FxPhotoStudio
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FX Photo Studio for iPhone reaches 10 million downloads; special deal for Mac version
We're used to hearing about the huge numbers of downloads that are produced by the App Store, but it's rare when TUAW gets news about a specific app. MacPhun, the company that develops FX Photo Studio and a host of other iOS and Mac apps, recently decided to make FX Photo Studio for iPhone a free download after selling the app for US$1.99 for four years. The goal? To see if they could reach 10,000,000 downloads of the app. They were able to do so in 45 days, an incredible feat for any app, but surprising for an app that has been around since May of 2009. To celebrate, MacPhun came up with a unique deal: Every third person who sends a confirmation that they own FX Photo Studio for iPhone and iPad (two separate apps) gets the $19.99 FX Photo Studio Pro for Mac absolutely free. Send screenshots showing your proof of ownership of those two apps to gift@macphun.com, and you've got a one in three chance of picking up a Mac app for free. Congratulations to MacPhun on achieving the download goal!
IRL: Canon Powershot D20, FX Photo Studio and Nikon's 35mm f/1.8G lens
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. It's photo week here at IRL. Turns out, quite a few Engadget editors are in the mood to talk up their shooting gear lately. On the camera side, Edgar recently took the PowerShot D20 on his honeymoon in Jamaica, while Darren's been giving FX Photo Studio a whirl (spoiler: he still prefers Snapseed). And say hello to our new copy editor Philip Palermo, who says if he had to live with just one lens for his Nikon D90, it would be the 35mm f/1.8G.
TUAW Best of 2011: Vote for the best iPhone photo and video apps
The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! TUAW is asking for your votes for the best iPhone photography and video apps of 2011. The iPhone is one of the best point-and-shoot cameras possible. That's not because it has stellar lenses, great low-light capabilities, or high shutter speeds -- because it doesn't -- but because it's always with you. Developers have stepped up to the plate with some of the most innovative apps for iPhone, all in the photography and video app categories. In the photo app category, readers nominated FX Photo Studio (US$0.99), the ever-popular Camera+ (currently on sale for $0.99), social networking / camera app Instagram (free), new photo editor Snapseed ($4.99), and panorama powerhouse 360 Panorama ($0.99). For video apps, we have iVideoCamera ($0.99), Filmic Pro ($0.99), Silent Film Director ($1.99), Apple's own iMovie ($4.99), and the fun TiltShift Video ($1.99). As with the Mac video and photo apps, I've broken out the voting into two polls. Please feel free to vote for one video app and one photo app, and we'll announce the winners in a few days. And now, let the voting begin! %Poll-72151% %Poll-72157%
Best of 2011 Nominations: Mac photo / video apps
During December and January, The Unofficial Apple Weblog is soliciting your nominations and votes for the best products for Mac, iPhone/iPod touch, and iPad. We'll start with nominations in a category, and then tally your votes for the top-nominated products a few days later. The winner in each category receives the highly-coveted title of TUAW Best of 2011. Today's category for Best of 2011 nominations is Mac photo and video apps. Your Mac can manage thousands of photos and help you to create video masterpieces, so this is a crowded category. You might be a fan of Apple's iPhoto (US$14.99) or Aperture ($79.99) apps. Maybe you love to create HDR images with HDR Darkroom (on sale for $7.99) or apply stunning effects with FX Photo Studio ($9.99). The ease of use of Flare ($19.99) might be more your cup of coffee. Video fans might be excited about Apple's iMovie '11 ($14.99) or Final Cut Pro X ($299.99). Perhaps you're developing screencasts and use either ScreenFlow ($99.99) or Camtasia 2 ($99.99) in your work. Whatever your favorite Mac photo or video app is, we want to hear about it. Leave your nomination in the comments below. This is the last Mac-specific category for the 2011 awards -- tomorrow we'll begin gathering nominations for iPhone apps and accessories. Nominations close at 11:59 PM ET on December 15, 2011.
FX Photo Studio for iPhone adds masking and other goodies
I continue to be amazed at the functionality that photo apps are adding to the iPhone. FX Photo Studio for US$0.99 on sale is a case in point. The app already had barrels of photo effects, almost 200, but now it has added masking to the feature set. It's an easy way to highlight parts of a picture, and then apply an effect to only those areas. It's easier to understand if you see a demo, so try this video to get the idea. This latest version of FX Photo Studio has added new effects, performance improvements, and additional editing tools for gamma, saturation and hue. Images can be imported from Facebook, and images can now be shared via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook Flickr, Tumblr or email. Like any tool, adding effects to photos can really be overdone, but FX Photo Studio can provide filters that run the gamut from subtle to outrageous. The app also provides cropping and printing if you are so equipped. I played with the masking feature and found it useful and powerful. In the gallery, you can see a landscape photo where I created a black and white background, but left Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelley in color. The masking process could be improved with the option of a smaller brush size. Although you can magnify the image for detailed work, the size chosen for the brush is just too large for some applications. The app doesn't have any detailed instructions. Some of the methods to invoke an operation, like masking, are not blatantly obvious. Alex Tsepko at developer MacPhun told me a Wiki should appear today with details on how things work. I'd like to see it built into the app. FX Photo Studio lets you add to the filters with in-app purchases of $0.99 per set, but the whole app is on sale for $0.99 (regular $1.99), so that makes the add-ons too pricey. I would rather see them included, even if the app goes up a buck or so. This enhanced version of FX Photo Studio for the iPhone is a significant update that in some ways leaps ahead of the Mac OS and iPad versions. I expect all the MacPhun family of apps will quickly gain feature parity. If I could only take one photo editing app into the field I'd likely choose FX Photo Studio, and urge iPhone photographers to take a look. It's a lot of power to carry around in a pocket. %Gallery-128674%
