few weeks ago and found it helped, but held-back slightly because of the 1.1 release. Hopefully 1.1.1 unleashes the 7800 power again.
I'm in no doubt the Marketing bods in Aperture overpromised with what the 6600 delivered. I'm in no doubt someone in the dual-core G5 team needs a slap for releasing the systems with zero video card upgrades - totally unacceptable for any system manufacturer to do. Then make them available for new Customers only - talk about forbidden fruit !
As for directing people's frustrations, i use these boards to mintain visibility of the problem, the Feedback system and a time limit. I've said before despite Joe's commendable efforts to investigate, if he cannot persuade the powers in Apple to actually do something by say June 10th, then we do other things dissatisfied Customers do that Companies get embarassed about - what else is there ? Its now seven months since they created the problem and nine weeks since Joe began investigating. My bigger worry is when the new MacPros arrive our concerns drop even further down the 'top-of-the-line mac systems' priority list.
I've become a broken record on this issue (again), but until its solved, my Aperture experience very seriously degraded. I continue to put-up with it because i can see how Aperture will be an asset to my workflow in for future business. Forbidden fruit again !

Who is this guy posting on the DP Review Mac forums?

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1017&message=17544756
Hmmm, any chance he could post here?

He popped-up in the 'dual 6600' thread under one of my many posts about zero graphics card upgrade options. Anyhow he did step forward and at least acknoweledged the issue. Give me hope my Aperture experience will improve with a better card - someday.
Looking at it from his perspective, these forums are crammed with issues people have. So to dive-in and be vocal is an excellent example for other Product leads to follow. Should hit the 'helpful' tag !

Does anyone have any experience of using an Aperture library on a Drobo or Promise Pegasus? If so any problems or tips?

My intention is to place my Aperture library a Thunderbolt Raid device and access via my Macbook Pro SSD Retina. The thinking is that I would have the capability of having a large library and wouldn't run out of space for some time - I understand that the library would also need to be backed up.
If anyone could share their experience positive or negative I'd be very grateful.

I have Aperture installed on a three month old Drobo 5D ( containing five WD 3 TB RED NAS hard drives) attached via Thunderbolt to my Macbook Pro with Retina Display, and Aperture is beautifully responsive with this setup. I do have a 60 GB mSATA card installed in the Drobo 5D, but I find it makes a real difference only when you are trying to acess a lot of small files, e.g. Aperture thumbnails. The Drobo 5D and Aperture make a good combination.
With a folder containning a mix of large and small size files, I find that it often looks like it is going to take a long time to copy the files with the Drobo 5D, and then after a short period of time the Drobo 5D really takes off and copies files at a very high rate of speed. In other words, don't form too hasty an opinion of how fast a group of files is going to be copied. Also, measured speeds with the Drobo 5D are not as impressive as you might expect, but the real-world performance is quite remarkable and fully in line with my expectations.
Tom

12" Pbook / 12" iBook & Aperture - Experiences?

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