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Author Topic: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)  (Read 38894 times)

NickJB

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Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« on: December 13, 2011, 11:03:10 am »

I've used Lightroom for many years now. Very comfortable with it. I'm quite happy with the way it works as a catalog for RAW files (in my workflow). I use Bridge to manage converted files (Tiffs, PSD's etc). However, I'm changing the way I light and shoot so want to start using Capture One to convert certain images. It helps that there is a sale on Capture one right now.
Do folks here have experience working with Lightroom to manage catalog structures for RAW files and Capture one to convert?
What concerns should I have with this workflow?
Really, I'm just going to use C1 as an alternate program to convert files that have already been cataloged in LR so I don't foresee any major problems, but would love to hear from others who do this.
Commercial studio.

Thanks!
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jwlimages

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2011, 01:24:54 pm »

My workflow may be similar to what you're considering...

I use LR to organize & manage all raw captures, and usually it's LR that does the processing & exporting as well. However, for some images, I will process the raws through C1 or even Raw Developer.

I don't see a need to change anything about how the raw files are organized - LR still sees them in their same locations on disk, regardless of which program is used to render out the raw files. Yes, C1 puts a bunch of small support files into the folders where the raws live (I have Raw Developer do the same), but this doesn't seem to affect LR at all.

One thing that may be unique to my situation is that I keep raw files & processed images (.psds or tiffs or whatever) separated into different folder structures. I don't use the "edit in Photoshop" command & re-import the .psd back into the same catalog as raw files. In fact, I have a separate catalog for processed images - a LR catalog exclusively for "Prints", for example.

This last runs counter to the recommendations of some to only have one master LR catalog, but it works for me. Regardless of that point, though, I think you can organize raw captures in a LR catalog yet render some with another app without any problems.

HTH,

John
JWL Images
Emeryville, CA
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Schewe

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2011, 02:00:40 pm »

I use Capture One for tethered studio shooting and Lightroom for image management. I like the direct camera control I get when tethered but I think there's a slight disconnect between C1's Sessions and my preferred year/month/day folder structure. So that's something you have to overcome. Also, I generally process out of LR rather than C1 but if I need to do lens correction for LLC I'll do that in C1 and process out a 16 bit TIFF in PPRGB and import that into LR. It's doable but takes a bit of extra effort for organization...
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john beardsworth

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2011, 03:39:28 pm »

In Lightroom you may want to set the preference to automatically write xmp files. When you then open an image in C1 it should read your LR ratings, keywords, copyright and other metadata and will mean that the information is passed on to the tiffs produced by C1.
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jwlimages

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2011, 09:55:58 pm »

Quote
When you then open an image in C1 it should read your LR ratings, keywords, copyright and other metadata and will mean that the information is passed on to the tiffs produced by C1

--  Ooh, thanks for this, John. Very useful - I had assumed I would need to copy/paste that metadata into the tiffs.

Regards,

John
JWL Images
Emeryville, CA
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john beardsworth

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #5 on: December 14, 2011, 05:57:52 am »

You can always take a look at my Lightroom plug-ins OpenDirectly and Syncomatic. OpenDirectly launches the raw file directly in C1 as a raw file. Syncomatic is designed for when you need to copy metadata between images with similar names or within stacks. So here it would be helpful if forgot to switch on the xmp writing before creating the tifs - it saves you from doing a Sync Metadata on each pair of raw and tif files.

John
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dreed

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2011, 02:27:31 am »

Hmm, too bad there isn't a C1 plugin for LR that easily allows for "Edit in CaptureOne" or similar, as there is for PS.

I think my experience is similar to that of others that I'm reading here - for basic raw file management, LR is hard to beat.

But in terms of image editing, in some instances it seems preferable to use C1.
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john beardsworth

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #7 on: December 15, 2011, 02:59:48 am »

Though you've got to be careful you aren't basing that last comment on comparing default renditions. It's not easy to know both products to an equally high level of expertise, and you're better off knowing one properly.
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dreed

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #8 on: December 15, 2011, 04:46:31 pm »

Here's another question that popped into my head today...

Would you rather C1 be more like LR or LR be more like C1?
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ComputerDork

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #9 on: April 06, 2012, 01:33:43 am »

I'm trying to decide what to do with this right now as well. I'd been using the "DB" version of CaptureOne in the studio at school and wanted to make use of its Nikon tethered capture features (which of course DB won't do). I managed to get C1 for $100 through academic pricing, which was great. But now I'm trying to decide how to handle asset management (I've been using Lightroom for everything).

Right now I'm just keeping everything separate (one class is requiring that I use Bridge, which I hate, but I'm going along with it until the class is over), but I think I'm going to end up arranging all of this stuff in a Lightroom catalog once classes are over.

Just putting the Capture One "session" folder trees in the same directory as all my Lightroom images might be the solution I'll use. That way all the lightroom catalog stuff will be in one folder, and I can also open session folders in Capture One, but I have to make sure not to move anything from folder to folder in C1. (Not sure if "Sync Folder" will work right if images have LR adjustments on them and are then moved.) Then of course I can't autofile images by date, but maybe it doesn't matter too much if Lightroom has cataloged everything properly.
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alfas

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #10 on: April 12, 2012, 10:55:17 pm »

Hmm, too bad there isn't a C1 plugin for LR that easily allows for "Edit in CaptureOne" or similar, as there is for PS.

I think my experience is similar to that of others that I'm reading here - for basic raw file management, LR is hard to beat.

But in terms of image editing, in some instances it seems preferable to use C1.

http://www.photographers-toolbox.com/products/jbeardsworth/opendirectly/

no idea how it works but someone thought the same...
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Keith Reeder

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2012, 05:25:51 am »

Would you rather C1 be more like LR or LR be more like C1?

Capture One's colours along with Lightrooms demosaicing, highlight/shadows tools, noise reduction etc, and we have a winner. 
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Keith Reeder
Blyth, NE England

Phil Indeblanc

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #12 on: April 28, 2012, 04:25:14 pm »

This is likely not so popular here, and I have been using it much less since LR3, but you may consider ACDSee as a image manager.
Or MediaPro, but I have had way too many issues with Media Pro.

If C1 had the interface and features (Export/watermark) and EASE of use as LR, I would stick with C1. C1 interface is so "proprietary", that you have to shift your way of thinking, where as LR is logically generic in the interface to OS, or PS, etc.

I DO often end up processing "important" still life work in C1, and "people" work in LR. There is a clarity I get in C1, And I am not sure if it is measurable, specially with improvments in LR, But I work less to get the clean 3D clarity I like in C1, and the colors I love for C1 for Still Life...oddly I will take LR colors for converting to BW over C1.

Hope the above doesn't confuse you more, but I hope it gives you info of an approach that may help you choose.
« Last Edit: May 01, 2012, 02:34:43 am by Phil Indeblanc »
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emendoz1

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #13 on: June 11, 2012, 11:09:52 pm »

Hello, saw your post and although it's a bit old I thought you might be able to help out a newby. I recently started using C1 pro and am trying to export the RAW images after some light editing to PS or even LR but can't figure out how.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ed
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Eddy Mendoza/Photographer & Talent Scout
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mistybreeze

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #14 on: June 12, 2012, 06:32:33 am »

I thought you might be able to help out a newby.

It's no fun being too new at anything.

Can you ever expect an orange to drop from a peach tree? Capture One is not an Adobe product. The companies are competitors. If you want to bring a processed RAW file from C1 into an Adobe software product, you'll need to convert it first (export) to a file that the software will recognize (ie: TIFF, JPEG, etc.). Adobe products are incapable of reading the RAW processing data that C1's engine renders. The opposite is also true: if you process and retouch a RAW file in Lightroom or Camera Raw, Capture One cannot read the RAW data created by Adobe's engines.

If you've done any more research, I'm sure you figured this out by now.
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emendoz1

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #15 on: June 12, 2012, 07:45:16 am »

Yup, I sure have. It's like learning a new language and at my age that's not an easy thing to do.

Thanks for your response.

Ed
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Eddy Mendoza/Photographer & Talent Scout
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Doug Peterson

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #16 on: June 12, 2012, 09:10:32 am »

Here are two resources that could help you learn a bit faster/easier:
- FREE: Youtube Video Series by Phase One
- $49: online Capture One webinars (live conference call with screen sharing)

Another good approach is to hire a digital tech if you live near a major market. Generally their full-day rate is very high, but if your schedule if flexible they often can provide a significantly lower rate on an off-day or during their off-season depending on the market. Often their skill-set/experience with Capture One is very oriented towards such digital-tech'ing skills as importing/tethering/renaming, so you may wish to inquire beforehand if they are experienced with the tools/uses that matter to you specifically. If the tech is a Phase One Certified Professional that should raise your confidence they really know the software well (though again if you're interest is primarily, for instance, landscape photography they may not have a lot of knowledge in tools that matter to you like the Color Editor).

We (Digital Transitions) also offer custom half-day and full-day training (1v1, or group classes) either on location or via the web. But obviously this is less price-friendly (starting around $1000 depending on several factors like travel, topics, number of attendees).

And of course the forums. If you ask a question in a friendly way, and provide as much detail as possible to the question, chances are very good someone here (myself or otherwise) will get you a pretty good answer.

mirekti

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #17 on: July 17, 2014, 11:12:10 am »


I also got addicted to C1 rendering, and would really like to include it into my workflow with LR. I have few questions/doubts though.

1. I would like to use LR as my main catalogue. All my files in the catalogue are Leica dng.
2. If I exported the tiff file from LR to C1 as a tiff file, I wouldn't actually benefit as the dng to tiff conversion would be done via LR not C1.
3. I tried using OpenDirectly, but C1 reported an DB error, and I cannot get it running. The same error happened in 2., but I did't mind as I wouldn't be using this approach anyhow.

Ideally, I would use the approach from 3 i.e. LR passes dng file to C1, I do the basic stuff there, save a tiff file, than reimport and continue to work on it in LR. This way, I could have control of my files in LR, but use the benefits of C1 raw converter.

Is there any tip/trick that I am missing in order to make this working?
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Frank Doorhof

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #18 on: July 17, 2014, 12:09:53 pm »

Hi,
Things might be different for other people, but this is how I do it.

1. I shoot tethered in C1 and do my first selection there.
2. Files are copied to our NAS and imported in Lr.
3. In Lr I do all the flagging, naming etc.
4. I use the browser from C1 to go to the location where the files are and do my selection and retouching.

You don't need to have your files in the capture folder, just open a session (doesn't matter which one) and browse to the Lr folder where the files are.

If you want to export from Lr just make a recipe that is copying the originals to a folder that is called for example "retouch" and open them from there, but that's an extra step.
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Jimmy D Uptain

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Re: Using Capture One in combination with Lightroom (working studio)
« Reply #19 on: July 18, 2014, 07:07:35 pm »

I also got addicted to C1 rendering, and would really like to include it into my workflow with LR. I have few questions/doubts though.

1. I would like to use LR as my main catalogue. All my files in the catalogue are Leica dng.
2. If I exported the tiff file from LR to C1 as a tiff file, I wouldn't actually benefit as the dng to tiff conversion would be done via LR not C1.
3. I tried using OpenDirectly, but C1 reported an DB error, and I cannot get it running. The same error happened in 2., but I did't mind as I wouldn't be using this approach anyhow.

Ideally, I would use the approach from 3 i.e. LR passes dng file to C1, I do the basic stuff there, save a tiff file, than reimport and continue to work on it in LR. This way, I could have control of my files in LR, but use the benefits of C1 raw converter.

Is there any tip/trick that I am missing in order to make this working?


What I do is catalog in LR. I export a copy of the RAW file(s)that I want edited into a folder I named "LR to C1". You can name the folder whatever you like.
I have a Capture one Session named "LR to C1". That session points to the aforementioned folder. All you gotta do is open that folder in the tree.
I make my changes in C1 and export it as either a Tiff or PSD via a develop recipe in Capture One. You can then delete the RAW file in the folder "LR to C1". The original fie in LR is never touched as it has been copied. If you like, you can then delete the original RAW, but I don't do that.
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