On Sun, Nov 15, 2009 at 9:07 AM, Candace Lemarr
<CandaceRocks@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Do you know what the main differences are between Master 2 and Studio?
Hi Candace,
Your question prompted me to try to do something I've meant to do for
some time. I tried to see if I could use FastStone to open an ORF
file directly into Master's RAW converter. I can get this to happen
with Studio2 just fine, and after updating Master to the latest and
greatest version, I can get it to open in Master2 as well. It is not
quite as smooth as the transition into Studio2 and the interface in
Master is gee-whiz compared to the more Lightroom-ish Studio2. I like
Studio2 better, but that might also be just what I'm used to now.
(The current Master v.2 interface is much better than the old Master
v.1.) In practice, the RAW converter part of Studio and Master seems
almost identical in operation. It provides the dialogues which mirror
proprietary camera settings like "gradation," custom WB settings in
the camera, etc., which is what Studio2 does as well.
Master is an essential program, for me, for one reason only: it seems
to work better than Studio2 to connect the camera for firmware
updates. It's not like you need that all of the time, but when you
need it, you really need it.
When Studio2 is configured as an external editing program in FS, ORF
files open in an editing window in Studio2. It is important the first
time you work with Studio2, however, to run through all of the options
and make sure to set up PS or whatever as the registered editor. If
you have color management profiles (for the monitor especially), you
can identify those, too. Same with Master.
I have found that when I use FS to open an ORF in Studio2, I am able
to perform the few functions I want performed in RAW conversion and
simply click X to close Studio2. It then provides a dialogue prior to
saving the file and asks what to do when the file is saved. This
dialogue allows me to select the quality of file I want saved (16-bit
TIFF) and what I want it to do after closing (open the registered
editor). I make those selections (I wish it were possible to register
or save my "save" routine, but I can't, so it requires a few clicks
each time) and then click "Save" and PS opens with the TIFF file ready
for further editing.
Master doesn't seem to be able to transition as neatly into PS.
Instead, you have to save the TIFF and close the RAW converter. You
will be in the browser at that point and can just click the TIFF
version to open it and it will launch PS (or whatever) at that point.
My routine from there is to work the TIFF file in PS, convert down to
8-bit and save to jpg. I save the jpg to a separate folder from the
TIFF and ORF files. I don't mind having the TIFF file alongside the
ORF file temporarily. I come back to the folder in FastStone later
and mark the TIFFs for deletion and, theoretically, move the related
ORF file into an archive. Filenames for ORF, TIFF, and jpg are the
same other than the extension. FastStone makes this sort of folder
cleanup pretty easy
Studio2's shortcomings for me are in not providing a way to load a
file of saved settings. For example, I use some settings in the
camera that I never mean to carry over into raw conversion. I used to
use the "auto" setting in Gradation and would usually always change it
to "normal" in the RAW conversion. Same thing with +2 sharpening
settings which I would then turn off in conversion. It would be nice
to be able to load a file with my standard settings for RAW
conversion. I don't do batch conversions (though I certainly could),
but it might be a good feature to have in that case too.
Joel W.
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