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6 Nov 2020 - Podcast #718 - (19:50)
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Remember when "half-baked" was a pejorative term? It still is if we're talking about bread or bricks, but we're not. Every new product release by Adobe proves that "half-baked" is a good thing. I'll try to explain that in the process of describing some new features in Photoshop.
Two primary methods of software development exist. One is called "waterfall" and the other is called "agile". Waterfall development depends on exactly defining every aspect of the software, developing and debugging the code, and then releasing a finished product. That's the perfect method if the people who created the specifications got everything exactly right, but sometimes the result is a product that nobody wants.
Adobe has been using at least some components of the agile system for a long time and recent software releases illustrate a total commitment to the method. In the agile system, new features are released as they're being developed so that users can work with them and provide feedback. One of the best examples of this is a new half-baked feature called Neural Filters. So let's take a look.
Click any of the small images for a full-size view. To dismiss the larger image, press ESC or tap outside the image.
Some of the Style Transfer Neural Filter looks. >>
The Skin Smoothing and Style Transfer filters are fully baked, but 14 filters are marked as "beta" and eight of those don't even exist. They're simply placeholders for filters that are on the road map. Each of the potential new filters has only one button: Users can click it tell Adobe they're interested in having a photo restoration filter, for example, or one that creates a caricature image. Click the button and you'll be asked why you'd like to have that feature.
<< Tell Adobe you want work to continue on filters.
So the agile method involves users in product development. Each of the functioning Neural Filers has a question and two buttons: "Are you satisfied with the results", and "Yes" or "No".
The user can also optionally specify the intended use of the image, add a comment to the response, and even include the image with the feedback. The developers hope that users will submit images that illustrate when a feature has failed so that they can work to improve it as well as examples that show when the feature worked exactly right.
Some of the filters currently perform their magic in the cloud, meaning that your image is uploaded to Adobe, analyzed and modified, and then returned to your computer. The processing isn't instantaneous and it depends on the speed of the internet connection, but most results are returned in less than half a minute. Some users will be troubled to learn that their images are uploaded for processing, but Adobe is absolutely clear about what happens: The image is uploaded, processed, returned to you, and then deleted from Adobe's servers.
Because I used Neural Filters to describe the agile development method, let's start there to look at sosme of the new features.
Skin Smoothing and Style Transfer are fully baked, but that doesn't mean they'll never change. Skin Smoothing uses artificial intelligence to remove blemishes, and Style Transfer applies effects based on any of several well known artworks (Starry Nights, for example) or other media (such as The Matrix).
All of the Neural Filters can be applied to a basic layer or one that has converted to a smart object. Smart objects are best because the changes are non-destructive and the user can modify them later.
Colorize is intended for use with black and white images. The artificial intelligence identifies skin, sky, foliage, and other items, and then applies surprisingly realistic colors to the photo.
JPEG Artifact Removal is related to Super Zoom and works best with old photos or with JPEG images that have been processed too many times. Early digital cameras could save images only in JPEG format and the resulting images frequently contain splotchy areas caused by the compression process that's used to make JPEG images smaller.Neural Filters may be the most astonishing new feature in Photoshop 2021, but there are several co-stars that need to be discussed.
Photoshop's ability to draw rectangles, rounded rectangles, ellipses, triangles, polygons, lines, and custom shapes has been improved dramatically.
Prior to the 2021 version, lines and shapes were static. After being drawn, only limited options existed to make modifications. Now these objects have memories. If you rotate them, they remember how far they have been rotated, even if you do it several times, and they can immediately be reset to zero rotation.
Those who use Photoshop exclusively for photographs won't be too impressed by this, but improved live shapes could be the favorite new feature for designers and graphic artists.
Saving documents to the cloud can be accomplished easily by clicking (1) a Save to Cloud button. This is useful when you need to share a file with others, but there are additional advantages. When a document is stored in the cloud, you'll see a (2) cloud icon in the file-open dialog.
The first advantage is that documents that are stored in the cloud are automatically saved. You can still save the file by pressing Ctrl-S, but you don't have to. But the more useful feature is (3) version history.
A new Version History window is available for cloud documents so that you can go back in time to recover a previous version of a document. Currently versions are saved for 30 days. That may change, but at this time every change you've made to the file during the last 30 days will be saved. If you have a version that you want to maintain permanently, you can name it and bookmark it so that it will be retained past the 30-day time limit.
Documents saved to the cloud have a "c" added to the end of the extension, so Photoshop files become "psdc" documents instead of "psd" documents and Illustrator documents stored to the cloud have an "aic" extension instead of "ai".
Photograpers are going to love the new Sky Replacement function because sky modification is one of the most challenging tasks any photographer faces. Sometimes the sky you have doesn't match your vision for a photograph. As long as you're not trying to make the image lie, there's nothing wrong with changing the sky. It's an artistic decision, after all.
Sky replacement is difficult because the photo normally contains trees, and the sky may peek through spaces between the leaves. Even if that doesn't happen, there's always a threat of fringing around the leaves. Photoshop 2021's Sky Replacement function does an outstanding job with masking leaves and other small objects.
When I took a picture at a construction site, the sky 
was fine. There was some cloud cover in a light blue sky. It was fine for the intended use, but it seemed like a good choice to demonstrate what Photoshop can do. Users can add their own sky photos or any image, even if it's not a traditional sky. Outer space photos from NASA could create a mind-bending effect. So just keep in mind that you can be as creative as you want to be. Photoshop comes with about two dozen images, most of which have been taken by Adobe employees.
Adobe Sensei, their name for an artificial intelligence system that's found in nearly every Adobe application, makes it possible for the Sky Replacement process to mask away the existing sky and then closely match the overall light properties of the image with those of the new sky. The sample image was taken in the early afternoon, but the replacement sky is a near-sunset image. Sensei knew enough to adjust the colors in the original image to make them warmer and to darken the image somewhat. The user has control over the color and the amount of change, so fine tuning what Sensei suggests is easy.
Look closely at the updated image. I have drawn four red lines. You'll see power lines in the original image, but they're missing in the image with the new sky. I don't consider this to be a significant shortcoming because the original image doesn't have sufficient resolution to allow the power lines to be masked successfully. The original raw image is "only" 24MB (5472x3648 pixels) and that's not sufficient resolution to mask such fine detail, even manually.
If I had used a Hasselbald H6D camera ($48,000 without a lens, 11,600x8700 pixels), there might have been enough resolution to isolate the power lines, but even then it would try the patience of a manual retoucher. And by the way, if I wanted a lens to go with that $48,000 camera, I'd be looking at another $3000 to $10,000. So you're not going to see any images from a Hasselbald H6D camera on TechByter Worldwide. Ever. Period.
Don't be bothered by the missing power lines. Chances are that nobody will even notice.
When you want to select and mask people so that they can be composited into a new background, the trickiest part of the selection is usually the person's hair. Curly hair and flyaway hair are the most challenging. Photoshop 2021 includes a new Refine Hair tool that's related to the existing Refine Edge tool.
Two Refine modes give users more and better control over hair masking — Object Aware and Color Aware. Object Aware is usually best when for selecting hair and other fine elements of an image, particularly if the foreground and background contain some of the same colors. If the photo has a simple and easily identified background, the Color Aware mode may work better. Julieanne Kost's blog has more details.
The new Pattern Preview is another function that will be of little use to those who use Photoshop primarily to modify photographs, but will be helpful for designers and graphic artists.
This feature allows you to see what a repeating pattern will look like as you create it. It's what you want to use if you're trying to create a seamless repeating pattern for wall papers, web pages, or 3D textures.
But Wait, There's More!This Photoshop update offers a remarkable number of new features and enhancements, some fully baked and others not. The fully-baked features can be used right away, and the other features may prove to be useful even though they're not quite ready for prime time. Those who subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud already have all of the new features and will see updates as they become available.
Additional details are available on the Adobe website.
The cat rating scale ranges from 0 cats (worst) to
5 cats (best).
Manufacturers of hardware reviewed on TechByter Worldwide typically loan the hardware and it must be returned at the end of the review period. Developers of software reviewed on TechByter Worldwide generally provide a free not-for-resale (NFR) license so that all features of the application will be unlocked.
Mozilla has Hubs. No, not the chrome things that you find on cars. A sort of Zoom-like space where you can meet with friends and family. But not like Zoom because you'll be an avatar, not a talking head.
Mozilla says Hubs is a place where you can get together with friends online in a "virtual-social" space. Create your own virtual 3D space and invite others to join you using a link you send them. It works with any web browser on your computer, phone, or tablet, or you can run it in a virtual reality headset. There's nothing to download or install.
Leading up to Halloween, Mozilla suggested using Hubs to create a virtual Halloween party, but it can be used for anything — hosting an arts festival, for example, or to bring together a group of students who are learning English as a second language.
Regardless of the intended use, it's easy to set up. Start at the Hubs website and create a room. If you want to change some of the settings, you will need to create an account. Once the room exists, you'll have a link that you can share with others. The maximum occupancy of rooms is set at 50, but you can choose a lower number. The rooms are private and only those with a link can enter. The guests may optionally be allowed to create and move objects; pin objects in the scene; create cameras, drawings, or emojis; and enter flying mode.
In other words, this is not Zoom. It's designed for fun.
Users can enable or disable their microphones and any camera attached to the computer or VR device. Once in a room, people can use the mouse, keyboard, or touch screen to move around and do things. When your microphone is on and you talk, your voice will be louder for those who are close to you on the screen. If someone's sound is too loud or quiet, you can adjust it in a menu that's attached to their avatar. Mozilla provides a full list of controls for moving around and performing actions.
Users can take pictures of the room. By default, the camera is initially in selfie mode, but it can be turned around to take a group photo of the avatars in the room. Mozilla says this is a project for everyone who wants to connect with others remotely for virtual holiday parties, study groups, and family gatherings.
Because Mozilla Hubs is an open-source project, it's available for creators to take in their own direction. That means creating custom avatars, designing scenes, and making changes to your virtual world.
It looks like we need robots to do things that may not be safe for humans, and in the COVID-19 stricken world, that's a lot. But surgery is another field where the devices are important. Sales of "professional service robots" increased by 32% in from 2018 to 2019 and the pandemic is expected to further boost the market.
According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), much of the increase was driven by robotic surgery systems, the most expensive types of robots. About 90% of medical robots are from American and European suppliers.
Autonomous mobile robots are common in factories, too, and growth of 40% per year seems plausible for the immediate future. IFR President Milton Guerry says the payback for investment in robotics is fast. "Assuming 24 hour operation, the investment in service robots for logistics may be repaid within 2–3 years and often much quicker. Given a 15 year lifetime, operating costs are around 5% of the annual investment."
Service robots are likely to begin showing up in homes more often, too. There are already robots that vacuum floors, mow lawns, and entertain. More than 23.2 million of these units sold in 2019. The value was up 20% to 5.7 billion U.S. dollars.
So see a more detailed report, visit the IFR website.
To characterize 2020 as an unusual and difficult year would be a mythic understatement, and Adobe has analyzed changes that occurred during the year with regard to image uploads to Adobe Stock. The report covers the period from January 2019 through September 2020.
An earlier report showed that 91% of creatives say COVID-19 and nationwide protests have inspired them to incorporate real-world issues into their work. The end-of-year data report highlights a growing demand for stock content reflecting social issues.
For example:
The full report is on the Adobe website.
In 2000, Eudora was fighting a losing battle with Outlook. Version 5 had just been released and I called it "big, powerful, and a bit bloated". If you want to read Eudora's full history, see the Computer History Museum's article. After being unavailable for many years, Eudora 7.1 is now an open source application.
Eudora version 5 had added some features that, in retrospect, seem even more silly now than they did then: "Eudora's 'Mood Watch' feature, [is] a language tool that looks for aggressive language.... Mood Watch examines your messages and rates them. The trouble is that is shares a common problem with spelling checker programs and grammar analyzers: It's often wrong. Some users have received '3 chili pepper' ratings for innocuous messages."
Eudora was acquired by Qualcomm in 1991, but Qualcomm halted commercial development in 2006 and sponsored the creation of a new open-source version based on Mozilla Thunderbird. That project ended in 2010, but the Computer History Museum acquired full ownership of the source code, the Eudora trademarks, copyrights, and domain names in 2018.