Here is an ecerpt from "The Bibble Survial Guide" that gives a sample highlevel workflow. As far as I can see nothing in AS is different from Bibble when it comes to the basic workflow.
5.7.1. Ingest
First, get your images from the memory card to the computer. This is
accomplished easily with the Download batch queue. Adjust this batch
queue to your needs for file and directory naming, and then you have
a rather efficient download mechanism (you could even add a second
copy target to generate backups at the same time). You should not
delete the source images during download. This prevents images from
getting lost if something goes wrong. It's better to explicitly reformat
the card later, when you are sure the images are safely on disk.
If you shoot specific environments often enough and also import into
catalogs, you might want to apply a metadata preset in the download
queue during the catalog import to have the appropriate information
already loaded.
If you name your download queue "0Download" it will always be the
first queue in the popup list for selecting the queue. "How Do I Organize
My Images?" (p 131) has a sample download queue definition that uses
rename variables to put the images in their proper place right away.
If you plug in the card reader or card after Bibble is already running,
Bibble might not show you the drive letter or mount point of the card
in the file browser. Using the right-click menu and then selecting "Refresh"
allows Bibble to rescan the list, and you should see the card.
Right-clicking on the card and then selecting “Send to batch” is recursive,
so you do not need to navigate to the actual image directory on
the card.
Note: Some rather silly Linux implementations will not show you a mount point
for the card, as the mount point is on a “hidden” directory in your home
directory (~/.gfs) and Bibble does not display folders that are considered hidden in the
browser. This can be worked around with symbolic links into that folder or by
setting up explicit mount points for your card reader.
After Bibble has downloaded the images from the card, go to the image
directory in the file browser. Depending on the number of images and
the performance of your system, preview generation can take awhile.
While you can start working on the first image right away, if your machine
is not powerful, working is quite a bit smoother after preview
generation finishes.
5.7.2. Cull & Rate
Assuming the previews were rendered, we now start the first culling
process. We recommend that you fold away the browser pane on the
left side to have a larger preview space. Depending on your working
style, you will primarily either use keys or the mouse to drive this process.
Using a custom keyboard layout as referenced in "Efficient Keyboard
and Mouse Use" (p 91) is the most efficient way, but as this deviates
from the default keyboard layout, it takes awhile to get used to.
Give it a try; it is worth taking the time to become accustomed to using
the custom layout.
Go through the images, using your own scheme to reject (hotkey <,>),
mark to keep (hotkey <.>), assign stars (number keys function as
hotkeys), and assign color labels (you need to assign hotkeys yourself;
there are none set as shipped). Here are some hints.
- Instead of immediately deleting images that are not worth keeping,
mark them as rejects (using the <,> key) and delete all of the rejected
images at the end of your session. This is much more efficient than
individually deleting files and makes it easier to reconsider. If you
want them out of your sight immediately, consider filtering on nonrejects
during the culling session, which will hide all rejected images.
- Assign stars to the "keep" images that stand out (for example 1: OK
image, memory value; 2: very good, can be shown outside the family;
3: outstanding, needs publishing).
- Use color labels for tagging images into groups that need more or
less post-processing.
Using the magnifier is quite helpful at this stage to quickly judge
sharpness of key parts. Using hotkeys to toggle 100% view can be
helpful. If you have sequences of shots that you need to compare to
find the one that works best, use the multi-view function and lock the
zoom (the lock icon at the bottom next to the multi-view icon), so that
you can simultaneously zoom in on all images in multi-view.
Note: Remember, while in multi-view mode, only the current image is tagged or
rated, even though multiple images are selected. This allows you to
rate/tag/reject individual images while comparing them in multi-view
(see also "Multi-view" (p 85)).
After you are done, filter on rejects (make sure you have no image
selected (use <CTRL+D> or click between two thumbnails) or the current
image is a reject, so that the resulting thumbnails list really contains
only rejects), and then select all (<CTRL+A>) and press the <DEL> key.
The deletion will use the system trash can, so if you have deleted too
many images, check the trash can to bring them back from the dead.
Now that we have reduced the number of images, applying metadata
or other settings will be faster, as there are fewer images that need to
be dealt with.
5.7.3. Apply Metadata
During this stage, you might want to switch from image preview plus
thumbnails to a thumbnails-only display (and, potentially, enlarge the
thumbnails), to have quicker access to the thumbnails.
Now that you only have images that you want to keep, you could apply
the basic metadata that is common to all images in that directory. Use
presets to load specific default metadata sets that you need often, or
just set location, keyword, and whatever else you need on the first
image, and then use selective copy (<SHIFT+CTRL+C>, use the Advanced
tab, and check that only the metadata you want copied, but not the
rating, is selected), or use a custom copy metadata copy set and then
select all (<CTRL+A>) and paste (<CTRL+V>). The basic metadata is applied
to all the images in that directory.
During this stage, copy sets can make the application of project-specific
metadata more efficient by restricting the metadata to a specific subset
that you need to copy.
Next, apply the image-specific metadata. This is often the same for
several images in a sequence, so you might want to employ the above
method again, but for a smaller group of images.
When dealing with keywords only, you can just select the images and
enter the keywords. In contrast to the other metadata and image settings,
keywords can be simultaneously applied to all selected images.
If you think you can do without that step, think again! How will you find
your images again in five years, after you have shot thousands of images?
A bit more on this topic can be found in "Image Management" (p 131).
5.7.4. Adjust
Individual image adjustments come next in the workflow. As you already
have looked at them in the previous step, you will have a feel for how
similar they are. You might even apply some settings like Noise Ninja
or a different look profile to all images after you have adjusted the first
image. At this stage, using selective copy becomes indispensable to
transfer image adjustments from one image to another. Copy sets and
presets can be quite useful here, as well.
Start adjustments with the white balance, since it is the basis for
everything else. Then, get the exposure right, either using the Exposure
slider (rarely needed), Fill Light, or Curves (Auto Contrast is useful here)
and possibly Highlight Recovery. Next, fix up blemishes with the Heal
& Clone layer of the Layer tool. Then, check the geometry, use
Straightening if needed, and apply a crop, as needed.
From there, it all depends on image content. Are selective adjustments
in layers needed? Is additional sharpening needed?
Using the tools discussed in "Judging Changes and Comparing Images"
(p 85) is very helpful at this stage to compare different renditions of
the same image. If at one stage you want to experiment with a black
and white version, for example, press the <INS> key to generate a new
version from the current image.
The new version will not have the complete edit history. If you continue
working with the master and use the version as a reference image,
you still have the whole edit session history of the image.
Use multi-view to compare different versions of an image. For example,
if you want to compare two film emulations in Andrea, select the first,
press <INS>, select both images, multi-view, and then modify the film
type in the master. After you are done with the comparison, delete the
version.
What happens if you decide you want to keep the version and not the
master? Use copy and paste to transfer the settings of the version to
the master before you delete the version.
5.7.5. Catalog Import
Now that everything is fine and dandy, you might want to import the
whole project into a catalog.
Select all the images and use the context menu, or use the context
menu of the folder the images are in to select the catalog import.
Using referenced files (advanced) is highly recommended. See "Image
Management" (p 131) for more details.
5.7.6. Output
Depending on your intended output, you might just hit the hotkey for
the queue you need; or switch on soft proofing, which is discussed in
"Bibble Color Management" (p 34) first to check whether the result still
looks fine when converted to your printer profile, for example. If you
edit on a wide gamut screen and produce JPEGs for online viewing, it
is advisable to soft proof to sRGB, as the average screen will have a
reduced gamut compared to what you are using and there might be
differences.
Usually output is trivial after you have set up your queues. Make sure
you have visited "Batch Queues" (p 102), where the details are explained.
That should get you going...
cheers
afx
Understandable.