Capture One + Data Asset Mgmt: Resources, Best Practices, Recommendations?

[roscoetuff]

I've been using C1 with the full DAM Catalog setup and pretty satisfied. However, there are a few things I wonder about longer term and would appreciate suggestions based on your experience.

1) I see I'm building up quite a bit of file and disk usage with the whole. Currently, my Catalogs have everything. This is building disk usage rapidly. Less and less inclined to think that this was a good idea and wondering if I shouldn't back everything out and start again. But how? Not sure. If I were to start over, I'm not sure I'd want to put all the really bad files in with the good. Yes, I do bring in a lot of what I call "Tests". Starting over, I might be much more selective as to what makes it into C1 in the first place. Understand I have 3 TB drives and they're filling fast.

2) Result is to wonder whether it isn't better to separate post processing software from the photo database. I started initially using Photo Mechanic for that purpose, but decided having two was too clunky with just waaaaay too much software to learn when I'm more interested in taking pictures. In my haste, this probably wasn't a good sense of where the balance should be, and so I'm rethinking. Easier is still less software, but I guess it's less new and so worth a revisit. Thus, maybe user managed / controlled clunky is better than program controlled "so slick I have no idea where'd my files went" (or how do I get them back if I need them). Related question is how do I make it easier to find the good ones? The 4 star and 5 star tags on the files are a start, but they all still get buried in separate dinky folders. I imagine some folks set up a catalog of "Keepers" or "Winners"... or even a slew of them. Mostly I've done this with my exported TIFF's for printing... but nothing really organized yet.

3) Note that with Capture One as an example, within each catalog I create (e.g. "Gardens") there will be a separate sub for the date and time of each group of files imported together. If my import is managed in 3 batches, there will be three date/time lines shown under the "file" icon. I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking at though, and so I'm beginning to feel as though I'm losing control. As long as this is reversible if it had to be... say PhaseOne decides to exit the business, sell it off, etc. or a user dies and his kids want to get their mits on the raw files and jpegs, etc. Unlikely as all these are in the short-term, longer term the likelihood rises substantially.

On the whole, I think I'm finding that after a year of rather blindly making catalogs and pulling in all my shots, I wonder if I'm not beginning to create a monster. And I guess what's clear is that there is or can be a material difference between what someone like me defaults into doing because I can, and what I should do as the developing reality is beginning to make clear what the circumstances will start to look like in a few years. Probably a youtube on this somewhere... but most seem to be focused on particular software when in fact what would be more useful is top down principles and following that with adaptation into different software.

[john beardsworth]

but most seem to be focused on particular software when in fact what would be more useful is top down principles and following that with adaptation into different software.

Treat yourself to Peter Krogh's The DAM Book.

[Hoggy]

I strongly ditto John's suggestion of "The DAM Book".

However, some tidbits beyond, and based on, Peter Krogh's book:

First note that I use Lightroom, where large catalogs don't slow down much.  At first I had 3 catalogs, but when that got to be too much of a PITA I narrowed it down to one.  Then again later I split it into 2 catalogs: Family/Personal and Main.  I separated out the ones that ONLY family or myself might be interested in - plus I didn't want to see the constant painful reminders of close loved ones that died..  So 2 makes more sense, to me.  It will be different for everybody though.

As far as color labels and stars, I pretty much use Peter Krogh's suggestions to a 'T'..  Where starting at 1 star, there are more photos, then 2 stars should have ~10x less photos than 1 star, and 3 stars should have 10x less than the 2 stars, etc..  I don't think I have any that are more than 3 stars at this point.  Then for color labels I use red for 'Neutral', yellow for 'Outtakes', and green for 'Outakes of Outakes' (basically 1 step away from flat out deleting, but didn't want to for whatever reason).  I think Peter Krogh calls that last one trash, but in LR we have flags for that.  Then I even combine the stars and color labels so, for example, green with 3 stars would mean 'the best of trashy photos'. 
Hopefully Capture One will allow naming of the color labels at some point, in order to make associating color with the meaning easier.


I think what you're going through though, is what every 'photographer' needs to go through for themselves..  To feel their way around finding what might work best, for them.  I don't think anyone has had any shortcuts around this hard part.  Of course, part of that is finding out what others might be doing - in order to get some ideas at this stage.   

But yeah..  Definitely read Peter Krogh's book.

[roscoetuff]

Thanks for the suggestions. FWIW, the world is small!!! His dad pulled my wisdom teeth, wrote the book on oral surgery back in the day, lived around the corner back then, and I delivered their evening paper. Zillion years ago. Cool to see a local do well.