Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Colour Management => Topic started by: keith_cooper on May 13, 2010, 08:07:18 pm
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At last the all new profiling software from X-Rite can be publicly mentioned... ;-)
X-Rite i1Profiler info (http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/stuff/?p=489)
i1Profiler will get demonstrated at IPEX next week (Birmingham UK), ready for release later this year. I'll be at IPEX looking at this and new printers, since just for once it's only 25 miles from where I live.
If anyone has any specific questions, drop me a line and I'll see if I can find any more info next week.
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More X-Rite info at:
http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=156 (http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=156)
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Glad to hear something is finally coming, although a bit disappointed we have to wait until Q4.
I really hope they release a package for photographers that allows advanced RGB printer profiling without having to pay for the full-blown bundle with features we many of us don't want/need. There's a gap between PMP/MonocoProfiler on the high-end and i1Match/ColorMunki on the low end that they really need to fill.
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...this information is embargoed until X-Rite has their press release tomorrow.......
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At last the all new profiling software from X-Rite can be publicly mentioned... ;-)
X-Rite i1Profiler info (http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/stuff/?p=489)
i1Profiler will get demonstrated at IPEX next week (Birmingham UK), ready for release later this year. I'll be at IPEX looking at this and new printers, since just for once it's only 25 miles from where I live.
If anyone has any specific questions, drop me a line and I'll see if I can find any more info next week.
Thanks Keith - new profiler with i1Prism technology is exactly what I was waiting for after playing a bit with the Munki.
Any information about the new spectrophotometer, or is it still under NDA?
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...this information is embargoed until X-Rite has their press release tomorrow.......
That's why I waited until the 14th to mention it - I'm in the UK. I treat my NDAs and press release embargoes very seriously
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Thanks Keith - new profiler with i1Prism technology is exactly what I was waiting for after playing a bit with the Munki.
Any information about the new spectrophotometer, or is it still under NDA?
I'll see what X-Rite are publicly saying when I'm at IPEX...
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I'll see what X-Rite are publicly saying when I'm at IPEX...
It seems it will be introduced at IPEX, indeed:
[!--quoteo(post=0:date=:name=x-rite)--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE (x-rite)[div class=\'quotemain\'][!--quotec--]Color Proofing
(http://www.xrite.com/events/IPEX/images/prod_mystery_box.jpg)
NEW! Coming May 18.
Stay Tuned[/quote]
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I really hope they release a package for photographers that allows advanced RGB printer profiling without having to pay for the full-blown bundle with features we many of us don't want/need. There's a gap between PMP/MonocoProfiler on the high-end and i1Match/ColorMunki on the low end that they really need to fill.
X-Rite has the ear of the Photo market, don’t worry.
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X-Rite has the ear of the Photo market, don’t worry.
I would hope it would be the other way around, but I think I know what you meant.
I hope you're right, to be honest I find the lack of innovation or progress in the last 4-5 years from GMB/X-Rite kinda pathetic.
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I hope you're right, to be honest I find the lack of innovation or progress in the last 4-5 years from GMB/X-Rite kinda pathetic.
That’s not actually fair. The ColorMunki has a totally new color engine, one that builds quite excellent profiles with only 100 patches, due to its two step process along with the new iteration option. For higher end work, X-Rite did release the OBC target/products for use with the iSis. They released the Passport for the creation of DNG profiles and other WB tasks. Are we impatient in terms of a high end product to replace ProfileMaker Pro and PROFILER? Sure. But to say there’s been no innovation in 5 years simply isn’t true.
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Are we impatient in terms of a high end product to replace ProfileMaker Pro and PROFILER? Sure.
It's almost there, so we actually might forgive 'em
I also wish the new spectro will have DNA of an i1Sis, OBC, LED illuminator, interchangable UV and PL filter, and good upgrade offer...
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I also wish the new spectro will have DNA of an i1Sis, OBC, LED illuminator, interchangable UV and PL filter, and good upgrade offer...
New Spectrophotometer?
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New Spectrophotometer?
They say there's something new coming May 18.:
http://www.xrite.com/events/IPEX/products.html (http://www.xrite.com/events/IPEX/products.html)
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They say there's something new coming May 18.:
http://www.xrite.com/events/IPEX/products.html (http://www.xrite.com/events/IPEX/products.html)
Don’t see anything indicating there is a Spectrophotometer coming...
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Don’t see anything indicating there is a Spectrophotometer coming...
Neither did I, please excuse me. I was only referring to that "thing in a box", surrounded by spectrophotometers - it's just a mental leap.
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My biggest concern with X-Rite is their rather underhand pricing and nasty habit of cutting off their customers....
After having spent a considerable sum of money on ProfileMaker Pro PhotoStudio plus an iO and another spectro, they turned around and re-released the same software under a different name, and charged an exorbitant "upgrade" fee for it. My PM5 Photostudio is no longer "current" but "discontinued" even though it's exactly the same software and versions as the PM5 Platinum.
Yes I know you get a couple of extra modules, but if you've already bought those modules, you have to pay to "upgrade" to the exact same software you already have, just in order to be eligible for whatever they finally get around to releasing next.
Very poor way to treat your customers.
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That’s not actually fair. The ColorMunki has a totally new color engine, one that builds quite excellent profiles with only 100 patches, due to its two step process along with the new iteration option. For higher end work, X-Rite did release the OBC target/products for use with the iSis. They released the Passport for the creation of DNG profiles and other WB tasks. Are we impatient in terms of a high end product to replace ProfileMaker Pro and PROFILER? Sure. But to say there’s been no innovation in 5 years simply isn’t true.
The ColorMunki is a significant development, I agree. But for some reason they chose to limit this exciting new technology to their entry-level product, tying it to a measurement device that folks who have already purchased an i1 spectro have no interest in purchasing.
As for Passport, I hardly think taking the concept behind Adobe's free DNG Profiler and making it a bit easier to use (and substantially less flexible) qualifies as innovation.
I don't really follow developments on the uber-high end devices, so I don't have any comment in the iSis OBC. But when it comes to actual software, I think it's definitely fair to say they haven't done much in the way of significant product releases for their customers. Maybe if they had spent a little less time shuffling around sku's and licensing bundles on PMP5, and they could have gotten i1Profiler out a little sooner. I mean come on, the fact that they tried to announce the same old stuff (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090603005766&newsLang=en) as if it was an actual new product last year was just pathetic.
So while I'm looking forward to see what i1Profiler offers, I'm not particularly a fan of the company and I certainly wouldn't consider them "customer-driven".
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The ColorMunki is a significant development, I agree. But for some reason they chose to limit this exciting new technology to their entry-level product, tying it to a measurement device that folks who have already purchased an i1 spectro have no interest in purchasing.
They had to start somewhere. They also had to generate sales. The high-end market isn’t an area that will do this, at least initially. Iffor whatever reason, the powers to be inside X-Rite, a company that produces far more than color management products, decides that the color management division isn’t profitable and closes it down, we’re all screwed. So I’m willing to see them go after the Prosumer market first.
As for Passport, I hardly think taking the concept behind Adobe's free DNG Profiler and making it a bit easier to use (and substantially less flexible) qualifies as innovation.
Adobe’s product wouldn’t work without X-Rite’s target. The software is actually free. Its the target they are producing and selling that is key here. And while the Macbeth has been around forever, the new package, the additional patches with a WB tool is very useful and necessary for most shooters.
I don't really follow developments on the uber-high end devices, so I don't have any comment in the iSis OBC. But when it comes to actual software, I think it's definitely fair to say they haven't done much in the way of significant product releases for their customers.
This is software and hardware (a series of targets).
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I'll see what X-Rite are publicly saying when I'm at IPEX...
Any news from IPEX yet?
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Any news from IPEX yet?
Well, I'm just back - it's a huge show, mostly of the sort of print related stuff I don't have any business interest in, although I did have a very nice cup of coffee at the Heidelberg stand.
There is no new hardware on show
There is a demo that they are showing of some functionality of the new i1Profiler, with sample prints. Of course these are prints produced for a trade show, so you'd expect to see differences ;-) The OBA correction demo (based on the method available in Profiler Pro with the iSis) looked very good, and reflects my own experience in trying it with the iSis
Unfortunately I can't now give much more detail other than to say that the profile quality looks to be a definite improvement on previous software, and the workflow options look to be very well thought out for a number of different user groups.
The whole operation looks to be a -very much- grown up (i.e. not dumbed-down) version of what you get with the ColorMunki, so think refining of profiles by additional images and additional targets plus other stuff.
Since the software being shown is still alpha level, I'll respect X-Rite's request not to go into any more detail, since it might change before it gets released (I'd have took some photos otherwise ;-) )
One particularly good bit of news (well, to me anyway) is that the awful Eye One Share software is finally to get a burial at sea. I spent many years doing HCI/usability research before taking up photography, and it represents so many aspects of bad interface design that a friend who still lectures in the subject, includes it as an example of how not to design an interface - or more particularly what happens when graphic designers get together with engineers and forget about usability or HCI...
I also got to see the new HP z5200ps and a close look at a Canon iPF8300...
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i1Profiler is named as such because 1) it supports the EyeOne devices - devices like the Munki and DTPxx devices aren't supported. And 2) - the "Profiler" part is a tip of the hat to Monaco Profiler. i1Profiler is the new version of Monaco Profiler that many of us have waited so long for. It's got components of ProfilemakerPro (PMP) in it as well but overall it will be much more familiar to Monaco Profiler (MP) users than it will to PMP users. MP had a 2 step profiling process that many of us have found useful in some situations but obviously, as you can see from the Munki, they have taken that concept many steps further. The Monaco guys have been hard at work since their aquisition at XRite years ago and we're finally seeing the fruits of their labor. The Colormunki is a dumbed down version of i1Profiler and they share the new Profiler engine. Better results than we've ever seen before. Lots of exciting stuff to come and details to discuss later. Finally!