07-02-2022 07:49 PM
Shooting sports with hi-res JPG's bursted at 20fps, writing to CF card. After a morning of shooting, I have a couple thousand images to review. I'm currently transferring images via USB-C cable or Wifi and Canon utility, to either laptop C: drive or USB-attached external hard drive. I want to rapidly go through the images and quickly highlight those I want to save, and delete the rest. I'm typically saving ~100 out of ~1,000+. My crude workflow today is Windows Photos app, whose only value is rapid cycling through photos using left and right arrows. If it had the ability to rate the photos I like, that would be ideal. I also have Corel Paintshop Pro which can rate the photos, but I have yet to find a fast way to cycle among the photos. Looking for a high speed app that will allow me to simply rate from 1 star to 5 star each image. Then I would use Windows Folder options to select those rated 1 star or better, then invert folder selection, then delete the un-rated photos. Surely there must be a better way.
I am also just starting to use the R5 for 4k @ 60fps and 4k @ 120fps video. Similar reviewing workflow question for those GB's of imagery.
07-02-2022 08:41 PM
There is a new software system based on AI called Filter Pixel. It checks images and grades them for you. You can customize the software to behave as you like. Might be worth checking out.
07-03-2022 02:35 PM
Thanks Trevor. I am running a trial on it now. I have 10,000+ photos and videos from volleyball nationals this past week, and look forward to what AI / FilterPixel can do.
07-03-2022 04:00 AM
I kind of hate to recommend something that costs a lot... but, well, that's what I use. In other words, Adobe Creative Suite. It costs a bunch, but given the work you seem to be doing, it might well be worth it.
The Bridge app is great for previewing things. I don't do stills much, so I'm not an expert, but it seems to have what you want. You can rate items 1-5 stars, or leave them unrated, or flag them as rejected (in the Label menu bar). Then, you can filter to show only items with a minimum number of stars; or only unrated items; or only rejected items. Having filtered, you have all the usual file management tools available, like delete. Of course you can jump into Photoshop / Camera Raw. For stills, I use Bridge instead of folders, not as well as. There are also labels that you can add. It seems good for stills, but not so great for video -- it can preview MXF files, but not CRM or MP4??? Maybe I don't have all the right codecs installed.
For video, I just load all my rushes into Premiere Pro. I then have a Metalogging workspace set up where I can preview the videos, type in comments, set the "Good" flag, etc. Works pretty well. I then organise the clips into bins, and then go into the Editing workspace.
For video, seeing as it's generally so precious, the default rule is that you never delete rushes -- you never know what might turn out to be useful, even if only for a blooper reel. However, I've been doing a huge landscape video project (just for myself) for the last year, and yes, I have deleted a lot of rushes -- just manually from the folders, once I'm sure I don't need them. This is tedious, but we're talking handfuls of files, not thousands.
07-03-2022 06:44 AM
Thank you both for your suggestions. I am trying out Photo Mechanic [Plus]. It seems fast, allows me to rate quickly, then filter and select/delete/archive. I didn't know the phrase culling or rushes until today. So much left to learn! I am dreading editing/rendering speeds of video clips shot at 4k @ 60fps and 4k @ 120fps.
I've never used/owned/rented any Adobe software beyond Acrobat Pro. Reluctant, tho primarily for cost reasons, and a bias in favor of open source software and perpetual licenses for closed source tools. That said, I just dropped $10k on R5 + two RF Lenses, so maybe I should get off the software dime.
07-03-2022 06:49 AM - edited 07-03-2022 06:51 AM
Free Canon DPP will allow you to cycle through and rate images using the Quick Check option.
07-03-2022 10:50 AM
@wkf94025,
The suggestions above are all good ones. Trevors, AI option is currently rated the fastest. Search "culling" photos to see others.
~Rick
Bay Area - CA
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07-03-2022 08:31 PM - edited 07-03-2022 08:34 PM
I've spent a couple hours today on FilterPixel and Photo Mechanic. While the automated nature of FP's AI-based approach is fun to experiment with, I've concluded the extremely fast and non-AI approach of PM[P] is best for me. Setting the right preferences, I can scream through the ~2,000 images from a volleyball match, and put a rating on each one by pressing 0 thru 5, and the preview automatically advances to the next image with the press of a single number. Like that a lot. Left and right arrow keys, and the 1 key, are all I need to blast through the set. Precise eye focus as measured by FP is interesting, but in my context, player and parent are more interested in the action, and how they look in the shot, and that might sometimes be the less well-focused shot, by a bit. How can the AI know that I care most of all about timing relative to ball strike than anything? And I don't see it learning the nuances of sport-specific actions, routes, contributions of server, passer, setter, hitter, blocker, and defensive specialist. Once I've rated the keepers with a non-zero rating, I can quickly sort the Windows folder by rating, and move elsewhere or delete the non-keepers.
07-05-2022 02:06 AM
Hi - I am one of the founding members of FilterPixel & want to thank you & Trevor for sharing about us 🙂
We believe that you should not pay for Manual Culling.
FilterPixel offers all the manual culling options for free, like star ratings from 0-5 and automatically advancing to the next image if you have capslock ON.
If you want AI to tag undesired photos, select the best ones from a similar set & save time, you can look for Filterpixel premium options.
We have operated very well in weddings & portraits category and now entering into sports. The AI is learning the moments where the ball is striking the bat & actions in sports. For the data, we are currently using Sports videos on Internet and finding the best frames to train the AI. Hopefully, we will be able to launch a separate category sports in coming months.
If you already have jpegs of your previously culled projects, the AI can learn them too quickly.
Please feel free to drop me a note at aayush@filterpixel.com
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