Photo Mechanic > General Discussion

PM and Capture NX and iView/Expression Media

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MBlue72:
Hello:

I am a Nikon shooter (D300 and D70) and am considering adding Photo Mechanic to the front end of my workflow. I currently use Capture NX for my image editor and occasionally Adobe PSE 5 for pixel editing (after converting NEFs to TIFFs). For DAM, I am using Expression Media (formerly iView Media Pro).

I am wondering if any of you folks also use these programs and can share your opinions with me regarding PM's compatability with NX and Expression Media. Is the workflow smooth and fluid? Are there any problems with these programs working together? I have read favorable comments over at Nikonians (regarding compatibility w/NX) but haven't heard much regarding how well PM works w/Expression Media. I would appreciate hearing what you might have to say about "all of the above."

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Dave

Hayo Baan:
I use PM and Capture NX almost exclusively.  They operate very smoothly together.  The fact that PM uses the embedded jpg from the RAW file is what makes the combination work as well as it does (and also the reaon why Lightroom etc. are useless to me), this way you see the results of the edits you made in Capture NX, and not some interpreted original.
From the camera, an already good jpeg is embedded (at least with my D70 and D200); you can really use it to judge sharpness etc. from.  Capture NX embeds an even better jpg, one that can be used even for printing (yes, it is that good, >>90% when I last checked).

I don't know about Expression Media so can't comment on that.

Cheers,

Greg Zenitsky:
Dave,
I've been through Aperture and all the pain waiting for D300 support only to be disappointed with Aperture 2.0. I tried Lightroom and didn't like the "feel" of the software and screen navigation. Started reading about PM in various forums, especially Nikonians, and tried the trial. I bought PM Monday evening and I really believe I have found a workflow that works for me as an amateur photographer. I'm using Capture NX as my editor. I re-arranged my NEF raw files into two directories. One for D70 files and one for D300. When I choose to edit an image, Capture opens very smoothly on my 24" iMac 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo and as many have attested, the fact that I can preview the embedded JPEG in PM is simply awesome. I can't say enough about PM. It's simply one of the best applications I've ever used on any computer...any platform. The responsiveness of this developer as I have witnessed in this forum, is unmatched in the software world. PM is well worth the $150 price and looking at Camerabits development roadmap, I can see I won't have any complaints paying for the upgrades. I know I'm gushing here but after 3 years of trying to wrap my hands around a workable raw workflow, I've finally have found one!! I can't wait to see what cataloging features Camerabits adds to PM. I probably haven't helped you with your original question that much but I don't think you can go wrong with the PM/Capture workflow solution.

Greg Zenitsky
Lee's Summit, MO

MBlue72:
Hayo and Greg:

Thanks very much for the feedback. PM does seem like a good fit with Capture NX.

Regarding DAM, I've been using iView Media Pro (now Expression Media) for a few years and have been pretty happy with it. I especially like that an hierarchical catalog structure is allowed. I wonder what the cataloging module Camera Bits is apparently developing will be like. Since Microsoft acquired iView there have been no new capabilities added and moreover, new problems and bugs keep popping up. In fact, I began looking for a better browser due to ExMedia having a problem reading NEFs from my D300. Although Microsoft offered a workaround, I've had problems implementing it.

Thanks again and I still welcome additional input.

Dave 

aramb:
For those that are using PM, Capture NX and iView (or Expression Media), I would be interested in knowing specifically what your workflow is. I have recently purchased all three products and am trying to figure out the best way to seamlessly integrate them into a workable DAM solution.

One of the problems I have encountered with this combination of software is the inability to get star ratings and labels that are applied in PM to be readable by iView. If anyone knows a work-around for this, it would make things flow better from one application to another.

Thanks,

Aram Basmadjian

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