Wow! I just GOT it!
Tuesday, June 29th 2010 @ 3:41 PM (not yet rated)
Wow! I finally “GOT” … as in really understood … the core work-flow idea from Peter Krogh’s excellent books on Digital Asset Management, or DAM. I started with the first edition over a year ago. I'd read through the books and the charts and diagrams, and most of it I “got” but still a part of it didn’t quite make sense in my rather dense (so I’ve been told!) head. And it is such a simple idea! What an idiot I am to not see it immediately! But I think, like so many people, I assumed it had to be complicated when it’s really very, very simple.
I think it was the very simplicity that escaped me!To be sure, there ARE a number of details by the time you've got any "system" established, though fewer than I had thought there were. And they all flow together as a process once you understand the nature of the beast.
Peter’s system actually strips the complexity from the whole process of “handling” our digital image files. It looks complex, but it’s simple! And all those details? Fuhgeddabout 'em! They'll "appear" as little answers to questions or the obvious next steps as you need them along the way!
You start with a simple, logical progression of “permanent” folders and subfolders, one for each major step of the image processing process. Any group of images, whether a job, shoot, or project, gets up-loaded into it's own subfolder and stays together in that sub-folder, but that job or shoot sub-folder is moved along through each of the permanent folders (for each processing step) as it is ready to be moved.
If you have markedly different types of work, with different “steps” to work on the images, you make a completely separate set of folder/subfolder progressions for that specific type of project. That's ALL that there is to it, the rest IS just figuring out (mostly) pretty obvious details for each step. Dang, but I used to make this harder than it really is!
Comparing it back to the film-shooting days, it's like having a series of boxes lined up on a counter for works-in-progress. The first box is for film that’s just been exposed and needs to go out to the lab for develop and proof, then a box for film/proofs back from the lab but not yet numbered, one for proofs numbered and ready to show client, one for filling out print orders for the lab, one for prints back from lab for finishing, one for prints ready for client, and finally one for envelopes ready to be filed away in the "permanent" storage in those negative cabinets. Anyone could look at the boxes and see exactly what work was waiting to be done at each step of the way.
It’s VERY simple to design such a process. Define the major steps, make a box for each step, place them in proper order, and … VOILA! … you and any assistants are ready to sit down and work on images at any time. It’s all clear, you know what every different project, job, or order needs next, it all … flows. With very little "thought" needed after you set it up.
Peter uses permanent folders and sub-folders (like the boxes mentioned above) to house the individual folders of groups of his images (from a specific job or project) as those grouped images go through the steps of his work-in-progress process. Anyone looking into any of the main sub-folders for each step of the process will see what folders for jobs, shoots, or projects are sitting there waiting for the work needed to move them further along the process. When he completes each step of the process with the images of any shoot, he moves the folder of that shoot to the next sub-folder step to await the next bit of work on it.
Just like we used to do with physical boxes!
At our studio, we’ve been lamenting how much more complicated the “digital” age has been for “work-flow” compared to the good ol’ days of film. Thanks to Peter, my life just got a WHOLE lot simpler, and in a way my old-style brain can “grok”!
To modify it for yourself, just figure out what YOUR main processing steps are before you are ready to permanently "park" your images. And create folders and subfolders named so they are 1) CLEAR to anyone what should be inside them and 2) STAY in order sequentially. This is why, within both Peter's “Working Files” file-system and his “Permanent Archive” file-system, all "permanent" process folders are numbered so the programs that “show” the folder-system to you always keep them in order.
As just noted, there are two basic “filing systems”, kind of like the old filing cabinets in the pre-digital office days … think of the “Working Files” directory as the drawer in your desk for those hanging files you are working on this week, and the “Permanent Archive” directory system as the one down the hall in either a storage room or the main office area where all the business files go for safekeeping, reference, or use at a later date. Each storage place has different needs, and is organized and “protected” for it’s needs.
At the heart, the core of the design, that’s all there is to it! The rest is just figuring out sensible details to 1) keep the work moving and 2) keep the images and the data about those images safe and accessible against any foreseeable problem. How easy is THAT?
If you want to see my review of Peter's book here on MyPhotoMentor, click here!
And come back soon for the series of articles on how to go about this and clean up your own digital image collection!
