Workflow PM-CNX2-EM2 under Mac Os 10.6

[michael33]

Hello everyone,

After reading "The DAM Book", I decided to adopt my workflow as close to it as possible. I was especially impressed with the simplicity of the "bucket system".

What turned out was a workflow with Photomechanic (Ingest, cull, metadata, label), CNX2 (RAW processing and conversion) and EM2 (catalogue). While JPGs and TIFFS pose no problems, all metadata and picture adjustments work both ways in the workflow. However, NEFs are giving me a hard a time now.

Since, my update to Snow Leopard, EM2 has no longer been able to read any picture adjustments made to the NEF under CNX. I can change the preferences in order to make EM2 use Apples RAW engine, but then no adjustments will be shown, as well as, camera presets will be disregarded.
Metadata wrote back to a NEF under EM2 will result in a strip of all XMP fields, labels and star ratings. Nevertheless, CNX2 will show at least the classic IPTC data, while PM will show nothing untill I tell the program to read IPTC first and then XMP second. This is not very satisfying for me.

I really don´t want to spend anymore money on another software right now (the sum of all three mentioned programs is expensive enough for an amateur). Therefore, I  would like to present my workflow and I would appreciate any thoughts on it:
1. Ingest, rename and cull files with PM
2. Igest metadata and rate with PM
3. Process 2, 3 and 4 star rated files in cnx
4. Batch develop jpgs (60% quality for 0 and 1 star, 80% for 2 star and 100% quality for 3 and 4 star rated pictures) in same folder
5. Import JPG and NEF into EM2

With the JPG files I can handle the metadata, so, I can have a correct preview of the changes I made. The JPG files in the catalogue are good enough for simple uses like email or a fast slide show on the monitor.
If I change the metadata, I put those JPGs together with the belonging NEFs in a catalogue set (sorted by capture date, these files are shown side by side).
If I want to sync the NEFs with the JPG again, from there I can open PM, show JPG+RAW, use the "Update XMP/IPTC from JPG" - Tool,  reimport changes to EM2 and delete these files from the catalogue set again.
If I make changes to the NEF in CNX2, I can easily save that as a JPG again in the same folder overwriting the old JPG and in EM2 rebuild the JPG again to get the correct preview.
If I need a picture for a special purpose it becomes a derrivate version and will be saved in the derrivates folder.

I know that most people don´t consider a JPG file as an archive file. Here, it serves me as a correct preview in my catalogue and a container file for metadata. If needed, I can write the metadatafrom the JPG into the RAW. That way, no information should get lost over the time.

What do you think? Will I be running into trouble here at some point?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Best regards from winterly Germany
Michael

[michael33]

Just found a mistake...
the batch conversion should read 60% quality for 0 star rated pictures, 80% for 1 and 2 star rated pictures and 100% for the rest.

Regards
Michael

[R. Neil Haugen]

Michael,

I feel your pain ... it can be so hard to arrive at software combinations that actually do EVERYTHING we want to do, and play well together. I know there are some Nikon shooters that like NX2, the control points and all. I've come through the Fuji cameras (S1, S2, S3, S5) and Nikon D200 to my D3, and have been a pro portrait shooter for 30+ years. Still have and shoot the S2 and D200 at times, and the wife shoots an S5 as her main tool. That said ...

I'm one of those who cannot stand NX2, partly because it (for me) was far slower to use than SEVERAL other options, partly because it couldn't handle the Fuji RAW files (RAF's), and partly because it didn't want to play well with ANYONE. No proper export-as-DNG to get around it's own issues, among other issues.

So we stayed a Bridge/Photoshop/iView "house" until we found Lightroom to be a capable and fast handler for the basic development of our RAW files, and it don't care a ding-dang what camera it's looking at. Having learned to use the profile and defaults-modifications to set each camera to our liking, it's been quick and (normally) a joy to use. Recently, as the newer DNG specs create a "hash" in any DNG so that software verification can read the files without "opening" them, I've decided to switch to DNG conversion in uploading and a totally DNG workflow, and so far I'm liking it. I'm in the process of switching to IDimager for the catalog app, and that seems a good choice too. LR and IDimager seem to play very well together, and with LR replacing the DNG preview image on command after the "darkroom" work is done, they come into IDimager looking sweet. And IDimager can "harvest" nearly all data that LR can "write" to the files. LR can "read" what IDimager writes to the files ... it's as harmonious a relationship as I have found.

For an amateur, this gets spendy fast, I know. Best wishes on your chosen software, but that NX2 is probably just going to be a pain to use other software around.

Neil

[peterkrogh]

Michael,
Unfortunately, there is probably not a very good answer available. You are tunning into a problem that is just part of the reality with proprietary raw files.  You can make a work-around, but it will have some big flaws.

The heart of your problem lies (I think) in the issues related to Nikon's proprietary raw files. EM uses libraries provided by Nikon to read and write metadata to NEF files, but apparently its failing in your case for some reason (I'm guessing libraries that have not been updated to work with SL, but it's possible that the thing that needs updating is EM).

Without buying new software, this may be really difficulty to resolve, other than by creating lots of new JPEG files, as you propose.

Peter

[michael33]

Hello Peter and Neil,

Thank you for your answers.

From what I have read so far, there really seems to be a problem with some libraries that have not been updated when it comes to the EM2-SL-NEF-Topic. With the speed Microsoft keeps developing EM2, I guess, I can wait forever for Microsoft to bring out the necessary update.

If one compares NEFs to DNGs it becomes obvious that both formats are quite close, e.g. both have "container"-features like embedded metadata and in-file versioning. While NEFs are proprietary, DNG gives away its specs but still completely belongs to Adobe as far as I understood (thus it is not an open format).

Anyway, right now it seems that I have to bite the bullet somewhere.
Peter, you mentioned some "big flaws" with the workaround. Would you mind to specify that?
So far, I can tell, that the workaround with the JPGs+NEFs is working better than I thought. But with you mentioning big flaws, it gives me an uneasy feeling.

Besides that, what kind of software would you recommend for an ambitious hobby photographer (maybe one suggestion with Adobe and one suggestion without Adobe)? If I would like to switch to the Adobe route, I was thinking that PSE 8 might be worth a look in order to get the ACR module. LR seems to be overblown for my needs as I use PM for rating, culling and sorting and EM2 for cataloging. 

I appreciate your answers
Thank you and best regards
Michael

[peterkrogh]

Michael,
The flaw is that using two files (raw and JPEG) means that the annotations can easily diverge - it can be a mess to use them and make them portable. That does not mean you cna't make it work for you - if you understand how things work, it's certainly possible (maybe even easy, for your particular workflow). It's just not very flexible or forward-compatible.

As to "open formats", I find that most of the people who bring that up don't have a full understanding of what that means and all the implications. What exactly makes you uncomfortable about "Openly Documented" that would be solved by being an "Open Format"?

As to switching from EM, if you're mostly dealing with raw files, I'd say Lightroom. I think it's a better manager for digital photographers than Elements.

Peter

[michael33]

Peter,

thank you for your fast reply.

So far my workflow works for me quite well but I am not a professional photographer with thousands of pictures a week.
From what I have read, there seems no bullet proof way of dealing with raw files. Be it ease of use, pricing, forward compatibility.....there is always a draw back.

I was expecting LR as an answer. I already used the trial for the time it allowed me to, but to be honest, I am one of the few, that don´t like the interface too much (just personal preference). That was one of the main reasons, I switched to CNX (besides its ability to deliver nice results quite quickly).

The idea with PSE should work like that: Ingest, cull, label and rate with PhotoMechanic (as I already have it and like to use it). PSE, e.g. the ACR module , to develop and convert to DNG. EM2 to organize the DNG. PM and EM2 would substitute a major part of LR functionality, therefore I had the idea with PSE. If you have a moment to spare i would appreciate if you could give me a hint whether that would work or not.

Anyway, even for a hobby photographer, time is a factor. If there is no light at the end of the tunnel soon, I will take another try with LR3.

Best regards
Michael

[peterkrogh]

Michael,
As best I can tell, what you outline is sound, forward-compatible workflow.
Peter

[michael33]

Peter,

thank you for your efforts.

Regards
Michael