Nikon NKSC sidecar files

[asherjackson]

Hello,

I'm testing a trial version of PM and I use Nikon system. The latest RAW processor software from Nikon called NX-Studio is saving parameters in sidecar files *.nksc which are stored in NKSC_PARAM subfolder. In PM configuration I can enable NKSC files support, but don't know what does it mean, can you please explain it to me or provide a link to some help page?

If I copy or move NEF file, does NKSC sidecar copy/move too? It seems like it doesn't or there is some bug.

Thanks.

[Kirk Baker]

Asher,

I'm testing a trial version of PM and I use Nikon system. The latest RAW processor software from Nikon called NX-Studio is saving parameters in sidecar files *.nksc which are stored in NKSC_PARAM subfolder. In PM configuration I can enable NKSC files support, but don't know what does it mean, can you please explain it to me or provide a link to some help page?

If I copy or move NEF file, does NKSC sidecar copy/move too? It seems like it doesn't or there is some bug.

Photo Mechanic does not treat these .NKSC files as associated with NEF files.  Photo Mechanic is not aware of them at all.  Because Photo Mechanic does not add these .NKSC files as attached files, they will not be copied/moved/renamed when the NEF file undergoes these operations.

It sounds like they're proprietary files for the use of the NX-Studio application and they're not generated by your camera.  Generally PM doesn't look for files to attach to images in subfolders.  Most sidecar files that we're aware of reside in the same folder as the images and have the same base name, only differing in file extension.

-Kirk

[maikm]

I'm using PhotoMechanic for culling and marking images for editing, and then edit them in Nikon NX Studio. It is annoying that Nikon has it's own proprietary way to store the sidecar files, but I'm really interested in a solution for PhotoMechanic to write the ratings to those nksc files.

All I do with PM is look through images I already copied and renamed (with a custom script), give ratings and delete the trash. So, with my new PhotoMechanic subscription now being even more expensive than the entire Adobe Photographer CC suite, I kind of expect some more non-mainstream features to be added. Support for the Nikon first party software metadata format would be a real timesaver for me.

[vale]

yep, keep paying the subscription

I think that every software company needs to try (and succeed) to be compatible and 'cooperant' to every format/sidecar file/whatever of camera manufacturers. Just to say "it's Nikon/Canon/etc thing, we cannot do anything about it" is lame.

[ahoward]

I'm using PhotoMechanic for culling and marking images for editing, and then edit them in Nikon NX Studio. It is annoying that Nikon has it's own proprietary way to store the sidecar files, but I'm really interested in a solution for PhotoMechanic to write the ratings to those nksc files.

All I do with PM is look through images I already copied and renamed (with a custom script), give ratings and delete the trash. So, with my new PhotoMechanic subscription now being even more expensive than the entire Adobe Photographer CC suite, I kind of expect some more non-mainstream features to be added. Support for the Nikon first party software metadata format would be a real timesaver for me.

We will look into it.

[ahoward]

Just to say "it's Nikon/Canon/etc thing, we cannot do anything about it" is lame.

Sorry, but where did we say that?

[vale]

Photo Mechanic does not treat these .NKSC files as associated with NEF files.  Photo Mechanic is not aware of them at all.  Because Photo Mechanic does not add these .NKSC files as attached files, they will not be copied/moved/renamed when the NEF file undergoes these operations.

PM could be the program that could read those files. And this be the advantage against other programs. Because paying for NX+PM will be cheaper than Lr+PM.

[maikm]

I think in most workflows what you do in PM comes before editing in NX Studio. So, reading NKSC files wouldn't be enough. PM would need to be able to write NKSC files and sync ratings from it's own data to them back and forth.

Other IPTC data would be nice too, but the ratings and color classes really are the most important for the workflow.

[ahoward]

Photo Mechanic does not treat these .NKSC files as associated with NEF files.  Photo Mechanic is not aware of them at all.  Because Photo Mechanic does not add these .NKSC files as attached files, they will not be copied/moved/renamed when the NEF file undergoes these operations.

PM could be the program that could read those files. And this be the advantage against other programs. Because paying for NX+PM will be cheaper than Lr+PM.

Kirk was simply stating what the current functionality of Photo Mechanic was so that the original poster could make an informed decision on what is currently possible. I'm sorry that your takeaway was "we cannot do anything about it", because that was not said. If we can reliably make Photo Mechanic play nicely with something like OP requested, we're going to to do that.

[maikm]

Thank you! I'm looking forward to what you can come up with.

[Robert Edwards Media]

Not for nothing, but when I edit a file in NX Studio and rename the proprietary .NEF.nksc sidecar file to an XMP, I can see "Label" and "Rating" fields & valid values in clear text.   

         <nine:Label>0</nine:Label>
         <nine:Rating>0</nine:Rating>

Most of the rest of the .xmp is Nikon garbage, but maybe these values could at least be read/written to NKSC sidecars if PM thinks they're XMP.

I stopped trying to program when BASIC & cassette-based program loads were a thing, so YMMV.