Color Finesse 3.0.7 Update Now Available

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Color Finesse 3.0.7 Update Now Available
by Bob Currier on Feb 20, 2012 at 8:34:04 pm

We've just posted the Color Finesse 3.0.7 update to our website.

Changes in this update include:

HSL curves settings were not being restored properly when loading a saved settings file. (Win).
Make cursor change within Simplified Interface curves to make it easier to select end points (Mac).
Remove ability to delete first and last curve points in the Simplified Interface curves to match Windows behavior (Mac).
Fix a problem where upgrading the LE version when no version of Color Finesse had been previously installed caused a crash when entering registration information (Mac).
Removed Rapid Preview button from Reference panes. It is not supposed to function there and caused confusion (Mac/Win).

This update is recommended for all Color Finesse 3 users.

Visit our Downloads Page to download the appropriate 3.0.7 installer for your system.

(For those keeping score at home, the 3.0.6 version number was skipped so we could keep things organized in-house.)

Bob Currier
Synthetic Aperture

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Re: Color Finesse 3.0.7 Update Now Available
by Daniel Christie on Feb 22, 2012 at 2:54:01 am

I just downloaded and ran the installer. First question: Where can I find my serial number for CFLE in AE CS5.5? It is not printed on a sticker on the box as with earlier versions.

Anyway, I ran the installer without a serial number and installed CFLE. Now the Colour Finesse entry in AE reads '(version) SA Colour Finesse 3' and returns the error 'After Effects error: invalid filter (25::3)' when I try to apply it to a layer.

AE 10.5.0.253
Windows 7 SP1

Cheers,

Daniel

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Re: Color Finesse 3.0.7 Update Now Available
by Bob Currier on Feb 24, 2012 at 10:14:26 pm

First, we discovered that the Color Finesse 3.0.7 installer on our website was corrupted and would install a bad version of the LE plug-in. The PI plug-in would install and work correctly, but LE would fail as you describe.

We've uploaded a corrected version of the installer to the website. You can re-download that and run it to install a valid version of Color Finesse LE 3.0.7. There is no need to uninstall Color Finesse first.

On the serial number issue, it's a bit complicated, so bear with me while I explain. Starting with CS 5.5, Adobe elected to stop including a Color Finesse serial number sticker or serial number in the download emails. Instead, Color Finesse is automatically serialized when the Adobe installer runs.

You can see that serial number in the Color Finesse "About" dialog after CS 5.5 has been installed. Best practice is to view that About dialog and write down the CF serial number for your records. Which no one does, of course.

With the CF 3.0.7 installer, we've made it so that if Color Finesse 3 has been previously serialized, we retrieve that serial number and fill those fields in for you. When it works, it's very convenient.

There are cases, however, such as failed installs, where the record of the earlier serial number is lost. In those cases the installer will still require that you manually enter the serial number. If that happens to you, the only way to get the Color Finesse serial number back is to uninstall and reinstall After Effects. Fortunately, with CS 5.5 that's a much quicker process than it used to be and takes very little time.

Hopefully running the latest Color Finesse installer is all you'll need to do. But worst case is just that uninstall/reinstall of AE and you'll be back up and running.

Bob Currier
Synthetic Aperture

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Re: Color Finesse 3.0.7 Update Now Available
by Rob Morrison on Apr 3, 2012 at 6:32:57 pm

Thanks Bob,

Just a couple of things for SA to consider.

I spent well over 8 hours trying to get "Match Color" to work. It seemed like it should be simple, source>target>match color. Little did I know there was a bug with v3.0 that rendered it inoperable. Some form of documentation on your website, beyond a random and obscure comment on the forum (which, by the way, didn't link correctly and I had to type the url in by hand), would have saved me a lot of time and grief. I could see from your forums that a lot of users encountered the same problem. I even saw one reply from yourself where you essentially repeated what was already in the manual, without mentioning the feature didn't work at all in v3.0. Frustrating to say the least.

"Best practice is to view that About dialog and write down the CF serial number for your records. Which no one does, of course."

After downloading the uncorrupted v3.0.7 version, I spent another 2 hours trying to analyze my serial number from the "about" window. Tiny white text over yellow background squares certainly achieves the goal of making it extremely difficult to read. I had 3 different people look at it. Between the 0's, 8's, 3's, 9's, 1's, S's, 5's etc. we couldn't figure it out (solved with a little guessing/trial and error). Again...frustrating.

Because these forums are well indexed and turn up on the search engines all the time:

Synthetic Aperture Color Finesse 3.0 Match Color
SA Color Finesse Match Color doesn't work - this is due to v3.0 being buggy and the feature doesn't work
Solution: install the upgrade to v3.0.7 from the Synthetic Aperture website

Hopefully that saves the next guy or gal from the same pain I suffered.

And here's a quick breakdown of how to Match Color with SA Color Finesse

Load the reference clip into the Gallery
Double click the reference clip in the Gallery
Click the Source tab in the Image Window
Ensure the Settings tabs are set correctly (HLS, RGB, etc.) - the Match Color button will "grey out" if incorrect
The Color Info window contains two samplers
Click the eye dropper from the top sampler (source) and click a pixel or patch of pixels in the source image
Click the Reference tab in the Image Window
Click the eye dropper from the bottom sample (target) and click the matching pixel or patch of pixels in the target image
Click the Match Color button and voila!

It most likely won't work the first time out. You'll have to experiment quite a bit, but you will get it close.

Hope all that helps a bit. It's an AMAZING tool.

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Re: Color Finesse 3.0.7 Update Now Available
by Bob Currier on Apr 4, 2012 at 2:56:51 am

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, the Color Matching bug in 3.0 was a bit frustrating for everyone. Another lesson in the "don't change things at the last minute" book.

It probably should have a dedicated entry in our site's Knowledge Base. I'll go revisit the matter, but the instructions in the manual seem to me to be the same as your summary, with the addition of specifically matching to a Reference Image in your example. But thanks for writing it up and adding some key phrases--hopefully it will help save someone else some time/frustration.

I agree that the serial number can be hard to read, which has become more important with CS5.5 no longer having a serial number sticker to refer to. It's been made easier-to-read in an upcoming release.

Sorry it turned into an ordeal for you, but I'm glad things are now working.

Bob Currier
Synthetic Aperture

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Re: Color Finesse 3.0.7 Update Now Available
by I.G. Romov on Mar 9, 2012 at 6:04:35 pm

Hi, 1) Downloaded and installed update in Windows 7 AE MC 5.5 from 3.04 to 3.07. 2) Had to hand enter serial. Auto fill or whatever didn't work. 3) Luckily, had read post where it recommended to copy serial beforehand. 4) It should be easier to read! I had to snippit the box and enlarge to realize that the last digit was a 6 not an 8. Sorry, old eyes. Other than that, successful upgrade.

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