Bryce 5, a 3D design app which specializes in modeling landscapes and animations costs about $70 to buy, but for a limited time (until September 6th), you can get this piece of software for free. All you have to do to get this is to head over to the Bryce 5 site which offers download links for either the Mac or PC version. Although it states that the program will not run under Mac OSX Tiger, David Chartier has tested it and it does work.

Once you have the download sorted out, the first time you start Bryce 5 it will prompt you to log in and register the application for free at their site. You'll probably have to create a new, free account but once you're logged in the registration link Bryce gives you will create your extra-lengthy registration code. That's how simple it is to get your $70 application for free! Just make sure you do it before the deadline of September 6th.

What is Apple up to?

For the first time, Apple will be heading to the Cologne, Germany to be a part of Photokina 2006, the photographic and imaging trade fair, this coming September. Not only will they show up, but they're also going to have a presentation during the trade fair.

It's possible that they may be previewing or releasing a new version of their Aperture image editor. At the very least, they're certainly going to make their presence known.

Photokina is scheduled to take place from September 26 to October 1, with Apple expected to have their presentation the day before the formal opening of the trade fair itself.


New Information: QJ Reader Mike has brought us a little hint. According to him, "Photokina will be one of the largest product unveilings ever." If he really means more than one, then it really will be an interesting event. Keep posted here folks, and thank you Mike!

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This, more or less, is how our personal photo files are usually saved in our computers. Point is, it's all letters-numbers-dot-JPEG. It's not a problem really...if you're not taking and saving hundreds of them! But truth is, we all love pictures. And not all of us have time to rename and organize our files.

Google understands. That's why they acquired a company that is best known for its deep technology and expertise when it comes to automatically extracting information from a photo: Neven Vision.

According to Picasa's Project Manager Adrian Graham, there are no specifics yet to be shared as of the moment. But this much he can tell us, "We've been working to make Picasa better when it comes to searching for your own photos—to make finding them be as easy as finding stuff on the web. Luckily we've found some people who share this goal, and are excited that the Neven Vision team is now part of Google."

It isn't a gadget, but it still happens to be way cool.

If you've ever owned a photograph and looked at it, or maybe if you've ever played a game and enjoyed it, you've probably wondered what it might be like to step into the world in that photo or game. Microsoft's Live Labs is cooking up something to get us one step closer to doing just that.

Microsoft's Photosynth lets you take a bunch of related photographs and turns them into a three-dimensional space, a world unto itself. Once completed, its creators say, Photosynth will allow you to fly through the world you've created, looking at the collection of photos from any angle, zoom in almost indefinitely on anything in the picture, and see how your photos are connected.

With an internet connection, it'll also allow you to send the collection, and possibly the 3D world you just made, to friends (or whoever), as well as find pictures that are somehow related to your existing collection.

While Photosynth's still in the development stages, it's definitely going to be something to look forward to. Imagine taking picture of your house and then making a virtual model of the interior on your comp, flying through the rooms like a ghost. Better yet, why not explore your own personal "world map" by connecting photos into a 3D model of your neighborhood? We only wonder about how it would work with edited images, as well as forcing unrelated photos to mesh together.

Would it make for your own virtual fantasy world, perhaps? Only time will tell. But you can have a look at an overview of the program right here.

Download: [Microsoft Photosynth Overview]

You are one of those types who pay close attention to details, keep a visual reservoir of those in your digital camera, and feel the need to absolutely share those valuable pictures to other people. As such, you have been on the lookout for the release of the Adobe Lightroom, which actually allows you to do just that. The said program boasts of easy file transfer from digital camera to pc, picture editing, and easy picture uploading, all on a user-friendly interface and more.

But don't you wait no more. The Adobe Lightroom Beta is available for downloading on the Adobe website, both for Mac and Windows users. Thus, you can enjoy all the perks of the Adobe Lightroom for free. Now, don't you waste time dilly-dallying, as this opportunity will expire on January 30, 2007.

In a move that I'm not terribly excited about, Microsoft has bought iView, the makers of the extremely excellent photo and media management software, Media Pro (3).  While the application is available for both OSX and Windows, it was conceived on the Apple platform.  As a Mac user, I'm skeptical about the future support for my preferred platform - despite the assurances that it won't be going away:
"The product that was born on the Mac will remain on the Mac as well as on the Windows operating system. All iView products will continue to be sold on the iView website and through our partners and channel. Bottom line: You all can continue to use and buy iView products knowing that they will be fully supported as Microsoft evolves the products in the future on both the Windows and Mac platforms."

Hmmm, Well I'll try to be optimistic and hope it'll only become a stronger and better product under Microsoft's tenure.  But their track record - at least with Vista - isn't instilling much confidence.

Sound off, let's hear your thoughts about the iView/Microsoft deal.

It has been quite some time since we last heard from Bibble Labs, and now you might consider yourselves lucky because finally, Bibble Labs has returned again to release its latest version of Bibble Pro.

Bibble Pro 4.8 is a free update to its professional workflow solution. This application offers an integrated browser, powerful batch processing, hotkeys assigned by the user, one-click image correction, a Photoshop plug-in, a flexible renaming system, and a advanced lens correction. With this 4.8 update though, the Lens correction tool will be more powerful.

There will also be an additional application that will allow robust Black and White conversion and a Spot Color feature. Bibble Pro 4.8 also has added support for additional digital cameras and comes in two versions: the Universal Binary that costs $70 and the Pro version with added copy/paste functions, multithread operation, digital noise correction/suppression, work queues and tethered shooting for $130. This application is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux systems.

Adobe/Macromedia have been hard at work on Lightroom for a few months now.  If you're hearing about this app for the first time, Lightroom is a RAW photo processing and organization tool for photographers.  As of now, it's only available for the Apple crowd (a direct challenge to Apple's Aperture?) but a Windows version is planned at some point in the future.

I used the initial release (Beta 1) for a week or so, but deleted it shortly after.  It was taxing the processor on my 1.5ghz G4 PowerBook something fierce, and I didn't feel the need to continue with it.  The interface and tools were all nicely thought out, and the app (other than the cpu-intensive issue - seemed pretty nice.  Given that it's up to Beta 3 now, it may be time for me to give it another spin.

The Beta 3 release notes offer wider RAW format support, Before and After views, Edit History, Keyword import/export, and more.  Lightroom has been a Universal (PPC and Intel friendly) application since Beta 2.

If you're a Lightroom fan, please share your experiences with us.  I'd love to hear what you like, or don't like about it.  If you've got any comparisons to Adobe's Camera Raw, I'd be interested to hear those too.

iView's Media Pro is one of those applications that does a little bit of everything - and seems to do it all well too.  I didn't see a need for it until I tried it out.  I couldn't go back to iPhoto, or Picasa after giving Media Pro 3 a try.  For me, it just works really well, and knows when to give you options to use other programs with it, or use its built-in functionality.

So yesterday the 3.1 update was released.  It's a free upgrade for licensed users, so go and get it if you're already using the software.  A couple of the bigger enhancements are the Notepad and Catalog Viewer.  Catalog Viewer is sort of the iView equivalent of Adobe Acrobat Reader.  It allows a client to install the Catalog Viewer and see shots from their photo shoot.  The Notepad allows you and the client to drag images into it, add notes, and send the whole file off (share it) to the client for review.  Collaboration on photo projects just got a whole lot easier!

There are a few other enhancements as well - additional XML support, larger catalog support, etc, etc.  If you haven't tried Media Pro, I think you'll like what you find.

Raw files of photographs are important to photographers because these files allow them to process images in a couple of ways to yield different results. Now if you're a photographer and you're using the Mac-based Photoshop Camera Raw, you're probably missing out on the ability to create and manage multiple versions of your raw images. Here is something that can fulfill your needs.

With the Photoshop Camera Raw Version Control, you can now easily create additional, editable versions of a raw file, with each version containing a completely different set of raw conversion parameters. Included in this package is a set of simple droplets that lets you create and delete new versions, set any version as your current version, and create thumbnails and full-resolution renderings of an entire set of versions - all in a simple drag-and-drop operation.

If you'd like to try out this freeware, just click the download link below. For instructions and tutorials, just click on 'Read' below.

Download: [Photoshop Camera Raw Version Control]