Aperture 3 Tutorial // Intro to Curves
Tuesday, November 2, 2010 at 12:32PM
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Since I have started making these video for Aperture 3 I have been concerned that I would run out of ideas on things to offer. Thankfully I get a lot of suggestion on twitter and in the Aperture discussion group on flickr. It is hard to judge the level that other users are at when you can't exactly hang out with them so it is nice to get feedback on what topics people want to see. Because of these very reasons I am offering an intro to curves for Aperture 3. It seems to be one of the more requested ideas in the forums. Like I mention in the video I am not the master of the curve adjustment and nor do I claim to be. I have a fairly good understanding on they work and how to use them, but trying to cram too much info into a 10 minute or so video is hard to do. That is the reason I call this an intro to curves. I think that there is enough left over information on the subject to warrant a second video in the future. Still, I wanted to offer something that will get people moving on using them and at least show how powerful they can be.
Since the topic of curves and it's understanding may take some people a bit more experimentation to figure out I am also offering a couple links to other resources on the topic. Joseph Linaschke over at apertureexpert.com has these posts on the topic.
- Understanding Luminance vs RGB in Auto Levels & Curves, and Assigning Keyboard Shortcuts in Aperture 3
- Curves. 'Nuff Said.
And over on aperture.maccreate.com a search for curves shows quite a few tips and tricks on the subject.
There is a lot to learn about curves and all the neat things they can do. So check out my tutorial and go to the above links and stuff your brain until you are full! :)
Make sure to watch the video in HD for the best quality.
Did this video tutorial help you?
I enjoy making these Aperture tutorials and will continue to do so to the best of my ability. With that said, I am looking towards the future and see the need to extend and grow what I can offer. If you like the videos that I have been providing, please consider a donation to help me make them better. If you prefer not to donate that will in no way impact future tutorials.
This is NOT required nor is it in any way going to be tied to any other part of my site. Any donations supplied will be used for the sole purpose of helping me create better tutorials for my fellow Aperture users. The rest of my site will remain as it has been and this information and the donation button will only be available after a video tutorial. Thanks -Nate
Reader Comments (13)
I've just watched the last two videos. Thank you so much for taking the time to make them. They've helped me immensely!
Cheers Nathan, really appreciated this video.
Hi there,
This was a very useful post. Thank you very much for taking the time and posting it.
Hi, thank you for you tutorial, even if I am french I have nearly understood everything, it's help me more to understand curve, I used before but I understood better. Also your picture are nice
Bye
You saved med tons of time with this video. I'm used to curves in PS but Aperture was behaving a bit different so I have mostly tried staying away from them :)
Glad this tutorial seems to be working out for everyone!! I will be adding more as time goes on. Thanks for the comments. :)
Hi Nathan,
Thanks for this tutorial and the others... Always a great source of information.
I noticed that you are using the curves in the linear mode (as opposed to gamma-corrected mode).
Apart a small sentence on Apple website, I didn't find any information, for standard image (properly exposed and everything), whether we should use linear or gamma-corrected mode. Any idea or advice on this point ? (if it helps, I do mostly landscape shoots).
Again many thanks for your great tutorial.
Julien
@Julien - The difference is that the linear curve is applied more evenly across the image (it has a more smooth and gradient like effect) where as the gamma-corrected tends to "match the way the human eye perceives light, adding additional weight to the shadows." If you go to the help menu in Aperture 3 and open "Aperture Help," do a search for "gamma-corrected" and you will be given the whole deal on it. They compare linear vs. gamma-corrected and offer a lot of other information.
You can also switch between the two once you have applies the curve and see the difference for yourself. I have never found the gamma-corrected version very appealing for the way that I work, but you may like the results from using it. I hope that helps.
-N8
Very Helpful. Many thanks.
Thanks for this. I am a photog student and have found your vids always informative.
I actually bought this Macbook because I wanted aperture 3 (all my other machines run linux, I was using picasa and Gimp).
But a tip: The word is TUTORIAL, whenever you say it in your vids you add an extra syllable and say TUTATORIAL. You sound sooo smart and then you say tutatorial and it makes me giggle a little.
I'm not bashing you or trying to hurt your feelings, and I wouldn't post this if you didn't have moderation on. I just know that I'd like someone to point stuff like that out to me if I did it.
Looking forward to the next one. Happy shooting!
Nathan, thanks for the curves video. Although I use AP & PS quite a lot, I found it interesting to see how your work flows here. I do absolutely agree, that it is not numbers that teach, but your eye that helps best to postprocess pictures. Looking forward to see more, Heinz
Hi Nathan,
Great video - thanks.
One quick question - when I select auto luminence the line curve adjusts, When I then select auto rgb as you do in the video, the curve returns to a diagonal from bottom left to top right. This doesn't seem to be the same as happened to you! Have I got a setting wrong?
Thanks
Tom
@Tom - Hmm.. Well without seeing the image I am not sure what is happening. My guess is that the colors in your photo are different then what is in mine and so you may not be seeing as dramatic of a result. Make sure that you check the dropdown menu next to the channel and choose "Show RGB overlays". This will show you the luminance and RGB at the same time. Hope that helps.
-N8