Starting up the Digital Engine Guide for Begineers

[guy_mancuso]

As many folks will be buying the M8 in coming months and hopefully the DMR also. I thought a good run down on the basics is in order here. Many folks will be coming directly from film and scanning to switch to the other side of digital only. As I write this I am hoping other Pro's as myself will join in and also offer some insight. Just a wee bit of background so you know who I am and my background. I am a 32-year working Pro in the commercial sector with mainly corporate and industrial background plus many other areas. Also I have been on the bleeding edge of digital since really the beginning, I believe this is about 12 or so years. So I have had many systems Kodak, Nikon, Canon and Leica. I currently am shooting the DMR and soon the M8. Waiting on delivery. Okay that's me and here is my site, needs an update but it is what it is Guy Mancuso Photo - Expert Digital Commercial Photography.

Moving forward I did write a little piece on getting starting in C1 but this article if you will start from the beginning. Warning hold onto the credit cards, I am known to spend your money. LOL

Let's talk about getting started. First let's get into computers and some programs. Now I am a long time PC user that recently went to Mac, they really are somewhat the same thing and don't want to get into the PC VS Mac issue. But I tend to like the Mac better now and since with the Intel chips you can run PC applications it is a nice way to go. Let's just use the Mac as the base computer here for illustration reasons. So what Mac would one need to get into the M8 Or DMR files with the software programs needed. First gut reaction is getting the fastest one you money will buy. Not always possible but let's use the Mac Pro recently released or the Mac Pro book. If we are going to be the lab processing drop off that we are becoming and I like to call it the Kodachrome lab with a 1/8 degree of tolerance. Yes folks we process the film now, no more dropping and hoping scene those days are gone. So what does this new process mean. Well it means we need to take this quite serious with regards to color management because if your monitor is off than you really have no chance in hell to getting your files looking correct. So lets' get into monitors and calibration
Monitors and Calibration

Since we will be working at computers I do recommend getting one or two monitors of about the 20-inch range to start. Many PS (Photoshop) users actually work with two monitors one for the application itself and one for the tools. Also some like myself just have one very large one the 30-inch Cinema display. Personal choice here but the main monitor should be at least 20 inches or larger. Here is a case where bigger is better. Now the second monitor can be a cheap 17-inch for your tools. Now the important part after deciding the monitors that are right for you is the Color calibration of these monitors and without this swimming upstream will be very hard. Now I use the Gretag Eye One Display and the cost is around 250 dollars, I believe there is also one by Snyder that is essential the same thing. What these products do is you put a sensor on the monitor and take color and brightness readings of your monitor and adjust them to certain Kelvin temp. For color work. What this means to you and me is the work you do now on your monitor will be accurate color for your images that can be taken to print or whatever your end media will be. So your whites are pure whit and black pure black and all the colors in between are represented correctly. Folks sorry about this but this is but what I would call mandatory and without it you’re really going to go nowhere fast.
Even Though many of the new monitors are very good out of the box and also some laptops I still highly recommend this, it just gives you that level of knowing the color is accurate through the process.

Software/Ram/Processor Speed

Now I can't get too much ahead of myself here without getting into the software and hardware issue. Most users if not all will be using PS or PS Elements to work on there files and be it Jpegs only or Raws converted to Tiffs this is your main program, Now PS is a Ram hunger application. It really is like a pig in mud with Ram the more you throw in it the more it likes. No matter what system you use I highly recommend at least 2gb of Ram. The new Mac Intel users running PS under emulation called Rosetta because PS is not a Universal code yet than you need to really fill the box. I have 6gb of Ram in my Mac Pro and 2 gb in my MacPro book. I do recommend 4gbs in the Mac Pro desktop, trust me it won't hurt you and you will love the extra ram. PC users can load there boxes today with 3gbs because that is all a PV will see anyway running 64 bit, this will change with Vista and 64 bit OS but 3gb is very good still. We can talk more later about the computer side but a good rule of thumb is get the fastest box you can get with your money and this includes hard drives for both systems get at least 7200 rpm 16mg cache drives. Can you get by with less, of course if you have a lot of patience? I don't and may machine is a rocket in a box. I have the fastest hard drives you can buy and run Raid O and lots of ram, but don't always go by what the Pro's have either we get paid on a time issue and time is money and we build this things to fly fast, does not mean you have to but do think about this when buying computers, you are going to be pushing big and many files from the M8 and DMR.

Raw processing here is another area I stress very highly and that is to shoot RAW and reason being in general you have digital negative that YOU control. I won't get into the Jpeg VS Raw war that goes on over the web but I am Pro choice. LOL Raw is the ONLY thing I shoot. Okay with that out of the way, you will be hopefully shooting Raw and than will have a need to process the files. Most of you will be using Capture One from Phase One that comes with your M8 , it is my favorite raw processor bar none and Leica was IMHO very smart to include that for free and also chose them as the raw processor of choice. Now the are other PS Raw Capture also referred to as Adobe Camera Raw ACR and than there is Light room beta right now from Adobe, Silky Pix, Raw Developer and several others. I am going to speak of C1 and I also posted a article on this here on the Leica Forum on C1 and Color Management; Andy did make a PDF of that for download also. But the Reason I bring up C1 is we are still on the Software/Hardware side of this. C1 unlike PS is more processor hungry. Do you get dinged for Ram but processing speed is also important, frankly you picked the wrong hobby to save money. LOL But C1 they package you get for FREE from Leica is great software and is Universal Code, which for those Mac Intel folks will love this, it flies ladies and gentleman. On my machine I can process a DMR 90mg 16 bit file in 3 seconds flat, trust me on this that is fast as you can get and most of that comes down to processor speed. So again still have that CC hiding in you wallet is be careful here you can spend a load of money before you even pick up the camera. You don't need the fastest boat on the lake but a rowboat won't work either. I think the new Imac's with some Ram in them maybe a perfect balance between speed and your Credit Cards. On the PC side you won't need a Dell Workstation but there middle of the pack setup maybe perfect.


I think I will stop here for now than move on to the camera and getting started there. Hopefully this helps some folks understand what boat you are jumping on and seriously it may sound like a lot of work and money and such. But it also is fun as hell and very rewarding working your images to the best way you see fit.

Note to other Pro's please help me bring some of your info to the table to help folks getting started.

Thanks Guy Mancuso

Please remember I am a much better shooter and instructor of photography than I am at writing, please forgive me at not being perfect here

[R10dreamer]

Guy,
Nice read. Thanks for the input. I look forward to reading more. I see that you didn't mention Aperture 1.5. Besides the fact that it doesn't support the Leica DMR or the M8 do you have any info on that program?

[guy_mancuso]

Gary no not really the one thing I read about Aperture is it is only to one dedicated hard drive for the library . I have 6 drives so that really is not a great idea but hopefully someone with more knowledge of Aperture can chime in, i don't know what changes have been made to it. But leaving leica out of the mix was just flat out stupid IMHO.

[R10dreamer]

I believe that they did include the digilux but why they would leave out the DMR and/or not include the new M8 I have no idea. Given the staff and money they have for R&D it would seem an easy task.

[wattsy]

Originally Posted by guy_mancuso

Gary no not really the one thing I read about Aperture is it is only to one dedicated hard drive for the library . I have 6 drives so that really is not a great idea but hopefully somone with mor knowledge of Aperture can chime in, i don't know what changes have bee made to it. But leaving leica out of the mix was just flat out stupid IMHO.

Aperture 1.5 (free update from earlier versions) fixes the 'single hard drive' issue. The programme still doesn't work with M8 (or presumably DMR) DNGs which is a pity because it's a more elegant programme to work in than some of the aternatives.

[DaveEP]

Originally Posted by guy_mancuso

Gary no not really the one thing I read about Aperture is it is only to one dedicated hard drive for the library . I have 6 drives so that really is not a great idea but hopefully someone with more knowledge of Aperture can chime in, i don't know what changes have been made to it. But leaving leica out of the mix was just flat out stupid IMHO.

Guy, I have Aperture, but don't use it at the moment. The latest version (1.5+) allows you to leave your files in place, and the library can 'reference' them, just like they should have done to start with.

However, DNG still does not appear to be supported, and Aperture 1.5 can't open M8 raw files. On my G5 (Dual 2Ghz 4GB Ram) it runs too slowly, once you get lots of files installed. I would need a major hardware upgrade (e.g. new Quad Intel with great graphics card) to make me ever think of trying it again with any serious work in mind. However, I am resisting upgrading my main workstation to Intel until Adobe release a universal binary. Having said that, I have seen reports that CS2 runs as well (or better) on the Quad Intel as it does on a Dual 2Ghz G5.

In my opinion, the Aperture RAW conversion has got better as the version have been released, but at this point it is still not up with C1Pro, which is where my 'paid for' work now gets done.

[guy_mancuso]

David right now without the universal code on my Mac Pro it really is not to bad running PS , I have been able to open 10 90 gb files at once and work on them in a pretty fast way. Reason I said 4gbs right now as minimum. PS can take 3 gbs of ram for it and leave 1gb for the system and also PS on a Mac will search for more Ram before a scratch disk. Reason for the heavy ram also is Rosetta which really likes 2gb and above to run programs under it. Now when the upgrade for PS with the universal code than these machines will fly much faster but right now it really is okay. I went mac becuase of Leopard coming out also , which has a time machine in it , which can search for a lost file and bring it back and some other cool stuff like spaces. Folks might want to look at the future OS for the Mac on there site. But you also can run PC software and run PS there if you want. So there are options there. Also from the Apple forums Aperture is a pig for power, so folks will need some horsepower o run it

[jrgeoffrion]

Originally Posted by guy_mancuso

Note to other Pro's please help me bring some of your info to the table to help folks getting started.

I'm not really a Pro, I'm just making an ok living making images...

Here are also two articles I wrote that were published on the Lexar web site:

"Images are not taken, they are made" by JR

"Step-by-Step Raw Workflow" by JR

I've made my workflow as an easy reference poster ready to print and follow in PDF format: JR's Workflow Reference Guide

Hope it helps a little...

[guy_mancuso]

Great Stuff JR. Nice read folks . And don't believe the non Pro stuff. LOL

[woodyspedden]

Originally Posted by jrgeoffrion

I'm not really a Pro, I'm just making an ok living making images...

Here are also two articles I wrote that were published on the Lexar web site:

"Images are not taken, they are made" by JR

"Step-by-Step Raw Workflow" by JR

I've made my workflow as an easy reference poster ready to print and follow in PDF format: JR's Workflow Reference Guide

Hope it helps a little...

Well done J.R.

The flow diagram is a very helpful reminder of the workflow and should be used religiously. I sometimes wreck good images when I get in a hurry and bypass some of the steps or do them out of order. Thanks for posting

Woody

[Peter D Lux 2]

Guy,

thanks for the interesting read!
In another thread you used a very different tone while reffering to all the uncertainties regarding the M8. I can understand this very well, my Euro's are in this too...

Nevertheless, reading articles like the one you wrote above give me hope that in the end we'll all be happy M8 users knowing how to get the best out of our files.

Keep up the good spirit!

Cheers,

Peter

[guy_mancuso]

Peter yes I have gone back and forth a little. Coming from the DMR and leica having a good experience there really took me by surprise on the M8 issues. Mine arrives today and i certainly have my fingers crossed. I understand issues and problems. I have been on the bleeding pioneer stage more than I care to admit but if that was Leica's official statement that was relayed to us, as we say here it just did not cut the mustard for me. It needs a true fix and not a band aid. But I am keeping the faith like many leica folks and as we should until more info comes out.

[jank]

Guy, are you running your machine in 64 bit mode?
Either XP Pro or have you tried 64 bit Vista (Beta) ?
I am about to build new PC, I just cannot make my mind yet.
Adobe should run in 64 bit mode, how about other software you use?
Jan

[jrgeoffrion]

Originally Posted by jank

Guy, are you running your machine in 64 bit mode?
Either XP Pro or have you tried 64 bit Vista (Beta) ?
I am about to build new PC, I just cannot make my mind yet.
Adobe should run in 64 bit mode, how about other software you use?
Jan

I'm running my PC with XP x64. Everything works as it does in XP Pro 32-bit except for 2 plug-ins that won't work on x64. 64-bit is the way to go as it solves a lot of the memory issues.