ImageIngester Pro Workflow

[aramb]

For those of you that have implemented Image Ingester Pro into your workflow, could you please explain how you have actually have integreated it. Peter Krogh has released a new video on the ImageIngester website that describes how to set up the preferences for IIP, but I would be interested in knowing more information on how this effects the rest of the workflow process, particularly since IIP can convert to DNG much earlier in the workflow process than is described in The DAM Book. I am particularly interested in users thoughts regarding using IIP with either iView/EM or Lightroom.

Thanks,

Aram Basmadjian
Allentown, PA

[markpirozzi]

I'm new to using IIP in the last 2 months.  I was using Bridge to keyword and adjust RAWs and then converting to DNG.

Currently I use IIP to ingest and skip Bridge as part of my regular workflow: 

1) IIP makes a primary backup as RAWs first
----I run one photo through first to check my settings, file renaming, folder naming, etc.
----I use the option to file in a folder by date and sometimes camera: ex. 2008-05-04, d300
----IIP adds copywrite info, but not keywords as I'm using hierarchal keywords
2) the RAWs are copied (and converted to DNGs by IIP/Adobe DNG converter) to an 'Inbox', a working/sorting file folder.
3)  IIP then copies the DNGs to a secondary backup location


4) Next I import the new photos that are in the Inbox into a Lightroom catalog that only handles the Inbox.
----LR has a keyword sets feature, which are like collections for keywords. Using these speeds up basic key-wording.  I wish you could have 12 or 15 in a set instead of 9 though.
----I'm experimenting with making full-size previews rather than the basic ones, so any view is covered. However, it seems that once you make adjustments to a photo, and then later come back to that photo, LR still has short delay to render a view.
----Then I do the usual sorting / adjusting tasks.
----You can create Dev. Presets similar to Peter's RapidFixer - I use the Orange and Blue HSL a lot and have been using the Split Tone for warming the shadows for people pictures on blue sky days, in addition to other presets.  To me LR's 5 or 200 point adjustment for WB using an arrow key is ridiculous -  50 and 200 would make more sense.  I have few WB presets in 100 point increments.

5) When ready, I move photos out of the Inbox, which are sorted by date, into buckets of about 4 Gigs each - these 4G buckets usually do not have subfolders - the files have a date in their name.  I have only done this twice and am using a somewhat clunky method, partly because if I have LR copy the files, I'm not sure how the folder naming/heiarchy will go:
----I determine the files that will comprise 4 Gigs - they could be in one or more folders.  While the LR Inbox catalog is open, I use the OS (the Finder on a Mac) to drag these files to their permanent bucket.  This bucket (folder) will show up in LR's Folder panel.
----I can still make any overlooked adjustments, etc.
----Since the files are now in their final location, the next steps would be to burn a DVD, export these files from LR and then import into a master LR catalog or just import into iView, etc., and then remove these files from the Inbox catalog.


Mark