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Leica's 41-megapixel M10-R rangefinder is made for landscape photography
Now the German manufacturer has released its highest-resolution model yet, the $8,295 full-frame, 40.9-megapixel M10-R. Unlike past models, it has more potential for landscape or city photography requiring maximum detail. For one, it now makes a good landscape or portrait camera. Both have 3-inch TFT rear displays, 100-50,000 ISO ranges, Maestro II image processors and Leica’s split-screen manual focus system.
Intensify is a powerful image editor for Mac OS
Intensify is a new Mac app designed to dramatically enhance your images without requiring you to have deep knowledge of editing and adjustments. I would put it solidly between the iPhoto's editing tools and Photoshop. Open Intensify, then open an image and explore the presets designed by pro photographers. You'll find options that go way beyond iPhoto and other simple image editors, yet the changes are easy to apply. If you can't find a preset you like, there is a full range of adjustments that work in real time for things like contrast, exposure, vibrance, structure, details and shadow detail. Like all image editors, you can be as subtle or as far out as you like. Intensify opens both RAW and 16-bit images. I found the app and its adjustments best suited for landscapes, where editing can make a powerful difference. I tried some images taken on a recent trip to Bryce Canyon in Utah, and was pleased with the results. Supported file formats include RAW, TIFF 8- and 16-bit, PNG and JPEG. The app lets you see your changes side by side with the original as you work, and in every case I could really improve on my original. The structure slider gave the rocks more detail, and I painted a mask over the sky and reduced the exposure to bring out more sky colors without darkening the rest of the image. Intensify supports multiple layers so you can add effects on top of your original and easily enhance or remove them. Brushes are adjustable, and there is an undo command. The shadow-recovery tool can help give you an HDR look with only one exposure. In fact, in some cases I preferred the Intensify output to my three-exposure HDR combinations. There are two versions of Intensify. One is on sale for US$29.99 in the Mac app store. Intensify Pro adds the ability to function as a plug-in inside Photoshop, Aperture, Lightroom or Elements. It also opens Adobe PSD files directly, and offers a few tools like micro-sharpness and a de-halo feature. The Pro version is only available through the MacPhun website and is on sale at $49.99. Both versions of the app worked fine under Mavericks and were stable in a couple hours of use. One can't compare the results of Intensify to Photoshop directly. Intensify certainly is easier, but it lacks some tools like spot or dust removal. It's not intended to be a Photoshop replacement. Yet it has tools that can enhance an image equally to what you can do in Photoshop with a lot less work and a lot less know-how. I have been impressed with Intensify, and I think the photographer who wants more out of his images without a large expenditure for software will like what Intensify achieves. Pros will appreciate the range of adjustments, while less-advanced photographers will love the variety of automatic settings. The feature set is deep enough that it can't be covered in a brief review, so check out the Intensify website where there are several videos that will give you an idea just how powerful this app is. Intensify requires Max OS X 10.7 or later, and a 64-bit processor.
The Daily Grind: Are there MMOs you'd like more if the setting were different?
EverQuest Next hadn't been on my radar before the big reveal, but at this point it's hard to not be on board. The game looks gorgeous and has a lot of really interesting ideas underpinning its development, and I find myself eager to find out more as development progresses. But despite that enthusiasm, I really wish it weren't another fantasy game. The market is full of fantasy games. Obviously it couldn't be a science fiction game within the franchise, but still, I find myself wishing that they'd taken all of these principles and applied them to a more interesting setting on a whole. Maybe you're in the opposite camp, though. Maybe you'd be more enthusiastic about WildStar if it were a fantasy game. Perhaps you'd prefer The Secret World in a steampunk setting. Are there games you'd like more if the setting were different? Or are you happy with things just the way they are? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Daily iPhone App: View Seeker Location Scout: a handy tool for iPhone photographers
View Seeker Location Scout is a handy US$0.99 photo app that can help you find the best locations for landscape photography. You can get all the best locations around you with a click, which the app does by sourcing images from Panoramio and Flickr. Once you find a spot you like it appears on a map, and then provides driving or walking directions via a link to Apple Maps. The app also provides sunrise/sunset times, and allows you to save locations you like. You can select any place in the world as your "target" if you are planning a trip, and call up the location information later when you get to your destination. The app worked as expected when I tested it here in southern Arizona, and some other favorite out-of-state places. I found the Panoramio images generally looked better, but usually there were more images from Flickr. Other than a few spelling errors in locations, the app is pretty clean. I wish View Seeker Location Scout allowed me to query Panoramio and Flickr at the same time. As it is, you have to set one or the other in preferences, but you can easily change back and forth. It's better to give the user the option of both. %Gallery-187719% The app has some similarities to Stuck On Earth, which is iPad-only. Stuck On Earth displays photos taken at chosen locations, provides a map, and lets you save your finds. It's a great app, but better for planning than using in the field simply because View Seeker fits in my pocket. View Seeker is a worthwhile app for photographers looking for that perfect or out of the way spot to take a striking photo. It's a bargain for a buck. The non-universal app is optimized for the iPhone 5 and requires iOS 5.0 or greater.
LotRO shows off the vistas of Rohan in new video and stills
Many a Tolkien fan has looked forward to traversing the regions of Rohan ever since Lord of the Rings Online was first announced way back when. Now, with the release date for the Riders of Rohan expansion set for September 5th, those fans are literally champing at the bit to run with the horses. To give players a taste of the area, Turbine has released numerous screenshots of the beautiful landscapes of the Rohan region. A flythough video also highlights waterfalls in East Wall, fields in The Wold, settlements in Norscrofts, and the forests in Eaves of Fangorn, as well as other notable areas. Check out all of the new images in the gallery below and head past the break for the video flythrough of the gorgeous scenery of Rohan. And for more information about the expansion, check out The Road to Mordor's recent feature focusing on Riders of Rohan. [Source: Turbine press release]%Gallery-158706%
Panorama™ for iOS is a clean and simple way to create super-wide angle photos
There are a lot of apps for creating panoramas with your favorite camera equipped iOS device, and most do the job well. There are paid apps, and others like the free Photosynth from Microsoft which stitch lots of photos together vertically, horizontally, or in a complete 360 degree views. If you do a lot of landscapes, take a look at the US $0.99 Panorama™. It's dead easy and guides you with onscreen prompts about how to move your camera. When you are done, you can apply built-in filters, like Rice Paper, Vintage, Old Photo, Sketch and more. With another click, your photo is on the way to friends or family via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, and of course, email. The app worked fine and controls were obvious. You can see the images coming together in real time, and applying filters is a fast process. They can be selected in advance and viewed before you ever snap a photo. My only complaint is the app maintains its own library, and it takes an extra step to get images to your camera roll. That should be a direct save, not a second task. You can only take horizontal photos. The app prevents vertical (portrait mode) image capture. The output is seamless, and while I'm not much for adding filters to photos there is a large selection available. When you send an image, Panorama™ provides the thoughtful touch of letting you add a note. Photos are time-stamped and geotagged. Panorama™ does what it advertises. iOS photographers will also want to consider Photosynth (free), AutoStitch Panorama ($1.99), 360 Panorama ($0.99), and Panoramatic ($0.99). I've used all these apps and they do a good job, but differ somewhat in workflow and features. If you have a favorite, let us know in the comments. Same screenshots from Panorama™ are in the gallery below. Note that the samples are not at full resolution, and not as wide angle as the app allows. Panorama™ requires iOS 4.2 or greater, and works on any iPhone from the 3GS up, the 3rd and 4th generation iPod touch, and all iPads with a camera. %Gallery-158193%
Daily iPad App: Stuck on Earth
Stuck on Earth is one of those 'really good ideas' that only seems obvious after you've seen it and spent some time with this free app. It's designed for travelers and especially photographers. Move a map to any place on earth, and as you zoom in you will begin to see photographs taken at those locations. The photos come from Flickr and other sources, and the developers check those images by looking for embedded GPS coordinates so the photos appear at the right place on the map. Many of the photos have comments, and you can get directions to any of the locations from directly inside the app. It's a great way to explore things that are near you that you've never seen, but also it's a really useful resource when you're on the road. If you plan for a future trip, you can save the locations and photos on your iPad so you won't need connectivity. There are also some built-in tours, like the 50 best amusement parks and top bridges to visit. Pictures can be shared via Twitter, Facebook, or email. I started by giving the app a quick once-over, but I got drawn into the photo locations in my local area and before I realized it I had spent more than an hour exploring. I revisited some favorite photo spots in Europe, and explored places in Asia I'd like to visit. Soon, I'd given the app a few hours of my time, and it was a great experience. I also found the app useful to compare some of my photos to those of other photographers. It's instructive to see other approaches to the same subject. Photos vary in quality of course, but most are relevant and excellent. Many of the photos are curated, so overall the experience is good. You can also submit your own photos. When you first set the app up, it will ask your name, and from then it will greet your personally when you sign on. I found the voice and sound effects a distraction, but thankfully you can turn both off. The app is easy to use, and beautifully designed. The app is free, at least for now, but the experience is so rich I would have been glad to pay for it. If you love to travel, and you do a fair bit of photography I can assure you this app is a worthwhile download. It was developed by Trey Ratcliff, one of the most experienced landscape photographers around. Every so often you'll run across one of his outstanding photos as you explore the app. Stuck on Earth is a 120 MB download and requires iOS 4.2 or greater. Check the galleries for some screen shots. %Gallery-140420%
Create your own worlds with TerraRay 4
In the early days of the Mac, I used to love playing around with Bryce, which could generate very realistic scenery, which was my forte, or bizarre other worldly scenes straight out of science fiction flick. Bryce is still around, along with high-end rendering programs such as Vue. These programs aren't cheap. Bryce is $249.95 for the Pro version and Vue has versions from $99 to $995 but they have amazing features and power. I've been playing with TerraRay 4, which currently is on sale for $4.99. It's a great way to explore landscape creation on a budget. This app doesn't create animations like its high-end cousins, but it has some easy-to-use tools that will let you create some stunning landscapes with not too much effort. The app allows you to control lighting, the materials that make up the surface of your creations and can produce realistic skies and fog. It also allows you to import models in the popular 3ds file format. You can learn more at the developer website and see a video of the app in action. The app contains complete documentation. I didn't do anything too fancy, but was able to create some canyons with water and decent looking skies with ease. The only real downside is the final rendering speed. For a large scene it might take an hour to do all the detail and ray tracing. That's just far too long for the size of file that is being output. One fairly simple render in TerraRay 4 took more than 30 minutes. Of course, it can be done in the background, and the final result looked fine, but this program really needs to be optimized for speed. The program only saves in .png format, which seems a bit shortsighted, and other file formats would be useful. Check out the app at the developer's website and see if it suits your needs. I also have some images in the gallery. I would say TerraRay 4 is powerful, inexpensive, but dog slow. Don't expect it to be as good as the big boys, but it more than holds its own. I recommend this app if you are getting your feet wet with synthetic landscape generation. The app needs OS X 10.6 or greater, it functions fully under Lion, and is a 24 MB download. %Gallery-130093%
First Impressions: Alganon
Today's First Impressions could use a little bit of external reading before you go too deeply into it. So I'm going to start by linking an article that's nearly seven years old but still excellent -- Fantasy Heartbreakers. Now that you've all clicked "Back" in some confusion or just avoided the link in the first place, some explanation. The article is the origin of a term that pen-and-paper RPG fans have come to use to describe a certain type of game referenced in the article. It's referring to the countless game companies who thought they could make a game that was better at being Dungeons and Dragons than, well, Dungeons and Dragons. Many of the games in question weren't bad games -- sometimes even good ones -- but they were built on the fundamental premise that they would be "like D&D but with X." Some of you probably see where this is going, or got it as soon as you saw the term. Because we're all very aware of how predominant World of Warcraft has become in the MMO marketplace, to the point where it's the essential standard that other MMOs are judged against. Alganon, then, could be seen as our genre's first fantasy heartbreaker. Because it's genuinely tough not to play the game and see that there's some really good stuff in here.
Building a better MMOusetrap: Buildings, barrens and beyond (Part 3)
Over the past two weeks I have gone over some of the base elements of architecture in massively multiplayer games. Touching on how architecture can influence a persons time inside a game, as well as how different types of players can actually begin to influence the environment.Once a player leaves the cities with the games, they will begin to encounter more diverse and interesting environments and landscapes. The largest percentage of available space in MMOs is simulated landscape and natural scenery. From toxic-hued forests and jungles, to vast dune seas, and rolling grasslands, all the way out into the vastness of space and although the landscapes in the games oftentimes reflect the vistas we know from the real world, sometimes they are as if they were plucked from the dreams or nightmares of the players. However something separates landscapes in reality from landscapes in video games, and that is the fact that at the end of the day, most of the areas outside the cities in online games, are structured just the same as the cities themselves are.Each area or "zone" is assigned it's own distinct character, and habitat and is assigned a specific level of difficulty. They often have only a few entries and exits, a handful of important landmarks and high walls surround the entire area. In this sense the areas function simply as an exaggerated room, with walls surrounding, one or two doors or windows to get out, and everything within set specifically to function only within that area. Espen Aarseth stated in his Allegories of Space about the game Myst:"What looks like an open area is really a closed labyrinth with a few possible directions..."
