Frustrations with AI 6

[geoff]

I've gone from a contented customer to a disgruntled one with my purchase of AI6. I jumped at the opportunity to upgrade my RFS 3600 AI to Version 6 as soon as it came out because it was advertised to be OS X compatible. The installer worked in OS X but SF didn't. I returned later to your website to discover a tardy warning that it was not compatible with OS X. Dante posted a question about this on Sept. 5th and has not received a (public) reply.

In OS 9.2 there are still a number of issues reported in these forums that haven't received answers. Some types of negative film (in my case Fuji's) scan with an uncorrectable greenish cast that doesn't occur with Kodak's driver and profiles. Frequently, after a couple of batch scans, subsequent scans are cyan only (again, this doesn't occur with Kodak's driver). I can't get the SRD feature to work with batch scans - it simply rescans the first frame. And finally, AI6 often crashes [rawDataPrescan_applyLUT()] Photoshop 7 when resizing a preview from the upper left corner (at least I've never encountered it when resizing from anywhere else). I never observed this in AI5.5. I get the impression there's no QA for the product.

Thanks for looking into this. And yes, I've tried new preferences files.

[LSI_Support]

Dear Geoff,

SRD is not a function that can be used in batch, as scratches are irregular, and the SilverFast SRD automatic function is rather weak - makes no sense to batch process scratches.

Please use no RPS3600 version below 6.0.1r10

[geoff]

Thanks for the reply. Your point about SRD is well taken for critical work, although I can imagine workflows where users might desire a base-level of dust and scratch removal for batches. Nevertheless, batch scanning is still enabled in the UI when SRD is on, and the result is that the first frame is rescanned over and over (the number of frames in the batch). This is hardly desirable. I suggest either disabling SRD for batch scans or putting up a warning - but please fix the rescan issue.

Your response didn't answer the question that Dante and I have posed - when will there be OS X support? I purchased the upgrade based on your advertising it as such. And in searching this forum I've never encountered a satisfactory answer (or workaround) to the greenish cast that affects Silverfast scans of some types of color negative films.

Thanks...

[LSI_Support]

Dear Geoff,
I will forward your point about the SRD to our development (our GUI needs improvement, indeed).

The question about when will it be OSX compatible is the question that I cannot answer at the moment, as SilverFast software relies on manufacturer device drivers (for OSX). As long as there is no OSX adaptation by manufacturer there won't be a SilverFast for OSX either.

[dante]

I tend to concur with Geoff; my scanner came with 5 and I bought 6 only because I thought it would work with OS X (that is what the SFI said). Now we are hearing the "we'll get around to it in due time" line. Frankly, given the poor software Kodak wrote, everyone with an RFS 3600 needs SF (meaning sales potential), and Apple is now making its new machines OS X only (making it a "must-have" for customers). So why isn't this more of a priority? I find it a colossal pain to reboot my computer every time I want to use my scanner.

Two other points: (1) this program needs to work in way that does not require the filmstrip to shuttle all the way back and forth every time you do a frame preview -- this causes scratches and dust, especially with long strips; and (2) the focusing controls need to be a little more intuitive (or at least explained in the book).

Regards
Dante

[ddphoto]

SF 6 should have been Mac OS X compatible from the word go! Now I hear that its out of your hand weather it eventually supports OS X or not. Give me a break. that what business relations are all about, anything can be accomplished if one puts his/her mind to it.

Alot of RFS3600/SF user would love to move forward and leave OS 9 behind. I thought SF 6 was my last hurdle!

Sure hope I see an update soon.