Don’t mess with the dot

May 30, 2008 | Tips & Tech Support, Tim

Recently I had a call from a customer whom had a large number of RAW files disappear from his hard drive while renaming them. He was using a Phase One digital back, Capture One Pro and a Mac computer. My first thought was either the naming had taken place in the file browser or with another software package. However upon investigation, he had renamed the RAW file in Capture One. Turns out he had wanted to break up the order of the files… then he planned on sorting the thumbnails by name. Unfortunately when renaming the images, he added a “dot” or “period” in front of the existing name. When working with computers there is a old saying, “don’t mess with the dot”. “Periods” and “slashes” (/) as most of you know can relate to the lowest level of command, DOS or UNIX systems all use these symbols.

Since OSX is a UNIX based system, typing a period in front of the file name turns that file into a hidden file…. hidden from the OS itself. The file actually exist, without any data change, but finding it can be an adventure. In my tech support case, I happened to have maintenance program called Cocktail (http://www.maintain.se/cocktail/index.php) which will allow you to view all hidden files on your computer.

This allows you the opportunity to find and remove the “dot” from the name, returning your files from the dead. With this program my customer was able to retrieve all of his files and learn a valuable lesson without the loss of his photography.

Tim

Technical Services

Canon Tethering in OSX 10.5.2

May 27, 2008 | Tips & Tech Support, Tim, Doug

The Problem

The most recent release of the mac operating system broke the ability to tether a Canon dSLR to Capture One 3.7.8, but the fix is very easy. The reason for the problem is that Apple included a program associated with Apple’s photo program Aperture, which interferes with Capture One’s ability to connect to the camera.

The Short-Term Fix

1. Open [Hard Drive / Applications / Utilities / Activity Monitor]
2. Select the process Type8Camera and push “Quick Process”

This will allow the camera to tether to Capture One until the computer is restarted.

The Long-Term Fix

1. Open [Hard Drive / System / Library / Image Capture / Devices] and copy the file “Type8Camera.app” to a different folder (e.g. your desktop) as a backup.
2. Delete the file “Type8Camera.app from the Devices folder.

This will prevent the problematic program from launching and permanently* solve the problem. It will also prevent Aperture from tethering to your dSLR.

*It is unclear whether a major OS upgrade (such as the upcoming 10.5.3 release) or updating/installing Aperture will restore this file and require deleting it again.

Tornado in Atlanta?

March 18, 2008 | News, Tim

For all of those who have written or called to check on us, thank-you very much for your concern. The “historic” Tornado of Friday night that struck Atlanta did miss our office and since most of us either live out of town or were out of town no personal of Capture Integration was directly affected.

It was not far away… these photos were taken from the street in front of our office….

The affected area started about one mile from us and headed away from our building…. which I might add, our office is on floor 1 & 2 of a stout 3 story brick and steel building. More photos after the jump.

Continue reading Tornado in Atlanta?…

Canon Wireless

February 28, 2008 | Tips & Tech Support, Tim

I just spent a couple of days testing the Canon WFT-E2/E2A wireless transmitter here in Atlanta. It was connected to a new Canon 1ds Mark III and our computer platform was the MacIntosh G5 tower (Dual Power PC processors). Other computers used in this test was a Apple 17″ Powerbook (Dual Intel processors) and a Apple 12″ Powerbook (Single Power PC processor) & a G5 Quad (4 Power PC processors).

A few things you should know up front:

1> It appears it is best if your computer has a built-in Airport card. Attempts to connect using a computer with an external Airport failed repetitively, however connection to computers with built in cards worked with each attempt.

2> You must have Solutions Disk 14 or newer installed first. This disk does not come with the wireless transmitter rather it is part of your camera kit. If you have a older version, download the newer version from Canon’s website.

3> Use PTP connection, it is a direct link between your Canon and your computer. Attempts to connect through our network failed, although some customers have reported success, research showed that that not all networks are compatible and set-up can be complicated.
4> Our testing showed these transfer speeds:

—–A> JPEG Small - averaged 3 seconds from capture to display.

—–B> RAW - averaged 22 seconds from capture to display

Continue reading Canon Wireless…

Installing Capture One 3.7.7 in 10.5

January 17, 2008 | Tips & Tech Support, Personal Blogs, Tim

If you find yourself in need of Capture One 3.7.7 on a computer that has 10.5 OS (Leopard) on it you will have to do a manual installation.While Phase One does not officially support 10.5 as of yet, they have promised a soon-to-be-released update (named 3.7.8). In the meantime the manual installation will allow you to utilize the software. There will be a few features that either will not work at all or will only work sporadically - the installer is a prime example. It doesn’t work. Of course if you are reading this you probably already know that.

The most notable error we have found using 3.7.7 is that the import from CF card dialogue does not work. A progress bar will appear and the import will seem like it is working, but no files will actually be copied into your capture folder! This could be catastrophic if you select to “trash files after import” since the files would be deleted from the card but not copied to your hard drive. We have also heard of some difficulties with tethered Canon shooting.

Continue reading Installing Capture One 3.7.7 in 10.5…