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Newbie Needs Help About Sessions

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6 comments

  • Paul Steunebrink
    When the session concept does not add value to your workflow - and based on your description I consider it of little value - you can neglect it all together and use a single session forever. Many CO Pro 6 users use the default Capture One session for that purpose.

    With CO6 you can move images from one folder to another. The advantage of using CO6 for that purpose over Explorer is that any related files (adjustments, previews) are moved as well. The same is true for deleting an image with CO6.
    0
  • ronaldnztan
    Hi Mike,

    I think you should try the session workflow, because it would help you organize your files and easier to locate files when needed. I used to place all my RAW into a folder and having another "TIFF" folder for my processed files. Think of the session workflow as having a separate folder for each of your jobs or photoshoots. It will probably take some time to re-adapt, but I believe that once you get the session organization, you will like it.

    On my computer, I have the following main folder: MODEL TEST, PUBLICATIONS, etc. In the MODEL TEST folder, I have sessions (named by the name of the model). If I click to go into the name of the model, you'll see four folder: Capture, Selects, Output, and Trash. These four are automatically created by C1PRO under their session workflow. As I shoot tethered straight into my computer, all my RAW files go into the Capture folder. With the photoshoot over, I then edit which images are good and which ones are trashed. The good ones are moved into the Selects folder, while the images I can't decide or to be decided later are preserved in the Capture folder. Images that are bad are expunged into the Trash folder and later emptied. The Output folder is self-explanatory—all the processed TIFFS are stored in the Output folder where I'd later pixel edit in Adobe Photoshop CS5.

    To me, the session workflow just make sense. Even without the digital asset managing, I could locate my files on my hard drive. ALL my files are named, "TAN_YYYYMMDD_123," so that no two files shall ever override one another. Moving the files manually is annoying (to me) and we're in 2012 now and with computers and software around us, they should be working for us, making our lives easier and less mundane and tedious.

    As for placing the files in the annual folder, as you enquired, it it possible. I think this is the digital asset management (DAM) strategy taught my Mr. Peter Krogh, author of the DAM books. I know as FACT, that C1PRO will NOT automatically sort your files into YEAR/MM/DD or however method you choose. You'll have to manually create your YYYY folders and depending on how you want to be organized, have to create MM folders. Then the DD folders could be automatically created by C1PRO if you tell C1PRO to create a new session there.

    Example: suppose you have a photoshoot tomorrow, on the 4th of January 2012. Suppose that you organize your folders such that they are YYYY/MM/DD. If not already, you'd have to create "2012" folder. You'd later have to make "January" folder within the 2012 folder. Open C1PRO and create a new session. Name it "January 4, 2012" or "01042012" or however you like. Browse to your 2012 and then click on the January folder. C1PRO will automatically create "January 4, 2012" there and will make the following four folder: Capture, Selects, Output, and Trash—automatically inside of your "January 4, 2012" folder.

    Phew! Does that make sense? That is how the C1PRO create session folders. It is still limited when compared to Lightroom. LR can organize an ENTIRE directory along with ALL files in it.

    Does that make sense? Try it. I think you will enjoy the session workflow.
    0
  • mikekatz
    [quote="Paul_E" wrote:
    When the session concept does not add value to your workflow - and based on your description I consider it of little value - you can neglect it all together and use a single session forever. Many CO Pro 6 users use the default Capture One session for that purpose.

    With CO6 you can move images from one folder to another. The advantage of using CO6 for that purpose over Explorer is that any related files (adjustments, previews) are moved as well. The same is true for deleting an image with CO6.


    Hi Paul

    Thanks, this echoes where I had got to.

    It took me awhile to get the adjustments to move when I moved between folders. if I just drag the images from one folder to another, the adjustments do not move. I have to <Alt> and drag and then they do.
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  • mikekatz
    Thanks VERY much for the time you took to make these detailed explanations.

    I don't create sub-folders within folders for my photos. I have one single folder per year, and each file is eventually batch-named with the date and subject matter.

    My workflow as an amateur is probably far different from yours as a professional. As I also said, I may end up using other RAW programs besides Capture One, and I therefore prefer a far simpler folder structure that will work with all these programs simultaneously.

    Truthfully, the best program for me is one that has no DAM at all. When I work in Lightroom, I import a photo session, create my TIFFS, and then eventually remove the photos from the catalog and move the RAW and sidecar files myself into my annual folder.

    DxO has just released version 7.1, which I also use, which allows me to work without creating projects (sessions, catalogs) at all, and that suits me just fine!


    [quote="ronaldnztan" wrote:
    Hi Mike,

    I think you should try the session workflow, because it would help you organize your files and easier to locate files when needed. I used to place all my RAW into a folder and having another "TIFF" folder for my processed files. Think of the session workflow as having a separate folder for each of your jobs or photoshoots. It will probably take some time to re-adapt, but I believe that once you get the session organization, you will like it.

    On my computer, I have the following main folder: MODEL TEST, PUBLICATIONS, etc. In the MODEL TEST folder, I have sessions (named by the name of the model). If I click to go into the name of the model, you'll see four folder: Capture, Selects, Output, and Trash. These four are automatically created by C1PRO under their session workflow. As I shoot tethered straight into my computer, all my RAW files go into the Capture folder. With the photoshoot over, I then edit which images are good and which ones are trashed. The good ones are moved into the Selects folder, while the images I can't decide or to be decided later are preserved in the Capture folder. Images that are bad are expunged into the Trash folder and later emptied. The Output folder is self-explanatory—all the processed TIFFS are stored in the Output folder where I'd later pixel edit in Adobe Photoshop CS5.

    To me, the session workflow just make sense. Even without the digital asset managing, I could locate my files on my hard drive. ALL my files are named, "TAN_YYYYMMDD_123," so that no two files shall ever override one another. Moving the files manually is annoying (to me) and we're in 2012 now and with computers and software around us, they should be working for us, making our lives easier and less mundane and tedious.

    As for placing the files in the annual folder, as you enquired, it it possible. I think this is the digital asset management (DAM) strategy taught my Mr. Peter Krogh, author of the DAM books. I know as FACT, that C1PRO will NOT automatically sort your files into YEAR/MM/DD or however method you choose. You'll have to manually create your YYYY folders and depending on how you want to be organized, have to create MM folders. Then the DD folders could be automatically created by C1PRO if you tell C1PRO to create a new session there.

    Example: suppose you have a photoshoot tomorrow, on the 4th of January 2012. Suppose that you organize your folders such that they are YYYY/MM/DD. If not already, you'd have to create "2012" folder. You'd later have to make "January" folder within the 2012 folder. Open C1PRO and create a new session. Name it "January 4, 2012" or "01042012" or however you like. Browse to your 2012 and then click on the January folder. C1PRO will automatically create "January 4, 2012" there and will make the following four folder: Capture, Selects, Output, and Trash—automatically inside of your "January 4, 2012" folder.

    Phew! Does that make sense? That is how the C1PRO create session folders. It is still limited when compared to Lightroom. LR can organize an ENTIRE directory along with ALL files in it.

    Does that make sense? Try it. I think you will enjoy the session workflow.
    0
  • Stephan Hartmann
    After working for a few weeks with C1 I'd like to ask how others organise themselves. I'm can't really find out which intention is behind the interface design.

    I currently follow the session-approach. It's different to me but basically not a bad idea – moving the images according to the work progress. But now I am running into a problem which is that there is no way to browse my sessions.

    The only way to see them is the dropdown menu. But I can't imagine that there is no way to actually manage sessions. For instance, if I am on a 3-day-festival I'd have a session for that fesival and sub-sessions for each day. Or maybe a master session for a shooting and sub-sessions for different product categories which I had in that shooting.

    What is the most efficient way to structure events/customers/models/images in C1?

    Thanks,
    Stephan
    0
  • Permanently deleted user
    Hi,

    in principle whatever structure which helps you to locate specific images can be used. For example, my first selection criteria is the camera (=directory naming: Sony A700 = A7a for the file numbers 1-9999, A7b for file numbers 10000 to 19999 (which is actuall again 1-9999) then Sony A850 = A8a - etc.). Those folders contain subfolders named by YYMMDD added by a short content description (for example: place / event). If the number of shots for a specific place / event or so passes some hundered I'm creating sequenced folders (event01, event02) because limiting the files in one folder speeds up the program start. And those folders contain the raw files with their original names. The commented directory/subfolders hold only the RAW files. Then I have a main processed files folder named C1 which has a subfolder structure similar to the RAW-files. Works for me - also considering keeping track of files and their backup versions. It should be added perhaps that C1 dosen't impose or need a specific structure.
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