GeoSetter vs. Imatch for Geo Data

[WebEngel]

Picking up from another thread, because this topic deserves its own thread.

Don't get me wrong; there is no major flaw in Imatch; Imatch is a really great DAM with good Geo functionality; Geosetter is only there for Geo data, so it has a bit of a headstart.  But if you want to know why some people are still using GeoSetter, here is at least my take on it.

Since IMatch has the Map Panel, track import, reverse geo-coding, area-based searching and even shown/taken coordinate support, all me needs (and I guess the needs of most users) are covered and the metadata workflow stays intact and "in" IMatch.

In general, using too many applications (with more or less standard compliance) to update metadata in files can lead to issues.

I completely agree that it is better to have everything in one app (=Imatch).

Let me explain why I prefer Geosetter for GPS functionality

• GeoSetter can read multiple tracks at once (So you dump all GPS files of one period (2020 UTC+2 DST, for example, so all files between 2020-03-29 and 2020-10-25) into one folder and let Geosetter search).  In Imatch, you need to point to one GPX file
• Geosetter can use NMEA directly (which my AMOD logger creates), no need to convert to GPX with GPSBabel
• Geosetter has nice table UI where I immediately see which files succeeded and which failed.  You do see it in Imatch, just not as conveniently
• Geosetter's table view also allows for easily seeing wrong metadata (i.e. reverse geo picked the wrong town for some of the pictures in a set)
• Web lookup for altitude -- did not find it in Imatch
• Several minor inconvieniencies in Imatch which can probably be solved if I spend more time on them

I have been using GeoSetter before any Geo data was available in Imatch, so it is more convenient for me to keep using it than banging my head trying to do the same in Imatch

martin

[mity!]

Full agreement to this post!

But... I fear that 'Geosetter' might come to an end soon. It seems to be "orphaned" for some years and now the google maps java api stopped working apparently. The plain geotagging funcionality works but it might mean the end of 'geosetter' sooner or later.

So I took a deeper look how IMacht works with this. And it does not seem to support my typical workflow. 

In 'Geosetter' I am able to load a set of images and let the application look for suitable GPX-Files (with the corresponding GPX time stamps to the images EXIF timestamps) in a whole directory.

As far as I can see, in IMatch I can choose one GPX-File and let the application look for matching images in the current context. These could be geotagged with the corresponding locations. Fine. But that is not my use case...

Typically I have a set of images imported from my camera taken during a longer time range (e.g. a whole holiday trip). And I copy all my GPS tracklogs (daily files) to a directory (e.g. a directory for all GPX files of the current year). So I want my tool to take a set of images (with EXIF timestamps) and look for the suitable GPX timestamps and coordinates in a whole bunch of files (i.e. a directory). Would this be possible in IMatch (thinking this is rather a feature request)?

To load the twenty GPX files after a summer holiday one by one and see which images I can geotag with each file seems to me rather hard work... 

  ANDY (mity!)

[Mario]

That's why there are always specialized applications for various purposes.
It would be futile to attempt to re-implement every feature of every image/video/Office/PDF/MP3 related app in IMatch.

Geosetter can use NMEA directly (which my AMOD logger creates), no need to convert to GPX with GPSBabel

I don't even know what NMEA is or who uses this. Support for this was never requested.

Geosetter has nice table UI where I immediately see which files succeeded and which failed.  You do see it in Imatch, just not as conveniently

Feel free to wrap this in a feature request. If a sufficient number of other users also see this as a useful enhancement, I will look into it.
How often do files fail? This is rather rare I believe.

Web lookup for altitude -- did not find it in Imatch

If the geocoding service you use returns altitude, IMatch uses it and sets it.

Several minor inconvieniencies in Imatch which can probably be solved if I spend more time on them

Feel free to wrap this in a feature request. If a sufficient number of other users also see this as a useful enhancement, I will look into it.

Typically I have a set of images imported from my camera taken during a longer time range (e.g. a whole holiday trip). And I copy all my GPS tracklogs (daily files) to a directory (e.g. a directory for all GPX files of the current year). So I want my tool to take a set of images (with EXIF timestamps) and look for the suitable GPX timestamps and coordinates in a whole bunch of files (i.e. a directory). Would this be possible in IMatch (thinking this is rather a feature request)?

Feel free to wrap this in a feature request. If a sufficient number of other users also see this as a useful enhancement, I will look into it.

[jch2103]

I added this as a feature request because I'd also find it very useful:

https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=12324.0

[Carlo Didier]

In 'Geosetter' I am able to load a set of images and let the application look for suitable GPX-Files (with the corresponding GPX time stamps to the images EXIF timestamps) in a whole directory.

As far as I can see, in IMatch I can choose one GPX-File and let the application look for matching images in the current context. These could be geotagged with the corresponding locations. Fine. But that is not my use case...

Typically I have a set of images imported from my camera taken during a longer time range (e.g. a whole holiday trip). And I copy all my GPS tracklogs (daily files) to a directory (e.g. a directory for all GPX files of the current year). So I want my tool to take a set of images (with EXIF timestamps) and look for the suitable GPX timestamps and coordinates in a whole bunch of files (i.e. a directory). Would this be possible in IMatch (thinking this is rather a feature request)?

To load the twenty GPX files after a summer holiday one by one and see which images I can geotag with each file seems to me rather hard work... 

  ANDY (mity!)

Same here!

[digedag]

[...] and now the google maps java api stopped working apparently. [...]

BTW: Just now I found out that GeoSetter's map function works again.

Bernhard

[mity!]

Yes, I already implemented the workaround that was sugegsted by some users in the Geosetter's support system. And I was very happy that the developer (after three years of absence) answered to the bug report and in addition promised a new release this year using 'leaflet' for the map visualization (instead of an the embedded IE 10).

Do not misunderstand me: I love IMatch (using it since 2004)!  But geotagging is not its core competence... 

Instead I use Imatch's Geosetter app to jump with a bunch of selected images from Imatch to Geosetter and do my tagging there. Works fine.

[Mario]

Do not misunderstand me: I love IMatch (using it since 2004)!  But geotagging is not its core competence... 

What's missing?
I see no sense in re-implementing GeoSetter, but if something simple is missing, let me know via a feature request.

[mity!]

As far as I can see it is already described at length in the feature request thread... 

I would like to be able to open more than one GPX-file or a whole directory of GPX-Files (in my case containing daily tracklogs) with the 'open GPX' function (in the german UI 'GPX-Datei laden") of the map so that I could geotag a whole set of images (e.g. all selected images) which were taken on several days.

[Mario]

That's already in the works, see the FR for details.