Georg Baumann
Subscriber Member
Time to tackle the mess.... I suppose I am not alone in that respect, well, I would hope so So this thread is all about getting organised with your files.
There is a lot involved when you have to deal from square one with data coming from a variety of cameras spanning over five years, and this is exactly where I am at.
My plan is something like this:
Main Programs I will use are:
- Capture One
- Lightroom
- Photoshop
Then there are a great many different little helpers such as Helicon Focus, Photomatix etc.
My goal is to create a working structure that I stick with and that gives me the best possible future security.
Where I feel a bit stressed is the thing about Capture one, Lightroom and Photoshop Integration. I know that I need to add Metadata on Import, which makes this easy for the future, but I am struggling with the structure of C1 and Lightroom and then Photoshop.
Naming conventions are a matter of taste I guess, apart from basic rules that should not be broken, such as do not use space bar in your file name, and use lower case all the way, for example.
Backup proceedures are also down to individual hardware solutions and flavours, but the basic structure ain't that easy to commit to considering x-cameras and at the moment three different programs in place, and who knows it might be five or more, well hopefully not.
My current (only 4 hours old) conclusion is that I would be probably best advised to first do a search over my system for all photo files, regardless what camera was used, and whack them all into one folder. From there, because I chose Lightroom, create a new catalog which will contain everything, and start import procedures. Having said that, I am aware that I need to commit to a location/harddrive where the pictures will reside in the first place, and then stick to that. Later changes, are best to be performed from within lightroom.
It is easy to start from scratch, but organising existing data into a new, still to be developed workflow, does cause me personally some headaches.
I know, this is boring the daylight out of most people and I am certainly one of them, but I am at a point where my pictures become my assets, and I need to take that as serious as can be, to avoid a Super Gau in the future
This is probably sounding pretty confused, and well, it reflects where I am at. Any opinions and insights from you folks are greatly appreciated.
There is a lot involved when you have to deal from square one with data coming from a variety of cameras spanning over five years, and this is exactly where I am at.
My plan is something like this:
Main Programs I will use are:
- Capture One
- Lightroom
- Photoshop
Then there are a great many different little helpers such as Helicon Focus, Photomatix etc.
My goal is to create a working structure that I stick with and that gives me the best possible future security.
Where I feel a bit stressed is the thing about Capture one, Lightroom and Photoshop Integration. I know that I need to add Metadata on Import, which makes this easy for the future, but I am struggling with the structure of C1 and Lightroom and then Photoshop.
Naming conventions are a matter of taste I guess, apart from basic rules that should not be broken, such as do not use space bar in your file name, and use lower case all the way, for example.
Backup proceedures are also down to individual hardware solutions and flavours, but the basic structure ain't that easy to commit to considering x-cameras and at the moment three different programs in place, and who knows it might be five or more, well hopefully not.
My current (only 4 hours old) conclusion is that I would be probably best advised to first do a search over my system for all photo files, regardless what camera was used, and whack them all into one folder. From there, because I chose Lightroom, create a new catalog which will contain everything, and start import procedures. Having said that, I am aware that I need to commit to a location/harddrive where the pictures will reside in the first place, and then stick to that. Later changes, are best to be performed from within lightroom.
It is easy to start from scratch, but organising existing data into a new, still to be developed workflow, does cause me personally some headaches.
I know, this is boring the daylight out of most people and I am certainly one of them, but I am at a point where my pictures become my assets, and I need to take that as serious as can be, to avoid a Super Gau in the future
This is probably sounding pretty confused, and well, it reflects where I am at. Any opinions and insights from you folks are greatly appreciated.