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Author Topic: First Use Comments & Questions  (Read 966 times)
ianw
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« on: August 06, 2007, 03:03:56 PM »

Marc,

I found the time over the weekend to 'play' with IIPro and managed to get it working as I wanted with 3 trial ingestions left - so I bought it!  I have been using Downloader Pro for some time but seeing the discussions here has made me want to give it a go.  It's worth it just for automatic creation of camera raw defaults!

I have a few comments and questions:

I lost a couple of trial ingestions due to set up errors. For example I didn't check the default location of the DNG converter.  IIPro didn't complain until it had copied all images from the card and was about to DNG them.  Could this be tested for at the beginning of the ingestion instead of (or as well as) when it's about to occur?  It's configured correctly now and works, but if there was a change in the future it could be minutes before you know about it.  I also lost another ingestion when I inadvertently disconnected an external drive before ingestion started!  Again could this 'problem' have been found earlier on?

I love the ability to ingest into 3 directories with a DNG version.  The thing is I would prefer to have 2 copies of my original ORFs and 1 DNG set instead of 1 set of ORFs and 2 DNGs.  I can't see how to do this, if it's possible.

I take a lot of studio based fashion and glamour and for me an image only works if the eyes are 100% sharp, so I usually delete those that fail this test.  I've found the best way to do this quickly is to scan the images in iView's LightTable. This only works well if you have a full size preview.  My ORF files do have a JPG preview but it's too small and of low quality, so prefer to work from the full size image within a DNG.  I quickly scan the images to 'reject' any I don't like.  The rejection is done by assigning a specific label in iView.  I then have an XSL script that scans my 'focus' catalogue for rejects and outputs a DOS BAT file.  This contains the commands that will copy rejected ORFs into a reject directory and then delete them from original ingestion locations.  I then rename the images sequentially to hide gaps, run through them with Rapid Fixer and add any bulk meta-data that can't be done on initial ingestion.   The original DNGs from ingestion would be deleted and new ones produced from what I consider more 'finished' files.  The ORFs and new DNGs are then moved from working directories to my archives and then catalogued, with ORFs being backed up to DVD as well.  I guess what I'm asking for is the option to decide whether the primary root folder is made up of original files or DNG conversions.  The pre- and post-conversion folders are fine as is.  Does this make sense?

I'm running on Windows XP and have noticed a few cosmetic navigation issues.  If I select Preferences from the main window I get a new pop-up window.  If I now hit the escape key this window correctly disappears.  However if I have selected a different tab and then hit the escape key the window doesn't disappear, but the contents do!  The only way to get the contents back is to go to a different tab and back.  Changing the preference set doesn't help.  Also when you first get to the preferences window 'tabbing' only moves you between the preference set drop down and close button and back - you can't get to the actual preference details.  When I'm using my laptop I much prefer using the keyboard over the lousy touchpad it has!

I've also tried the latest beta for Windows.  Unfortunately IIPro doesn't show thumbnails from my ORF files Cry.  If IIPro can't display the thumbnail it should show a bit more information to help selection, even if just date and time.  I had two shoots on the card so selecting just one was difficult - the check boxes are too small.  Ideally there should be a filter where you can select all images by date (Downloader Pro has this) or, better yet, by date and time range.  This would help if you have different jobs on the same card from the same day, or if you have one job that requires different ingestion settings because you've moved outside for example and need to use different camera raw defaults.
A cosmetic navigation issue with the thumbnails is that scrolling via the mouse wheel doesn't work, so you have to use the scroll bar instead.

I have a few comments and questions about the GPS functionality, but that will have to wait a few days - I need to take a few more pictures to rattle test it!  However my only GPS ingestion so far worked perfectly.

Great software so far, keep up the good work!

Ian
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Marc Rochkind
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« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2007, 05:05:51 PM »

Thanks for this great list, Ian. My comments follow. I've added all of your items to my database of bugs and feature requests.

--Marc

Quote
I lost a couple of trial ingestions due to set up errors. For example I didn't check the default location of the DNG converter.  IIPro didn't complain until it had copied all images from the card and was about to DNG them.  Could this be tested for at the beginning of the ingestion instead of (or as well as) when it's about to occur?  It's configured correctly now and works, but if there was a change in the future it could be minutes before you know about it.  I also lost another ingestion when I inadvertently disconnected an external drive before ingestion started!  Again could this 'problem' have been found earlier on?

Good suggestions. I'll see what I can do. (I'm assuming that you lost only the ingestion, not the images themselves.)

Quote
I love the ability to ingest into 3 directories with a DNG version.  The thing is I would prefer to have 2 copies of my original ORFs and 1 DNG set instead of 1 set of ORFs and 2 DNGs.  I can't see how to do this, if it's possible.

Probably won't be in version 2.3, as that train needs to start leaving the station, and I have bunch of work still to do to improve the new thumbnail chooser feature. (See below.) But, don't despair... work on 2.4 starts as soon as 2.3 ships. It's never ending!

Quote
I take a lot of studio based fashion and glamour and for me an image only works if the eyes are 100% sharp, so I usually delete those that fail this test.  I've found the best way to do this quickly is to scan the images in iView's LightTable. This only works well if you have a full size preview.  My ORF files do have a JPG preview but it's too small and of low quality, so prefer to work from the full size image within a DNG.  I quickly scan the images to 'reject' any I don't like.  The rejection is done by assigning a specific label in iView.  I then have an XSL script that scans my 'focus' catalogue for rejects and outputs a DOS BAT file.  This contains the commands that will copy rejected ORFs into a reject directory and then delete them from original ingestion locations.  I then rename the images sequentially to hide gaps, run through them with Rapid Fixer and add any bulk meta-data that can't be done on initial ingestion.   The original DNGs from ingestion would be deleted and new ones produced from what I consider more 'finished' files.  The ORFs and new DNGs are then moved from working directories to my archives and then catalogued, with ORFs being backed up to DVD as well.  I guess what I'm asking for is the option to decide whether the primary root folder is made up of original files or DNG conversions.  The pre- and post-conversion folders are fine as is.  Does this make sense?

I think I understand. You want the DNG conversion, but you don't necessarily want the DNG to be the "primary" image. New idea to me. It's on the list... won't make it into 2.3.

Quote
I'm running on Windows XP and have noticed a few cosmetic navigation issues.  If I select Preferences from the main window I get a new pop-up window.  If I now hit the escape key this window correctly disappears.  However if I have selected a different tab and then hit the escape key the window doesn't disappear, but the contents do!  The only way to get the contents back is to go to a different tab and back.  Changing the preference set doesn't help.  Also when you first get to the preferences window 'tabbing' only moves you between the preference set drop down and close button and back - you can't get to the actual preference details.  When I'm using my laptop I much prefer using the keyboard over the lousy touchpad it has!

Ouch! Thanks for the precise description. Will be fixed.

Quote
I've also tried the latest beta for Windows.  Unfortunately IIPro doesn't show thumbnails from my ORF files Cry.  If IIPro can't display the thumbnail it should show a bit more information to help selection, even if just date and time.  I had two shoots on the card so selecting just one was difficult - the check boxes are too small.  Ideally there should be a filter where you can select all images by date (Downloader Pro has this) or, better yet, by date and time range.  This would help if you have different jobs on the same card from the same day, or if you have one job that requires different ingestion settings because you've moved outside for example and need to use different camera raw defaults.

More powerful filtering will be done; that was my intent from the start. I'll see what I can do about ORFs.

Quote
A cosmetic navigation issue with the thumbnails is that scrolling via the mouse wheel doesn't work, so you have to use the scroll bar instead.

Yeah. I spent most of a day on this and decided to send out the beta without it. I hope to find the trick. It's on my bug list already.
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ianw
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« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2007, 03:30:22 AM »

Quote
I'm assuming that you lost only the ingestion, not the images themselves.

Correct!

Quote
I think I understand. You want the DNG conversion, but you don't necessarily want the DNG to be the "primary" image.

Correct.  I use the initial DNG to get rid of those images that have no value, because ORF jpgs are not good enough for this task.  I know some people keep every picture they take - and I used to be one! - but even though storage is cheap etc I don't want these images, even if they are labelled as trash and so can be filtered out of view.  My models will review images and select best for portfolio etc and really don't like seeing bad pictures!  They sometimes will even try and delete those they don't like - another reason why I like the backup directory!  Once I've got rid of the rubbish, images are then tweaked in Rapid Fixer and then converted to a final 'primary' DNG.  It is from this one that JPGs for models are produced and editing on portfolio images done, all from iView.

Quote
I'll see what I can do about ORFs.

Please!!!

I may have a few questions about the GPS side of things, but really need to get out and take some pictures in different locations etc to test ideas.  I think they may be GPS questions rather than IIPro - just need to be sure.  If you can get ImageIngester to link to the outside world via Web Service calls then there's a few ideas I have as well.

Thanks,

Ian
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Marc Rochkind
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« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2007, 10:42:52 AM »

Ian--

I'm finally working through your list:

1. Problem with escape key is fixed in Windows Beta 17 (not uploaded yet... will be in a few days).

2. Mouse wheel also now working in Beta 17.

3. Beta 15 or 16 handled more ORFs. Let me know if yours isn't handled yet.

Most of your other suggestions will have to wait a while.

--Marc
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