Bibble v3.0 released!
By
Mike Tomkins
(Friday, May 3, 2002 - 20:27 EDT)
Major overhaul of the popular imaging utility which was previewed last month by Digital Outback Photo is now available...
Bibble v3.0, the latest Windows release of an excellent imaging utility created by Eric Hyman, is now available for download. This is a major update, with many changes, including the following: - Live Options.
Unlike previous versions of Bibble, the various "options dialogs" are always "live". This means that you can make adjustments to them at any time and instantly see the results applied to the current image. Changes can also be made while viewing any version of an image in Bibble from the initial thumbnails all the way to the full screen image. For instance, as soon as you click on a thumbnail in the browser, the options reflect the settings for that image. If you make changes, the thumbnail changes instantly to reflect them. - Persistent Options.
All options for a given image persist in a ".bib" settings file for each image. As you tweak your options, the changes are automatically saved in the ".bib" file for the image. You don't need to worry about saving your changes as they are preserved automatically. Next time you try to edit the same image, the previous settings are automatically loaded. Previously made settings are also automatically applied when batch processing images to final output formats. Settings are globally cached for images, so Bibble even remembers your changes for images edited from a read only media. Using this feature combined with "live options" means you can quickly and easily make settings while viewing images in the browser, and when you are done, batch process all you changes to full resolution final images. - Fully Multithreaded.
This version of Bibble is completely multithreaded. This means all image operations take place in the background while you work. As you adjust and tweak image settings you will instantly see the results applied to your on screen image. Meanwhile Bibble continues to process the final image "in the background" such that by the time you are done editing, Bibble is done processing and has the final image ready to save. In addition, users of Dual Processor machines will see an Almost 2x improvement in speed when processing images both individually and in batches. - Sticky Dialogs.
All options dialogs and the browser window remember where you placed them last and how you sized them. This allows you to customize your onscreen controls to best fit your workflow. Also, Since Bibble now features many different options dialogs, this allows you to keep the most frequently used ones on screen, and to "pop-up" auxiliary dialogs when need. All commonly used options and buttons to access less common ones are located on the new "persistent picture options" dialog. This dialog is your main control for editing images and should usually be left displayed. - Browser Overhaul including larger thumbs.
When you browser a folder , a browser window will rapidly appear showing you any embedded thumbnails for the images the folder contains . In the background Bibble will go through the images and generate larger thumbnails that reflect your options settings and save them in a thumbnail cached. This means you can both view larger higher quality thumbnails as well as ones that reflect what the
final output will look like.
Using "Live options", you can make changes to you images straight from the thumbnails without ever opening the full screen image. All Bibble options may be changed this way from Simple changes such as rotation to complex ones like white balance or EV. Since the thumbnails instantly reflect these changes, and the changes automatically persist, you can be confident that when you batch process and view the image later, it will look just as you want it too. - New Cameras.
Full support is now provided for the Nikon D1/X/H, The Canon D30, The Olympus E10/E20 as well as the Kodak 760/720X. For cameras such as the 760 and D30 where a SDK is available from the manufacturer; you now have your choice of using Bibble's image pipeline of the cameras image pipeline. For the D30 this lets you choose to have your images processed to look like they would straight from the camera, or use Bibble pipeline to produce final images in 1/2 the amount of time with a less saturated look. - Photoshop Plug-in.
As always, the same great features are all available in Photoshop as well. With the new "Live Options" model, a "Transfer to Photoshop" button has been added to the Photoshop options dialog. While previewing your options when loading straight to Photoshop, this button is used to finalize the changes and complete loading into Photoshop. You can also selectively enable/disable which formats the Bibble format plug-in will read. This is useful if you want to use you manufacturers plug-in sometimes and still want to keep the Bibble plug-in installed. You may also choose if images are loaded in 16 or 8 bit color.
Photoshop 7.0 also now tries to read the color space profile used from Exif info Embedded in Jpeg's from the cameras. Some cameras like the D1X/H do not put the correct tag into the Exif info for the shooting mode selected. This can result in a profile mismatch when loading the files. If the Bibble plug-in is used to load these Jpegs, Bibble will notify Photoshop of the correct profile to use thus preventing the problem. - IPTC Captioning support.
Captions may be added to images both alone and in batches. Furthermore any image imported using the Photoshop plug-in that has captioning info will have the info available in Photoshop. - Color By Kodak Digital Science.
This version features the most accurate color to date. Bibble now uses professional Kodak Digital Science products for its internal color engine. All cameras have been re-profiled. This new engine yields more accurate results than before, as well as enhanced speed. - Batch Processing
Batch processing is fully multithreaded for speed. In addition, all previous options settings are applied to the images while being processed. A "jpeg proof" mode has been added to generate full quality size jpeg proofs of raw files at a rate of about 1 per second on a fast machine. - Browser Improvements
When you first browse a folder of images from your camera, Bibble will rapidly display the "embedded" thumbnail from the image as recorded by the camera. This thumbnail will be oriented per your rotation settings, but will not reflect any of Bibble's other image options. Once all the thumbs are displayed, Bibble will continue to generate and display larger, higher quality thumbnails that in turn will reflect your image options. As you make change to your images, this high quality thumbnail will be updated so that each time you browse the file again, the thumbnail will reflect your changes. This feature is designed to give you a balance of the fastest initial thumbnail display and the highest quality thumbnails for editing.
Some applications do not update the internally embedded thumbnail when rotating or otherwise modifying images. This can cause the initial thumbnail displayed to be out of sync with the way the image looks. When Bibble updates the high quality thumbnail, all should look correct.
If you've got a Nikon D1 / D1X / D1H, Canon EOS D30, Olympus Camedia E10 / E20, or Kodak 760 / 720x digital camera, you owe it to yourself to try the program out. Visit the Bibble Labs website and download the trial version which works for 10 days (after this period, all functionality expect for basic reading, decoding and saving of single RAW files will expire). The full version can be purchased for US$99, with the price set to increase after June 1st. Existing owners who registered after November 1st 2001 are entitled to a free upgrade, and users with older registrations can upgrade for a cost of $69. Volume discounts are available depending on the number of seat licenses required.
For a preview of Bibble 3.0, visit the Digital Outback Photo website.
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