Author Topic: Catalog software: What are you using?  (Read 18083 times)

Offline ron_hiner

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Catalog software: What are you using?
« on: November 29, 2013, 05:19:56 PM »
I'm very curious of what other PM users are using to catalog their images.  I'm long past the critical point at which I need to database my image collection.  I'm torn between diving deeper into Lightroom or Media Pro, and as a third option, digging into other players.  All have pros and cons.   The  market inertia seems to be all in Lightroom's favor.   Adobe continues to put out major releases every year or so.   Media Pro, not so much.

One of the key requirements for me is that I don't want to be committed forever into any one vendor's system -- the ability to export all my data to a new system is critical.  Among other things, that means the catalog has to be mac/windows agnostic.  (not that I want to switch back to Windows, but I'm not going to bet the ranch on Apple's future either. )

Another is that I want to continue to use my fave photo browsing product -- PhotoMechanic -- and have that play nice with whatever catalog tool I go with.

Please post what you are using.

Thoughts, comments, and critique all welcome.  With one exception:  my needs are for today, so let's please not discuss unreleased product from Camera Bits or any other vendors, ok?
« Last Edit: November 30, 2013, 10:20:38 AM by ron_hiner »

Offline jose

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2013, 09:35:39 AM »
Hi Ron,

I'm working with AtomicView, by AntZero. But it's An abandoned project, the last update was a few years ago...

Until now I not have problem with OS X Mavericks and near 300.000 images.

I hope to keep it running long enough...

Offline judophotos

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2013, 10:25:23 AM »
Hi Ron,

Because PM's catalogue software is not yet available I am in the process of trying iMatch by Photools.com at this link  http://www.photools.com/

I have set up a database containing 570,000 digital images with a database size of 9gb using version 3.6 and I am impressed with it. I can't for one moment say it is perfect but it is really easy to find images whether the source is online or not. Modest in price too but takes some understranding.

Version 5, which is currently in beta at the moment, has a better interface but I am waiting till it is properly released before using it fully.

I still have catalogues using Media Pro but they are restricted in size meaning that I had to have 5 catalogues for the full 570k images which are growing all the time.

David




Offline Franz Dur

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2013, 01:34:57 AM »
I am  a long time (since 2006) user of Imatch 3.6 and I am using presently the beta of Imatch 5 which I find good despite some glitches remaining at this stage . I won't discuss the IMatch beta, Photomechanic will probably soon have a beta of its own cataloger, I can then decide which one is best suited to my workflow (and finances..).

IMatch 3.6 is very capable, rock solid, very fast and flexible for retrieving images among a serious database. Mine has circa 60000 raw, jpg, tiff. It takes 1-2 seconds to display the thumbs for say aunt Lisa without uncle Tom and taken at Xmas with a Nikon D80 and the Tokina 12-24 even thought the pictures resides in a dozen of folders on 2 HD. Cataloging is of course much longer, depends on the depth of details you decide are worthy to attach to an image.

But IM3.6 will be replaced quite soon (I hope) so we are at a time where neither the first PM nor the next IM programs are on the market....

Francis

Offline mklass

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #4 on: December 01, 2013, 06:13:34 AM »
Seems like it's been years since Camera Bits announced that the Cataloging version of PM would be available soon. I realize the reluctance to promise then not deliver, but at this stage, I doubt it will be released in my lifetime.

I've been holding off jumping into a catalog app again (iView/Expression Media/iView was a disaster) but at some point I will make the jump to LR, which will eliminate my need for PM. I can't see where trying to use both LR and PM offers any substantial benefit.

Was the "almost ready" version that was announced some time ago really that bad that it has taken this long to release something? Or is Camera Bits obsessing over the details and specs to the point of not being able to release anything they are satisfied with. A perfect Camera Bits catalog app sometime in the future would be nice, a usable Camera Bit catalog app tomorrow would be much better.

-Mick

Offline ron_hiner

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #5 on: December 01, 2013, 06:32:13 AM »
As I said in my original post, let's not discuss unreleased product, ok?  Let's keep the thread focused and useful for all.

Offline mklass

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #6 on: December 01, 2013, 07:15:40 AM »
Well, Ron, then go with LR. It is the de facto standard and Adobe is running everyone else out of the market, except for a few niche products (much like they have done with Photoshop and Microsoft did with Office.) They support both PC and Mac.

Once you switch to LR, you probably do not need PM any longer, as you will want to maintain the integrity of your catalog.

Yes, let's not discuss the reason you need to look elsewhere.

Good luck.

-Mick

Offline SamFrost

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #7 on: December 02, 2013, 01:59:46 AM »
. I can't see where trying to use both LR and PM offers any substantial benefit.

I find importing, skipping through shoots, tagging, captioning, rating, etc, MUCH faster in PM than LR. Selects then go into LR for processing. Doing it all in LR would be a major pain.

Offline Franz Dur

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #8 on: December 02, 2013, 03:16:33 AM »
LR (and the rest of Adobe programs) impose a "metadata in xmp sidecar" workflow. Some people prefer the metadata in the image file. It is portable, does not rely on Adobe or any other proprietary software, will not travel in the clouds...

PM is excellent and superfast for writing all location tags, headline, description ect to the image (for me NEF). This info is automatically inherited by the JPG produced by VNx2, ASP and DxO.

There are many free applications that can display this information. The more finer cataloging I do with IMatch, which does also read the  xmp/iptc metadata from the raw file to its database.

Simple, powerful and fast search. It's what you want when you go to the extra work of cataloging.

Francis

Offline Woodie

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #9 on: December 02, 2013, 09:51:20 AM »
I used iMatch for a while but switched to IDImager several years ago.  It's now called Photo Supreme.  IDImager was Windows only but Photo Supreme is MAC and Windows. It will save info to sidecar or write to the image file (which I prefer).  Although I could use Photo Supreme exclusively, I still ingest, cull, and add IPTC info in Photo Mechanic.

Offline Kevin M. Cox

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #10 on: December 02, 2013, 09:59:06 PM »
This is exactly why companies, ALL COMPANIES, hate to pre-announce products. Please don't get me wrong, I really want to see the Camera Bits catalog. My newspaper has held off upgrading our current Portfolio Server setup in anticipation.

But some of y'all (looking at your greyhoundx) are acting like CB has already charged your credit cards and then failed to deliver. CB owes you nothing but continued support of Photo Mechanic which of course they are stellar at providing.

Aren't we all professionals? If your business requirements dictate that you need a catalog now then join Ron to calmly and rationally discuss what options are available so you can buy now. If you have the ability to wait and are still interested in seeing what CB has to offer then wait. Those are your two choices.

I am 100% confident in saying that if for some reason the CB catalog never gets released, no one will be more disappointed than the CB employees themselves. They don't need any of us pitching temper tantrums to remind them we are waiting.

Thoughts, comments, and critique all welcome.  With one exception:  my needs are for today, so let's please not discuss unreleased product from Camera Bits or any other vendors, ok?

Apologies for dragging this thread further off topic Ron, please let us know what route you end up deciding to take.
Kevin M. Cox | Photojournalist
https://www.instagram.com/kevin.m.cox/

Offline Luiz Muzzi

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #11 on: December 03, 2013, 01:45:42 AM »
. I can't see where trying to use both LR and PM offers any substantial benefit.

I find importing, skipping through shoots, tagging, captioning, rating, etc, MUCH faster in PM than LR. Selects then go into LR for processing. Doing it all in LR would be a major pain.

I agree with you, Sam.
PM is much faster.
Regards,

-Luiz Muzzi
« Last Edit: December 03, 2013, 01:59:57 AM by Luiz Muzzi »

Offline mklass

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #12 on: December 03, 2013, 08:07:23 AM »
Camera Bits has been a great company to do business with- excellent product, excellent support, responsive to suggestions, and great at communicating with customers. That is what makes this whole cataloging module situation so puzzling and frustrating.

-Mick


Mick
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Offline ron_hiner

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #13 on: December 03, 2013, 12:05:55 PM »
Imatch looks likes its only for Windows machines.  Currently I'm a mac guy and don't envision changing back anytime soon.

Photosupreme looks interesting.  SQLite database backend -- same as LR.  Good open architecture philosophy.  I downloaded the trial.

I'm surprised only one mention of Media Pro (via its former names), and no mention of Aperture.    Anyone using Media Pro?  Looks like a solid product, but I'm skeptical of any product that has changed ownership twice.   It appears the new owners have integrated parts of it (but not all) into Capture One - splitting the code base into two.  I have no idea if any of the original developers are still with the product.  I know that initially, many of the core team moved to Redmond when Microsoft bought the product.  But that was a long time ago.

Offline syncrasy

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Re: Catalog software: What are you using?
« Reply #14 on: December 03, 2013, 07:03:14 PM »
I'm surprised only one mention of Media Pro (via its former names), and no mention of Aperture.    Anyone using Media Pro?  Looks like a solid product, but I'm skeptical of any product that has changed ownership twice.   It appears the new owners have integrated parts of it (but not all) into Capture One - splitting the code base into two.  I have no idea if any of the original developers are still with the product.  I know that initially, many of the core team moved to Redmond when Microsoft bought the product.  But that was a long time ago.

I'm not a PM user, but I do use Expression Media (Media Pro's immediate predecessor) on a Mac (OS 10.6.8 Snow Leopard). I've been using the software for almost 10 years (since it was iView). I use Nikon Capture NX2 as my editor. I haven't seriously considered buying Media Pro because I simply don't have a need for it (my collection is still small enough to not push Expression Media's catalog size limits). I did try Media Pro briefly just to see how it looked and didn't like the UI changes (white text on a dark gray/black background to keep up with the Joneses). And while it seemed stable in my very limited test, there continue to be many reports of instability on the Phase One forum (after over two years in Phase One's hands), so my expectations for Media Pro have been dampened. Phase One probably bit off more than they could chew when they bought EM. And in fact the company has told me that their editor Capture One has priority over Media Pro in terms of development effort. I've always suspected that Phase One wanted the iView/EM catalog code simply so they could make Capture One more like Lightroom, and that they would eventually abandon EM/Media Pro as a stand alone DAM program. Phase One tells me this is not true, but it's unlikely they would admit it if it were true (to avoid losing sales).

I have tried Lightroom and Aperture and found they didn't offer anything that I couldn't already do better in EM and NX2. Photo Supreme (IDImager for the Mac) looks interesting but I'm waiting to hear what others say about it. I've invested so much time into building my iView/Expression Media catalog (HTML gallery templates, catalog sets, hierarchical keywords, etc.) that I am loathe to switch DAMs. But ever since EM stopped displaying edited NEF previews (since Mac OS 10.5), I've been looking for an alternative program, and when I learned PM supports NEF previews and that Camera Bits was going to add a catalog to PM, my interest was very piqued.

So I'm waiting to see which event happens first: a more stable Media Pro or a PM catalog. But it isn't certain either will happen, so for now I plan to use Expression Media until I'm forced to stop, i.e., if my computer dies and if EM won't run on Mavericks (or whatever Mac OS is current at the time). But even then I'll probably try to figure out a way to keep my Snow Leopard Mac alive just so I can run EM.

Note: you can still buy Expression Media from Phase One. A trial version is on their Microsoft Expression Media archive page. Presumably it costs the same as Media Pro, but I don't know.
« Last Edit: December 04, 2013, 07:46:53 AM by syncrasy »
-- Mark