[kevthewev]

I have recently installed Downloader Pro and need help configuring it as I am hopeless with computers.
I have two Canon cameras: a 1Dmk2 which is my main camera and a 10D which my assistant uses for weddings.
I have XP on my PC and laptop.
On my desktop I have a folder called "RAW images 2006" and inside that are folders for "weddings", "portraits", "commercial" and "legal" - all the main areas I work in.

What I want to do is have Downloader read from a memory card reader, direct the images to the RAW folder, then the weddings folder, prompt me for a file name which will be the couples names,identify each image with the camera (so I know who took the image) and then put the 10D images into a "10D" folder, add month and then use the couples names as the folder name and image name instead of the default Canon one, then direct the RAW images from the 1Dmk2 to its own folder within the couples folder. Does that make sense?
A flow chart may help:

Option 1. Desktop - RAW images 2006 - WEDDINGS - April - Kerry & Andy - 10D - then image name changed to "Kerry&Andy001.CR2"

Option 2. Desktop - RAW images 2006 - WEDDINGS - April - Kerry & Andy - 1Dmk2 - then image name changed to "Kerry&Andy085.CR2" or whatever number would follow on from the 10D images

The file path I used was:%T %D %b %J_%J

When I tried to download from the memory card, Downloader stopped and the "Name Clash" warning came up.

What am I doing wrong, or is it a case of I'm asking the program to do something it is not capable of doing?

[DavidB]

This is an intriguing question, because, from the way you describe yourself, you want things to be quite simple, but the task you are advising Downloader to do is in fact fairly complex. In my experience, Downloader is usually clever enough to do anything you want it to do, and the real problem is in sorting out what you actually want.

If I understand your problem correctly, it is actually two separate problems. The first is getting the pictures into the right folder. The second is naming them correctly when, so to speak, they get there. Both jobs are dealt with in Fle|Preferences, under the Download Path tab.

As regards the folder name, it appears that you are storing your pictures in a folder on your desktop. I respectfully suggest that this is not a good place for valuable pictures, as it is vunerable in several ways. If you create a separate directory (e.g. C:\Rawfiles), and put a shorcut to it on the desktop, it will be that much safer.

Within your Rawfiles\Weddings folder, it makes sense to ask to have a separate folder for each job, named with the date and job code. The 'Download Directory" field then becomes something like "C\Rawfiles\Weddings\%Y%m%d_%J", and you tick the box to make Downloader prompt you for the job name each time it is run. A typical directory name would then be "...\Weddings\20060415_John&Jill".

When it comes to the file names, the critcal thing is to keep them unique, and the error you are getting is telling you that this is what is not happening. In your case, you can make the filename unique by including the camera name and image number in it (With two or more cameras on a job, it is unwise to assume that the shooting time will be unique; this may however be a good way of generating unique file names if you are only using one camera).

If I am working on a two camera shoot (which is not often, because I am not a professional), I start by trying to synchronise the times on the cameras; but there is a page on the Breeze Systems site to describe how this can be done after the event if need be. The aim is to use a file numbering system that sorts everything from the different cameras into date and time order. Then, perhaps, include the job code to make the name more readable. Finally, insert the camera name and image number.

This gives a File name field value of "%Y%m%d_%H%M%S_%J_%T_%r", which, by my reckoning, yields a filename like "20060415_152123_John&Jill_5D_1457", which, even taken out of context, should enable you to identify the frame pretty well.

I hope this helps. If nothing else, it provides you with examples of the use to which you can put the tokens listed in the Download Path dialogue box. It also has to be said that the help files in both BreezeBrowser and Downloader have very good descriptions of the various tokens, and do repay the (relatively small) effort required to get your head round them.

[kevthewev]

Thanks for the advice David.
The desktop RAW folder is a temporary store, the images get copied to a separate external hard drive for archiving so the desktop ones can be played with.
I have tried what you suggested but the downloaded images just get put into the RAW folder itself, I was hoping that the program would create a folder named "Kerry & Andy" then drop them into that, hopefully with sub-folders for each of the cameras. So I think we are halfway there! Any further suggestions?

[DavidB]

Sorry I've not responded sooner. I don't use this forum every day ...

This is theoretical advice which I cannot test without messing with my own working setup, but it may give you clues to keep on experimenting.

Firstly, I assume that the names of the files which went into the RAW directory were as you wished. If so, that's half the battle won.

Second, did you use the%J token and tick the box to make Downloader prompt you for the job name? If that worked for the file name, it should work for the foldername as well. One point is that, as a very old DOS/Windows hand, I still have reservations about putting spaces in automatically generated file and folder names. Windows is much better at interpreting the spaces than it used to be, but I prefer to play safe and set tokens like "Kerry&Andy" or "Kerry_&_Andy" rather than "Kerry & Andy".

I suspect that your problem is that (unless Chris advises otherwise) Downloader creates the folder, but not the full path. So if you want a Download path like C:\RAW\Weddings\Kerry&Andy, you need to make a sub-folder called Weddings in the RAW folder, set your Download path to "C:\RAW\Weddings\%J", tick the box to make Downloader prompt you for the job code, and enter "Kerry&Andy" or whatever when so prompted. This approach is, of course, dependent on you entering something sensible when prompted.

If your backup is immediate and automatic, most of my concerns about putting your RAW files on the desktop do indeed go away. I assume you are using XP, which puts the Desktop files in your user directory. Windows 9x put them in C:\Windows\Desktop, which was not a good idea.

With your backup system, you may, if you have not already done so, care to investigate the plugins section of the Downloader help file. There are plugins which make Downloader generate backups automatically, and these would seem to suit your workflow ideally.

Hope this helps