Getting Started

[freighterdog]

Shooting RAW on a Nikon. Amateur.

1) should I bother to get a book on DAM to learn how to make tags, IXIF comments or organize folder in a tree? Is that overkill?

[Kirk Baker]

Shooting RAW on a Nikon. Amateur.

1) should I bother to get a book on DAM to learn how to make tags, IXIF comments or organize folder in a tree? Is that overkill?

Photo Mechanic is not a Digital Asset Manager so a book on one won't really apply.

I suggest starting with some tutorials first.

-Kirk

[freighterdog]

Two further questions:

a) It was a stunning realization for me to learn that PM organizes images as "proofsheets". Do you have the option to save each of the proofsheets as a file or folder?

b) Who the heck in the photography realm needs to know about the DAM system of organization?

I have seen how people clicking away mindlessly can download their images and create a train wreck on their computer. Even maxing out the hard drive and duplicating or triplicating all those little "DSC-0001XXXXX" files they've captured.

[Kirk Baker]

a) It was a stunning realization for me to learn that PM organizes images as "proofsheets". Do you have the option to save each of the proofsheets as a file or folder?

Photo Mechanic is an image browser at its core.  Your images are already in folders.  PM just shows you what is in the folders you tell it to browse.  There is nothing to 'save'.

b) Who the heck in the photography realm needs to know about the DAM system of organization?

I have seen how people clicking away mindlessly can download their images and create a train wreck on their computer. Even maxing out the hard drive and duplicating or triplicating all those little "DSC-0001XXXXX" files they've captured.

Digital Asset Management can put an organizational 'face' on top of a poorly managed file system, but the poorly managed file system would still remain.  Organizing photos by year and month is a good start for anyone, or organizing them by event is another.

-Kirk

[freighterdog]

One last question. I viewed a few of the tutorials. When my friend who recommended PM gave me a demo of the program, I believe he started ingesting and changing the file names from "DSCxxxx". At least I think he did.

The tutorials speak mostly about adding captions, ITPC (?) and other Metadata. Is it a waste of time to worry about a file's name when you are actually viewing a contact sheet of the images?

My friend did say that all the comments he throws in when ingesting make it so much easier to track stuff down when memory of the shoot fades.

And have a good weekend.

[Kirk Baker]

One last question. I viewed a few of the tutorials. When my friend who recommended PM gave me a demo of the program, I believe he started ingesting and changing the file names from "DSCxxxx". At least I think he did.

The tutorials speak mostly about adding captions, ITPC (?) and other Metadata. Is it a waste of time to worry about a file's name when you are actually viewing a contact sheet of the images?

No, not at all.  It is very useful to rename the files with the date or frame number or name of the job, etc.  You can use {variables} and Code Replacement to create custom file names, or at least a prefix and use the {sequence} variable to number your photos the way you want them numbered.  You can rename during Ingest or afterwards with the Rename command on the File menu.

-Kirk

[Kevin M. Cox]

Renaming is an important step for me because it means if an image ever gets separated from it's folder, I still know exactly where it belongs.

130228-RollerDerby-20-KMC.jpg

This would be the 20th photo taken at a roller derby assignment on February 28, 2013.

[TiggerGTO]

Is it a waste of time to worry about a file's name when you are actually viewing a contact sheet of the images?

To me, renaming the files to include the date and time is a very important part of processing images.  If I shoot something like a soccer game, I can usually remember approximately when during a game a particular play or shot happened.  That makes it much easier to find potential keepers.  If I shoot a multi day event or spend the weekend shooting with friends, it is very easy to remember what day and when during that day a shot I might be looking for was taken.  That makes it very easy to go to the correct folder and to narrow down the search in that folder for the image I am seeking.

[freighterdog]

I've been reading the pdf manual because I'm not exactly sure how things I add to the metadata at ingest will add value to the process.

Also not quite sure if my file structure of folders is adequate. I was thinking of year>int or ext>event. Judging on my 8 months of owning a Nikon, I anticipate about 9 Gb of data storage a year.

Does everyone face the same problem as me with the pdf manual. Hours of printing double sided paper?
(my old eyes are too tired to be reading Acrobat files on a monitor)

[Kirk Baker]

Does everyone face the same problem as me with the pdf manual. Hours of printing double sided paper?
(my old eyes are too tired to be reading Acrobat files on a monitor)

A Wiki-based manual is coming soon.  But it would still be onscreen though in a web browser.

What kind of manual would you like best?
If the PDF manual is too small, have you tried magnifying the page in Acrobat Reader?

-Kirk

[freighterdog]

Thanks.  End of questions ...... until I get my computer and the PM program.