Aviary

[gingerbreadmann]

I haven't seen anything like this before.

From the Photoshop contest site, Worth1000, comes this new, free (for now), graphics suite, Aviary. I just saw this today and I am already signing up to beta test. Very well done web site. Looks like they will not be a competitor to any professional program, but these look very impressive and quite powerful, seem to work seamlessly with each other (online or off) and encompass a very wide variety of subjects. Plus nothing to install. I can't wait to try. Read the blog(s) or FAQ for more info. What do you guys think of this? Does it have potential?

Aviary was created by Worth1000, LLC, a small privately held company based in Long Island, New York.

Our mission

We enable rich content creation and distribution.

Our products

Aviary is a suite of rich internet applications geared for artists of all genres. From image editing to typography to music to 3D to video, we have a tool for everything. At Worth1000, we are creating a complex ecosystem for artists and providing the world with free, capable collaborative tools and an approach to collaboration and rights management that will turn the marketplace for online art on its head.

Contact Us

aviary(a)worth1000.com

Tool List

Phoenix

Image editor

Toucan

Color swatches and palettes creator

Peacock

Computer algorithm-based pattern generator

Raven

Vector editor

Hummingbird

3D Modeler and skinner

Myna

Audio editor

Roc

Music generator

Starling

Video editor

Owl

Desktop publishing layout editor

Penguin

Word processing software geared towards creative writers

Pigeon

Painting simulator

Tern

Terrain generator (minitool)

Horus

Font editor

Woodpecker

Smart image resizer using seam carving (minitool)

Rookery

A free, unlimited distributed file system network that anyone can connect to and store data in. It also powers our file search engine.

Hawk

Digital content marketplace

Crane

Custom image product creator

Eagle

A smart online application that can identify complex data about an image based on the pixel patterns (i.e. which specific camera an image originally came from)

[andrewharrington]

Wow. Sounds too good to be true. Either it will be great, or it will be convenient at best, reinforcing the long-known fact that doing it by hand with the industry-standard tools you know and love is unparalleled. I hope it's great, though, because I could use a pattern generator and free font editor. I kind of like the design and cohesiveness of everything, though.

[gingerbreadmann]

Okay, I received access. Unfortunately when you put your "most interest field" in the signup you only get access to that program and it's sub-tools. You have to contribute and stuff to get more access.

However, I have 5 invitations for anyone who doesn't want to wait, you can jump right in. If anyone is interested you can leave your email here or PM me.

I'm about to try it out, will report back. I have access to the image editor and pattern maker now.

[AsM29]

I put vector graphics in as my interest and they only gave me image editor and pattern maker. I have a feeling that they start everyone out with these.

[gingerbreadmann]

I put vector graphics in as my interest and they only gave me image editor and pattern maker. I have a feeling that they start everyone out with these.

Yeah I think they are the only ones available now, however you can make a post in one of the forum threads to request access to alpha test the vector one.

[gingerbreadmann]

It is only a small sample, but these things are powerful. Especially Peacock, wow, you can do some amazing stuff with it.

[SDX]

Some of the images that meowza has done on that are fantastic;

[nick the brick]

please invite me nickbrickwall@gmail.com

[gingerbreadmann]

Invite sent!

[chestnutz]

I'd like an invite

mooseec22@yahoo.com

Thanks!

So, is this kind of like another version of Adobe and all the things they have (photoshop, illustrator, etc.)?

[Drew22]

Me too.

andrew_c_read@yahoo.com

[gingerbreadmann]

I'd like an invite

mooseec22@yahoo.com

Thanks!

So, is this kind of like another version of Adobe and all the things they have (photoshop, illustrator, etc.)?

Well it will be a lot more. Maybe the tools won't be quite as professional but there will be a much wider variety of tools which all work seamlessly with each other, makes it easy to collaborate with others, and you can use them from any computers; no installations at all. Which is a big plus.

So far they only have two tools out, and they are both are a bit buggy(which is to be expected at this point) but they are mad powerful. Look at some of Meowza's images/tutorials/files, look at the tools list, and read the forums/blog for more info.

I'll invite you both in a sec.

[nick the brick]

Thank you so much man. I really apperciate.

The most influential people in your life, are the ones that raised you. That is why there is two days to celebrate them. Happy mothers days to all moms!

[chestnutz]

Thank you very much my man. So when this actually comes out, it's not going to be free, is it??

[Drew22]

I got it and signed up. I played around with it, it looks good. Hopefully they get all the tools out to the public soon.

[gingerbreadmann]

Yeah same. I posted to get access when the vector one comes out so I'll report when that happens.

I actually think I read somewhere that it is supposed to be free, but don't get your hopes up. However, they seem dedicated to the best interests of the consumer, and they just joined an (unobtrusive) ad service. So stay tuned.

[AsM29]

Have they released the vector program yet? This is mainly what I want to mess with. I couldn't figure out the pattern tool to save my life and the image editor is just a dummed down version of photoshop.

[gingerbreadmann]

Have they released the vector program yet? This is mainly what I want to mess with. I couldn't figure out the pattern tool to save my life and the image editor is just a dummed down version of photoshop.

Nope, and there hasn't been a blog update since May 8th, actually there hasn't been a real blog update since April. However, on the forums they said that

"On June 1st, we are excited to announce that we will either A) release a new tool, a new version of both Phoenix and Peacock and have application switching built in to the released applications OR we will miss a publicized deadline and have tons of .egg on our face.

WHICH ONE WILL IT BE?

Stay tuned..."

I mean I wouldn't get too excited because it won't be as good as Illustrator but as a whole it should be awesome.

[gingerbreadmann]

Raven, the vector editor, is FINALLY out of exclusive Alpha and into public beta. The freely available suite now includes a Photoshop-like tool, an Illustrator-like tool, a color palette tool, and an extremely powerful node-based pattern tool(which if you master is insanely cool), which all work together seamlessly. I've been kind of following this from afar the last several months but now there's actually a big breakthrough.

Guys, these are LEGIT programs and you can essentially use them for free. I have the student subscription which lets me "legally" use the beta programs free and unlimited-ly, even though you can use them free anyway. If you want to pay you can get other things. I am going to try out Raven and see how it is. I would love if someone seasoned in Illustrator did the same and gave a lowdown on how it compares. Obviously it wouldn't be a replacement but I think it would make a nice complement. I highly suggest everyone here to try this stuff out. There is helpful info on the blog, forum, and tutorial section. I'm excited.

The CEO guy said this on TechCrunch:

The target audience are all amateur designers (people who would want to try out design) but do not have access or the money to try out professional design tools.

There are 15x the number of hobbyist designers than there are professional designers.

It’s our company mission to make creation accessible to everyone and we’d rather start with the non-professional population where we see plenty of market opportunity.

Our decision to develop web apps instead of installable desktop apps is a function of our mission to be accessible: We want to remove all barriers to creation. If there is nothing to install for an end-user, they are so much more likely to begin creating.

And they certainly have the power and talent to pull this all off. I really hope they do.

Note: The service has officially launched now, that's why you had to pay to use Raven for the past while and still do to do other things.

Edit 1: So far it's not featured enough to pull me off of Inkscape, but it does all the basic things you need and does them well. It can import and Export SVG files so people here can make concepts on it. It's pretty intuitive and again I think it is more than capable enough for those who want an intro to vector graphics. I would consider it just a step below Inkscape, which I still think is far better. But the foundation is there at this point, and that is the most important thing. These are only my first impressions and I'm going to work with it a bit more.

Edit 2: There is no text feature yet as far as I can see