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Daily iPad App: FX Photo Studio HD adds more filters, Retina support
FX Photo Studio HD has been a staple on my iPads for a while. The US$1.99 app from MacPhun, which is used to edit and apply a variety of effects to images, has recently been updated to version 5.0, adding more effect filters and now including support for Retina displays. The update also improves performance on the iPad mini and officially provides support for iOS 6. If you're not familiar with FX Photo Studio HD, it's well worth the investment if you want to jazz up your photos, crop them or adjust the colors. Thanks to a well-designed UI, the app is a snap to learn and use. Images are imported by tapping a "load photos" button (it looks like a flower) which then displays three buttons -- one to load from your iPad photo library, one to import images through a Camera Connection Kit, and one to take a photo using the iPad camera. Once an image is loaded, it is displayed with a palette of tools across the top and a scrollable list of effects on the right side of the screen. %Gallery-181404% Those tools include items for loading photo, undoing or redoing edits, cropping or rotating photos, resizing images, or making adjustments to such items as gamma, brightness, contrast, hue or saturation. If you want to compare your doctored image with the original, a small "eye" button to the lower right of the photo reverts instantaneously to your original photo. The updated Photo Studio HD has 190 included effects, textures, frames and tints to enhance (or degrade) your favorite photo. While most effects are quite useful, there are some that are downright cheesy -- the one that adds lipstick marks and the little teddy bear are notable examples. Of course, your tastes and needs might be different from mine... There are also a number of $0.99 in-app purchases that provide additional frames and effects, perfect if you want to add more power to an already loaded app. FX Photo Studio HD is a worthwhile app to load on any iPad, whether you're an experienced digital photographer or just beginning to dabble in the digital arts.
MacPhun takes Silent Movie Director to a retro level with its new Vintagio app
MacPhun refreshed its Silent Film Director app for the iPhone and gave it a whole new look and a brand new name. Now called Vintagio, the video recording and editing app lets you make retro-looking videos in just a few minutes. There are a lot of options in Vintagio to let you design your video, your way. You can record in low quality mode (192x144), which is appropriate for MMS, or go full bore with 720P video. Other options include the ability to slow the video down, speed it up or even play it backwards. The app includes 7 filters that let you film an 80s disco video, a 60s hippy flick, a 1920s flapper movie and more. There are 11 original soundtracks in the app and these clips match the default filters perfectly. If you don't like the track selections, you can always import music from your iPhone's library. You can even add noise to the soundtracks to give them a vintage feel. When you first open the app, you can choose to shoot your video in Express Mode, which is quick and easy, or Pro Mode, which is filled with options to let you get the perfect look. In Express Mode, you only need to select the filter effect, the recording quality, the soundtrack and the video speed (1.0x, 1.5x, and so on). Once you make these four quick choices, you are only a few minutes away from a completed video. Vintagio's Pro Mode gives you control over your movie by letting you choose the details for your film. You can also load saved images or saved videos and add both titles and transitions. If you want some fresh content, you can record new videos or snap new photos for your movie. Pro Mode also includes the same filters and soundtracks that are available in the Express Mode. When you are done arranging your composition, you can render it to your device. Rendering in both the Express and Pro Mode takes a few minutes. While you wait, the app show you a status bar and interesting trivia to keep you entertained. Once the video is done, you can share it on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. You can also save it to your camera roll. With these new features and a dose of creativity, Vintagio will let you create a flick that would make Charlie Chaplin proud. You can download Vintagio now from the iOS App Store. It's available for US$1.99.
Mac versions of Sparrow and FX Studio discounted today to $4.99
Mac owners on the hunt for app deals may want to check out Sparrow for the Mac and MacPhun's FX Studio. Both apps have been discounted 50 percent today and are now available for US$4.99. Sparrow for Mac is the email client that kicked off the Sparrow craze a few years almost two years ago when the beta version made its public debut. It's been updated and improved since it first launched and is an excellent, lightweight app that'll meet almost all your emailing needs. FX Studio is for photo enthusiasts who like to quickly and easily add effects to their photos. The app includes 40 photo frames and over 170 effects and filters. It works with popular photo editors and organizers like Aperture and Photoshop. You can download Sparrow for Mac and FX Studio from the Mac App Store at their discounted prices today. Editors note: "A few years" was changed to "almost two years" to more accurately reflect the beta launch date of 10/2010.
Daily iPhone App: Editing capabilities make Silent Film Director a good bargain
I had the pleasure of talking with Alex Tsepko with MacPhun, the company behind the well-received Snapheal, at Macworld | iWorld 2012, and he showed off several of MacPhun's other apps. My absolute favorite out of the batch was Silent Film Director, which competes among other vintage-video apps such as Super 8. Silent Film Director was just updated with a number of new features, so it was a great time to get my hands on it. You get a lot with the basic version of the app, and it's easy for first-time users to grasp. Within minutes, I had a simple 1920's style film set to period-appropriate music of one of the cats acting startled. The rendering time was quick - in HD, my 15-second movie took less than a minute to render. You can also see videos created by other Silent Film Director users. To get finer editing features, such as cropping, splicing and piecing fragments together, adding title cards, play video with the original sound, add in still photography and more, it requires a 99-cent in-app upgrade. There are also some large ads for other MacPhun products that I felt were a bit intrusive, but it was only when the app launched, and I was able to dismiss them quickly. If you're updating from a previous version of Silent Film Director, new features include variable video speed, reverse mode, new speeds, a new soundtrack, the ability to add retro noises to music, music fade in/out and full HD support on the iPhone 4S and compatibility with iOS 5. Silent Film Director is $1.99 in the App Store, but if you want to do any editing beyond basic movie creation, it's worth the 99-cent upgrade. Silent Film Director's robust movie-editing features give it the nudge needed to make this my go-to vintage-video app.
