A CASE STUDY WITH GATE HOUSE COMMERCIALS AND JUICE FILM
| April 18th, 2012 | by Murat |
Gate House Commercials and Juice Film share their experiences of using Daminion Server.
Gatehouse Commercials and Juice Films are focused, highly professional boutique for commercial facilitation. These are service production of television commercials in South Africa for European and American Production Houses.
Dean Kruger, head of research at Gatehouse Commercials, said:
“We describe our locations by various fields: geographic location (GPS & Country-Province-Municipality-Suburb), contact people & a taxonomy that describes the content of each image.
The size of our database started growing exponentially as our company grew and this has forced us to investigate permanent digital asset management systems (DAM) in house.
We have evaluated and compared a couple of DAM systems in the market and found Daminion Server to meet all our needs.”
Read full text of the Gate House Commercials and Juice Film case study.
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HOW TO IMPORT MEDIAPRO AND LIGHTROOM CATALOGS INTO DAMINION
| April 17th, 2012 | by Murat |
This is pretty straightforward. MediaPro (formerly Expression Media or iView) and Lightroom can embed annotations in the image metadata (IPTC/XMP) and Daminion can import this metadata from the images.
To migrate from Lightroom:
- Open a Lightroom catalog
- Select all the images
- Navigate to the “Metadata > Save Metadata to Files” option on the main menu. If Lightroom’s Auto-Sync feature is turned on, you can ignore this step
- Import the folders that contain your images into Daminion. During import Daminion will extract all the annotations that Lightroom has saved in the file metadata.
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DAMINION 0.9B RELEASED
| April 04th, 2012 | by Murat |
A new minor Daminion build is now available to download. Below you’ll find a list of changes to Daminion since the 0.8.9.477 version.
To get the latest version of the program visit our Download page.
Improvements
- Added: Camera Importer
- You can now import photos into Daminion from your digital cameras and removable devices. A list of the removable devices appears in the drop down menu of the Add Files button immediately after you insert a flash-card into your card-reader or connect a removable drive.
- You can preview the images to be transferred. Images and Videos can be grouped by Creation Date, Folder or Media Type. Hovering the mouse over a thumbnail displays a large tool tip with a medium-sized image preview allowing you to see the image in greater detail.
- Media files can be renamed during the transfer using a handy renaming function. Files can be imported to your computer and then either imported into Daminion’s local catalog or uploaded to your server computer and imported to a shared catalog (via Daminion Server).
- This is the very first version of the Camera Importer. As such, it will be undergoing continual improvement. For example, we’ll be adding a backup option and the ability to assign tags to imported images
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RIGHT PLACE
| March 30th, 2012 | by Murat |
I hope you’ll enjoy this short movie. Just to alter your mood 
This is a short but great film by Japanese director Kosai Sekine.
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100-YEAR-OLD OPTICS HOLD THEIR OWN WHEN WORKING WITH TODAY’S CANON 5D MARK II
| March 22nd, 2012 | by Murat |
Investigating old photographic equipment is always fascinating, and it becomes even more so when you attempt to use it in conjunction with the equipment of today.
Jason Bognacki wondered what might happen if he took photos with his old Piccolette Contessa-Nettel (circa 1926)camera, but using a modern Canon 5D Mark II camera as the sensor.
He attached the old camera, as a lens, to his new Canon. Although the unlikely union looks somewhat strange – comical even – the resulting photos are pretty impressive.
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INTERVIEW WITH ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER BRAD FEINKNOPF
| March 12th, 2012 | by Murat |
Brad is a National Architectural Photographer who has photographed over 100 AIA Award Winning Architectural Projects and has been published internationally.
He has spent the last 20+ years producing exceptional architectural photography. Understanding architecture comes naturally to Brad as both his father and grandfather were successful architects.
In 1988, Brad Feinknopf returned from New York City (where he had been working) to his hometown of Columbus, Ohio to establish a photographic studio that would excel in providing its clientele with the utmost in quality and service in architectural, interior and corporate photography.
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CAN I ACCESS DAMINION SERVER REMOTELY VIA THE INTERNET?
| March 01st, 2012 | by Murat |
Daminion Server is designed to be used on local networks (corporate or home). But what if you aren’t onsite, is it possible to get remote access to your media archive with Damion Server?
Yes it is, and I’ll explain how below.
A small utility, called Comode Unite (formerly known as EasyVPN), helps you access remote computers quickly and securely via the Internet, with the same ease as on a local network, and it only takes a few minutes to install and configure.
One of the benefits of Comode Unite is that it provides complete access to all folders and printers on remote computers, even across corporate firewalls with strict restrictions. Of course this requires your personal credentials and is protected by strong encryption.
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IS IT TIME TO CHANGE YOUR HARD DRIVE?
| February 24th, 2012 | by Murat |
Just like other mechanical devices, hard drives (where your files and documents are stored) have their own working lifespan.
And when it becomes apparent that the end is approaching, it’s better to replace them.
These days all modern hard drives have a built-in self-test mechanism, called S.M.A.R.T.
Japanese programmer Hiroyuki Miyazaki has written a small free utility called CrystalDiskInfo. It helps you to check the health of your disk.
The major benefit of S.M.A.R.T. is that it will diagnose any problems immediately, without the need for a lengthy disk surface scan.
If you run a small business you probably take on a number of different responsibilities such as accounting, design, staffing, manufacturing, etc., and the task of replacing a hard drive and transferring information might be too complicated and time-consuming for you to handle on your own, so you give it to your IT administrator. However, diagnosing potential problems is something you can do yourself, easily and quickly, and it is definitely advisable to do it from time to time.
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INTERVIEW WITH ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER SCOTT DUBOSE
| February 20th, 2012 | by Murat |
Scott DuBose is a real estate photographer and marketing professional who produces images for real estate firms, interior designers and stagers.
Raised in South Carolina, he holds an electrical engineering degree from Clemson University.
Scott is a member of Real Estate Photographers of America.
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INTERVIEW WITH ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER RICK HARRIS
| February 12th, 2012 | by Murat |
Rick Harris was born and raised in Toronto. He studied at Glendon College and has held a variety of careers, including software and graphic design.
His work has appeared in Max Magazine, File Magazine, The Shadow Collective, and UTATA.
He works with Heritage Toronto to document and raise awareness on endangered properties and heritage buildings.
Rick says he is an amateur photographer, and his architectural photographs definitely do have a style of their own; quite different from the work of most professional architectural photographers.
His architectural portfolio doesn’t contain hundreds of photos, so I didn’t have to sit and to choose the most interesting shots among them – they’re all remarkable and deserve to be seen in their entirety.
St. Stoney
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DAMINION VS PICAJET FX
| January 30th, 2012 | by Murat |
1. Is Daminion the same as PicaJet, with the same functions?
2. Should I move to Daminion from PicaJet?
3. How much is one single license? And is the PicaJet FX License transferable to Daminion?
So I’ve compose the answers as a blog post…
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DAMINION CASES STUDIES
| January 16th, 2012 | by Murat |
We’ve launched a new Case Studies column on our web-site, where our customers can share their experiences of using Daminion (or Daminion Server). You’ll find the column by going to Tour > Case Studies.
J.R. Shute, Co-director of Conservation Fisheries, Inc. kindly agreed to share his experience of using the Daminion Server.
Conservation Fisheries is a small, non-profit company located in Knoxville, TN, USA. Co-Directors, J. R. Shute and Patrick Rakes have been working to protect and restore rare, endangered stream fish in the southeastern U.S. for more than 25 years!
Daminion Server is helping Conservation Fisheries to manage their digital images. It helped them to quickly index their media archive and provides multiple users with simultaneous access to the library across the corporate local network…
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CHOOSING THE RIGHT FILE STORAGE SCHEME FOR DAMINION SERVER
| December 30th, 2011 | by Murat |
One of our customers recently asked us a very good question:
This depends solely on your file storage strategy. You can use any method, and even mix them: some of your files can be uploaded, others can remain in their original locations.
I’ve listed some of the pros and cons of these methods below…
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DAMINION 0.8.9 RELEASED
| December 28th, 2011 | by Murat |
A new minor Daminion 0.8.9 update is currently available for download. This is mainly a bug-fix version.
To get the latest version of the program visit our Download page.
Some bugs that have been fixed in this version of Daminion
- Server: Improved import speed for large files from shared locations
- Server: Version Control now only works for files uploaded to Daminion Server
- Server: Fixed program freezing after “Undo Checkout” operation with checked “Delete the local file copy” option
- Server: Fixed a bug with “Downloading” window freezing when double clicking on a server based file
- Server: Windows Event Logs are shown in the Daminion Server Administration panel when an error occurs during server launch
- Server: optimized performance when importing files
- Server: Fixed several bugs in Daminion Administration panel
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BUY DAMINION SERVER WITH DISCOUNT
| December 27th, 2011 | by Murat |
We have 2 items of news for you:
1. A new version of Daminion Server has just been released
The latest version has undergone comprehensive optimization, with many improvements and bug-fixes. Click here to download the latest Daminion Server 0.8.9b.
2. Order Daminion Server right now and get a 25% discount.
If you order Daminion Server right now you’ll save 25% (for example, save $373 US buying 5 user license). The license will be transferred to the Release version (release is planned for: Q1-Q2’2012).
The promotion lasts for a limited period only, valid till 15 February 2012.
This offer is definitely not to be missed, because:
- There’s a 90-days money-back guarantee
- It includes 1-Year’s Maintenance* (from the Release date!)
- The current beta version is very stable
- The offer also includes a 7-day bug–fix guarantee
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DAMINION SERVER 0.8.8B RELEASED
| December 07th, 2011 | by Murat |
After 3 years of hard work, the Daminion Server is at last available for public download.
First of all, a big thank you to our team of active testers; not only for their sterling efforts in testing out Daminion Server so enthusiastically over the last 3 months, but also for supplying us with their invaluable feedback.
Daminion Server: server-based photo management software for small teams.
Unlike standalone image and video management applications that allow a media archive database to be shared via shared network folders, Daminion Server is a TRUE multi-user photo archive server. It has been specially designed for use by small teams, with limited budgets, in need of a simple, fast and reliable solution to managing their growing media archives.
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DAMINION 0.8.7 RELEASED
| November 24th, 2011 | by Murat |
A new minor Daminion update is currently available for download. This is mainly a bug-fix version. A lot of work has been done to bring forward the date of the Daminion Server release. At the moment the Daminion Server 0.8.7b is available to our testers for evaluation. About hundred issues have been resolved since 0.8.6 version
To get the latest version of the program visit our Download page.
What’s new in this version?
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CATEGORIES VS. KEYWORDS ~ A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
| November 07th, 2011 | by Murat |
One of the frequently asked questions by Daminion customers is – what are the differences between Categories in and Keywords in general and in Daminion particularly.
Categories are broad & general, high level views that allow the user to easily identify a particular group of images (or documents).
Keywords are more specific, low level descriptions, offering a finer view of what an image (or document) might be about.
If you have an idea what you want but don’t know the specifics you can browse categories to see what ”jumps out”. Otherwise you can search using keywords to find the image you need.
In most cases a picture belongs to a few categories and contains a lot of keywords.
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INTERVIEW WITH ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER SCOTT HARGIS
| October 18th, 2011 | by Murat |
Our guest today is Scott Hargis, author of the popular book “The Essential Guide to Lighting Interiors”. He is a location photographer specializing in Interiors & Architecture.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Scott also shoots portraiture and adventure sports. Known for his technical expertise and “can-do” attitude, Scott approaches every project with enthusiasm and professionalism, applying creativity and flawless technique to deliver outstanding images under any conditions.
A member of the International Association of Architectural Photographers, Scott also teaches photographers’ workshops throughout the United States, and has been widely recognized as a leader in the Interiors photography genre.
His work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, This Old House, The East Bay Express, Bay Crossings Magazine, WEND Magazine, and Bay Nature, among others.
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DAMINION TEAM AT SOFTOOL 2011
| October 17th, 2011 | by Murat |
From 25 to 28 October, we’ll be exhibiting at the XXII Annual Exhibition of Information and Communication Technologies – SofTool 2011.
You can find us along with the 1C company – Russia’s leading software developer and distributor since 1991. 1C is one of the companies that distribute our products on the Russian market.
Any questions can be addressed directly to members of the Daminion team. Everyone’s welcome – we’re open to all your suggestions!
Come and check out the beta version of the Daminion Server – the multi-user photo and media document management solution – ideal for small teams.
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INTERVIEW WITH ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER KIRK GITTINGS
| September 29th, 2011 | by Murat |
Our guest today is Kirk Gittings. His commercial architectural photography regularly appears in national periodicals and books, while his art work is represented in many museum, corporate and private collections in the S.W.
In addition, he is currently an adjunct professor at UNM, and an instructor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, teaching architectural photography. He has received many awards including a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to photograph New Mexico’s historic churches. In 1992 he was nominated for the AIA’s GOLD MEDAL in PHOTOGRAPHY.
His first book CHACO BODY, with poet V.B. Price about the Anasazi ruins at Chaco Canyon, has been critically acclaimed as a major contribution to regional art.
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DAMINION 0.8.6 RELEASED
| September 23rd, 2011 | by Murat |
A new minor Daminion update has at last been released! Launching the new version has taken a little longer than expected because our time has been occupied by the parallel development work we’ve been carrying out on our Daminion Server. We appreciate your patience.
What’s new in this version:
Syncing tags with metadata can be paused
In the previous version of Daminion, the synchronization process (tags with metadata) was launched automatically in the background after each tag assignment. When the syncing process was active it had an adverse effect on the program’s performance.
Previously, if you wanted to assign 4 different tags continuously to the same photo the synchronizing process would automatically start 4 times. Now you can pause/start this process before tag assignment and then relaunch it.
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INTERVIEW WITH ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER ALAN BLAKELY
| September 01st, 2011 | by Murat |
Our guest today is Alan Blakely, the founder and current director of The Association of Independent Architectural Photographers (AIAP), and Real Estate Photographers of America (REPA).
Mr. Blakely has also been the recipient of many professional awards for his commercial images. Blakely is the author of serveral photography publications and is a regular contributor to photography and architectural magazines and educational websites.
In 1992 he founded the Blakely Photography, a full service commercial studio located in North Salt Lake, Utah. Blakely Photography is owned and operated by Alan Blakely. Mr. Blakely began his commercial career in following a brief stint as a photojournalist. In the ensuing years Mr. Blakely also enjoyed successful careers as both a jazz musician and as an advertising copywriter. Since 1988 Alan Blakely has built a reputation for fine commercial photography in the U.S. market.
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INTERVIEW WITH ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER TREVE JOHNSON
| August 22nd, 2011 | by Murat |
Treve Johnson is an architectural photographer who agreed to give an interview for our blog.
Treve provides award winning photography with an eye for design and beauty. His specialties include architecture, landscape, nature, lifestyle, dance, travel and panoramic photography.
With over 30 years of photographic experience he can create images that speak to the heart and engage the viewer. With his interest in nature and the great outdoors, it was only natural that he gravitated to large format black and white landscape photography, attending the last workshop that Ansel Adams taught in Yosemite in 1980.
His commitment to environmental stewardship along with his association with conservation organizations has helped protect over a quarter of a million acres of California wild lands.
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INTERVIEW WITH ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER CHIP ALLEN
| August 14th, 2011 | by Murat |
Chip Allen is an architectural photographer who kindly agreed to give a short interview for our blog readers.
He reflects his passion for photography in varied subject matter; primarily specializing in Commercial Architectural Photography & Fine Art Photography.
Chip achieved a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. His business background gives him the knowledge & expertise to seamlessly work with his corporate clients; applying his skills to listen, problem solve, & generate creative insight to best market their specific product or service.
Past experience in sales, marketing, and customer service provide Chip the opportunity to support & contribute to his clients with innovative ideas to meet their specific aspirations & objectives.
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DAMINION 0.8.5 RELEASED
| August 09th, 2011 | by Murat |
There’s a new improved version of Daminion now available on our Download page
So, what’s new in this version? Below, you’ll find a list of improvements and bug-fixes. We’ve highlighted several features we think are worth mentioning in detail:
From real-time statistics to complex queries
Imagine we’re looking for photos of bridges. To locate them we’d probably start by clicking the Architecture\Small Constructions\Bridge tag:
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It’s a sad truth that far too often the decision to back up digital assets only comes to mind after they’ve been lost. As you are no doubt aware, you can lose files for a multitude of reasons – accidental deletion, a power cut or similar computer crash, because your cat spent the night (or a penny) in the system unit that you forgot to close etc…
During one of my first computer science lessons in my first year at college (16 years ago) I was deeply involved in a ground-breaking program when, all of a sudden, just before the end of the class, the yellow light on my computer started blinking frantically and for no apparent reason the PC shut itself down and proceeded to reboot. I cursed and slunk out to buy myself an expensive ice cream to console myself. Someone suggested me later that I should have been hitting the F2 key (Save) as often as possible.
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DAMINION 0.8.4 RELEASED
| July 14th, 2011 | by Murat |
A new Daminion version is available on our Download page
Give our new improved version of Daminion 0.8.4 a try. We have added:
“Quick” filtering of tags.
For example, there are 800 different tags in my architectural photo repository. Now, to locate all the commercial buildings, I can type “Build” in the filter textbox. And then use my keyboard to follow the filtered results.
I can select the “Commercial Buildings” tag and press the Enter key (or double click on the tag). After that, I can select the “Office Buildings” tag and press the Enter key again. As a result, I will see all the office and commercial building photographs in my photo archives.
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THE LIGHT FIELD CAMERA ~ SHOOT NOW, FOCUS LATER
| July 05th, 2011 | by Murat |
A new camera that is set to appear on the market by the end of the year is going to “revolutionize photography.” This claim, by the young US company responsible for developing the camera, may sound a little over-ambitious but, after years of research, the prototype already exists.
“Our mission is to change photography forever,” affirms Ren Ng, the camera’s inventor – CEO and founder of the Silicon Valley-based company Lytro, “Ordinary cameras will become a thing of the past.”
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COMMON MISTAKES MADE BY NOVICE PHOTOGRAPHERS
| June 30th, 2011 | by Sheree Zielke |
I saw a flash of yellow out of the corner of my eye. I peered through my kitchen window at my back deck where I have hung several bird feeders. Wow, I thought, my first American Goldfinch. I grabbed my Canon 50D with its attached 70-200 lens, and tried to capture a shot.
However, I had used my camera the night before to shoot indoor mixed martial arts fights, so my settings were way off—shutter speed wrong, ISO too high, and white balance set to tungsten. I scrambled to set a correct exposure against difficult back lighting. By the time I was ready, the pretty yellow bird was gone. Sigh… I had broken my #1 golden rule: Always return your camera’s settings back to neutral or to an AUTO mode after a shoot.
The above is one of the most common mistakes made by photographers at all levels of experience.
Here are some common mistakes made by more novice shooters…
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