Need suggestions for re-naming files

[DakotaWind]

I don't write often, but do read posts to get ideas on how the experts keep their files organized.  I think I need to change my organization to keep the files simple.  Here is the structure as it is now:

Main folder  2010 (year)
    Sub folder with photos   XXXX (file sequence #) Date (2010_01_01) Name (short description)
        Each photo in a specific file has a sequence #, description, and shortened date

This works fine in the past years where I haven't taken near as many photos.  But by 2007 the long list of files in each year have grown.  By 2009 the list is very long and I imagine 2010 will be even longer.  I have read your book Peter, but not sure how to change the whole set up so it is not so elongated.

All the photos are keyworded so they are easy to locate in Lightroom and I have everything backed up on an external drive and on DVD's so if something goes nuts, I can recover the photos.

I'm on a Mac Pro, and I guess I'd have to classify myself as a serious hobbyist.  I get paid once in awhile to take some special photos at church, but most of the time my photos are for the fun of it on our RV travels and every day life.  So altho' I have a lot of photos, there aren't near as many as a professional would have.

Any suggestions on how to streamline my set up would be appreciated.  I haven't quite figured out how I'd use the bucket system and still find specific photos with how I have it set up now.   

Thanks in advance for any insights. 

Sue

[rod barbee]

Hi Sue,

I faced a similar dilemma a few years ago. I had images "organized" by folders, sub-folders.....and my file naming reflected that, so that I was always referring to my file naming convention and seeing what the next number in the filing naming sequence should be. It was taking up way too much of my time and my brain.
As you mention, having keywords (and captions, etc.) makes finding any particular photo pretty easy and I realized there was no sane reason to have file names that also described the picture.
So I adopted an automatic file naming convention similar to Peter's. (Barbee_YYMMDD_x_1234.dng [where x is a camera code and 1234 is the file number from the camera]) and am relying on metadata to find images.
But I had all those other images with the old file naming convention along with my old folder structure that needed to be bucketized.

Once I decided on a file naming strategy it was just a matter of finding the right program for file renaming. I mainly used BreezeBrowser because of its powerful file naming capabilities. I also had to use a separate file naming utility (NameWiz) to do some trimming, etc. ahead of time. I don't think either of those is Mac. I'm sure there are some Mac utilities out there.
After renaming everything it was bucketing time. I wanted to start filling buckets by the date of the photos so I think I simply set the sort option in iView to show everything by date. Then it was just a matter of moving files to new folders and paying attention to the folder size. (one thing I did though, because I had a folder structure that helped identify the image, was to use an iView script that wrote the folder names to the keyword field)

You may be able to do all of this from within Lightroom. That way, Lightroom will track all changes and you won't have to re-catalog anything. As you mentioned, you've keyworded everything so you shouldn't have trouble finding images after you've changed to the bucket system.

I also found that it helped to map all this out on paper ahead of time because it can be really easy to get lost and mess things up. The whole process could take some time and effort but I found that it was well worth it.

Good luck

Rod

[peterkrogh]

Sue,
I agree with what Rod said. I'm not sure I follow your description of the current filenames you use. 

There may be no reason to change old filenames, even if you start with a new system. I still have not gone back and renamed my early digital originals that have names like K2_203_1234 where K2 was the client, 203 was march 02, and 1234 was a unique identifier. 

I'll probably rename these files eventually, probably when I re-burn the optical media that they are backed up to (These are backed up to DVD, and I've moved to Blu-ray for current work.)  I will rename the DNGs within the catalog application - that's the best way, as Rod outlines.
Peter

[DakotaWind]

Thanks Rod and Peter,
  This is going to take some brain power to figure out how to simplify it all and not get too big of files.  And it will take some time but being retired, I have a lot of that....LOL  

  When you renamed your photos, did you have the original and finished photo next to each other which would give each photo it's own #?  On the new photos, (after changing to a new system) the adjusted ones would have the same #, but I have to figure out how to organize the older ones.  

  Right now each event is in it's own folder.  If I happened to take some sunrise photos 3 days in a row I put them in one folder.  Some of the older files only have 3 or 4 photos in them and I think I could make a folder comprising several events or months for that matter in the early days of digital.  As for the more recent ones, ie: 2009, I have over 100 files of separate events.  If I made a file for say, March 2009 I could have well over 500 photos.  I'd hate to wait for that file to finish opening.  

  So what is the best way not to have too big of files?  I think this is my biggest stumbling block.  Some events don't have too many photos, then the next (like when we spent a couple of days in the Badlands in SD) has a bunch.  

Thanks again for your insights.

Sue

[peterkrogh]

Sue,
once again I ask - do you really need to rename the older stuff?  Especially if you have derivatives witht he same root names, I'm just not sure it's worth it.'
If your main pain point is the hassle of making subject-matter-based names, just stop doing that, and go with an automated name structure.

Change the old names only if there is a reason to.
Peter

[rod barbee]

Sue,
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by files getting too big and having to wait for them to open. Do you have files that contain more than one photo? or are you referring to folders with more than one folder? And if you are creating files that have lots of photos in them (like a giant contact sheet-for lack of a better term) then my question is why?

And I agree with Peter about renaming the older stuff. Maybe plan on a file naming scheme from the point onward and then worry about the older stuff as time allows. It's all cataloged with keywords after all and should be easy to find.

When I did my big renaming I only worried about renaming my originals. Any processed images I just left as-is. Only when I need to, like when submitting an image somewhere, did I concern myself with changing the file name of a derivitive file.

rod