YarcPlus beta 1.7 adds EOS-1D support!
By
Mike Tomkins
(Friday, May 10, 2002 - 13:48 EDT)
Currently in beta testing, the latest release of the Windows-only Canon RAW-file converter now supports Canon's top-of-the-line digital SLR...
Michael Tapes and Bruce Henderson continue to regularly release new beta versions of their Canon RAW-file converter YarcPlus. The current release, v1.7 beta 2, adds support for Canon's EOS-1D digital camera.
Full details of the additions and changes in the latest beta, as well as known problems, are described below (from the official release notes).
YarcPlus V1.7 beta 2
9 May 2002
New in V1.7 beta 1 - Full support for EOS 1D (with a few exceptions as noted below)
- A fully featured histogram is now displayed all picture displays.
- ALL TIFF output files now have the suffix "_YP8" or _YP16" to indicate that is a converted TIF and not a RAW Canon 1D TIF "negative". This also prevents a RAW TIF 1D "negative" from ever being written over.
- New high and low resolution viewing modes for maximum choice of speed or quality when viewing.
- Special 'large" viewing modes for 1D files.
- A new JPEG button provides a special fast view mode for 1D files (explained below).
- Fit and 100% buttons now reflect their ON state with a white icon (gray when off)
- A new option allows files to be brought into the file list in an "unchecked" state
- Exposure Compensation now reverts to "0" after a conversion is done.
New in V1.7 beta 2 - 1D Viewing now includes the automatic creation of viewing JPEGS while viewing in hi-res mode, so when you return to that picture it displays instantly in medium res, with no 4 second wait. (see below)
- 1D Read Only images may now be rotated (option to warn or not)
- Additional 1D EXIF data
- All EXIF log files now available
- JPEG Viewing files are now linked suring deletion so when you delete the TIF RAW negative any associated JPEG is also deleted
- Bug Fix: 1D: Lo res images are now displayed properly when rotated
- Bug Fix: Lo/Hi Res viewing menu now properly changes the toolbar button states
New Viewing Modes in V1.7 - Because the embedded viewing image in the 1D files is very small (288 pixels wide), the viewing is different than with other Canon cameras that use the CRW format.
- YarcPlus has 3 1D viewing modes, and 2 options within each mode.
- When YarcPlus is in Low Res viewing mode and set to 100%, the small thumbnail will be displayed in the picture. You may double-click on the picture pane to blow this up to fit the picture pane. Of course since it is a 288 pixel wide image it is being up-sampled and will pixilated. The fit icon will indicate Yellow to show that it is an up sampled image. This is designed as a quick view mode. You can move between pictures instantly viewing the picture either at 100% size (small) or up-sampled to fit the picture pane.
- There is also a High Res viewing mode. This is selected with the Hi-Res icon. When this is selected a high resolution image will be generated and displayed. This takes about 4 seconds on a 1.4 GHz machine. You may also switch between 100% size (big) or fit to picture pane size (small) by double clicking on the picture pane or by clicking on the icons in the tool bar.
- You may switch between the Full screen and the List with picture View by ALT-double clicking on the picture in either view. Control-H and Control-L may be used to switch between high and Low resolution, but there is a bug in the Full Screen View, so you must use the menu selection.
- The JPEG option (J) overrides the Hi-Res or Lo-Res selections and displays a JPEG image (with the same name as the TIF) IF IT EXISTS. If it does not exist the high or lo res image will be displayed as selected. This JPEG view is a great compromise between the quality of the Hi-Res mode and the speed of the Lo-Res mode.
- The JPEG file gets there one of 3 ways.
- 1 If you shot with RAW + JPEG, they are already there.
- 2 Or you can generate them with YarcPlus by converting to JPEG output format with "Same as Source File" set as the destination. You can choose the size and quality.
- 3 Now you can set the "Auto Create 1D Viewing JPEGS" option and a 50% size JPEG will be generated automatically as you view the 1D files in Hi-Res mode. Then when you go back to a picture you have already vewed it will be displayed instantly. To use this mode just select the option in the Prefs dialog, and set the JPEG viewing mode on the toolbar.
What is NOT working yet in V1.7 - No thumbnail List Only View for 1D files.
- Curves and saved WB settings for the 1D not yet implemented.
- Tag Filenames is not completely compatible with the 1D and D60
- Tool Tips are not updated and are wrong in some cases.
- 1D Conversion not compatable with Windows 98/ME
- Tool Bar viewing buttons not properly interlocked--No thumbnail is displayed in the overwrite dialog and the List Only View for 1D files.
- No support for D60 Sharpness setting of "off" (Canon SDK Issue)
- No ability to do a D60 Small Preview in Linear mode. It is displayed in Non-Linear (which makes WB choice easier anyway).
- D60 conversion preview is soft (Canon SDK issue).
- Some D60 EXIF data is not displayed
- The Conversion Preview provided from the Canon SDK for the D60 is VERY soft. It's purpose is to judge White Balance and Exposure Compensation. We are working with Canon to provide a less soft preview display for D60 images. The good news is that the preview is larger than for other cameras.
- If a removable drive device has been selected as the source folder and the drive is removed, problems can occur.
- If you arrow down to a file in the list and then hit the space bar, after a few seconds the last file in the list that was clicked becomes lighted (although focus remains where it should, on the list item just affected by the spacebar)
- Converting to a full disk will issue an error code rather than gracefully tell you the problem.
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