www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/software/asset-management.shtml
Some shoot just a handful of frames every now and then, while others return from distant lands with Gigabytes of data and thousands of images. Their needs therefore differ greatly when it comes to how they transfer, review, catalogue and organize their files. Professional photographers also need to ensure that all of their files are well annotated using the IPTC fields, with copyright information and extensive keywording so that images can be easily identified and retrieved. There are currently (December, 2005) two programs which stand out for me, and which have been embraced by professional photographers. These are by no means the only programs in their fields, and many would argue for other contenders. But, if you sit down with working photographers and glance over their shoulders as they work on location with their laptops, or in their studios, these two programs are more often than not the ones that are in use. Both of these programs have been on the market for several years. Both are now mature offerings, and have been reviewed extensively online and in print. A quick search here on the web will turn up any number of salient reviews and commentaries. Also, both programs are available for extended free trials, and are available for download. And yes, both are available for Windows and Mac OSX platforms. So here then is a quick look at the capabilities of each of these two programs and a few words on how I use them. You may want to consider where they might fit into your workflow.
Photo Mechanic 4x from Camera Bits (Windows and OS X versions available). It has been around for several years, and for many photographers has become an indispensable part of their workflow. Let's make clear what Photo Mechanic is (PM from now on), and is not. It is primarily a file "ingest" and sorting and key-wording program. It is not a cataloging program, and it is not a raw converter. Seems like limited functionality for a lot of money, doesn't it? But that snap judgment would miss the strengths and benefits of this unique program. Since PM is available for a free full-featured download which lasts for 20 days, you can easily discover for yourself whether its capabilities are a match to your particular needs. But, here's a brief overview of what the program does - because in some cases its capabilities are unique.
Ingesting If PM is open when a card is placed into a reader, like many programs of its type it will ask whether you want to "ingest" the files. Firstly, you can copy files to two different destinations simultaneously, and these can be on two different drives. When I'm working on location I always copy my cards to two separate portable Firewire drives, and these drives are stored and carried separately until I get back to my office. Brain fade happens - like leaving my briefcase by the curb as I get into a cab at the airport after a 24 hour flight from half-way round the world (which I've done). Prior to working with PM I would end my day on location by having to copy the day's files from one hard disk to another. Now it happens automatically without extra thought or time. Remarkably, if you have more than one card reader, you can even ingest multiple cards simultaneously, and in a stroke of grace, have PM auto-unmount the cards when done. You also can set the program to get rid of those annoying DCIM / Camera Name directories that make wading through files after a long shoot so tedious. Just import all files directly into a newly named directory with all subdirectories automatically eliminated. For working pros, the ability to create IPTC Stationary, and have it automatically attached to ones files, is a godsend. You're probably familiar with the camera's Metadata, or EXIF information - the text that is embedded in each JPG or raw file that tells you what camera was used, what lens, what exposure, etc. But there are also Metadata fields called IPTC which can contain user data, such as the photographer's name and address, copyright notice, keywords for later retrieval, ranking information, and the like. Most amateurs don't bother filling these in, because it can be a time consuming job, and for some unnecessary.
With it you can create what they call IPTC Stationary, which is a template that you can fill in and then automatically attach to each file as its ingested from the memory card to your hard drive. There are numerous fields, each of which can be turned on and off, and each of which can have multiple selections available from drop-down menus. Many of the fields available will only be of need to photojournalists and stock photographers who need to caption their work rigorously. But even a casual photographer will appreciate having their name and copyright information imbedded in each of their files, and also some location data and keywords to aid later retrieval. But this capability is not just limited to files as they are ingested. Simply set up your IPTC Stationary Pad with whatever information you wish, select the files required at any time, and then click on the Apply Stationery to Selected button. PM is one of the fastest programs around for adding metadata to your existing files. It can do hundreds of files in a directory in just a few seconds.
If ingesting files from a memory card and applying user-defined metadata was all that PM did, it would be worthwhile. More than anything else PM is the world champion for speed when it comes to viewing and sorting files, including virtually every type of raw file. And just as we used to sort slides on a lightbox with coloured pen dots placed on the cardboard mounts, so too can you mark files with coloured tags and then sort them accordingly. This is much the same capability as Adobe Bridge and Apple's Aperture have adopted, except regrettably the labeling data is not compatible or transferable. Also, to my regret, PM lacks a 1-5 ranking system similar to that in Adobe Bridge or Iview Media Pro. Though it is not a file editor or raw converter PM allows you to rotate and crop images. These commands are recorded in the file as tags or as sidecar files, depending on the camera type. PM's great strength is that it shows file thumbnails quickly (even raw files) - almost as quickly as one can scroll down the screen. The secret is that it sucks the imbedded JPG out of the raw file and then when you want to view the image full screen or larger it processes the raw file to allow this. Though it can read raw files, and enlarge them onscreen, it has no raw conversion capability. It therefore has to make no attempt to "interpret" or auto correct the raw file. It simply takes the embedded camera settings and applies them. A raw conversion program such as Adobe Camera Raw has to do much more, and that's why loading a hundred or more raw files into ACR and watching them appear can be quite tedious, while with PM it's almost instantanious Summary There are a number of other capabilities in PM that are of particular use to photojournalists, such as the ability to FTP files directly from within the program. If you need these, you're likely already using Photo Mechanic. If not, the free unrestricted 20 day trial will allow you to explore the program and see which ones make sense for you. There is almost a cult following of PM among photojournalists and stock photographers. It's accelerated workflow and superior file ingesting capability have made it a favourite, and few if any programs are as adept when it comes to captioning and keyword tagging using IPTC fields. It also is constantly evolving, with support for new raw camera formats added almost as quickly as they appear. The developers also seem to be very attentive to user feedback for new features and bug fixes. If it were less than $50 I would suggest that it should be in every photographers arsenal. But at $150, and especially now that Adobe Bridge has largely comparable tagging and categorizing capabilities, it might be a tough sell. But for those that need its speed and features, Photo Mechanic is still almost a must-have.
And with Version 3 (called IV3 from hereon), many of the capabilities of Photo Mechanic are now matched, and in some cases superce...
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