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05/29/2024 05:25:24 PM · #1 |
I need a better way to cull and sort images before feeding them to Lightroom CC. I love LR, but culling is a slog. Ideally, I'd like to speed up and/or automate certain tasks like backing up the unedited RAW images, sorting, renaming etc. before I edit in LR. I shot my nephews' soccer game and there are some 800 images that I need to go through. Ideally, I would have done one or two culling passes before even importing the images off of the sd card. Does anyone use Photo Mechanic or have a good alternative? I've started the PM 30 day trial, but it's not really straightforward, so any advice would help.
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05/31/2024 01:47:49 PM · #2 |
I'm not the right person to give any detailed rundown of PM, only wanted to say that for those who need to cull/rate large batches of images quickly, e.g. sports shooters, PM seems to be the tool of choice. That says a lot. If you are using Lr, then the standard version of PM would be all you need.
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05/31/2024 10:31:25 PM · #3 |
| Photo Mechanic is definitely the industry standard for all photojournalists, sports and otherwise. I use it for the work I do with Reuters News Agency, and for everyday tagging, etc. It's one of those things that is very powerful, but everyone probably uses it a little differently. |
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06/01/2024 11:34:28 AM · #4 |
Not sure if my workflow would do for you, but here's what I do:
I shoot RAW + JPG I copy them to a temporary folder on a local SSD (reading from the SD card is slow and so is reviewing the RAW in software, as you mentioned).
I have the source and keepers folders open in the file manager. Usually on 2 different drives. So a drag and drop is by default a copy operation.
I review the JPG in the windows preview utility, which allows me to just quickly flip through them with the cursor.
When I see one with potential, I drag and drop the RAW (and sometimes the JPG as well) into the keepers folder. Depending on what I've been shooting, I usually get about 20-30% of the session in the keepers folder.
Out of those, I usually end up converting about a dozen or so from RAW to JPG. Not all of those get a final polishing, but it varies.
Periodically I purge the older sessions from the temporary drive. Usually that ends up with them staying around on the temp drive for another 6-8 months until I need to clear up some space. I did have one instance a couple of years ago where something not originally in the keepers turned out to be the right entry for an archival challenge and I still had it on hand.
Here's what my sorting workflow looks like on 2 monitors:
The 3 additional folders in the keepers window are Converted, In-Work and Edited
My system has evolved over time. I used to use camera maker's RAW software which integrated with the Windows file manager, so I could just drag and drop from that software's thumbnail display. But I am now using something that doesn't provide that ability (but does handle multiple camera makes and RAW formats). I had gone to RAW + JPG originally because I don't always notice when a challenge is minimal editing, but it has also been useful for fast reviewing.
Message edited by author 2024-06-01 11:41:04. |
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06/03/2024 02:04:29 PM · #5 |
I use photo mechanic. It is so much faster. Lightroom just is extremely painful. And I've got a gaming machine!
It's not straightforward. And so I do very little with it. I just use it for culling and batch keywording. I don't even know how to do a search for a particular keyword in it. Which I should learn someday.
But I really really like the speed. I would skip Lightroom all together, except for a print from Lightroom. |
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