image management software?

[Brian Cassil]

My boss has asked me about software for managing our large collection of images including photos, scanned sketches, renderings, etc. Does anyone have any experience and/or recommendations for such software? I thought Adobe made something like this but looking at their website nothing really jumps out at me as being such.

 

edit: Adobe Lightroom appears to be what I was thinking of. Anyone ever used this?

[Chad Warner]

Here's Jeff's suggestion:

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/6462-image-catalog-program.html

[Ricardo Eloy]

How about Picasa? It's for free and has worked great there (although I probably wouldn't say managing 1,500 photos is like a lot, anyway).

[denham]

Adobe Bridge- you probably already knew about this one

Extensis Portfolio- allows you create custom meta tags, while bridge requires programming or third party software-(metagroove,etc)

http://www.extensis.com/en/products/asset_management/product_information.jsp?id=2000&gclid=CIyRrcGc5ZACFSJ1sgod13dxWw

[moshenko]

My boss has asked me about software for managing our large collection of images including photos, scanned sketches, renderings, etc. Does anyone have any experience and/or recommendations for such software? I thought Adobe made something like this but looking at their website nothing really jumps out at me as being such.

 

edit: Adobe Lightroom appears to be what I was thinking of. Anyone ever used this?

 

We use Portfolio Server (http://www.extensis.com) as a solution. I'm not familiar with Lightroom although my understanding is that it is designed exclusively for image content. I'm also unsure of its ability to work properly in a networked environment, if that's what you're after. Portfolio has its limitations but has performed very well for our purposes: organizing site photos, image resources, model library, etc. Along with image-based files it has the ability to catalog text-based files (as well as PDF's, multi-page TIF's, etc.). Portfolio's direct competitor would be Canto Cumulus (http://www.canto.com/).

 

As a side-note, it is very useful to examine your company's method of organizing all of this information before thinking about a software solution. From my experience the best thing one can do is to define a logical set of naming and filing standards for everything that you wish to organize. Often this can negate any kind of added software if the end requirement is simply having the ability to locate things that you are looking for. No piece of software is going to help you find things if they are not already somewhat organized - it will only add to the confusion.

[Jeff Mottle]

I use Lightroom now. I only manage my photos, but it's awesome. I love it.

[Brian Cassil]

Thanks for the input so far guys. A couple things I've been made aware of recently. This needs to be a server based solution and cross platform (mac and windows).

[Jeff Mottle]

This was about 6-8 years ago, but I rolled out a project using Canto's software and it was a total bust and their support was horrific. Maybe it's changed now, but it was not good when I dealt with them. Canto I know has a server based product.

[moshenko]

Thanks for the input so far guys. A couple things I've been made aware of recently. This needs to be a server based solution and cross platform (mac and windows).

 

If you are specifically interested in Portfolio Server I would be happy to run through the pros and cons that I've come across. I've been running it for a couple of years now and it's quirky (as I believe all asset management solutions are) but works well when set up properly.

[Brian Cassil]

If you are specifically interested in Portfolio Server I would be happy to run through the pros and cons that I've come across. I've been running it for a couple of years now and it's quirky (as I believe all asset management solutions are) but works well when set up properly.

 

That would be great, I think we are specifically interested in portfolio server. One question right of the bat is how much does it cost? Or better stated how much would it cost for our needs? We need this for about a dozen people and to work within our network of servers. I saw $200 per license which seemed OK but then I saw something else that was in the $6,000 range which would be way out of our price range.

[moshenko]

That would be great, I think we are specifically interested in portfolio server. One question right of the bat is how much does it cost? Or better stated how much would it cost for our needs? We need this for about a dozen people and to work within our network of servers. I saw $200 per license which seemed OK but then I saw something else that was in the $6,000 range which would be way out of our price range.

 

The price you saw for the Server version is accurate, unfortunately. You'll need a server version and x number of client licenses to outfit your needs if you go this route. It sounds like a lot of money - and it is! - but if it's really the type of solution you are looking for I would consider it money well spent.

 

That brings me to a question: What are your specific needs? You mentioned that you want to manage a large collection of image-based assets, but that could mean many things. What do you see your group doing with these assets? Do you need to search through them based on keywords (like an image-bank website) or do you merely need to have them organized so that someone can find historic work? How often is this work referenced by your group? What problems are you trying to solve? I think answering these questions will help you decide how important a solution is and how much you're willing to invest.

 

In terms of pros/cons for Portfolio specifically, here is a quick list:

 

Pros

- Universal platform (Mac and PC) on both client and server ends;

- Relatively easy to understand and use once one is familiar with the terminology;

- Good support, both official (email and phone) and unofficial (web forums);

- Very reliable content indexing and cataloguing when the client/server model is deployed;

- Very broad file support.

 

Cons

- Very strange search dialogue. This program originates on the Mac and employs some odd carry-overs from early Mac days, I think. The search is powerful but entering criteria can be combersome;

- Lack of support for Active Directory integration (server version). This is bad because settting access permissions requires users to be created independently of Active Directory users. In other words, you can't just choose users from your existing Windows network (if that's what you are running) and give them permissions in Portfolio;

- Unreliable content indexing and cataloguing when running in client-only mode;

- Incomplete Windows integration in some areas. The Mac history seems hard to get rid of!

 

I hope this helps. In a former life I researched these applications quite thoroughly and designed and built one for a specific purpose, so I always enjoy talking (and complaining) about them! Let me know if I can provide any more information.

[Brian Cassil]

Well, there is no way my boss will spend $9,000 for this. It just isn't that crucial.

 

That brings me to a question: What are your specific needs? You mentioned that you want to manage a large collection of image-based assets, but that could mean many things. What do you see your group doing with these assets? Do you need to search through them based on keywords (like an image-bank website) or do you merely need to have them organized so that someone can find historic work? How often is this work referenced by your group? What problems are you trying to solve? I think answering these questions will help you decide how important a solution is and how much you're willing to invest.

 

I'll try to answer some of these questions. Primarily, this will be for our marketing department. They put together boards and handouts and other such media for projects that we are pursuing. Right now, the assets that go into these aren't organized very well. Specifically the things we need to create a database for are: Finished renderings, proffesional photos, presentation/colored plans, hand drawn renderings, and presentation diagrams. We don't plan on adding photos from project inspections, any of my image textures, progress renderings, etc. It would be nice to be able to search by keywords so that when we are going after a project of a certain type we would be able to quickly look at anything related to a project of that type. This work would be referenced by the marketing department almost continuously everyday. It is worth mentioning again that we have 3 offices and this same data base would need to be accessed by the remote offices. I'm told by our IT guys that the best way to do this is to "replicate" the database on a local server of thiers.

 

We've come across Microsoft expressions media, which seems to have what we want in it. Cross platform, server based, affordable, and "replicatable" (I'm told that not all of them can do this). We've downloaded a couple trials and are going to see what happens. One thing we want to test is if more than one person can access the database at one time. I should think so but I guess you never know.

[rotten42]

For managing photos I use ACDSee. It works fine and doesn't cost much.

[moshenko]

Well, there is no way my boss will spend $9,000 for this. It just isn't that crucial.

 

 

 

I'll try to answer some of these questions. Primarily, this will be for our marketing department. They put together boards and handouts and other such media for projects that we are pursuing. Right now, the assets that go into these aren't organized very well. Specifically the things we need to create a database for are: Finished renderings, proffesional photos, presentation/colored plans, hand drawn renderings, and presentation diagrams. We don't plan on adding photos from project inspections, any of my image textures, progress renderings, etc. It would be nice to be able to search by keywords so that when we are going after a project of a certain type we would be able to quickly look at anything related to a project of that type. This work would be referenced by the marketing department almost continuously everyday. It is worth mentioning again that we have 3 offices and this same data base would need to be accessed by the remote offices. I'm told by our IT guys that the best way to do this is to "replicate" the database on a local server of thiers.

 

We've come across Microsoft expressions media, which seems to have what we want in it. Cross platform, server based, affordable, and "replicatable" (I'm told that not all of them can do this). We've downloaded a couple trials and are going to see what happens. One thing we want to test is if more than one person can access the database at one time. I should think so but I guess you never know.

 

It sounds like you're in a bit of a pickle Your descriptions all point to a solution like Portfolio and the like, but I still think a lot could be resolved with a good directory/file naming/file format document. But maybe you've got that already and it's not doing enough?

 

I've never seen Expressions Media (which was actually a purchase of another package I think) but I'm trying out the demo just for kicks. The manual reads like that of Portfolio and I wonder if it suffers from the same non-server issues (I don't see why it wouldn't) that Portfolio does. Did you discover anything about it yet?

[shaneis]

Have a good look at these... might be able to justify costs as it'll perform all the tasks you need and can also be utilised for many other file/ document searches.

 

http://www.google.com/enterprise/mini/index.html

[Brian Cassil]

It sounds like you're in a bit of a pickle Your descriptions all point to a solution like Portfolio and the like, but I still think a lot could be resolved with a good directory/file naming/file format document. But maybe you've got that already and it's not doing enough?

 

I've never seen Expressions Media (which was actually a purchase of another package I think) but I'm trying out the demo just for kicks. The manual reads like that of Portfolio and I wonder if it suffers from the same non-server issues (I don't see why it wouldn't) that Portfolio does. Did you discover anything about it yet?

 

What non-server issues does portfolio have? I thought one of the big selling points of it (and the reason it is so expensive) is that it is a server based solution.

 

Anyway, after some lengthy discussions with our IT leader, the president of our company, and the marketing staff, it appears that we are now indeed headed for extensis-portfolio. I guess we're just going to bite the bullet and fork out the cash. Just a couple more questions now. The video demo of portfolio makes it look like a strict naming convention is not necessary. Is that true? Are there any other things to be aware of with portfolio other than the things you mentioned earlier? I have listed again here:

 

Pros

- Universal platform (Mac and PC) on both client and server ends;

- Relatively easy to understand and use once one is familiar with the terminology;

- Good support, both official (email and phone) and unofficial (web forums);

- Very reliable content indexing and cataloguing when the client/server model is deployed;

- Very broad file support.

 

Cons

- Very strange search dialogue. This program originates on the Mac and employs some odd carry-overs from early Mac days, I think. The search is powerful but entering criteria can be combersome;

- Lack of support for Active Directory integration (server version). This is bad because settting access permissions requires users to be created independently of Active Directory users. In other words, you can't just choose users from your existing Windows network (if that's what you are running) and give them permissions in Portfolio;

- Unreliable content indexing and cataloguing when running in client-only mode;

- Incomplete Windows integration in some areas. The Mac history seems hard to get rid of!

 

Thanks for all your help!

[moshenko]

What non-server issues does portfolio have? I thought one of the big selling points of it (and the reason it is so expensive) is that it is a server based solution.

 

Top non-server issues

 

1. No simultaneous access. Catalogues can be shared but only one user may edit at the same time.

2. Client-side cataloguing/processing. With the server version all processing takes place on the server, whereas with a client-only solution all cataloguing is done on the client computer.

 

There are others relating to connecting to other SQL servers and publishing to websites, but they are more related to future growth. The two that I've listed are kind of the killer issues if you are anyone but a single user.

 

The video demo of portfolio makes it look like a strict naming convention is not necessary. Is that true? Are there any other things to be aware of with portfolio other than the things you mentioned earlier?

 

A strict naming convention is not necessary, but I think most people familiar with asset management would say that it can only help. One reason that I always promote good file structure is for the times when your software stops working. It is inevitable that this will happen at some point and when it does you want to make sure that your data is still recognizable in some way. Good naming has other advantages as well. For example, a strong file naming system in my office has allowed us to write scripts for Max that take advantage of the naming consistency and streamline things like rendering and post-rendering file preparation. We have also built our new website upon consistent file naming and it is relatively easy to add, remove or edit projects because of this.

 

As for other things to be aware of I can't really think of any right now. You may want to contact Extensis and see if they would do a personalized demo for you. I remember them being quite helpful when we were considering our server purchase and we negotiated a bit of a discount as well.

 

One last thing to consider is the hardware that this will be running on. The application doesn't consume a lot of resources during browsing and editing but the cataloguing process can be intensive. As well, it is hard on disk reads/writes so you will need to provide a pretty good set of drives to get the most out of it. I have ours running on a RAID set of SAS drives on a quad-core server. One of the great things about the server version is that you can set times for cataloguing to occur. I set it up so that everything happens during off-hours (you can still force cataloguing to happen at any other time) and the result has been no noticable slowdowns on our server during business hours.

 

If I think of anything else I will post it.