"Lightroom-killer" CameraBag 2020 photo editor launches with new features and non-subscription pricing.

Nevercenter today launched CameraBag 2020, a major new update to the independent studio's standout, Apple-awarded photo/video editor for Mac and PC. It's the software's first full version update in over three years, and includes significant new features along with a new pricing model, which remains subscription-free. These updates position CameraBag even more strongly as an upstart Lightroom-killer in the photo editing space.

"There's a clear, growing annoyance among consumers with the subscription model for desktop software," said Tom Plewe, President of Nevercenter and lead developer of CameraBag. "The big companies may feel they can force it on their customers, but we're able to provide photographers with an incredible alternative."

CameraBag 2020 comes in two versions - CameraBag Pro 2020 for editing both photos and videos, and CameraBag Photo 2020 for editing photos only. This new release of CameraBag includes a much-requested spot heal tool, interactive white balance, advanced auto exposure, dozens of new tailored presets in several new collections, big speed improvements, and more. Additionally, CameraBag is moving away from fewer major releases (spaced further apart) to a continuous-release model.

While many first think of CameraBag as a Lightroom replacement, it has gained recognition on its own for its innovative design and features that are simply not available in Lightroom. CameraBag combines the benefits of quick-access presets and powerful adjustment tools in one simple and easy-to-use intuitive interface, where every adjustment applied to the image appears as a tile in a tray. Tiles can be easily rearranged and adjusted at any time, or saved as layerable, editable presets for later use. Another key feature that sets CameraBag apart from Lightroom is full video support (in CameraBag Pro), allowing videographers to use the exact same adjustments, presets, and tools on both photos and videos. CameraBag also features uniquely advanced tools available nowhere else, in addition to hundreds of high quality presets.

CameraBag 2020 is available now for $50 USD for CameraBag Pro, and $30 USD for CameraBag Photo, both at www.nevercenter.com/camerabag. A free trial is available. Pricing includes access to both the Mac and PC versions and a year of free updates to newer versions.

CameraBag 2020 is also coming soon to other store platforms, such as the Mac App Store, Steam, and Setapp, where pricing models may vary per platform capabilities.

Links
Website: nevercenter.com/camerabag
Press info and images: nevercenter.com/camerabag/press
YouTube video series: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBJ9U0NYh_Hj4Wwb-MjPdEH_sko6yXVWa
Questions/contact: info@nevercenter.com

The past couple of weeks we've been largely focused on the upcoming new version of CameraBag, but we've also quietly made good progress on fundamentals in Milo. We created a new selection system and have face and object selections (with multi-select) and manipulation working with the new system. This was more complex than it may sound, but the result is a very solid foundation. It's fun to start being able to play with shapes while all the realtime rendering capabilities of UE are active.

We also enabled and tested raytracing support, and all is working there. We'll need to grab a newer graphics card at some point, though, before we can really see that shine and have something to show you all. We're excited to try it out more fully in the future!

-John

[edit: whoops, sorry about that offset cursor in the gif]

We're thrilled to announce we've received a MegaGrant from Epic Games for Milo, our Unreal Engine-based companion to Silo which we envision as a realtime renderer, modeler, and much more. Milo was already under active development in the background, but this grant makes a huge difference; it will allow us to take several months and really focus on experimenting and exploring the possibilities.

 

We're excited. Epic's Unreal Engine offers a ton of potential new avenues to explore, beyond the rendering capabilities we're already taking advantage of. We're asking the same questions we had when first developing Silo: how can we as a small team make something new and innovative that's also practical and genuinely useful for artists working today? (For example: we're intrigued by Unreal's VR capabilities, but can we make something non-gimmicky that you'd want to use day in and day out?)

 

Please keep in mind that some of what we show in the coming months will be experimental. But the end result should be a more exciting and interesting product than we could afford to develop otherwise.

 

Our progress so far has given us both a solid base to work from and a crash course in the inner workings of the Unreal Engine, which we'd never used before. So far, so good! But we've got a lot to learn. We're excited to share our progress with you along the way.

 

-John

We've been making some good progress lately on Milo, our experimental Unreal-based companion to Silo which we envision as a realtime renderer and possibly much more.

 

We've already shown a base version of Milo up and running using Unreal, including basic scene navigation and UI. (I'm trying to be better about blogging, but if you've missed updates so far on Silo/Milo, the best place to get realtime info is our social media: Facebook and Twitter.) This includes a lot of custom code to allow for shape generation and potential modification directly inside Milo, as well as generating models from loaded files. It also can export quick turntable renders to gif at the press of a button, which is handy for sharing your work online.

 

As the next step, we've added experimental PBR (physically based rendering) multimaterial setup tools in Silo. Those of you who have used Unreal or Unity will recognize the PBR material workflow. These materials besides diffuse are not rendered in Silo, but are rendered in realtime in Milo. We've set up a bridge between the two apps using modified FBX (though we're keeping an eye on PBR-native formats such as Pixar's USD; currently FBX can't export PBR to third party applications.) These developments are good for both apps: more robust FBX and materials support is a natural next step for Silo, and it's a lot of fun to be able to see the results in realtime in Milo.

 

Here's an example model with diffuse, specular, displacement, emissive, normal, and bump maps applied, along with values set for metallic and roughness, in a modified version of Silo. Milo auto-updates from the model whenever you save it in Silo.

 

So far we've focused on establishing a strong base for Milo, but we're also hoping to get a little more experimental with its future and features in the coming months. Unreal offers some intriguing possibilities. We've recently had some good news in that regard, and we'll share it with you as soon as we can!

 

-John

Dear Friends of Pixelmash,

Great news! Pixelmash v1.2.00 is LIVE and ready for you to download.

The update is FREE for all current Pixelmash license holders. Get the update wherever you purchased Pixelmash originally: via the Mac App Store, Steam, or the Nevercenter website. Additionally, the trial period has been reset for those who have not yet purchased.

Here are some of the new things you'll find:

• Added tools to draw rectangles and circles
• Holding Shift while rotating in the transform tool snaps to 15 degree rotation increments
• In all brush tools, holding Shift while in line-drawing mode (accessed via right click) snaps to horizontal, vertical, and 45-degree lines
• New custom dither pattern option in dither effect
• New option to position dither patterns relative to layer position
• New outline-only option in outline effect
• Improved speed, particularly on retina displays
• Dragging in image files now prompts for import or open as new document
• Now use Alt+Shift (rather than just Shift) to temporarily enter erase mode in brush tools
• Hi-dpi support has been added for Windows OS
• Other bug fixes

Enjoy! As always, we love to hear from you--send us an email to pixelmash@nevercenter.com, or reach out via Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. Let us know if you find a bug we can squash, if you have a great idea to add, or show us what you are creating!
Best,
Nevercenter