Where does my work go?
I'm not sure I fully understand what happens with the processing I do in C1.
In the old days, I would open a file, work on it and save it in some native format. If I want to take my work elsewhere, I export as a TIF which most programs can read. If I want to keep 2 versions of the same original, with different processing on each, I "Save As" and end up with 2 new native files.
In C1, as I understand it, I open a file by clicking on it in an album. I don't need to save it, because C1 saves it for me on the fly somewhere in the ether (or on my hard disk 😜). Where is this?
Also, am I stuck my camera or other generated file/image name, like XXXX0319.raf
In order to locate my photographs I generally name them something to so with the subject. I admit this meaning is purely for me to recognise. Is this old fashioned?
And how do I save two different versions?
I assume an explanation must be written up somewhere but I have not seen it discussed on the webinars I looked at.
Thanks in advance. I'm slowly getting my head around C1 😎
In the old days, I would open a file, work on it and save it in some native format. If I want to take my work elsewhere, I export as a TIF which most programs can read. If I want to keep 2 versions of the same original, with different processing on each, I "Save As" and end up with 2 new native files.
In C1, as I understand it, I open a file by clicking on it in an album. I don't need to save it, because C1 saves it for me on the fly somewhere in the ether (or on my hard disk 😜). Where is this?
Also, am I stuck my camera or other generated file/image name, like XXXX0319.raf
In order to locate my photographs I generally name them something to so with the subject. I admit this meaning is purely for me to recognise. Is this old fashioned?
And how do I save two different versions?
I assume an explanation must be written up somewhere but I have not seen it discussed on the webinars I looked at.
Thanks in advance. I'm slowly getting my head around C1 😎
0
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I don't know whether you are working in a (1) session or (2) a catalog. Either way, Capture One never alters your original raw file.
(1) If you are working in a session, then Capture One stores information about edits you make to your image in small files in a subfolder to the folder where the image sits on your computer.
So for instance if your image is in Pictures/My session/Selects, then Capture One creates a subfolder at Pictures/My session/Selects/Capture One, and that has subfolders for Cache and for Settings 120. (The edits are in Settings 120.)
(2) If you are using a catalog, then Capture One stores all the information about your edits inside the catalog database.
Either way, if you want to save two different versions of an image you either create a new variant, or a cloned variant. You do that from the Image menu: Image>New variant, or Image>Clone variant. (There are shortcuts for that: F2 and F3 respectively on Mac, and I don't know what on Windows). Use New Variant if you want to start completely from scratch again, and use Clone variant if you want to keep some of the work you have done already, but do some of it differently - like for instance keep your changes to exposure, white balance, etc but go for a different crop.
You certainly can rename files - one way is to rename them on import. So on import I rename them with a date and a serial number so DSC_1855.NEF might get renamed to 18-12-25-1234. Or you can rename a file individually from inside Capture One - just click on its name in the browser and type a new name, or right click and choose Rename. Or you can batch rename a whole lot of files.
Say whether you are using a Mac or Windows, working in a session or a catalog, and using a Pro version of Capture One or either the Fuji or Sony Express versions, and we can no doubt point you to some more information to help you get started.
Ian0 -
One further comment subsequent to Ian's fairly thorough response.
Renaming files is stanard practice, but naming them after the topic of the image brings a number of issues as your image collection grows.
The big one is that you may rename seveal times (as you refine your subject description) then your current image becomes diconnected from previous backups.
There is are "Content Headline", "Content Description" and "Content Category" fields in the IPTC Metdata, and also a "Status Title" field. Any of these is a good place to put information about the subject, and Capture One's Advanced Search and Filter Tools use these fields.
I name my files like this "GX7-14_0893.RW2" - image #893 from my GX7 in 2014. Capture One can do this automatically on import. I've only changed this once in the last 20 years. Then I have set up keywords for people, topics and location as below. Then I select a large group of images that match a keyword, and add that keyord to them all
People
....Me
....Family
........Mother
........Father
........Spouse
........ etc
.....Friends
..........Leo
.........BookClub
..............Ted
..............Jan
....etc
Topic
.....Canoeing
.....Sunsets
.....Waterfall
.....etc
Location
.....Home
.....Home City
.....Local River
.....etc
Trip
....Nahanni 2009
....Tokyo 2017
....etc0 -
Thanks Ian and Eric.
I know I've got to make a switch in my thinking which may still be in the stone age, in order to successfully work with C1.
The way I have worked until now is, as my files come from different cameras used in one shoot, on import from the SDs into my computer, I rename the RAW files to yymmddhhss-xxxx.raf, where #xxxx is the sequential image number from the camera. I put all of these into one directory named for example, yymmddShoot.
Currently on saving a [modified] file out of whatever program, I name it yymmddhhss-xxxxImage. Now I have 2 copies of the same photograph, one the original RAW and the second, my modified file in the program's native mode, be it Topaz, Luminar or whatever. Of course with C1 I will save a lot of duplicity and disc space.
I have so far worked with one catalog and one session in C1. I selected File-->New Catalog... and then imported the images in my on-disk directory. I ended up with what I didn't need, viz a duplicate of the original directory, by default sitting in MyPhotography/Capture One. However, in my source directory I now have a file catalogname.cocatalog. Is this the data from all my mods on the original RAW? I assume that as a session I am producing far more data, as there are multiple files in both Settings120 and Cache for each of my Raw images? I must say, if that is so, that everything I do in one of these directories is stored in this one file? Is this not a weak link?
So if I want to make all my photo directories accessible to C1, I should make each directory into an independent catalog? as I won't be working on a majority of the files?
And, last question, once I have this set up, if I add additional files, e.g. make a tif using another program (like HDR), how do I later add it to the catalog?
As PS, I think I have pretty well decided to go with C1. It is far better than the s/w I have been using lately. I just want to make sure I get into the correct workflow.
Thanks again for your help and attention.
Menachem0 -
Sign up for a 30 day trial at Lynda.com. They have great tutorials available to watch. Make sure to watch the C1 Essentials for all the versions they have. They really are excellent and each one shows you something different. I think the C1 version 9 essentials training covered workflow pretty well. Not much has changed in the basic flow or look of the program from v. 9.
I have the videos save on my hard drive so I can watch a section whenever I need to do something different than my norm.0 -
Menachem
It I am surprised if you have ended up with a duplicate of the original image directory. There is no need for that. Capture One can work with images kept in your original location - it just creates a catalog that tells the app where the original image files are to be found. The information about your edits, and previews of the images, are stored within the catalog. (This is assuming that when you import images into the catalog, you select Current location as their location. And that you don't choose to store them in the catalog, which is not a good idea for large numbers of images, for file size reasons.)
A session does not produce more data than a catalog, but a catalog stores it (edits, previews, thumbnails, etc) inside the catalog file whereas a session stores the same amount of information outside the catalog file in subfolders for adjustments, previews, thumbnails, etc. You are right that with everything stored in the catalog file there is a risk of everything in one place, which is why there is a specific function for backing up a catalog, but no equivalent function for backing up a session.
I don't know about the Lynda.com videos. There are good ones on Phase One's own Capture One YouTube channel. You might find this one particularly useful.
Ian0 -
Thanks Ian. I actually watched that live -- even had a couple of on the fly questions answered. But on rewatching I know understand it better.
But I still have a couple more questions -- I hope that's OK.
1) I'm now getting the catalog without any file duplicates.
I imported a directory with a bunch of subdirectories under it. All good. There are 2 subdirectories here, and 5 under each of those.
However the .cocatalog file is a different subdirectory!
I wonder if I selected the wrong directory en route, or the default is the previous setting.
Can I move it? or does it not matter.
2) I checked Backup Enabled and all my .raf were copied in the backup directory. I don't think that's what I want.
3) The first thing I worked on was a session but now I know I really want a catalog. Is there a way to convert a session to a catalog, or at least somehow move the session data into a catalog?
Thanks again for all your help.
Menachem0 -
1) You can have a catalog file located anywhere you want (though on your local hard drive is best) but the files it catalogs don't have to be in the same place as the catalog, or in the same place as each other.
2) What you checked, if I understand it right, is to backup the raw files when you import them. My or may not be worth doing depending on your workflow. As long as your system backup will safeguard all the raw files, then you are OK. But what I was referring to was a catalog only function that backs up the catalog database - you can do it manually by going to File>Backup catalog, or you can set it to remind you to do it on closing the catalog every time, once a day, once a week etc. (Note that it ONLY backs up the database and not the image files themselves. It is up to you to make sure those are backed up by whatever backup system you use.)
3) Yes. You can create a new catalog, and then go to File>Import Session...
Ian0 -
Thanks Ian.
Gottcha. 😄
I now see how the catalogs work. The cocatalog files are actually a directory containing the Preview and Thumbnails that are in the Session files, but are hidden.0
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