Snow Leopard and NIK filters

[Paul Grupp]

I have a bunch of the NIK filters -- Viveza, SilverEFX Pro, Color EFX Pro. I use the plugin versions on both Photoshop CS4 and Aperture 2.X.

After upgrading to Snow Leopard, Photoshop CS4 crashed on load every time, and Aperture crashed whenever attempting to use a NIK filter.

I removed the NIK filters from the CS4 plugins folder, and CS4 then returned to working normally.

This happens on two Macs -- a 2008 imac, and a 2009 MacBook Pro.

Conclusion: NIK plug-ins don't work at all with Snow Leopard.

Question: NIK must have known this to be the case -- why, oh why, is there not one word about Snow Leopard compatibility, or lack thereof on their support site? Why did they not come clean and report to Apple the fact that they don't work?

I am very disappointed with the way that NIK has handled this situation. They are an extremely important part of my professional workflow, and while I can survive without them for a while or even indefinitely, I would have expected a company that markets so heavily to the professional market to be more proactive over such an obvious issue.

 

[PaulV]

Wow, I was going to upgrade this afternoon, having determined that most of my apps won't be affected.

This could change things, though.

Doesn't impress me at all. Have you heard from them at all?
--
Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.

 

[Alpha Doug]

At least one other poster on here reported that his nik filters were working O.K. Have you tried removing them and their associated plists, and then re-installing them? Worth a shot.

--
Only my opinion. It's worth what you paid for it. Your mileage may vary! ;-}

http://www.dougwigton.com/

 

[Paul Grupp]

Definitely worth a shot. I'll try it.

Haven't heard anything back from NIK yet, although to be fair, I only sent my tech support issue to them a couple hours ago.

I'm just surprised that they didn't do anything proactive to let us know what to expect. Other than this one issue, my move to Snow Leopard has been easy and trouble-free -- probably the easiest major OS upgrade I've ever done in a VERY long life doing OS upgrades!

Best,
Paul

 

[Paul Grupp]

I reinstalled Viviza on my Mac running Snow Leopard, from a fresh download from my NIK account. Install went perfectly. But Photoshop crashed the moment I tried to use the Viveza plug-in.

Best,
Paul

 

[BDKing]

Same with me- after Snow Leopard update Nik plugins crash Aperture. I've reinstalled Aperture & all the plugins, no luck.

 

[sanmaj]

This is the precise reason why you should never be one of the 1st adaptors when a new OS comes along. Giving them time to work out the OS bugs is just one of the reasons why. Getting important software/hardware re-synched is another big issue. I "ALWAYS" wait until I can see the fall out associated with a new OS relative to existing software and hardware e.g. printers, scanners, etc. before I upgrade. I might wait months before I take the plunge. You have to be patient.

I also have all of the plug-ins from NIK that you are talking about as well as others and I don't want to run the risk of something like this happenning. I now will wait until each company re-works their software. Despite this being a known problem it continues to happen and there is very little that you can do about it. Apple will say it is the software company's fauilt and vice versa. All you're left with is the inconvenience of it all until everyone gets back in synch again.

Good luck and I sincerely hope things turn around soon for you.

"BEEN THERE, DONE THAT"

 

[Paul Grupp]

Certainly your advice is prudent.

But as time goes on, and this path gets more well worn with each new OS release, there is less and less excuse for companies like NIK dropping the ball.

There are LOTS of resources available telling what works, and what doesn't work, and any company serious about providing business products to professionals who depend on them for their livelihood can manage to get it together, and if not be ready for the OS release with working code, at least be able to say, "our stuff doesn't work with Snow Leopard."

In my case, I am still happy that I made the switch to Snow Leopard. There is nothing I need to do with NIK filters that I can't do with other tools I have, and frankly, I would rather know that a company can't be trusted to come out with updates and info in a timely basis, than not.

For me, the improvements to Snow Leopard are worth an early switch -- for example -- I now, for the first time in the Mac environment, actually have working Epson printer drivers for my 2200 and 1400 printers that reliably tell me the status of my ink cartridges.

You win some, you lose some, I guess. But long term, for me, the answer isn't "always assume that stuff will be broken after an OS upgrade, and then you're not surprised." Rather, it's, "only depend on software from companies that have a good track record of proactive technical updates and good client communications."

Best,
Paul

 

[noirdesir]

but having a fall-back solution is always advisable. I upgraded yesterday, but only a clone. If everything works, I'll upgrade my main system or clone the Snow Leopard install back. But I am in no hurry to fix problems.

 

[AmbientMick]

I've been using the Nik filters in Aperture since installing Snow Leopard on the first day of release and i've had no problems at all. In fact Aperture and the Nik filters seem to work a little faster. I'm a pro photographer so I obviously had a SuperDuper copy of my pre-Snow Leopard installation on a separate drive, just in case, but I've had no reason to use that.

--
---------------------------------------------
Regards,
AmbientMick
http://www.michaelstringer.co.uk

 

[F16jetjock]

I've upgraded to Aperture 2.1.4 and Snow Leopard. I'm running NiK Dfine 2.0 and Sharpener Pro 3.0 plugins for Aperture.

No problems at all. Okay on both 20" iMac (Late 2007) and MacBook (Early 2008).

--
Kent
Tucson, AZ

'Personally, I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.'
Sir Winston Churchill

 

[Paul Grupp]

Which NIK filters are you using?

I have ColorFX Pro, Viveza, SilverFX Pro. None of them work for me, on either of two machines -- one an iMac, one a MacBook Pro.

 

[Paul Grupp]

Interesting -- I don't have either of those products. I own ColorFX Pro, SilverFX Pro, and Viveza. None of them work under Snow Leopard on either of my two machines.

 

[Paul Grupp]

Right -- I could have restored back to Leopard if necessary too, but like I said, for me, the positives of Snow Leopard outweigh the negatives -- I'd rather live with the improvements and lose NIK, if that's what it takes.

Best,
Paul

 

[macbob3]

No problems with NIK and Snow Leopard/Aperture. And OnOne Genuine Fractals seems just fine with CS4.

 

[PaulV]

Interesting.

Well, I'm going to upgrade one or two of my machines and see what happens.

P
--
Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.

 

[AmbientMick]

Which NIK filters are you using?

I have ColorFX Pro, Viveza, SilverFX Pro. None of them work for me, on either of two machines -- one an iMac, one a MacBook Pro.

I use all of them but I mostly use ColorFX and SilverFX. I have processed several thousand images in the last few days and put at least 500 through the Nik filters.

--
---------------------------------------------
Regards,
AmbientMick
http://www.michaelstringer.co.uk

 

[David M. Jenkins]

Hopefully this will get resolved quickly. I just got a package deal of NIK Complete Collection & Aperture 2 for $300 Cdn at a local retailer along with my SL disk.

Would I be better off upgrading to SL and then installing NIK / Aperture? I also have Lightroom 2.4 - anyone notice any problems with this under SL?
--
David Jenkins
Kelowna BC Canada

 

[PaulV]

I almost hate to tell you guys, but I have no problems with my Nik Colorefex Complete or Viveza on CS4 OR CS3 running Snow Leopard on my Mac Pros.

I just updated. Had to reset my printers; having big issues with Sony XDACM transfer, but no problems with the Nik stuff or with CS3 or CS4.

Again, this is on Intel Mac Pro machines. I will try it later on the MBP.

Also, as a rare bonus, Nikon Transfer still works. That, for me at least, has traditionally been something that major OS updates routinely break for many, many years.
--
Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.

 

[Frag]

I talked with Nik earlier today about any known issues with the upgrade and the technician I spoke with said he was aware of some issues with some of the programs and advised waiting on the upgrade until the Nik issues were resolved. He, of course, felt the updates would be out shortly, but who knows what THAT means....

Frag