Apparently you can still download a trial version of Expression Media from Phase One's Microsoft Expression Media archive page.

Not sure how much it costs to activate a full version, but I would definitely try Expression Media first before attempting to use Media Pro. But if you use a Nikon camera and Nikon software, prepare for disappointment as Snow Leopard doesn't support NEF edits made with Nikon software.

Peter,

I'm not sure I know what an "optimized" preview is so I can't answer your question directly. As I understand it, Expression Media running on Mac OS Tiger could interpret Capture NX2's embedded previews easily (with Manufacturer rendering selected). It was only after the release of Leopard and Snow Leopard that EM2 lost its ability to display Capture NX2's embedded preview. As far as I can tell, and from reading others' experiences on this forum and the Phase One forum, there is no way around it.

With regard to telling EM2 to use the embedded preview, I assume that's the default (and only) action. I don't recall having an option to tell it to do otherwise. And as such, because of the loss of support for Nikon manufacturer rendering, the issue is moot. Currently (on Snow Leopard) the Web gallery generates images based on the original raw file, regardless of any edits make in Capture NX2. Perhaps I'm not understanding your statement.

As for my custom Web gallery examples, as I mentioned in original post, my uses include modifying iView templates to include custom fields such as print size, price, model/property release status, etc. Some of these fields I include in PayPal form menus. I also use custom-coded Javascript popup links.

Well, my G5 finally died, so I now have a Mac Pro with Snow Leopard. My tentative plan is to continue using EM2 but modify my workflow by adding an extra step: after editing a NEF in Capture NX2, I'll save a high-quality JPEG copy to serve as the preview for EM2 and the master for generating Web galleries.

Hi Roger. Actually I completely agree with you. I plan on using EM2 for as long as I can, but my Power Mac G5 is showing signs of a dying logic board and/or power supply (frequent fan cycling, failed FireWire 800 port). A repair would cost over US$800, which is more than the computer is worth. So, one day soon I will have to get a new desktop Mac. Unfortunately EM2 on post-Tiger OSs does not display edited Nikon NEF previews (I just confirmed this on my new Mac laptop running Snow Leopard), so a new computer will also require a new workflow. The Nikon NEF issue is half of my calculus as I try to plan for the future.

Follow up: regarding NEF previews and Media Pro/Capture One... I just realized that Capture One doesn't save its edits into the NEF like NX2 does; I'll have to output my edits as a TIFF. So if I stick with Media Pro I guess I'll have to deal with TIFFs whether or not I use Capture One. Is that correct?

After Phase One's less-than-auspicious launch of Media Pro (replacing EM2), I am considering another DAM software for Mac but can't seem to find anything that matches EM2's Web gallery capabilities. My custom iView/EM2 template uses several custom fields (print size, price, model/property release status, etc.) some of which are integrated into a PayPal form. It took me days to construct the template and months to perfect it, and it wouldn't have been possible without iView's excellent XML/iView tag documentation.

I've spend the last couple days playing with Aperture 3 and Lightroom 3 trial versions on my new MacBook Pro (Snow Leopard), and here are my observations:

- Aperture allows the creation of custom fields, but has no ability to utilize them for Web galleries as it apparently doesn't allow user-customized themes/templates. It seems half-baked. So I am dismissing Aperture. Too bad, as I do like the interface.

- Lightroom does not allow creation of custom fields but does allow custom/user-created Web gallery themes/templates. But Lightroom provides no XML/tag documentation to help figure out how to modify an existing template in HTML. Perhaps this is moot becaue it seems as though Lightroom forces you to generate a version of your template for each use. For example, in EM2 I use my single template named "Images" to build 100s of Web galleries (e.g., Birds, Mammals, Reptiles, etc.) from my 100s of Catalog Sets. In Lightroom, it appears as though I would have to create a "Birds" template, a "Mammals" template, and a "Reptiles" template, ad nauseum, since it doesn't give you the ability to code the template generically. If I'm right, then this defeats the purpose of a template. Also, the process is somewhat confusing; do I need to create both a "Birds" Collection and a "Birds" Web Gallery to use for my "Birds" template/theme? If I am misunderstanding something, please correct me.

I think John B's plug-in is intended to address custom field issue, but with caveats regarding the wisdom of relying on custom fields in the first place. But without them I couldn't have created my PayPal e-commerce solution.

So, assuming Phase One can fix the damage they did to EM2 with the first release of Media Pro, it looks like I will have to use Media Pro. I wouldn't mind so much (since I've been very happy with iView/EM2) but Media Pro on a Mac (only a Mac?) doesn't display Nikon NEF edits made by another manufacturer's software (Nikon Capture NX 2). To see the previews you have to pay a ransom, er, purchase Phase One's Capture One raw editing software. Alternately I could save all of my edited NEFs as TIFs to sidestep the raw preview issue, but then my hard drive storage needs would be more than quintupled (a 13 MB NEF -> a 70 MB TIFF) and I would have to manage another set of files.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated.

UPDATE: I've just been advised by another source that my proposed scenario is in fact not possible on a current (or future) Intel Mac. The only scenario in which this would work is if one had a very specific early Intel Mac (between 2006-2007) that came with a "Tiger for Intel" installation DVD. My version of Tiger is for PPC only.

Update: I wrote to the author of the MacWorld article. He thinks a bootable Tiger partition would be possible on any newer Mac Pro (Core 2 Duo or better). He also said the comment re: Lion machines not permitting dual booting is premature until we actually have Lion Macs to test.

A MacWorld article today, Lion and the Rosetta dead-end, mentions creating a "dual-boot Mac" for people in similar situations as mine, but a commenter on the article says that a dual-boot Mac on a Lion-equipped Mac won't permit dual booting. So presumably a Snow Leopard-equipped Mac Pro would permit dual booting.

Any thoughts on this dual booting topic?

I'm still running EM2 on Tiger/Power Mac G5 (without problems) and will eventually be getting a new Mac Pro (Snow Leopard or Lion). Leopard, Snow Leopard and presumably Lion do not play well with Nikon NEFs for reasons that I don't fully understand. Even if they did play well, Phase One have made it clear that the new EM (Media Pro) will not support Nikon NEF edits made in any software other than their own Capture One software. So I won't be purchasing Media Pro.

The question: once I get my new Mac (with Snow Leopard or Lion), can I create a drive partition that will start up the computer in Tiger OS so that I can run EM2? I've posed this question to different Apple tech support people who can't give a definitive answer ("it might work" or "I doubt it" or "I really don't know").

Will it work? Has anyone tried this with a newer Intel Mac?

The Mac NEF preview issue has been verified.

From a user on the Media Pro forum:

"iView/Expression Media rendered Nikon NEF previews correctly through 10.4 (Tiger). Color got a little hairy with 10.5 (Leopard), and finally broke completely with 10.6. PhotoMechanic has absolutely no trouble reflecting edits in NEFs in all 3 OSes, so I have to conclude something has been off in this software for a long time.

[In Media Pro] thumbnail view does render the edits properly, but Media view does not."

Now I'm hoping to get clarification from Phase One on whether this is an Apple-Nikon licensing issue or a bug that Phase One can/will fix.

I agree. Seems like the right name given its history.

Nostalgia for iView MediaPro? 

Pardon the nit pick, but "Media Pro" is two words, not one. 

Thanks. That makes sense. (I'm surprised it wasn't implemented like that before.)


The original poster is using a Mac, not Windows. But the original poster didn't say if he/she tried the Apple Core Image rendering setting. Still waiting for clarification.