Viewer Enhancement Request/Ideas

[Jingo]

Thanks to my latest "new to me" camera with "ridiculous" 100+ FPS modes, I find myself spending more and more time inside the IMatch viewer culling images that are barely different from each other. Even stopping this down in custom modes to 10-20 FPS, I still find myself comparing groups of 20+ images to find the sweetest one before rejecting and deleting the rest (these are processed JPG's - I always keep my original RAW files).

I was hoping to hear thoughts on the following modifications to the viewer which I know would make the culling process even quicker for me:

1a) - increase the number of comparable images from 8 to 16 or 20  (or)
1b) - provide a means to "auto-load" groups of images from the thumbnail strip in batches
2 - provide an option to remove rejected images from the thumbnail strip
3 - change the border color or add a "dot" to thumbnails that have already been viewed/compared 

Here is what I'm thinking in detail:

1a) With modern computers, powerful CPU and GPU processing and very large/wide monitors, we might be at a good point to consider offering an option to increase the number of comparable images in the viewer.  Since I am loading processed JPG images, I should be able to easily compare 16 or more images rather than just 8.  With the ability to zoom to 100% and/or set a zoom level that would fit the number of boxes, this would enable quick culling/review in larger batches - helpful when comparing sets of 40-100 similar images.

1b) If 8 images is a maximum amount because of coding/libraries... then perhaps having an option to auto-batch groups of photos into sets which would be displayed automatically after the current set is culled/reviewed.  For example, if I have 40 images loaded into the viewer and select the 8 option, then upon entering the viewer and hitting a shortcut key combo, the viewer would create 5 batches of 8 images, highlight the thumbnails to indicate those batches and then display the first batch on the screen.  User would review/cull/rate as usual the first batch and then hit a button or key combo to load the next batch, cycling through until they exist the viewer or turn off these feature.

2) My workflow is to reject images using the delete key as I mark them in the compare boxes.  So, I select 8 images in the thumbnail bar, reject the losers, rate a few winners and then do the same process with the remaining thumbnails until complete.  Often, I will then repeat this process with the non-rejected images because with only 8 images to choose from, there are still duplicates between the remaining items to cull.  But, for the second round, I have to ctrl-click thumbnails around those already rejected which can be tedious 8 at a time in groups of 40 or more thumbnails.

What I would love is an option to filter these rejected images from the thumbnail display in the viewer.  If they were filtered, I could just grab 8 new images in a row.

3) As each thumbnail is loaded into the 8-up viewer compare, it would be ideal if there was a visual indicator to show they were viewed in that session so, when I try to find the next 8 images to compare, I can quickly pick up from the last spot.  A colored dot/chit in the top corner would be a nice visual indicator. 

Sorry for the long post... and sorry too if these ideas are silly or too specific to my workflow but wanted to share while the last review/culling session (800 bird images) was fresh in my mind.  

Thanks for considering - interested in thoughts/opinions!  Thx - Andy.

[Mario]

Some quick comments:

If 8 images is a maximum amount

This is a limit imposed by the free graphic card memory DirectX can use. 8 RAW files is already stretching things for most GPUs out there. DirectX still has no way to reliably determine the GPU memory. It just breaks when too many windows requiring a GPU context / memory area.

I could allow for more side-by-side images, but 8 is already quite a lot when you also have to compare. More panels would just mean smaller image areas for comparison.

For your particular use case, an application which stacks the images, allows you to zap back and forth between files to glimpse differs, with options to visually highlight differences between files (similar to how the Viewer shows blown out shadows / highlights / focus peek) would be better suited. Not sure if such a thing exists. Even when I shoot a series, I usually limit it to 10 0r 12 shots. But my motives are usually very fast, and 12 frames produce very different images already...

Have you considered auto-stacking files by sub-seconds (if available) maybe as a first step? This would produce groups to work with. Some variable trickery might be required.


An option to mark already viewed files in the thumbnail panel or to remove already viewed files from the film strip (when they go out of scope) is surely doable and should maybe cost a day or two of work.

I'm not sure how many users have the problem/requirement to compare hundreds very similar images to pick some winners. Lets see how many likes and comments post gets.

[Jingo]

Thx Mario.. 

Yes - I thought it might be something like that.  I have not found many software options that allow more than 4 images for comparison... in fact, IMatch seems WAY ahead of the curve with 8 already... I was just hoping for more given I only process JPG images in IMatch.  Oh well... 

There are some newer stacking software that does seem to auto-stack - I've tried Narrative Select - but they are bare bones and barely usable currently.

Guess we will see if any other users like the other ideas... appreciate your feedback!

[Mario]

Have you used Auto-Stacking in IMatch yet? A variable that stacks by sub-seconds or something should bring in some initial order in your files. May be worth a few minutes of playing around. Maybe im combination with sections of the file name (depends on your camera).

[Jingo]

I haven't because I never had such "burst activity" before... though my other cameras are all powerful (Nikon D500/Oly Em5-II) they didn't have the computation power of my new OM-1... I'll give the auto-stacking features a try and see how they might work in combination with the viewer/workflow culling.  Thx!

[ben]

I like idea #2
I usually leave the viewer, let my filter update and re-enter the viewer without the previously rejected files.
But I have way less images than Jingo.

[stefanjan2]

Thanks to my latest "new to me" camera with "ridiculous" 100+ FPS modes, I find myself spending more and more time inside the IMatch viewer culling images that are barely different from each other. Even stopping this down in custom modes to 10-20 FPS, I still find myself comparing groups of 20+ images to find the sweetest one before rejecting and deleting the rest (these are processed JPG's - I always keep my original RAW files).

Exactly same problem I have, I think imatch would be even better if images marked for deletion disappeared from the viewer