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Author Topic: Lightroom, Photo Mechanic, or Breeze downloader  (Read 13985 times)

Gurglamei

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Lightroom, Photo Mechanic, or Breeze downloader
« on: January 08, 2008, 06:22:59 am »

I have set up a new powerful computer at home where I run Lightroom and Photoshop.  In addition I want to set up my laptop for importing and initial sorting during my photo trips.

I find Lightroom to be rather demanding on the computer and hence a bit to slow on the laptop for my personality.  I am therefor considering to try Photo Mechanic and Iview (or som other programs such as Breeze downloader etc) on my laptop.

However, I don't know how much I will end up gaining from such an approach switching between programs or how much initial work I can do on my laptop that will be sucessfully imported to Lightroom (ratings, keywords, IPTC etc).  Before I consider  trying this out, I thought I could ask here if any of you have considered or tried such a setup?
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Langsey

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« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2008, 01:39:18 pm »

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I have set up a new powerful computer at home where I run Lightroom and Photoshop.  In addition I want to set up my laptop for importing and initial sorting during my photo trips.

I find Lightroom to be rather demanding on the computer and hence a bit to slow on the laptop for my personality.  I am therefor considering to try Photo Mechanic and Iview (or som other programs such as Breeze downloader etc) on my laptop.

However, I don't know how much I will end up gaining from such an approach switching between programs or how much initial work I can do on my laptop that will be sucessfully imported to Lightroom (ratings, keywords, IPTC etc).  Before I consider  trying this out, I thought I could ask here if any of you have considered or tried such a setup?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=165855\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Gurglamei,

My workflow is as follows. Compact Flash card>BB downloader pro>image in progress file>seperate into subject folders>Lightroom>Adjustments>Photoshop>adjustments if needed>save as tiff's to master file>size, sharpen in photoshop for print,web, or email when needed.

I like to use BB downloader for its batch renaming. It has various formulas used for various naming structures ie: camera model, date, etc. Have no opinion on Photo Mechanic since haven't used it. Have been toying with IView/Expression Media. I would then have to do all my adjustments in Photoshop or Bridge. Iview is better if you have thousands of photos. I may use IView to keep my master file catalog. When I am on the road using my laptop I  just use downloader and  lightroom to sort and make quick adjustments. Keep the major adjustments for home.

Hope I have helped you.

John
« Last Edit: January 08, 2008, 01:45:45 pm by Langsey »
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macgyver

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« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2008, 02:38:22 pm »

Gurglamei,

I use photo mechanic and photoshop cs3 and love the combination. Photo Mechanic blows away Lightroom (which I also have but no longer use) and Bridge in terms of keywording, IPTC data, ratings, etc and is blazing fast, even on my aging system. Running through large numbers of files is simply much faster in Photo Mechanic due to its speed and comprehensive metadata features.

For my workflow I import via photomechanic (applying IPTC info upon ingest) then do my initial sort/cull process in PM (including focus check) and then pull photos from there into photoshop. Occasionally I fire up Bridge, but thats pretty rare. Once you get used to photomechanic bridge is pretty clunky.

If you haven't already download PM and use it during the trial period and see what you think. I think it's probably a perfect choice for the type of setup you are using.

-mac
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Ken Bennett

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« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2008, 08:56:15 pm »

I'm also a Photo Mechanic fan. I will mention that it has something of a learning curve. PM is very fast, and has great metadata tools (the Structured Keywords panel in particular). To take full advantage, one really needs to learn the keyboard shortcuts (but I suppose that's true of any application).

My workflow is PM>Camera RAW>Photoshop if needed. PM works pretty well with Camera RAW and Photoshop. I keep all these apps on both my laptop and my workstation.
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Kirk Gittings

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« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2008, 09:03:38 pm »

Last time I tried PhotoMechanic (about a year ago), it was strikingly faster on a PC than on a Mac. Is that still true?
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Thanks,
Kirk Gittings

Gurglamei

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Lightroom, Photo Mechanic, or Breeze downloader
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2008, 04:43:27 am »

Thank you for your comments.  As I understand both Photo Mechanic and Breeze downloader play nice with Lightroom and PS.  I guss my next step is to download and try them out and se how I like them.

Thanks John for information on your workflow.  Appears to be much the same way I want to do my work.   Two questions for clarification:  Do IPTC data and ratings entered in BB downloader import correctly into Lightroom?  I don't quite understand your comment on Iview:  Do you mean that BB Downloader offers posibilities for image adjustment that import correctly into PS?


Mac,
I see you have Lightroom although you no longer use it, however have you tried to see if IPTC data and ratings entered in Photo mechanic import correctly into Lightroom?

Thanks,  Christopher
« Last Edit: January 09, 2008, 04:47:54 am by Gurglamei »
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macgyver

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« Reply #6 on: January 09, 2008, 06:06:41 pm »

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Mac,
I see you have Lightroom although you no longer use it, however have you tried to see if IPTC data and ratings entered in Photo mechanic import correctly into Lightroom?

Thanks,  Christopher
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=166084\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I tried just now and as far as I could tell if takes the IPTC just fine, but not the keywords I tagged it with in PM. I don't know if there is some setting I could change or what not but thats what I saw.
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Gurglamei

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Lightroom, Photo Mechanic, or Breeze downloader
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2008, 04:49:46 am »

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I tried just now and as far as I could tell if takes the IPTC just fine, but not the keywords I tagged it with in PM. I don't know if there is some setting I could change or what not but thats what I saw.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=166211\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thank you!
« Last Edit: January 10, 2008, 04:50:03 am by Gurglamei »
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Ken Bennett

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« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2008, 08:05:28 am »

Quote
I tried just now and as far as I could tell if takes the IPTC just fine, but not the keywords I tagged it with in PM. I don't know if there is some setting I could change or what not but thats what I saw.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=166211\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I don't have Lightroom, so I can't test this. However, if LR takes the IPTC data like the caption, it should also take the IPTC keywords -- it's just a comma delimited string. It may be that LR has its own internal set of keywords that isn't compatible with IPTC.

Here's a test that I would like to see: apply keywords to a RAW file with Photo Mechanic. Use Lightroom to process the photo, then export a JPEG. Open it in Photoshop and check all the metadata -- are the original Keywords still there? (My working hypothesis is that they are still there.) For more insight, add some keywords in Lightroom, and check an exported JPEG again. Are they different? Has LR overwritten the IPTC keywords?

Does anything change if you convert the original RAW file to a DNG (which embeds the metadata, instead of using an XMP file)?

It would be nice if all of these applications could play nicely together. Alas.
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JeffKohn

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« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2008, 01:04:21 pm »

I really like Breeze Downloader Pro for getting the images from CF card to hard drive. It has a lot of useful features, such as geotagging, IPTC tagging, extensive renaming optios (including the ability to name based on the camera used), and even supports sub-second timing for you action shooter who want to rename while preserving original shooting order. It also create duplicate copies during download if that fits your workflow.
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Jeff Kohn
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HockeyFotografen

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« Reply #10 on: July 27, 2008, 04:08:51 pm »

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I tried just now and as far as I could tell if takes the IPTC just fine, but not the keywords I tagged it with in PM. I don't know if there is some setting I could change or what not but thats what I saw.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=166211\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
It is possible to get all info from IPTC and EXIF edited with PM (Photo Mecanic) into Lightroom.

In order to do it.
Go to the Metadata meny, and then chose Read Metadata from File.

You can select several files if you want to "sync" metadata to serveral images at the same time.

After "syncing" metadata you will need to save the changes to the files.
Just press [CTRL] + (Windows) or [CMD] + (Mac) to do that.

/Daniel.
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rdonson

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« Reply #11 on: July 27, 2008, 09:24:36 pm »

I use BB Downloader Pro for the features it provides that are missing in LR.  One of the handiest for me is probably unique to the way I organize my images but I really like the ability to create not only the directory (folder) but also sub-directories and create the naming for all the directories.

Some may hate the way I organize things but it works for me.
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Regards,
Ron

The View

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« Reply #12 on: July 27, 2008, 11:00:06 pm »

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Gurglamei,

I use photo mechanic and photoshop cs3 and love the combination. Photo Mechanic blows away Lightroom (which I also have but no longer use) and Bridge in terms of keywording, IPTC data, ratings, etc and is blazing fast, even on my aging system. Running through large numbers of files is simply much faster in Photo Mechanic due to its speed and comprehensive metadata features.

For my workflow I import via photomechanic (applying IPTC info upon ingest) then do my initial sort/cull process in PM (including focus check) and then pull photos from there into photoshop. Occasionally I fire up Bridge, but thats pretty rare. Once you get used to photomechanic bridge is pretty clunky.

If you haven't already download PM and use it during the trial period and see what you think. I think it's probably a perfect choice for the type of setup you are using.

-mac
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=165933\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Are you on a Mac or on a PC? How's the cooperation between Photo Mechanic and the RAW image converter (which one do you use?).

Thanks!
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The View

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« Reply #13 on: July 27, 2008, 11:03:21 pm »

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I use BB Downloader Pro for the features it provides that are missing in LR.  One of the handiest for me is probably unique to the way I organize my images but I really like the ability to create not only the directory (folder) but also sub-directories and create the naming for all the directories.

Some may hate the way I organize things but it works for me.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=211088\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I'd like to have that feature!
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