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Let's talk about you M4/3 RAW work flow.

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Anthony14707

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OK, I've been using Canon, now Nikon software for as long as I've been shooting DSLR's.

I'm currently using Nikon transfer, then Nikon View, and either CaptureNX2 or PS Elements7. The transition is smooth. I simply insert my card, transfer images, automatically open them in ViewNX, then work on my images as need.

I can't seem to get into a work flow with the panasonic software and Silkypix.

Can you describe your step by step approach to processing your Panasonic G1 / GH1 / GF1 RAW files?

I could use you experiences on this one.

Thanks
 
Anthony,

Try using Photo Mechanic for ingesting, sorting and selecting your raw files (I also use this with my Nikon files as I prefer it to Nikon Transfer).

Once you've selected the raw files that you want to work with and put them in a single file, open that file up with Silkipix and take it from there.
--
Jeff Kott
 
Jeff Kott said:
Anthony,

Try using Photo Mechanic for ingesting, sorting and selecting your raw files (I also use this with my Nikon files as I prefer it to Nikon Transfer).

Once you've selected the raw files that you want to work with and put them in a single file, open that file up with Silkipix and take it from there.
--
Jeff Kott
Click to expand...
Jeff;

I'm having a real hard time liking Silkypix. Maybe I'm missing something, but the software doesn't seem to flow from opening a file to converting it.
 
I download into an "incoming photos" folder.

Use ImageIngesterPro to rename and back up files. Put them folders named YYYY-MM-DD.

Move these folders into groups that are one DVD in size so I can back them up on DVD.
Import into Lightroom and do most of my post processing there.
Use CS4 for things I can't do in Lightroom.

Export files to a Derivatives area or a folder for web-sized files depending on how I plan to use them.
Back up the derivatives, not the web files.
--
Ann Chaikin
Painting & Photography:
http://www.annchaikin.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/annchaikin/
Family Websites:
http://www.chaikinsofbellingham.com
http://www.achaikin.com
 
Yeah, I hear you. I've been able to eke out some pretty nice results with Silkipix, but it's been pretty much a trial and error process.

I've been using Nikon Capture NX for my Nikon files and Capture One 4 for my Pentax files. I've never really liked the ACR raw conversion results as compared to NC or C1, but the controls and work flow are great. I've been hoping that C1 will be updated to read Panasonic files but no luck yet. I'm thinking about upgrading from CS3 to CS4 to get the latest version of ACR because, like you, I can't get a consistent work flow or consistent results with Silkipix. I've read that the latest versions of ACR are doing better conversions.
--
Jeff Kott
 
I was using Capture1 Pro for all my Canon work flow, and now I found out how to get GF1 files into C1, I'm using C1 again for everything.

Like you, I found Silkypix not really usable. C1 Pro is expensive though.

Cheers
--
Ian
http://www.monsoonteardrops.com/
 
I never bonded with Silkypix. Found myself calling it "Sillypix" instead as it was so far from intuitive to me. I really like Lightroom and process files from all my cameras with it except the Sigma DP1.

BTW, when I import the files I name them thus:
AMC_yymmdd_camera code and number from image file.extension.

This way I keep track of which camera I used for the image and what image it was.
--
Ann Chaikin
Painting & Photography:
http://www.annchaikin.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/annchaikin/
Family Websites:
http://www.chaikinsofbellingham.com
http://www.achaikin.com
 
I use Breeze Systems Downloader Pro (DLP) to feed my images from the memory card to my PC. DLP renames the images, prefixing the original filename with the date, then the camera name, then of course the filename. In the downloading process, it transfers the images to different folders for each camera I may be transferring the images from. Believe me, this is a blessing if (1) you are using more than one camera, and/or (2) your camera's filename odometer turns over 10000. All that part is user configurable. Don't leave home without DLP.

I download the files into a sub-folder named New under the particular camera's folder, then when I complete edit on an image, I save the edited image in a sub-folder named Edited and move the original to a sub-folder named Done.

From there, since I use RAW 99+% of the time, the next step is conversion. That I do with the current version of ACR (5.6 now) into PS CS4. In ACR, I often use Fill Light, maybe pushing the blacks to compensate, Recover if needed, and Vibrance (you gotta love Vibrance). Other steps as needed.

From there on, workflow is many-splendored thing, but it often passes thru NeatImage, Nik ColorEfex Pro, Nix Viveza, and eventually Focal Blade for sharpening.
--
http://www.pbase.com/morepix
 
Silkypix is a surprisingly good RAW converter for free included software, but workflow is definitely a place where it suffers. I use Lightroom these days and am very happy with it, but that really might not be useful advice for you!
--
Ken W

Rebel XT, XTi, Pany G1, LX3, FZ28, Fuji F30, and a lot of 35mm and 4x5 sitting in the closet...
 
a priori: I always use raw format only capture. My processing tools are Lightroom and Photoshop.
  • transfer images to computer, import into Lightroom splitting a backup copy to an external drive. rename as appropriate, apply standard creator metadata template in this process. add general keywords for the set.
  • edit in metadata for location, shoot, standard caption for the set. refine keywords.
  • convert files to DNG.
  • quit lightroom and run backup
  • re-open Lightroom. sort and grade for picks. Group picks for processing
  • edit images, refine keywords, titles, etc.
  • export finished images to archive (TIFF) and web (JPEG) formats. Add archive format to finished image catalog
  • quit Lightroom, run backup.
  • bundle up client products and deliver to clients .
--
Godfrey
http://godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com
 
OK, I've had some more time to get acquainted with PhotoFunStudio, and SilkyPix.

What actually works, is opening BOTH programs, and assigning SilkyPix in the Photofunstudio launcher at the top. Doing this allowed me to view all images in Photofun, and then simply opening the desired image in Sillkypix with one click.

Now if I could only figure why Silkypix added the unsharp mask feature to the developmental stage, and not processing.
 
Anthony said:
Now if I could only figure why Silkypix added the unsharp mask feature to the developmental stage, and not processing.
Click to expand...
Actually this is kind of the vogue for most serious processing software these days. Silkypix is implementing two of the three passes of "three pass sharpening". Three pass sharpening is:
  • Capture sharpening
  • Creative sharpening
  • Output sharpening
Silkypix doesn't really have support for creative sharpening, Lightroom has limited support at the moment. But both do have capture and output sharpening. In Silkypix there are NR and sharpening controls (a lot of them actually) in the processing tabs. The USM on develop/export is for output sharpening.

The idea is that capture sharpening is mild sharpening to offset demosaicing and anti-alias filtering, it depends on the camera, sensor and perhaps lens. It will be the same regardless of your output. Output sharpening on the other hand depends on the destination of your image - screen, inkjet, dye-sub, silver processing, type of paper, size, etc. etc. and thus should be separate from capture sharpening.

The best reference at the moment is this book:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0321637550/

but a google search will probably turn up a number of good references as well.

--
Ken W

Rebel XT, XTi, Pany G1, LX3, FZ28, Fuji F30, and a lot of 35mm and 4x5 sitting in the closet...
 
Ian,

Thanks for the info. I downloaded exiftool last night and got it to work batching my GF1 files. I must say that the files sure look a lot better with a lot less work in C1 as compared to Silkipix.

But, all that good work for nothing, as Capture One 5.0.1 now provides native support for G1, GH1 and GF1 raw files.

Thanks anyway!
--
Jeff Kott
 
I'm a newbie at this, so take what I say from with that in mind. I use LR 2.5. RAW -> LR -> Export jpegs to iPhoto.

--
SLOtographer
Panasonic G1, LX3
 
I am a Mac user and find the UI of Silkypix confusing. I thus first copy all RAW files from GH1 to my HD. I then open Adobe CS4 Bridge to browse these RAW files. To open and modify these files, I select the files I need and choose "Open with Camera Raw". When done, save the images and they will be open in CS4. From there one can make more changes or save in different format and I will put all the JPEG in a separate folder in the same folder as the RAW. I then import them into iPhoto for viewing, sharing, printing, making album, etc. For JPEG, I just use iPhoto directly. For fun and casual use, iPhoto is good enough for JPEG.
 
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