Nikon View NX-i - Once a agiain a new sidecar file

[RalfC]

Nikon has today released the successor for View NX-2.
My impression (after having a very, very quick look)

• No modification of the original NEF anymore(?). At least, Nikon does not seem to embed XMP-Data to the NEF
• Nikon View NX-i creates a new subfolder called "NKSC_PARAM", where sidecar files are stored. The sidecars have the extension ".nef.NKSC" 
• The sidecar file seems to contain the keywords, label and rating in an XMP-Conatiner but it seems to be stored in a binary format(!) 

My personal conclusion: I will not invest more time in this program as I prefer the open approach with XMP-sidecars by IMatch (which allows cooperation with other programs)

Best regards,
Ralf

Edit: clarify the name of the sidecar

[sinus]

Thanks, Ralf, for these infos.

I will not touch this software, sounds grazy and again a stupid idea, create some new files (instead simply xmp).

[RalfC]

I tried it in a virtual machine with Windows 10 and I am sure that I won't install that piece of SW in mz productive environment.

For the brave, I attached a sample sidecar file, please feel free to tell me the GPS-coordinates (or the location) where the photo was taken.

Best regards,
Ralf

[attachment deleted by admin]

[ColinIM]

Thanks from me too Ralf for telling us about this.

I too will now stop using ViewNX!   

For years now I only used ViewNX to offload the photos from my camera - mainly because it can write the image files simultaneously to two different drive+folder locations ...

I'll now search for another option.

Sadly the much lauded Photo Mechanic is too expensive in my opinion for "just" this initial part of my workflow ... but there will be other options.

Colin P.

[Ferdinand]

Downloader Pro.

I've never used Nikon s/w to download from my memory cards.  A little-known fact is that it doesn't simply copy the NEF file, it changes it subtly en route.  There are instances where RAW converters couldn't edit NEFs that had been downloaded by ViewNX, until the converter was tweaked to deal with the slightly changed file format.  It's hard to trust s/w that can't simply move a file without changing it, but that's Nikon for you.

[Mario]

mainly because it can write the image files simultaneously to two different drive+folder locations ...

One way to achive this is to:

1. Somehow transfer files from the camera / card into an incoming folder. You can use Windows Explorer or the built-in support in Windows for that. I always work with cards and copy them from using a USB 3.0 reader and Windows Explorer.

2. If the folder is indexed in IMatch, IMatch picks up the new files automatically. Wait a bit until IMatch has indexed the files.

3. Now run a Renamer preset in IMatch which renames the files as needed (or not at all) and use a "Copy" step to copy each file to another folder.

The Renamer allows you to store copies of files everywhere. You can create folders on-the-fly using fixed or dynamic names (variables!). You can even create folder hierarchies based on metadata, e.g. to group files in folders by day.

[sinus]

Hi Colin
I do it (almost) like Mario wrote.

The renamer is really fine tool. I personally do not like to use another program for such a simple task to bring my images form the card in one or several folder on my pc.

IMatch should do it for me - while I take a cup of coffee ... 

[ColinIM]

mainly because it can write the image files simultaneously to two different drive+folder locations ...

One way to achive this is to:
(....)

Thank you Mario and thank you Markus.

I remembered that Renamer has tons of potential that I have not 'tapped into' so far, and the only (quite minor) reasons that I had not fully researched it for this part of my workflow were:

(i) I have always preferred to use USB to connect my cameras and offload my photos to my PC, rather than shuffle memory cards in and out of them, and

(ii) A second 'feature' boasted by ViewNX was that it could skip copies of photos which I had already pulled from the camera, even though I had later moved the same photos from their original 'destination' folder(s). (Strictly speaking, that clever skipping of already-offloaded photos was done by the "Nikon Transfer" function which was latterly embedded within ViewNX.)

However ... on that second point (ii) ... I rarely depended upon it anyway because I typically reformat my card(s) in-camera, once I've confirmed that the batch of photos have been successfully offloaded, so - with a bit of extra care on my part - that 'feature' is largely redundant.

And on that first point (i) ... I have just reminded myself that SyncBackSE (which I already use) is able to transfer files from USB-connected devices using Media Transfer Protocol (MTP); which includes USB connected cameras!!  And I've just tested it, to be sure to be sure 

So thank you Mario, I now aim to follow exactly your suggestion: To set up a SyncBackSE profile, launchable via a desktop shortcut to pull my photos into an IMatch-managed folder, and then to invoke Renamer to make that all-important duplicate copy to my second, separate destination drive.

And as a significant bonus (1) - I can use this exact same initial workflow for both of my current cameras (Olympus and Nikon), where previously I would need to launch the camera-specific program in order to "see" the source camera that was connected at the time.

And significant bonus (2) - In order to align my offloaded photos' 'Last Modified' dates & times with their "Digitised Date/Time' (which I prefer to do and for which I currently use another manually-invoked ExifTool command via a .BAT script (outside of IMatch) on each set of freshly offloaded photos), I should be able to invoke a Metadata Template (or an ExifTool command?)(not yet researched sorry, I'm in a hurry just now!) to achieve this same thing.

(Yearning again for 48-hour days in which to do it all!!!)

So yes, bye bye ViewNX and bye bye Olympus Viewer! (I only ever used Olympus Viewer for its photo-transfer tool, never for its clunky RAW processing).

Colin P.

[Ferdinand]

I don't want to tell someone not to use an IMatch feature, but I seriously suggest that you look at Downloader Pro.  It is small, cheap, highly configurable, and will do what you want including duplicates.  You can create different settings for different cameras.

There are several steps I like to perform before ingesting into IMatch, which is why I prefer something external to the renamer.

[ColinIM]

Thank you Ferdinand,

I will look again at Downloader Pro and I'll do a Pro / Con type review of my options here.

I'd looked at Downloader Pro almost exactly 3 years ago (and I'd kept a link to it) and - if I recall correctly - I'd figured it was too heavily "Canon" orientated (then) to suit my needs, but of course it has grown significantly in the meantime, and it really isn't biassed to a particular camera brand.  And yes ... it's affordable!

My inner-programmer is itching to weave more magic from IMatch's potential, as Markus and many others are clearly doing  but with life's other distractions tugging me away from IMatch and our days still only 24 hours long, I might not need to entirely re-invent this particular wheel.

Thank you for the nudge.
Colin P.

[ubacher]

In IM3 we had an Import from camera script which was quite sophisticated.
May be worth a look.
I am perfectly happy with Win 7 and its "Import from Camera" which works very reliably.
( Except when I try importing .MPO files from my Fuji stereo camera.)
I understand in Win 8 it no longer exists - so sooner or later I might have to look at the script alternative.

[ChrisMatch]

interesting discussion...

I never used Nikon Software to process my files but I always used the 'Nikon transfer' part to copy the files from card to PC. So far I never had a problem with this approach but maybe, there is a hidden problem!? 

Way back I also had a look at Downloader Pro and think this is really a very good tool to do the job - but to be honest - I was too avariciously to pay the price for such a simple task like 'copy files from A to B'.

One of my first approaches with iMatch was to add the cards (the drive letters they get assigned to by windows) to the iMatch DB and let them get indexed directly. After that, I could use the renamer to distribute it. Unfortunately this didn't work well (but I can't remember what the problem was).

What I do find interesting is the idea to use SyncBackPro (which I own too). For unknown reasons I have never thought to use it for this task.

[sinus]

... but with life's other distractions tugging me away from IMatch and our days still only 24 hours long, I might not need to entirely re-invent this particular wheel.
Thank you for the nudge.
Colin P.

That is for  me the point. 
There are really a lot of interesting programs out there ... but as you wrote, Colin, the day has only 24 hours.

In the transfer-point, I do simply take pictures, stored in my Nikons on SD-cards.
Then I pull this card out, push it into the slot of the pc, opens this drive and folder, do a Ctrl A and drag'n'drop all these files into one imcoming folder.
This folder is always the same.

This folder is scanned from IMatch and then I can see all files in IMatch, delete them, rename, make copies or whatever.

In my case, I rename them, make a backup-copy in (date)-folders, but these backups are on another harddisk and I do not put them into the IMatch-system. Simply backups.

So my images from the card are now in the IMatch-system, and as a backup on a second drive.
Now I let run (not always immediately) a backup-system (Richcopy 4.0), what copies a third backup on a usb-drive (at the moment only a USB2-connection).

After this I pull out my card from the PC again, push it into the Nikon and format the card.
Thats it for me.

Works fine. Some years ago I made the same, but with the usb-cable, directly with the Nikon connected to the pc. But I made the same system.
But after a while I want not more "fiddle" with the usb-cable and the cam, so I did not more use this way.

All other additional bells and whistles, what specialiced programs offers, can be sure nice and even helps here and there, but using such a program, would meann for me: "lern" a new program, lookind for updates, investing time and maybe also money.

So I decided, to invest this time in IMatch ... and the money, even not much, I invest in Mario! 

[Carlo Didier]

+1 for Downloader Pro
It is not so complicated to use and it can do LOTS of things
- automatically start when you insert a card
- add copyright or other metadata on import
- make a second copy
- geotag on import using GPX files
- rename (very powerful)
- after copying, open the folder where the images are copied to in an application of your choice (like Adobe Bridge for ex.)
- even run the Adobe DNG converter if you wish
- ...
It's a very specialized tool and as such always more powerful than any other tool which just adds some import functionality.
Also, as I don't index images in iMatch before I have culled and processed them, having a separate tool to get my images from the camera makes the most sense. It depends on your personal workflow.