PM6 and EIP

[Soizic]

Hello
I work with CaptureOne and use sometimes extension EIP ; PM5 does not display such files, may I hope PM6 display them ?

[Kirk Baker]

Hello
I work with CaptureOne and use sometimes extension EIP ; PM5 does not display such files, may I hope PM6 display them ?

What is an EIP file?

-Kirk

[Odd Skjaeveland]

What is an EIP file?

Enhanced Image Package file or EIP is a kind of file that is probably never seen outside the universe of Capture One.

As an alternative to keeping raw files and housekeeping data in separate files, Capture One can enclose it all in a zip and change the extension to eip. The raw file is moved inside the EIP and one file with all housekeeping info can be copied/moved within the Capture One universe.

Capture One works transparently with EIPs just as if they were raw files, the user can selectively pack/unpack and work with raw or EIP on a file by file basis. In an environment where image files are transferred from one computer to the next as part of a production line, it probably makes sense to pack all raw files as EIP.

I never investigated the relationship between a EIP and a XMP sidecar file, but I would guess the XMP should be treated the same as with normal raw files.  Unpacking the EIP to update raw file metadata and repack to EIP may potentially break a Capture One checksum (I don't know if there is one).

[Kirk Baker]

This doesn't sound like the kind of thing that PM should support.

-Kirk

[Odd Skjaeveland]

This doesn't sound like the kind of thing that PM should support.

I think Soizic only asks for PM to display the images, not to update EIP content. Unzipping the EIP and pulling the embedded jpegs from the raw file may be what it takes to do that, but it would of course add to the current processing.

EIPs are not part of my normal workflow as I rarely ship images for someone to continue my Capture One work. Between computers I copy/move the session folders (same for backups). EIP would probably be useful as part of a communication with Capture One support. I use PM as front end and back end for a few processing applications, including Capture One, and I would probably not use EIP even if PM supported it. Soizic may be in a completely different situation and can probably explain the rationale for using EIP.

Capture One users reading this should note that Phase One does not recommend EIP with Capture One operating in Catalog Mode, it is a Session Mode thing.

[Kirk Baker]

Unzipping a file to then find RAW files and then extract previews for display is just not something that our architecture is made to do.  It could be done but it isn't something that I think the majority of our users would utilize.

-Kirk

[PGuyton]

I'm jumping in late but are we sure that an EIP is actually a ZIP equivalent?  In the old days I used Photomechanic as a front end to NEF files. Nikon Capture NX2 would store edits in the actual NEF file along with an updated fullsize Preview. PM would let me browse a file full of NEF files and show me the edited previews.  My hope would be that an EIP acted like an NEF and Photomechanic could display the latest "embedded" preview inside the EIP (they way it did with NEFs).  Maybe EIP is different enough that this wouldn't work. (I'm not sure an EIP actually has an updated preview embedded in it, if it doesn't then it wouldn't work).

But if it did, then I see this a potentially offering C1P users a way to use C1P as an editor of EIP files but PhotoMechanic (and/or the future catalog) as the catalog for those files rather than C1's built in catalog or sessions functionality.   A lot of "ifs" I know.

[Odd Skjaeveland]

I'm jumping in late but are we sure that an EIP is actually a ZIP equivalent?

I have tried many times. The attached screenshot is from a hex dump showing the magic number (or magic string if yo prefer) of an EIP-file. Here is link to a list to the most common magic numbers/strings in the programming tools you use do not provide relevant info:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_file_signatures


Tell us about the problems you faced when you:
A) Copied an EIP file from a Capture One folder to a scratch folder outside the Capture One hierarchy
B) Renamed that EIP file changing its .eip extension to .zip
C) Tried to open the .zip in a plain old zip-tool

Actually, software that rely on the magic string/number does usually not require step B, they can handle the EIP directly after learning the magic string/number, no need for a file type extension.

As far as I know, the only embedded JPEGs are the ones created by the camera, they live inside the raw file contained in the EIP along with Capture One specific data (XML or other). The EIP/ZIP has more files and at least one folder ("Capture One").

The second screenshot is from the Windows (10) Explorer. The file 0.nef was extracted (unzipped) directly from the EIP using one of my zip/unzip tools. Byte by byte compare with the original .nef concludes "identical content". I have not investigated content of Capture One specific data files inside EIP in view of Capture One specific data files in Capture One's folder hierarchy. Did you?

Capture One preview files inside EIP, is likely negative, but you may know a trick or two here. EIPs are for moving files between instances of Capture One, and I tend to think the receiving instance may create its own preview (to fit local monitor size etc) based on the EIP content. Again. there are a few Capture One specific data files in the EIP/ZIP, it is not just a zipped raw file.

[RobertE]

...are we sure that an EIP is actually a ZIP equivalent?

Yes: https://blog.phaseone.com/eip-file-format-enhanced-image-package/