I'm testing the demo version of Photo Mechanic on a XP Pro SP2 system.
I'm trying to rename pictures like this :
>> yymmdd hhmmss Nx.zzz
where "N" is a number used to get unique names and "x" is used to indicate image version.
The problem is getting unique names.
Using a Nikon D200, I use {subsecond} in the "N" position to get unique names.
>> {year2}{month0}{day0} {hour24}{minute}{second} {subsecond}a
But, using an small olympus that doesn't have subseconds info, I have to use a different variable to achieve the unique name.
Using {sequence} changes the lenght of the filename, i.e., if I define sequence variable as 01, when it gets to image after number 99, it starts using 100, 101, etc. I'd prefer to have the same number of characters, always, to keep it consistent and to improve reading that bit of info.
Using {nowsubsecond}, I get ~70 images with the same {nowsubsecond} value, so it isn't useful for my renaming purposes.
My preferred solution would be to be able to use the "unique name generation" ability under Preferences>Files, but the files need to end with the "version indicator" i.e. 45a, 45b, etc... in order to be able to sort them accordingly.
Is there a variable that can be included in the reanaming string to this same effect -I mean, a variable that only changes when the filename it generates already exists - , thus allowing me to include characters after it ?
If not, can {sequence} be resetted automatically to the default value, i.e. 01, when it reaches 99, instead of going 100, 101, 102... ?
On a related note, the Preferences>Files renaming is only capable of renaming 8 files with the same name at a time.
If, based on the renaming string, the number of files with the same filename is +8, the program doesn't allow the renaming operation to be carried out. When all the files have the same date and time, it's a mess to generate unique names using the pattern I'd like to use.
Can this be modified ?
