Rename DNG and original RAW files separately??

[Tim White]

I would like to know if it is possible to name the converted DNG's and original RAW files separately using Imageingester.  Currently, I have three sets of folders set up, a NEF folder for my original Nikon NEF's (I am not sure why I keep them as I use DNG and back up both the DNG and NEF files... paranoid I guss), a RAW folder for my DNG's and a ALT folder for converted files (TIFF's, PSD's, JPEG's, etc).  I also back these up to two independent, external hard drives, just in case.  I use the following folder structure for each, with either NEF, RAW or ALT being the main identifier:

NEF
       YYYY
              NEF_YYMMDD
                                   NEF_YYMMDD_1234.NEF

The problem I am having with imageingester is that it will rename all my NEF's and DNG's to the RAW_YYMMDD_1234 file name with their respective extensions.  Is it possible to rename the orginal NEF's and converted DNG's separately.  It it possible to write a macro that will use the root folder name in lieu of the prefix?  Or could I perhaps use a script to run the program twice with two separate preferences?  Would this work?  Any help or information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tim White

[Marc Rochkind]

Tim--

Unfortunately, there's no provision for this. There is only the original name and the new name, and the new name is applied uniformly to unconverted raws, converted raws, and sidecars.

There's no macro for the root folder name, but this is a good idea that I'll add to my list.

It would help if you could explain a bit more about your approach... why is the file type used as a prefix when it's already present in the extension?

--Marc

[Tim White]

Thanks for the quick reply Marc.  My approach to folder and file naming is a derivation of the Originals and Derivatives that Peter outlines in his book, I just decided to use RAW, NEF and ALT.  It makes sense to me to keep the original NEF's in a separate folder for archive (just in case something happens to DNG or Nikon comes through with a breakthrough converter), my RAW's (both origninal converted DNG's and original JPEG's(if shot anyway, most of the time I shoot RAW) and ALT (alternative) files in their own folders for organizational purposes.  I am doing this to cheat a little by not using any DAM software (iView, etc) but instead keyword, label and rate everything so that I can search in Bridge.  I know that this is not the ideal solution, but it works great for me and since I am whole heartedly in love with Bridge (thanks to Bruce Fraser), I do not find another step necessary.  And as you have stated so perfectly in the Imageinsider manual, I do not shoot thousands of photos a day, more like a couple hundred a month, and so the full on industrial techniques are a little over kill for me.  I do like the convienience of creating all my working files and backups at once with no interaction on my part, which is what your software was expressly designed to do.  I just need to add an additional step to rename the NEF's, to which a small applescript should fill the void nicely.  Thanks for the help and I hope that I have sufficiently answered your questions.

Thanks again,
Tim White