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How to tell when global changes are completed

Allen1
I often make global changes to all images in a folder. My question is: how can I tell when these global changes are completed? I will define "global change" to mean any tool that is applied to more than one selected image.

Here's an example:

I want to set Auto Levels for all images in a folder (there are usually over 100 images). I first select all images. Then, I click the "A" shortcut/icon for the Levels tool.

At first, nothing seems to happen. Then, a small graphic (similar to the adjustments icon) starts to appear in the bottom right of each thumbnail in the browser.

At first, I thought that I could tell when the process (to set Auto Levels in all images) was completed by scrolling to the last thumbnail in the browser and waiting for the "adjustment graphic" to appear in the bottom right of the last thumbnail. But this technique (for trying to determine when the Auto Levels process was completed on all images) is not accurate.

If I wait until the "adjustment graphic" appeared in the last thumbnail in the browser, and then immediately deselect all images (so I could begin processing individual images in the folder), I discovered that the latter half of my images did not have the Auto Levels set (even though the "adjustment graphic" appears in all thumbnails). If I wait long enough (say 5 minutes), the global process (to set Auto Levels in all images) does eventually complete .... the problem is that I have no way of telling when the process completes for all selected images.

Is there some other technique (other than waiting 5 minutes) to tell when a global process is complete? It would be nice to have a progress bar showing the status of any global process, or some other means to tell that the processing is done.

I am using Capture One V4.7
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Comments

20 comments

Date Votes
  • John7
    I am glad someone else has this problem and would like to know the answer. I know if I have a 100+ photos and apply the auto adjustment to all, it's time for a coffee break. Even when things seem to be back to normal, the software will not respond for several minutes. If I take 50 photos at a time and apply the global adjustment, things will go much smoother but that seem ridiculous that I would have to do that. I am using current Pro software.

    JOHN
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  • Allen1
    @John

    I'm (sigh) reconciled to the fact that C1 takes "awhile" to apply auto adjustments to a folder with 100+ images (my 7 year old PC is not the speediest by today's standards). Perhaps a future release of C1 will take better advantage of multi-core CPUs and reduce the time it takes to peform auto adjustments on a large folder.

    In the mean time, maybe someone will post a technique they've found for determining when the process is done. Too often, I get impatient, start clicking, and end up affecting the process (such as when I deselect all images prior to the process completing).

    If anyone has come up with a technique for determining when an auto adjust process (working in background on a folder with 100+ images) completes, please let us know.
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  • Paul Steunebrink
    [quote="Allen1" wrote:
    ... to apply auto adjustments to a folder with 100+ images (my 7 year old PC is not the speediest by today's standards). Perhaps a future release of C1 will take better advantage of multi-core CPUs...

    A tip first, a comment next.
    Tip: You could open Task Manager, minimize it, and watch the process utilization graphic in the system tray (right below, assume you use WinXP).
    Comment: I don't know how many processors and cores your current system has, but CPU utilization of multiple proc/core systems is one of CO 4's stronger points, IMHO.
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  • Allen1
    @Paul_E

    Thanks for the tip and the comment.

    I'll try the Task Manager tip, but it's very approximate. For example, my anti-virus software often starts background processes to download/install signature updates. These processes tend to spike the CPU utilization. So, it may be hard to tell (by watching CPU utilization) when the C1 background process completes. Perhaps (in a future release), C1 will include some kind of graphic indicator that will let the user know when a global auto adjust process has completed.

    Alas, my 7 year-old PC has but one core .... so I cannot take advantage of C1's multi-core capabilities.

    Do you think it would be worth-while opening a case with Phase One to request a graphic process indicator in a future release (or are the C1 developers already aware of this requirement)?
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  • Paul Steunebrink
    [quote="Allen1" wrote:
    I'll try the Task Manager tip, but it's very approximate. For example, my anti-virus software often starts background processes to download/install signature updates. These processes tend to spike the CPU utilization. So, it may be hard to tell (by watching CPU utilization) when the C1 background process completes.

    I agree, it is a workaround only. You could improve it by open Task Manager and view the Capture One process and its use of the CPU to distinct it from other processes. As a workaround and to get an idea of 'how long does it take'.
    [quote="Allen1" wrote:
    Do you think it would be worth-while opening a case with Phase One to request a graphic process indicator in a future release (or are the C1 developers already aware of this requirement)?

    I think it is an excellent idea to issue a feature request. I note however, that more recent hardware might do such bulk actions in a blink of an eye. Indicator will flash for a second, scaring people about what happened and what they have missed... 😉
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  • Allen1
    @Paul_E,

    I tried your suggestion .... it worked fine.

    I watched the CaptureOne.exe process in Task Manager while C1 was doing a global Auto Levels process. I was not sure whether I should be watching the CaptureOne.exe process or the ImgCoreProcess.exe process, but it was clear that the CPU for CaptureOne.exe process was consuming most of my CPU's cycles ... its CPU utilization was 94% or higher. As soon as the CPU utilization for the CaptureOne.exe process dropped back down to < 5%, I assumed that the global Auto Levels process was done.

    Thanks for the suggestion !!!!

    One note: on my old/slow PC (2 GHz single core Pentium), I found that I first has to open the Task Manager before starting the global Auto Levels process. Otherwise, the CaptureOne.exe process consumed so much CPU that trying to open Task Manager (after the global Auto Levels process began) was futile.
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  • karen221
    Try opening a file explorer window and watch the timestamps on the settings files for the selected images. I have resorted to this (and CPU watching) when C1 appears to hang .
    Trouble is - I think there is a bug or at least an inefficiency somewhere relating to writing settings files, so maybe you might not find it so useful!

    I can consistently re-create the following:

    Start off with a folder of new raws which have no settings (.cos) files. let the previews finish generating (look in the proxies folder) , so you know that is not interfering.
    Change some of the settings on one picture, and see one settings (.cos) file appear.
    Copy these settings using the copy command / button
    Select some / all of the other pictures and apply the settings. don't click or deselect anything else.
    Watch the settings folder - nothing appears. The thumbnails on screen seem to update, but no settings files appear.
    Deselect the pictures by clicking in-between the thumbnails, and the settings files appear.
    If I do this on several hundred images (as I do for my basic settings when processing a wedding), c1 does not respond to any commands after the apply until it has done whatever it is doing - often a 20 minute wait. If I don't do any commands after the apply, the settings files never get written.....until I click to deselect (or do something else) - then they appear, and c1 eventually starts talking to me again.

    I’ve just started on a new set of pictures this evening and c1 has just taken 5 minutes to copy settings onto about 160 pictures, during which time it was totally locked up, giving no indication that it is doing something, or that it has finished. I know my PC is not as fast as it could be, but all other windows software puts up an eggtimer cursor when it is busy – why can’t C1 ? (sorry – going off track there!)

    My workflow for this is to copy, select all, apply, click in-between thumbs to deselect (which works, and the settings files get written), then click a single thumbnail to select it (nothing happens), then go away and do something else while checking c1 every few minutes. When c1 wants to play again it will respond to the select, which I can easily see, so I can then carry on working.

    I’ve not tried this method with an auto adjust type change, so deselecting and reselecting may not work for that, but it does work for copying settings.

    I am using c1 v4.8, and canon 5D raws.

    karen
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  • Allen1
    Thanks Karen .... I'll give your method a try.

    Have you tried watching the CPU utilization of CaptureOne.exe in Task Manager?

    Since not every C1 user has a newer PC with multiple cores, perhaps I'll post a feature request to Phase One ... asking for some kind of feedback (progress bar, pop-up, mouse pointer change, etc) to let users know when a background process is completed (use of such a feature could be made optional ... so those with newer/faster PCs would not be bothered, and those of us with slower PCs could get visual feedback from C1 when a background task completes).
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  • karen221
    Yes, I use the task mgr to keep an eye on when c1 may be willing to talk to me again, although I do find sometimes the cpu is not being utilised and c1 still seems locked up, although it does usually come back again. I’ve rebuilt my pc recently and the C1 behaviour hasn’t changed, so is unlikely to be a PC problem!

    Is applying global changes actually a background process? Should we expect to be able to do other things while the changes are being applied?
    Developing / processing the raws IS a background process, as we set it off and continue working while c1 does its thing in the background.

    If global changes ARE supposed to be a background process, I expect to be able to carry on working while they are completed – and not have to wait for 20 mins before I can do anything else. If they are not a background process, and I do have to wait, I expect to have a visible indication that the application is busy, and not have to dig around in task manager to work it out for myself! An indication of progress, even as a simple updated percentage would be better, so at least we have some re-assurance that c1 is genuinely doing something and not hanging.

    A feature request along those lines would be much appreciated! 😄

    I would be surprised if they are intended to work as a background process, as what would c1 do if more changes are made to an image, after the command was issued, but before the changes had actually been applied? Also with your auto levels example, it appears that deselecting the images actualy cancels the command part way through - with no warning!
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  • John7
    I have noticed this problem on XP, Vista and now Windows 7rc that I am now using full time. It is a C1 software problem, not OS.

    For me right now, the coffee break is the best solution...the least frustrating. I'm sure they will get if fixed but not holding my breath, just getting to much caffeine.

    JOHN
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  • Allen1
    @karen2

    I think you are right .... applying global adjustments to all selected images is not (or at least should not be) a background process. There should be some type of visual indicator as to the progress of the process, or at the very least an indication of when the process has completed. I'll post a feature request to PhaseOne.


    @john7

    Yes, taking a coffee break, while a global adjustment is being made to many selected, may be the least frustrating solution .... because watching/waiting for C1 to finish seems to take "forever". If I don't walk away from my PC while the process is ongoing, I tend to get impatient and do something silly such as deselect the images (which causes the global adjustment process to fail part way through).
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  • Allen1
    I posted a feature request to PhaseOne (for some type of indicator that can be used to determine when a long-running process is done). Here is their reply ...


    Thank you for your request. We do have a this request already in our system, and while I cant guarantee its implementation it will be strongly considered.

    Kind regards,
    Phase One Support
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  • karen221
    thanks for trying - at least there is a chance we might get an indicator!


    k
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  • Roman Makhmutov
    I dont understand, why applying even just "color tag" to 350 files should take about 20 minutes? I have look into "Settings" directory - all files have been updated in a seconds, but CO not responded about 20 minutes after applying.
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  • shaun31
    This has been driving me mad for months as well to hog resources for so long is just not acceptable and I can't understand why it happens. Try applying a few changes (WB, shadow) to >200 images and you'll need more than a coffee break!

    Do the phase one people ever actually use their own program in a real world environment?

    I have found that you can kill the c1 process after a while from task manager and restart C1 and all of the settings have been applied and it works fine again, don't know what its doing for so long but maybe preview re-generation?
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  • Allen1
    There may be two issues here:
    1. The consumption of resources when a particular process is applied to many images.
    2. Feedback to the user on the progress of a process that is applied to many images.

    With respect to #2: I have been using the technique of displaying the Windows Task Manager, and watching the CPU utilization of the C1 task. When the C1 task's CPU goes back down to below 10%, that is usually (not always) an indication that the process is done. It really would be nice to have a true progress bar showing the status of the process (including a progress bar for preview generation).

    With respect to #1 .... it obviously depends on the speed of ones PC. Both of my PCs are well over 5 years old, and thus take awhile to run a global process (such as Auto Levels) on many images. In fact, even preview generation on many images takes awhile). I wonder if the PhaseOne developers test their releases on older hardware?
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  • Roman Makhmutov
    Its not the question about hardware, its something with the software.

    I've run into this problem when switch from 4.5 to 4.8.
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  • Paul Steunebrink
    [quote="Roman8" wrote:
    Its not the question about hardware, its something with the software.

    I've run into this problem when switch from 4.5 to 4.8.

    In your case I suggest an full uninstall (http://www.phaseone.com/HOME/Content/Su ... 20-%20Main), follow by a fresh install based on similar slow down reports after updates on Windows.
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  • Andrew Michael
    [quote="Paul_E" wrote:
    [quote="Roman8" wrote:
    Its not the question about hardware, its something with the software.

    I've run into this problem when switch from 4.5 to 4.8.

    In your case I suggest an full uninstall (http://www.phaseone.com/HOME/Content/Su ... 20-%20Main), follow by a fresh install based on similar slow down reports after updates on Windows.


    This "going to sleep" problem has been annoying me for ages and is one of the most infuriating things about 4.x. I'll try the uninstall suggestion as I've always used the update route before.

    Andy
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  • Andrew Michael
    [quote="Andrew6" wrote:


    This "going to sleep" problem has been annoying me for ages and is one of the most infuriating things about 4.x. I'll try the uninstall suggestion as I've always used the update route before.

    Andy


    I did - and it made no difference at all. ☹️

    Andy
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