File Nameing

[cthomas]

I just finished reading Impulse Adventure's file naming. How many of you have read it and use it? Do you use Downloader Pro? How can you use IMatch to follow Impulse Adventure's naming format?

[Ferdinand]

I have read it, but a long time ago, as it's an old article (but still relevant).  I use a naming schema that is similar.  There are similar articles around that advocate similar naming schemas.

My view is that the schema should use information which doesn't rely on the content of the image, and only use information that can be derived from the EXIF metadata, like date, time camera, and some sort of sequence number.  IPTC and XMP are there to record information about the content of the image

You want to be sure that you have unique file names.

There's also the question about the length of your file names.  People who supply images to clients often want to keep them short for simplicity, but they still need to be unique.  For them, something like "jobcode_sequencenumber" is sufficient.

I use Downloader Pro and have for many years.  There are quite a few DLP users here. 

[Carlo Didier]

You want to be sure that you have unique file names.

That's the most important point IMHO

[cthomas]

I was hopping IMatch 5 would have some down features like Downloader Pro but may Mario thought that IMatch didn't need something like Downloader Pro just yet. O well I just have to keep hopping.

[Mario]

Windows has built-in support for direct downloads from cameras. No need to re-invent the wheel.
If you instead work with a card reader, just drag and drop files in Windows Explorer.

If you download/copy the files into a folder indexed by your database (e.g. a dedicated 'incoming' folder), IMatch picks up the new files automatically. That's what I and probably many other users do. I use high-speed cards and an USB 3.0 card reader for really fast transfers.

To rename and move files, use the Renamer. It gives you all features you probably use in dedicated downloader tools, including renaming files based on metadata, creating folders based on metadata and file names, move files, make a second copy somewhere etc...

[sinus]

I just finished reading Impulse Adventure's file naming. How many of you have read it and use it? Do you use Downloader Pro? How can you use IMatch to follow Impulse Adventure's naming format?

I have read it, quite a long time ago. I do not user Downloader Pro, to be honest, for a good file naming system it is not necessary. All can be done with IMatch.

In my case I created a folder, and put all new files direct into this folder, directly from the SD-card, pushed into the PC.
Now I can, if I want, delete very bad images, BEFORE I do anything with them.
But I do this not often, mostly I scan this folder simply into IMatch. There these files has still the original names.
Usually NOW I dow culling these new images and I do delete some files.

After deleting some files I do use the renamer to create a good file Naming system, of course with unique filenames.

The most important thing is, in my opinion, do the filenaming always the same way, because then you could change it later, if you wish to do so.

[cthomas]

Windows has built-in support for direct downloads from cameras. No need to re-invent the wheel.

I though that may be the case. But how in the world do you use the Rename to get it to rename your files and create your folders like DL Pro? 

[Mario]

I though that may be the case. But how in the world do you use the Rename to get it to rename your files and create your folders like DL Pro?

Check out the Move and Copy steps available in the Renamer. The Renamer help topic is quite elaborate. Remember that you can use variables to define the names for output folders, which not only allows you to dynamically create folders and move/copy files, but also make up the names dynamically from file and folder names, metadata, global variables and all the other things you can access via variables.

Creating folders based on shooting date, camera model/serial, user name, ... is a snap.

[sinus]

Windows has built-in support for direct downloads from cameras. No need to re-invent the wheel.

I though that may be the case. But how in the world do you use the Rename to get it to rename your files and create your folders like DL Pro?

Maybe my attachement helps you?!


[attachment deleted by admin]

[ubacher]

.......Windows has built-in support for direct downloads from cameras.

This works quite reliably in Win 7. In Win 8 however this does not seem to exist anymore!!

[cthomas]

Windows has built-in support for direct downloads from cameras. No need to re-invent the wheel.

I though that may be the case. But how in the world do you use the Rename to get it to rename your files and create your folders like DL Pro?

Maybe my attachement helps you?!

Thanks for the attachment it did help me. The only problem was it did not show all the attachment "the bottom part". At the top for Presets how did you create it? Also would you explain each row and what it does? And finally does this work on one file or a group of files?

[Mario]

At the top for Presets how did you create it? Also would you explain each row and what it does? And finally does this work on one file or a group of files?

Please just press <F1> while the Renamer dialog box is open. The help covers all these topics, which step-by-step instructions and details about each and every step. The Renamer makes it easy to try out things because you can use the built-in preview to see the resulting file names without actually renaming your files.

[sinus]

Thanks for the attachment it did help me. The only problem was it did not show all the attachment "the bottom part". At the top for Presets how did you create it? Also would you explain each row and what it does? And finally does this work on one file or a group of files?

Hi Carl
As Mario pointed out, the help-file does explain all that very good.

The first line (Date in YYYY ...) in my attachement in my erlier post says for example IMatch:

Take the Year, Month and Day for the first part of the filename, this means for example:

20141125

This is the first part of the filename. Then in the second line follows a - so we have

20141125-

then Minutes in MM format, and we have (for example)

20141125-13

and so on.

If you have special questions, what you cannot solve with the helpfile, ask again.

And yes, the renamer works with all the selected files, so you can rename easy hundrets of files at once.

[P.Jones]

.......Windows has built-in support for direct downloads from cameras.

This works quite reliably in Win 7. In Win 8 however this does not seem to exist anymore!!

You can get the "old" functionality back by creating a shortcut:

right-click desktop, "new shortcut"

paste the following in as the location:

%SystemRoot%\system32\rundll32.exe "%SystemDrive%\Program Files\Windows Photo Viewer\photoAcq.dll",PhotoAndVideoAcquire

hit next and type a name - e.g. photo import wizard

hit finish

now you should have a shortcut and when you double-click it, you should see a list of connected devices that you can import photos from

[cthomas]

I have read it, but a long time ago, as it's an old article (but still relevant).  I use a naming schema that is similar.
I use Downloader Pro and have for many years.  There are quite a few DLP users here.

Ferdinand I have a question about DL Pro. I'm trying to map one of my cameras. It is a Nikon Coolpix 4300 4MP Digital Camera. How can I get it to map like my Canon cameras. Example:
Nikon E4300--> {T8}={CoolPix E4300}
{T9}={General}

If you look attachments you will see what I'm talking about.



[attachment deleted by admin]

[cthomas]

At the top for Presets how did you create it? Also would you explain each row and what it does? And finally does this work on one file or a group of files?

Please just press <F1> while the Renamer dialog box is open. The help covers all these topics, which step-by-step instructions and details about each and every step. The Renamer makes it easy to try out things because you can use the built-in preview to see the resulting file names without actually renaming your files.

Mario you and Ferdinand both have something different in the Presets box. How do you name your Presets?

[Ferdinand]

Ferdinand I have a question about DL Pro. I'm trying to map one of my cameras. It is a Nikon Coolpix 4300 4MP Digital Camera. How can I get it to map like my Canon cameras. Example:
Nikon E4300--> {T8}={CoolPix E4300}
{T9}={General}

How did you create the Canon entries?  How I would do it is select the camera mapping that I want to edit by clicking on it in the list of mappings, then click the "edit" button near the lower right corner and then enter the text.

Note that you don't need the curly braces { } when you type plain text in the T8 and T9 variables.  You only need { } when you want the text that you enter to be interpreted by Downloader Pro as a variable.  For example, in the default mapping, {T1} is interpreted as the camera model.  Downloader Pro retrieves this information automatically from the image file and you use {T1}.  If you put { } around plain text then I think you'll get the { } in the file name, and I imagine that you don't want that.

The renamer presets were from Markus (Sinus), not me.  You give the presets names when you create them by pressing the button in the upper right with the green + sign.  I suggest that you name your presets in a way that tells you how they rename your files.

[cthomas]

Ferdinand I have a question about DL Pro. I'm trying to map one of my cameras. It is a Nikon Coolpix 4300 4MP Digital Camera. How can I get it to map like my Canon cameras. Example:
Nikon E4300--> {T8}={CoolPix E4300}
{T9}={General}

How did you create the Canon entries?  How I would do it is select the camera mapping that I want to edit by clicking on it in the list of mappings, then click the "edit" button near the lower right corner and then enter the text.

Note that you don't need the curly braces { } when you type plain text in the T8 and T9 variables.  You only need { } when you want the text that you enter to be interpreted by Downloader Pro as a variable.  For example, in the default mapping, {T1} is interpreted as the camera model.  Downloader Pro retrieves this information automatically from the image file and you use {T1}.  If you put { } around plain text then I think you'll get the { } in the file name, and I imagine that you don't want that.

The renamer presets were from Markus (Sinus), not me.  You give the presets names when you create them by pressing the button in the upper right with the green + sign.  I suggest that you name your presets in a way that tells you how they rename your files.

I tried adding a mapping just like I did for all of the other cameras by: clicking on the Add camera button ->in the next window I clicked (select) a file I took with the camera I wanted to map -> next I clicked the open button -> in the mapping window I filled in the info I wanted for {T8} and {T9} -> then click Ok. This works for all of other camera mappings except for the Nikon. Look at the attachment and you will see what I'm talking about. I can't change the word E4300 at the begging of the line.

P.S.

Have you used the Renamer in IMatch 5?

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Ferdinand]

I haven't used that Identify Camera option.  It's worth having a look at the Downloader Pro help page for mappings.  The help file says Select the "Identify camera using serial number, owner string or user comment" checkbox if you have more than one camera of the same type and wish to identify them separately.  I.e. you only use it if you have two identical cameras and need to identify them separately.   Some professionals have multiples of the same camera for example.  I have thought about buying a second body of my main camera, but so far I haven't needed to use this option.

I suggest you leave this Identify Camera option completely alone - it will only confuse and unnecessarily complicate things.

What I do is described in these extracts from the DLP help file:

To add a camera to the list either drag and drop an image on the dialog window using Windows Explorer or click on the "Add camera..." button and select an image. You can also add the current camera when using a card reader by pressing the "Add" button.

To edit the values of the {T8} and {T9} tokens for a given camera model either double-click on the item in the list or select it and then press the "Edit..." button. The values can be set to any valid Windows filename character. It may also contain another token e.g. {d} for the date.

So you just type in the text that you want to use into the T8 and T9 fields.  That's what I do.  I did this for my NEX-7 and typed nex7 in the T8 field without the { } and it all worked for me.  Sometimes you can't get what you want from the EXIF metadata in the file using the {xxxx} tokens, so you have to type it yourself in T8 for those cameras where you need to.

I do use the renamer sometimes, but not for the initial ingest and rename and create folders etc.  I could, but I I have used DLP for as long as I have used IMatch (> 10 years) and haven't felt the need to change my workflow.

[Carlo Didier]

I do use the renamer sometimes, but not for the initial ingest and rename and create folders etc.  I could, but I I have used DLP for as long as I have used IMatch (> 10 years) and haven't felt the need to change my workflow.

Same here. DLP is so powerful. Also, I do the import with DLP, then first review an culling in ACR (called by DLP) and then conversion to DNG. Only then do I move the images to the folders indexed by iMatch.