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Author Topic: Introducing Rapid Photo Downloader, a free photo importer  (Read 8385 times)

Damon Lynch

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Introducing Rapid Photo Downloader, a free photo importer
« on: January 05, 2010, 06:07:48 pm »

Do you ever need to import hundreds or thousands of images from multiple memory cards at one time? Do you like to give your images meaningful names? Do you want to back up your images as they are downloaded? Do you like everything to be as point and click as possible, without the need to remember special codes? Rapid Photo Downloader does all this, and more. It is free and open source, and has been translated into twelve languages.

With Rapid Photo Downloader, you can:

Import images from multiple memory cards at the same time (as well as cameras, network locations, etc.)



Specify image names using metadata, sequence numbers, job codes, and other elements



Enter a new job code, or reuse an existing job code



Automate program operation



Handle any download errors gracefully



Keep notified when downloads are complete



Check it out. It runs on multiple versions of Linux. Let me know if you have any questions, comments etc.
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Jeremy Roussak

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« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2010, 06:40:47 pm »

OS X?

Jeremy
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Damon Lynch

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« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2010, 06:51:55 pm »

Quote from: kikashi
OS X?

You could run it in a virtual machine (easy), or someone could port it (possible, but more difficult).
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EduPerez

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« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2010, 05:01:40 pm »

This program will not let me select which images to download: it always downloads everything from the camera / card. So, unless one selects to delete each file after downloading it (something I am still not willing to do, as I use the memory card as a temporary backup), the same files will get downloaded repeatedly. Perhaps I am missing something, but I think it does not work properly with my current workflow.
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Damon Lynch

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« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2010, 10:20:22 pm »

Quote from: EduPerez
This program will not let me select which images to download: it always downloads everything from the camera / card. So, unless one selects to delete each file after downloading it (something I am still not willing to do, as I use the memory card as a temporary backup), the same files will get downloaded repeatedly. Perhaps I am missing something, but I think it does not work properly with my current workflow.
It depends. If your generated file names don't change from download to download, it won't download them again, because it does not overwrite images. But yes, it will attempt to download everything it finds.

If you move the downloaded files out of the DCIM folder, but keep them on the memory card, it won't download them, because it won't see them (unless you've enabled downloading from portable storage devices).

It's really a significant amount of work to add the feature you are looking for. Someone else may write it, but I do not anticipate setting aside the time to write such a feature in the coming 2 years.
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Schewe

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« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2010, 10:52:28 pm »

Quote from: Damon Lynch
It is free and open source, and has been translated into twelve languages.


So, since it's free, you think you have the right to suck Michael's bandwidth to put up a commercial with multiple full size screen shots? Sorry, that's really over the top...your first post as a new member of LuLa and you decide to make it an ad for something? Then you have the gall to post 6 screenshots (not even downsampled mind you but full UI screenshots). I mean it would have been bad enough to post the first paragraph...but what could POSSIBLY be going through your mind that it's OK to post screenshots?

I also note that while your product is free you DO solicit donations so it's not technically correct to call it "free"...it's donationware...

Maybe you would like to make a donation to Luminous Landscape, huh?

Funny, you joined March of 2009 but never made a post until today...and your first one EVER was an ad. Not sure you really fit in here bud. Michael is away so I don't know what, if anything will come of this but the odds of my EVER using YOUR product is less than zero (it would have been just zero but it won't run on a Mac :~)

I know Michael has resisted creating a formal Term Of Service agreement preferring to let peoples' own ethics and judgement be guided by the group but if people join merely to do self-promotion, I kinda think that might be considered unacceptable.

At least do Michael the favor of editing your initial commercial ad post and delete the images so people who innocently come to this thread don't waste LuLa's bandwidth...
« Last Edit: January 07, 2010, 03:30:38 pm by Schewe »
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Dale Allyn

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« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2010, 11:56:56 pm »

I must agree that the screen shots in the post are inappropriate. I'm less provoked by the nature of the post, even though it borders on spam. It is "on topic" essentially, though disrespectful to Michael IMHO, and disrespectful to the members of the board in that it assumes we need screen shots in the first post at all, etc.

If one softens one's view on it being spam, a mention of the software and a link would be sufficient. The screen shots should be on your (Damon's) server, available to those interested. I didn't go to the linked page, but I would think that one who can develop such a tool can also markup an appropriate site to provide such pages with screen shots and other supporting elements.

Good luck with your project, but please be respectful in how you share it.

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EduPerez

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« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2010, 02:51:26 am »

Quote from: Damon Lynch
It depends. If your generated file names don't change from download to download, it won't download them again, because it does not overwrite images. But yes, it will attempt to download everything it finds.

If you move the downloaded files out of the DCIM folder, but keep them on the memory card, it won't download them, because it won't see them (unless you've enabled downloading from portable storage devices).

Unfortunately, that won't work for me: I move the RAW files to their final destination after I process them, so the files will be downloaded again; and moving the files inside the card does not fit my workflow, either (I just let the files sit on the card until I need the space, call it 'lazy garbage collector').

Quote from: Damon Lynch
It's really a significant amount of work to add the feature you are looking for. Someone else may write it, but I do not anticipate setting aside the time to write such a feature in the coming 2 years.

Yes, the program should keep a list of devices and pictures downloaded (or at least, the last one and assume a sequential naming)... probably will be cheaper to buy a second hard drive and use the automatic backup feature.
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fike

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« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2010, 02:23:55 pm »

It sounds like you are trying to make a different version of Breeze Sys Downloader Pro.  

I am not as irritated by your solicitation as Schewe was, but for your third posting, this is a bit aggressive.  If you had been a contributing member of the community for a while, perhaps your solicitation wouldn't be irritating folks.  

On the other hand, it does appear that you are a creative innovator trying to make a cool new product. This kind of innovation is what has given us HDR processing, focus stacking, panoramic stitchers, geotagging and a multitude of amazing new technologies that are driven by software.  Good luck.

Compare your feature set to Downloader Pro.  You don't yet seem to have any substantial competitive advantage over their product.
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Damon Lynch

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« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2010, 09:38:10 am »

Quote from: Schewe
So, since it's free, you think you have the right to suck Michael's bandwidth to put up a commercial with multiple full size screen shots?

All the images are hosted on my server, which I pay for. You are welcome to verify this by checking the image properties. So it costs Michael nothing for the display of the images. Second, the program itself is free in all senses of the word. It costs nothing, you can give it to your neighbor, and you can adapt it to your needs. In other words, free as in gratis and libre. Third, I have put literally thousands of hours of my time into the program. I have not received a single donation or any form of compensation, gift etc. I do it as an act of service and to be a good member of the community. Simply put, it's something I wanted to do before I die.

Finally, the reason why it was my first post is that for a long time I had been holding off posting here because I wanted to make sure the program was rock solid and proven before I let photographers here know about it. The fact is, I was inspired to write it after reading a long and very interesting article about the right kind of equipment to take on a safari that was posted on this very site back in 2007 or so (the irony is, I suppose, is that it was written by an ex-Microsoft employee). Since there was no such software program for Linux I decided to write my own. So me posting my first forum article about this program was actually something quite meaningful for me. It was a marker for me that I had achieved what I had set out to do, arising out of what I had learned here.

I hope that clarifies things. I'm not making any of this up or exaggerating in any way. Since I appear to be not welcome in your community, I'll continue to read the LL articles and continue to develop the program.


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JeffKohn

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« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2010, 01:32:41 pm »

Quote from: Schewe
So, since it's free, you think you have the right to suck Michael's bandwidth to put up a commercial with multiple full size screen shots? Sorry, that's really over the top...your first post as a new member of LuLa and you decide to make it an ad for something? Then you have the gall to post 6 screenshots (not even downsampled mind you but full UI screenshots). I mean it would have been bad enough to post the first paragraph...but what could POSSIBLY be going through your mind that it's OK to post screenshots?

I also note that while your product is free you DO solicit donations so it's not technically correct to call it "free"...it's donationware...

Maybe you would like to make a donation to Luminous Landscape, huh?

Funny, you joined March of 2009 but never made a post until today...and your first one EVER was an ad. Not sure you really fit in here bud. Michael is away so I don't know what, if anything will come of this but the odds of my EVER using YOUR product is less than zero (it would have been just zero but it won't run on a Mac :~)

I know Michael has resisted creating a formal Term Of Service agreement preferring to let peoples' own ethics and judgement be guided by the group but if people join merely to do self-promotion, I kinda think that might be considered unacceptable.

At least do Michael the favor of editing your initial commercial ad post and delete the images so people who innocently come to this thread don't waste LuLa's bandwidth...
Get a clue, Schewe. It would have taken you all  of 5 seconds to right-click on one of the screen shots to see that the images are not hosted on Lula and therefore are not using any of Micheal's bandwidth at all. It's best to know what you're talking about before you go off on someone like that.

And frankly I don't see how anybody could take offense to such a post for a free, open-source application (GNU GPL) that the author has already said others are free to modify or port to other platforms if they wish.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2010, 01:33:29 pm by JeffKohn »
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Jeff Kohn
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Schewe

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« Reply #11 on: January 08, 2010, 03:44:18 pm »

Quote from: Damon Lynch
All the images are hosted on my server, which I pay for.

Cool...that at least eliminates the LuLa bandwidth issue...

Quote
Since I appear to be not welcome in your community, I'll continue to read the LL articles and continue to develop the program.

Never said that...what I said was considering your first post was an ad, I'm not sure you fit in here. If you wish to participate in discussions OTHER than trying to promote a product (and make no mistake, whether or not it's free, it IS a product) that's fine by me. Course, if you HAD spent much time here I think you would find that the number of people using Linux (and to whom your product would be of interest) would be in the extreme minority. Which is another irony in that very few LuLa members would be interested.
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Damon Lynch

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« Reply #12 on: January 10, 2010, 03:03:56 pm »

Quote from: fike
It sounds like you are trying to make a different version of Breeze Sys Downloader Pro.

Ummm, no. I am trying to make the best photo downloader / importer for Linux. Some users ask for features they are used to in other programs (including that one). Of course it is inevitable there will be some duplicated functionality, just as all web browsers have some core features in common. I don't use Downloader Pro or any other program to import my photos. I expect Downloader Pro has many features not found in my program -- it has been around much longer, and is used by more photographers. But likewise I'm sure it lacks a few features found only in my program.
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Damon Lynch

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« Reply #13 on: January 10, 2010, 03:19:25 pm »

Quote from: Schewe
Never said that...what I said was considering your first post was an ad, I'm not sure you fit in here.

I have a suggestion. Probably the most important reason for this particular forum is to share expertise and insights relating to the processing of images on computers. Let's just stick to doing that, ok? That's all I want do here. All of us have different areas of expertise and experience which we can use to help each other.

Now maybe you can help me, because I have a question. On all cameras with RAW + JPEG functionality, is the exif date for the pair of images always going to be identical, down to subseconds? Specifically, I am hoping that this will be the case with the field Exif.Photo.DateTimeOriginal.

Damon
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graphius

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« Reply #14 on: January 16, 2010, 09:43:39 pm »

Quote from: Damon Lynch
I have a suggestion. Probably the most important reason for this particular forum is to share expertise and insights relating to the processing of images on computers. Let's just stick to doing that, ok? That's all I want do here. All of us have different areas of expertise and experience which we can use to help each other.

Damon

I just want to pipe in and say I really like RPD,I have found it better than many commercial applications, but I do agree that it would be nice to be able to (de)select images for download. I tend to edit/purge on my monitor, so if I forget to format a card, I am redownloading non-keepers.
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EduPerez

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« Reply #15 on: January 18, 2010, 03:33:36 am »

After understanding how RPD works, I have reconsidered my current workflow. Before I leaved the photos on the card for some time, just in case the dowload went wrong, or I accidentally deleted the files from my hard drive; now I will simultaneously download the files to two different hard drives: the one where I work with them, and backup copy that I do not touch.

This makes more sense now, and unless RPD does nasty things (like deleting files from the card even if the download went wrong), it seems safer, too.
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Damon Lynch

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« Reply #16 on: January 18, 2010, 04:38:59 am »

Quote from: EduPerez
After understanding how RPD works, I have reconsidered my current workflow. Before I leaved the photos on the card for some time, just in case the dowload went wrong, or I accidentally deleted the files from my hard drive; now I will simultaneously download the files to two different hard drives: the one where I work with them, and backup copy that I do not touch.

This makes more sense now, and unless RPD does nasty things (like deleting files from the card even if the download went wrong), it seems safer, too.
Excellent. The program does not do nasty things like that  The last thing it does in it's internal "workflow" is delete images from the download source, if requested by the user, and it does so only with images that were successfully downloaded of course. If you know a little programming, then check out lines 1998-2038 in rapid.py:

http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~dlynch3/rapid.../rapid.py#L1998

Damon
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EduPerez

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« Reply #17 on: January 18, 2010, 05:39:03 am »

Quote from: Damon Lynch
Excellent. The program does not do nasty things like that  The last thing it does in it's internal "workflow" is delete images from the download source, if requested by the user, and it does so only with images that were successfully downloaded of course. If you know a little programming, then check out lines 1998-2038 in rapid.py:

http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~dlynch3/rapid.../rapid.py#L1998

Damon

I do know a little programming, but Python is not my taste... anyway, the devil is in the details: just one unchecked system call, and you end thinking you have done something when in fact you have done nothing (at least, that is how things were with C); and those details are not easy to spot during a quick review.

For example, I see that "downloadImage" returns whether the image was downloaded or not, that sounds good; but "backupImage" has no return parameters, however: does that mean that the image will be deleted even if it could not be backed-up? I hope that is not the case! Again, I am no Python expert, and could be misinterpreting the source code.
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Damon Lynch

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« Reply #18 on: January 18, 2010, 04:24:24 pm »

Quote from: EduPerez
t "backupImage" has no return parameters, however: does that mean that the image will be deleted even if it could not be backed-up? I hope that is not the case! Again, I am no Python expert, and could be misinterpreting the source code.

Python is really easy to understand. You read it correctly, and while doing so you noticed a logical bug in my code. Thank you   See https://bugs.launchpad.net/rapid/+bug/509348
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sniper

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« Reply #19 on: January 19, 2010, 03:02:33 am »

Is this Linux only?  I see theres no Mac or Windows versions are they lightly in the future.
« Last Edit: January 19, 2010, 03:04:46 am by sniper »
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