X2d100c, Phocus, Capture One, file management

[ski542002]

Hello: My apologies for the lengthy initial post. I thought it would be enjoyable to explain to everyone how I’ve successfully (for me) integrated Capture One with Phocus. I could go on regarding my file management protocol so if anyone has questions/thoughts, feel free.

Love, love the x2d100C and my first 2 lenses, the P25, and 75. I’ve been a Capture One guy for well over a decade. I’m aware of numerous pro shooters that would buy into the x2d system, IF the system functioned with C1Pro. I know why they don’t play well together, but the politics of that are for another thread.

Here’s my software workaround that I find easily workable.
My workflow for jobs centers around the C1Pro session infrastructure. Being a contained package of 4 subfolders and the c1 database, I can move a session anywhere I want and continue a job. I have a job number system, which is embedded in the name of the session folder. The capture name includes part of the job number. Easy to archive and find any image I want. I also have sessions for my portfolios and family activities. I don’t care for LR primarily because I don’t have any need for its files management integration. For file management, I use Excire, along with client name, sequential job number by year. Very simple, and quite easy to retrieve any image quickly.

Initially, I started shooting the x2d, completely forgetting the session mindset when attempting Phocus. Big mistake, because as fantastic as the x2d camera menu system is, I find it weird that the same software team has developed such a counter-intuitive system in Phocus. (Mobile is marginally better IMO). Just my opinion.

I use Phocus only to the point of grading the raws to allow me to export a Phocus raw to a tiff. I add another folder into my C1Pro session called x2d RAWS. That’ where the exported tiffs end up in my job. Doesn’t matter that the Phocus raws can’t communicate with the C1Pro software. The Tiffs do and if processed properly, the files reproduce well! Another big plus, tethering using Phocus for the Mac is super simple, with a naming convention even easier than C1Pro. Wherever the job session moves, the Phocus raws for that session are included. When I archive a job, the entire package is archived.

Thanks for the time!

 

[davidmknoble]

Interesting read and thanks for sharing your experience.

I started with Phocus for the mac about 3 years ago now and was unimpressed to start with, especially with the iPad app. The Phocus 2 app for the iPad is tremendously better and I can air drop the files into a folder for Phocus on the mac after traveling with the iPad.

My organization is a little different. I have a parent folder and set years underneath. Under each year I create a folder with YYYY-D-MM-JobName. The “D” is for digital as I have “F” in some folders for film, just not with Phocus, with C1. In Phocus I set that new folder as the capture folder and import from the X2D or CFV. If I’m moving from the iPad, I do the same thing except I airdrop them and then import them retaining all the edits.

C1 doesn’t allow us to use the original filename from the camera. It’s stored in metadata, but it cannot be used in the filename. So, with LR I used a long filename, but I would export with a more simple name. In C1 I use the Camera-OriginalFileName so that it is pretty short. I can always make it longer.

Not perfect, but it’s served me for about 80,000 images.

@ski542002 , I agree with your TIFF method to C1. I’ve gotten much better at localized edits with Phocus and I prefer keeping as much original color tone as I can, so I don’t move them very often. Again, it’s far from perfect.

Thanks agin for sharing your workflow!

 

[ski542002]

Interesting read and thanks for sharing your experience.

I started with Phocus for the mac about 3 years ago now and was unimpressed to start with, especially with the iPad app. The Phocus 2 app for the iPad is tremendously better and I can air drop the files into a folder for Phocus on the mac after traveling with the iPad.

My organization is a little different. I have a parent folder and set years underneath. Under each year I create a folder with YYYY-D-MM-JobName. The “D” is for digital as I have “F” in some folders for film, just not with Phocus, with C1. In Phocus I set that new folder as the capture folder and import from the X2D or CFV. If I’m moving from the iPad, I do the same thing except I airdrop them and then import them retaining all the edits.

C1 doesn’t allow us to use the original filename from the camera. It’s stored in metadata, but it cannot be used in the filename. So, with LR I used a long filename, but I would export with a more simple name. In C1 I use the Camera-OriginalFileName so that it is pretty short. I can always make it longer.

Not perfect, but it’s served me for about 80,000 images.

@ski542002 , I agree with your TIFF method to C1. I’ve gotten much better at localized edits with Phocus and I prefer keeping as much original color tone as I can, so I don’t move them very often. Again, it’s far from perfect.

Thanks agin for sharing your workflow!

I appreciate your information as well! My original post was getting a bit “wordy”, so I did not mention my IOS implementation. It is enjoyable to use the ipad/iphone for some preliminary processing of the x2d files, but usually I still finish in c1pro. I also use Airdrop as long as I don’t have lots of files to transfer over to my Mac. I must say though, the Hasselblad IOS noise reduction algorithm seems like pure magic. I only use it sparingly for pr jobs where high iso is necessary. Just got the camera a few weeks ago and I never thought I’d use it for a grip-and-grin PR job. 25mm P lens wide open available light and a near silent leaf shutter is quite beneficial. At some point I’ll plan to add some image files just for feedback. Still learning this beast!

 

[ski542002]

somewhat related to my original post... I'm more comfortable with processing, now that I've become more familiar with my Phocus/C1Pro integration. I am more inclined to optimize my x2d raw files using Phocus Mobile 2, getting them ready for processing to tiff files and then onto C1Pro. I enjoy Phocus Mobile other than its very limited ability to work extensively with masks. SOOOO, I started adding C1Pro mobile for the iPad, which features virtually identical Masking features as c1pro desktop. I just make sure I get it correct using Phocus for the iPad first. Is adding another piece of software (C1Pro mobile) overkill? Maybe, but I find it to be an enjoyable experience. If I have the occasional large project, say anything over maybe 50+ images, I almost start directly in Phocus for the Mac.

 

[davidmknoble]

I think the key is to eventually get the original file off the ipad and into permanent storage. These are big files!

 

[ski542002]

Deja’Vu, just did that about 2 hours ago for a job completed shooting the x2D. A mixed acquisition project. Shot some tethered headshots to Phocus on my Mac. Then shot run-and-gun pics using the x2d handheld, about 30 shots all at 6400. Ran them thru HNNR, processed tiffs from Phocus on iPad, and transferred to C1Pro on my Mac alongside the headshots. All backed up.

Only issue I am having now is getting the x2d configured properly to allow me to see the viewfinder view using flash. Images are very dark. Do not have that issue using my Sony bodies. Sure I have something set wrong.

 

[ski542002]

For the heck of it I thought I’d post one of the “run-and-gun” available light shots related to yesterday’s post. Correction, this was shot at 3200 but I did lighten it, so I ran it thru HNNR to clean up some color noise. Other than that no color corrections! Love the x2dII and Phocus Mobile on iPad as my first step in my grading process. Shot with the 28p F5 1/320sec