@photoman43 I would say “thank you” for the pdf of your workflow, how many of the issues I can help with remains to be seen! You included the pdf in an open forum so I have made the presumption that it is O.K. to extract any elements that I want from that document and reproduce here!
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Download Nikon NEF images from card reader to my Laptop with Downloader Pro from Breeze
Systems. XMP files (sidecar files) are created at time of download. This info is appearing in DXO
(BHT) PL5 as it should!! -
Review images in Nikon software or DXO PL5 and delete images not needed. Add additional
keyword data if needed using PL5. Occasionally process some NEF images and make Jpegs and
Tiffs. (BHT) A rather mixed workflow but who am I to criticise, unless this mixed processing is losing valuable metadata!? Are the TIFFs and JPGs sometimes created at this stage coming from PL5 or the Nikon software -
Copy image file folders to external hard drive and then copy file folders to Desktop with a larger
monitor for additional culling, key wording, star rating and processing. (BHT) Providing the directory name is new to the Desktop system this should be fine! -
Complete key wording of images on Desktop using DXO PL5. This usually means adding additional
keywords and changing some created during download. (BHT) This also should be fine!? -
Star rate images in DXO PL5 on Desktop only.(BHT) This also should be fine!?
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Process images in DXO PL5 and NIK Collection 5 on Desktop. Export Tiffs and Jpegs as needed
using PL5.(BHT) This also should also be fine but if the export is to the same directory or a directory that you explore with PL5 then these images could acquire DOPs!? -
For some trips and projects, copy file folders with processed images from Desktop to external hard
drive for copying back to Laptop. (BHT) now you are potentially asking for trouble! If the images go back into the same directory in the same position in the same directory structure as they came from on the laptop then Virtual Copies will most likely be the result!
This was discussed at great length for over the period of a year in the following topic (these are my responses) Unwanted virtual copies - #86 by BHAYT and Unwanted virtual copies - #91 by BHAYT and Unwanted virtual copies - #92 by BHAYT finally closed the topic!
The reason is very, very simple (but annoying) iff(if and only if) an image with a DOP is presented to a PL5 system which already has an entry in its database for a file with the same name in the same directory then the Uuid in the DOP associated with the image will be compared with the Uuid in the database entry (matching the image) and if they are not identical then the database entry will be preserved as the [M]aster copy and the incoming, non-matching DOP data will be preserved in the database as a Virtual Copy [1] - in your case VC[1] will typically contain the latest edits!
A number of us have suggested options for resolving this problem during the re-discovery e.g. of providing an import option or an option to “promote” VC[1] to the status of the [M]aster etc. etc. but …
The only real solution is to avoid the problem altogether!
- Have a workflow which changes the name of the directory when you have completed a stage of processing. This newly named directory will then be “new” to the laptop and no VCs should be created except when it goes back to the desktop but it has been through another stage of processing so that should also have a new name and you will quickly consume the hard drive!!
OR
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Change the name of the old directory in PL5 to -OLD or - or whatever you choose on the receiving system!.
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Copy the (Desktop) directory to the laptop (receiving system) with its original name and discover in PL5, it should be intact with no ‘Virtual Copies’. I say should because although this has worked for me in testing I have found issues when doing something similar.
1 - So one additional step might be to shut down PL5 on the laptop after the name change of the original directory
2 - Copy the directory from the USB drive to the laptop with its “original” name.
3 - re-open PL5 and navigate to the original directory which should be in-place with all the edits from the desktop and no VCs (hopefully) -
If all is O.K. then the old directory can be deleted at your leisure but keep it as an insurance until you are sure that all is O.K. with the transferred data.
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Ensure that no other software that was using the named directory are active (other than PL5) when you make the switch, just in case.
Firstly I do not have the NIK collection so I would never be able to reproduce that element of your workflow, if the element is actually introducing any problems!
You reported the following
Problems:
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New problem just discovered with these two new versions—DXO PL5 on Desktop in Export
mode, locks up when a JPEG image is made from Tiff image created in NIK Color Efex Pro 4.3, NIK
Collection Version 5.0.4.2 x64 ver.4.3.0. During Export, the wheel stops spinning and the program
locks up. I go to Task Manager in win 10 to stop PL5. When I open it again, the JPEG image is
there. When Jpegs and Tiffs are created in Export from NEF files, PL5 works fine. This might be a
NIK/PL5 problem. This problem does not occur all the time. Retarting the desktop may eliminate it. (BHT) I cannot comment on this one at all, sorry @sgospodarenko do you fancy getting me a temporary licence for NIK so that I can waste even more of my life trying to reproduce this or was there any response to this part of the error submission by @Photoman43 ! -
Old problems with Tiff files created in NIK still exist. Metadata is stripped out from the Tiff file. This
usually means lens used is no longer available. Other data may be missing too. This is very
aggravating. On screen shots see some Tiff images with Symbol indicating that lens data is available. (BHT) Sorry but not my field of expertise at all! -
Synchronization Problems. ( Problems are not always the same in different file folders)
Virtual and Master files appear. Virtual copies of NEF and Tiff files may appear in the same file
folder as the Master file when the file folders are opened in DXO-PL5 on my Laptop after having
been processed on my Desktop. This seems to happen randomly as I can discern no pattern as to
what makes this happen. I have not done anything to create a Master or Virtual file on the laptop or
desktop.
I have had this same or similar problem with every version of DXO PL I have used since I first
started using the program with PL3. I thought DXO-PL4.3.1 with the fix for sidecar files addressed
these issues, but it has not. (BHT) Hopefully covered above.
The ‘!’ symbol indicates that a an issue has been detected, I have managed to get a Red ‘!’ and that is really scary. The ‘!’ is persistent because it is effectively carried in the DOP which is essentially a copy of the database entry! So once a ‘!’ has occurred I believe it will “travel” with the image as you move the image and its DOP from system to system (hopefully successfully and without any “unwanted VCs”) as for the reason for the ‘!’ I am afraid I do not know @sgospodarenko.
Hope this helps, at least with some of you problems.