Just to let you guys know I’ve solved the RAW Fine Tuning bug I was having.

After hearing about several users who didn’t have this problem on their machine, I decided to create a new OS X user and run Aperture from there: lo and behold, the problem was gone!

So it had to be something in my specific user folder. I took everything out of User/Library/Application Support/Aperture and started adding files back one by one. The culprit? A plist file called Raw Decode Presets.plist. What’s odd is that this plist contains specific information on every camera I’ve used since Aperture 1.5 but does not contain my RAW presets. It’s also not part of the new user’s folder so it’s either something that’s no longer used in AP3 or it’s created when importing with a camera for the first time.

Anyway, trashing this has solved the problem with zero ill effects; I even still have all my presets.

I think this version of Aperture might have a few issues with legacy files. It would certainly explain a lot of the seemingly random problems we’ve been seeing.

But after two pretty swift updates, things were starting to settle. I still had crashes here and there but they were becoming less and less frequent. I was slowly beginning to see light at the end of the Aperture 3 tunnel/mess.

Until yesterday.
Now, I just don’t know what to say anymore.

The latest chapter in the saga? With the 10.6.3 update Raw Fine Tuning no longer saves my changes between restarts. Sometimes. On some pictures. We’re talking same camera, same memory card, same lens (!!!!). Here’s a video of the  bug in action:

This is pretty huge. Especially when combined with another post-update incident where certain files from yesterday morning’s import session lost ALL adjustments I had made – brushes, crop, curves, everything. And they hadn’t just reverted back to their RAW state: the contrast slider had been set at -0.1, making the pictures completely washed out.

I have no words. I’m now scared and having serious trust issues with Aperture. And don’t get me started on print presets… I’m just too tired to get into that right now.

Anyone else seeing this bug? Or am I one of the lucky random few?

UPDATE: Another video trying to make sense of it all:

1. Current 32 bit plugins don’t run in 64 bit: this was to be expected but it’s a pain. Aperture needs to be opened in 32 bit mode to use the current crop of plugins. So if you use any sort of plugin on a day to day basis this means no 64 bit for you (me). It probably also means we’re going to need to buy new versions of every plugin we own.
2. Faces: I was never excited about this feature and I’m still not convinced. First, it needs to scan the entire library. This,  my friends, takes a looong time on a large library. After three hours it had gone through 4000 pics (from 65000) and had made some pretty odd choices. It also crashed my iMac to the point where my main library would no longer open and had to be rebuilt. Some 30 sweat-filled minutes later, I decided to disable it altogether. Not sure it’ll come back on.
3. Flickr: this is the exact same export module you get in iPhoto 09. I was hoping to at least be able to choose from my own custom export presets (size, watermark) but  can’t. This may be fine for a consumer product but I’d expect more from a pro app. And yes, I know Flickr isn’t geared towards pros. But these days social sites are a big part of marketing  - like it or not.
4. Web Pages: no change from version 2. Same templates and layouts. Not too hot.
5. Export: no sharpening on export. I was really hoping for this one.
6. Help: the user manual is no longer a pdf but a Help Viewer (html) doc. And for some reason it’s incredibly slow. Not only am I not a fan of the help viewer, but this means I can’t put the manual on my iPod for some night reading (tried: doesn’t work).
7. Skin Retouching: most brushes and bricks are smooth as silk but this one runs like molasses. It also tends to make the skin look like chalk. Maybe I haven’t found the right settings yet but the slow speed makes it hard to experiment with.
8. On the bug front: the Blank setting on my second display doesn’t stick. It keeps reverting back to Alternate even though the menu still says Blank. Annoying.

As I said, Aperture 3 is still a stellar upgrade and an absolute no brainer. There are tons of enhancements that are truly worth the price of entry. But as expected a 3.0.1 version will be needed.

1) We can now turn Black Point Compensation back on and use paper profiles. Goodbye purple!
2) Aperture sends the right tray info to my R2880 so no more Preview workaround!!!

Number 2 had me worried: it didn’t work the first time I tried it, giving me the same wrong paper error. After cancelling the operation I went into the Print Settings in my preset and it was showing the right tray (sheet feeder). Instinctively I re-saved the preset and that seems to have done the trick. Not sure if it was a fluke or if it’ll need to be done for each preset. Frankly, I don’t care – just glad this is finally fixed.

I’ve also heard that the quad-core iMacs have begun shipping. APX for christmas anyone?