Creaceed (booth S-332S) this week unveiled version 2.0 of Hydra, its HDR photography application. According to the company, Hydra creates an High Dynamic Range (HDR) image which is "much closer to what one can actually see." The program is available as a Mac application or as the "the only" HDR plug-in for Aperture. Version 2.0 offers a new "Perceptive" default tone mapper for improved and more natural results and "Homography", the new default alignment technique that is very useful for small distortions. It also adds "The Loupe," a new tool for real time 1:1 full quality preview.
Nik Software this week released the Viveza plug-in for Aperture 2.1, Apple's photo editing and management software. The Viveza plug-in allows Aperture users to selectively control light and color in photographic images from within Aperture. Integrated seamlessly within Aperture's organizing and editing environment, users can simply place "U Point"-powered control points directly on colors or objects such as sky, skin or grass to make targeted adjustments to an image within Aperture. Software-based sliders enable users to easily adjust brightness, contrast or color with just a few mouse clicks. The Viveza plugin automatically selects objects and seamlessly creates masks based on where the photographer places a control point.