Real World Workflow

Thanks for all those who attended tonight. It was fun meeting you all. Sorry I arrived late. It was a long day of work, 2 jobs back to back, whatta ya gonna do? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the free t-shirts and the other door prizes provided by Lance Schad of Capture Integration down in Miami, who informed me that you can bake a digital back in an oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and not only will it still work but tastes great too – you’ll have to adjust temperatures at higher altitudes though.

Apple gave them lots of warning and plenty of time to start planning the updates. Several months after its release and Phase one is still sitting on their hands without a Leopard Friendly version and as it stands we are going to be stuck in 10.4 until C1 V.4 comes out. I think its clear that Phase has some staffing issues in the Programming department otherwise we’d see something quicker. Unfortunately the news gets worse as there is a pretty solid rumor going around Pro V.4 won’t be out until Q2 of 2008. If any of you remember, it was supposed to be out 1st quarter of 2007, but we didn’t see a beta until much later this year. Its look – very much LightRoom-esque.

And then there is LightRoom. Phase so eager to look like them, abandoning a look and workflow that took them so far and very few had a problem with? Why fix what ain’t broke? Because Adobe’s software looked good and works equally as well. Leaf and Hasselblad released versions of their software in 2007 that also looked very much like Lightroom. Seems like she’s the popular kid in school.

So my question is, why not jump ship with a dying breed anyway and go right to lightroom? You can use both Leaf and Phase backs as well as the Mark II with them, even though not in a true tethered form and learning a new piece of software is probably going to take a lot less longer than waiting on Phase to catch up. Besides, If I am going to re-learn the new Phase software its probably best to start at its foundation anyway.

Then there came Leaf. Years past I dreaded Leaf considering their backs inferior, their software, unmanageable. But somehow in the years since they were bought by Kodak, things have really started to look up for them. Their first line of Aptus backs were fast and their screens large. They were loud and clunky and required an ultra expensive and heavy hard drive attachment for full-on portability. And when tethered, if you could navigate around their software long enough to connect the camera before it crashed, you could actually take an image.

But the ball field is changing. Their software is stable, not necessarily solid and complete, but it works and the backs are the fastest around, I don’t care what anyone says. And even if you are still scared by days of near meltdowns as you navigated through three pieces of software to do one simple thing (or even worse…HAVE HAD TO USE V.10!!!!) you can always use LightRoom.

I am happy to say that I am not the only one that feels this way. Everyone is talking about porting their workflow over to LR and Aperture (oh yeah, them too) in lieu of certainty and stability. No one knows if Leaf and Phase will be around in the foreseeable future. I have my money on Leaf sticking around. They have a large corporate backing whereas Phase lacks any support, including that of knowledgeable staff…or staff period…

In 2006, Microsoft bought IView Media Pro and turned it into Microsoft Expression, a new Digital Asset Management system for Windows. During that time, Phase was also shipping C1Pro with IView Media pro. So who better for Microsoft to form a relationship with than Phase One. They called it a “Strategic Alliance” and said they would, “”explore ways to improve digital imaging solutions for professional photographers and enthusiasts.” Only one can speculate as to where their two programmers ended up.

In the meantime, we are sitting here waiting for 1-second processing of high-rez tiffs, improved color editor, a faster preview, faster capture rates, etc, etc, and the list goes on. So may promises, so little to really show for it and a whole lot of wasted time. I don’t have the greatest attention span. Sparkly things only work for a short time. Eventually I start looking around for something else to play with.

I’m not saying that I am abandoning Phase One. They make fine digital backs but their software has become quite cumbersome with little professionalism as to the fact that they have created a problem rather than a solution. If they were eager to fix the issues, then that would be a different story. 3.7.8 would be a great start.

Yes, DTechs, it’s that time of year again. You know, that incredibly joyous season of gift giving and getting. Well the emphasis here is on the getting side, so if your significant other is unsure of what to get you this year (aside from a pocket protector) let me offer up a few nuggets that will surely warm you up inside and out. Unless you’re on that bad list, which I think I am. If anyone is in dire need of some coal and wants to swap for a G-Raid, you know where to reach me…

So, in no particular order, here are some of my top ten fav’s for the ‘ol stocking this year:

1. X-Rite Photo LT Yes, that’s right I’m done with the hockey puck. Colorimeters are very good at what they do, but life in the spectrophotometer lane is like driving a Lambo instead of a Kia. X-Rite has a $200.00 rebate until the end of this month, which at Samy’s means $599.99 for this bad-ass piece of gear. Better yet, give Jodie Steen at a 127productions a shout and see what she can do, as she is an authorized X-Rite dealer.

2. iPhone You know what it is. And what it looks like. Get one. One word sums it up: Maps. Never be late for a shoot again. If you still can’t make your way to a shoot see below.

3. Garmin Nuvi GPS Sometimes I don’t want to drive the 15 pass van. Sometimes I don’t want to give directions either. Mostly I just want to figure out how I’m going to have 4000+ images ready for the AD at 7am, so I plop this on the dash and let the 3rd assistant try to kill us both.

4. Phase One Accessories The new clamshell charger is more than sexy–you actually get to see how much charge is left instead of those effing blinking red lights on the old-style charger. For this gem and and a few others such as the P25 force power cable and the sync-saver, head over to Capture Integration’s site.

5. Wiebetech RTX 100 I know I’ve spoken highly about Wiebetech’s products before, but this tray-less design is brilliant. Available in enclosures of up to eight drives and supporting a variety of jbod and raid config’s, this is almost a must have in my book. Good luck cramming this one into the stocking though.

6. Sinar Cleaning Kit I learned about this kit from my buddy Joseph, and also the gang over at Fotocare. It beats the Digiclean kit in that it has a metal paddle instead of plastic, allowing for much better cleaning around the edges of the ccd. If you scratch the glass though, it wasn’t my fault. Learn how to properly clean a ccd by taking a class or having someone show you.

7. Delkin Digital Duster After last week in Dubai, I’ve had enough dust to choke a camel, and I really hate spreading it around. Rocket blowers are a godsend and they don’t need juice, but Delkin’s little vac sucks it up, which in this case is a good thing. They offer it independently of their SensorScope, and I’m sure any mini computer vac will do the same job, but this one’s been on my mind lately…maybe because it sounds so much better than “DustBuster”.

8. Screenshade There are a number of screen shading options out there, but this one I keep coming back to for its small form factor. It fits perfectly in the lid of a Pelican 1510 roller and works like a champ in keeping glare and nosy people at bay. See my article on laptop capture stations for a few other ideas on mobile capture.

9. Chronosync Yes, there are a number of sync solutions rolling around out there, but Econ Technologies Chronosync is a great performer at an amazing price of just 30 bucks. With an app like this, there is no reason not to have an auto backup running while you’re concentrating on the shoot. Plus this saves you time, especially at the end of the shoot when everyone’s already at the wrap party.

10. Canon G9 Ok, you’ve made it this far so I should be honest. This one’s for me (hint hint). While I love the iPhone’s 2mpx camera, I’ve been jonesin’ for a P&S that I will take with me and not leave at home all the time like I do with my 1-Series Canon. The G9 has RAW, live preview and ok 400 iso performance. Oh yeah 12mpx even in a small sensor is cool too. Add in a big honkin’ display and I’m hooked. All I have to do now is convince a certain someone that the Cambo WDS wasn’t that expensive…

Happy Holidays everyone and hope to see you at the party.

Not that I need to bribe, seems like its going to be a good turnout, but I have a couple of t-shirts I picked up at the Bust Craftacular yesterday. I will be giving them away as door prizes. They are “techie” related, of course.

Please RSVP if you get a chance.

Started a week long job today with a Canon 1DS Mark III (as well as a P30 and a bunch of film cameras). Camera performed great. I love the new compact batteries and their charger. They go in and out and latch so much easier. The controls are a bit more like the 5D on the back of the camera and the display is huge. Nice there is a separate AF button. Super smooth. Files don’t work in C1 Pro yet tho. So I’m crunching in LR for the Canon and C1 for the P30. Nice thing about LR is if you shoot RAW+JPEG, LR sorta ignores the JPEGs. Renames them as you import but duplicates don’t show up in LR like they do in C1. Kinda cool. I don’t normally shoot RAW+JPEG, but the client had an insane deadline for our morning shot and it was the best way to get them files to edit in the PM while we continued to shoot.

Please join us on Thursday December 13 at DBA in the East Village for a little alcohol and a whole lotta talkin’ shop. Ok so maybe a lot of alcohol too.Here are the deets:What?: RWWF Christmas Party
Where?: DBA at 41 1st Avenue b/t 2nd & 3rd Street
When?: Thursday Dec 13th, 2007 @ 6:30PM until whenever they kick us out
Please RSVP to ebisaac@realworldworkflow.com

Ok, well 12.5 hrs later I’m in Dubai getting ready for a shoot. Batteries are charging, camera, lenses and backs are tested, and customs was a breeze. The next few days are going to be crazy, but I did manage to get this shot before the fun starts. I did pulverize a 120 volt outlet strip though…thought it was 120-240v…apparently not, but the smoky-cracky-pop sound was kinda cool.

Sorry Eric I. I know all you wanted to see was a capture station somewhere in the shot.