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DevMeta Lightroom Plugin
Develop Settings Metadata allows filtering on any Develop Settings (Library Filter + Smart Collections).
Note: There is a possibility for another plugin to try and access the catalog while auto-update/live-edit is using it. This will cause an error in the other plugin. If this happens too much, you may have to disable auto-update/live-edit. The newest versions of DevAdjust & DevConvert do not have this problem.
Quick Links (intra-page)
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
See the readme file after downloading for usage and other notes.
ScreenShot #1 - Library Filter
ScreenShot #2 - Library Panel
(The Smart Collection Drop-down includes the same items).
ScreenShot #3 - Settings In The Plugin Manager
ScreenShot #4 - Live-Edit In The History List
These FAQs come partly from users, and partly from my imagination. Please let me know if there are errors or omissions in this FAQ - thanks.
NOTE: The following Q&A's assume that the plugin is working as I expect... If, after your best effort, still "no go", please let me know.
Question: Why would I ever need or want such a thing as DevMeta?
Answer: If you always develop your photos from start to finish, never make mistakes, never look back, and don't care what you've done after you do it, then maybe DevMeta is not for you, but if you want to view cross-sections of your photos based on develop settings, then you need DevMeta - and there is some icing for the cake thrown in too, that might make you happy...
Question: How to use DevMeta?
Answer: After installing DevMeta, go to the Plugin Manager and configure settings. Then select one or more photos and press Alt/Opt-F,S,U (in Lightroom). i.e. File Menu -> Plugin Extras -> DevMeta -> Update. After initializing Dev-Metadata for you entire catalog, this step is only required if you've got auto-update turned off, or you've edited a block of photos (e.g. using DevAdjust, DevConvert, or Auto-Sync) with "Update All" turned off.
Question: What does DevMeta do?
Answer: It has two modes:
Question: Why does DevMeta say it can't update some photos.
Answer: I can think of at least these possibilities:
Question: Is there a performance penalty for using DevMeta.
Answer: Although manual update with a bunch selected can take a while, auto-update when only one is selected should be very fast. If auto-update with a bunch selected is too slow, you can set it to only update the most selected automatically, then update the remaining selected manually after editing (that's what I do).
Question: I set out to update a whole bunch of photos but it looks like its stuck.
Answer: Its supposed to give an error message if it dies, but still that's one possibility. But also, it takes a long time to get started, and a long time to finish up when updating a large batch - you might have to wait several minutes at the end-points (especially at the finishing end-point), depending on Lightroom, your machine, and how many you have selected. Lightroom memory leaks can be a problem too, and if too severe you may have to divide your update into smaller chunks.
Question: Why can't I set ranges for numerical settings in smart collections? (and other numerical criteria).
Answer: Lightroom does not yet support numerical data-types in custom metadata. Unfortunately for the time being, they're being treated as strings - sorry (fingers crossed). For this reason, I tend to use Library Filters more often than Collections for viewing cross sections of photos based on Develop Settings.
Question: Why are successive live edits sometimes not "taking".
Answer: There is a delay required between edits and if you move too quick the edits are lost. You can tell how long to wait by looking at the metadata update indicator in the upper right corner of the thumbnail - after '...' disappears, you're good to go again. - Actually, I think I fixed this one too, but I'm just not 100% confident yet.
Question: When do live edits get sent to the target photo?
Answer: Although theoretically, all changed values will be rounded up into a single temporary preset and then applyed to the photo, it happens so soon after the first value changes that you almost never see more than one change at a time. Live-edit is most appropriate for "drive-by" changing of just one or two settings - any more than that and you might as well switch to develop module.
Question: What if I want to undo a change made via Live-Edit?
Answer: There are two ways:
Question: What does test mode do?
Answer: Checking test mode primarily allows you to test live edits without actually changing your photos. Develop metadata is updated regardless of test mode. Note: For test mode changes to take effect on live-edits, you have to stop the auto-update task, then re-start it.
Question: Why would I want to disable Auto-Update/Live-Edit?
Answer: Auto-Update is a lightweight ever-present background process. Its not supposed to get in the way of anything, but if Lightroom is behaving strangely, you may want to disable auto-update until you get things sorted out. One thing: if you run a plugin that requires catalog write access and it doesn't retry when there is contention, DevMeta may interfere with it. If you get "SomePlugin can't access catalog..." errors, try stopping auto-update/live-edit.
Question: Why would I want to 'Update All Selected'?
Answer: Updating All Selected is fine if you only have a handful of photos selected, but it can really slows things down if you have very many photos selected. Although, its not as bad if you de-select "auto-write to xmp" - with that also selected, DevMeta updates all the metadata, then Lightroom re-writes all the xmp. Just be aware that without 'Update All Selected' checked, when you edit a batch of photos using auto-sync or DevAdjust, or applying a preset using the context menu, that the develop metadata is not automatically updated, so you must update manually afterward, or whenever you're ready.
Question: Why is the process version sometimes undefined?
Answer: I don't know. It seems to only happen with PV2003 files, but I can't be sure yet. If you confirm this for yourself, you may be able to treat 'Undefined' same as '2003'.
Question: What logger where why?
Answer: The logging stuff applies only to the manual updates - nothing gets logged by the auto-update/live-edit task. The logger is in the root of your documents folder, and is named {something}.log while the update is running, and {something}.txt after completion.
Question: What if I have problems?
Answer: Try turning on log-verbose - not only is more stuff logged but it enables some debug code as well that may help. Try and figure it out for yourself, and if you can't then report a problem and send me the verbose log file.
Question: DevMeta is too cool for words, how can I express my gratitude non-verbally?
Answer: Send Money $$$ - thanks.
Question: DevMeta is too cool for words, but not cool enough for money - now what?
Answer: Just tell me what you think - thanks.
Question: What are some of DevMeta's limitations and what are your plans for the future of DevMeta?
Answer:
- Added additional develop-settings metadata fields:
- Aesthetic enhancement to edit-history naming.
- Live-Edit has been restored - bug fixed.
- Live-Edit has been disabled temporarily - pending bug fix.
- Fixed a potential problem with catalog contention between auto-update/live-edit and other plugins that access the catalog.
Initial release.
acceptance of Download Terms & Conditions will be required
DevMeta Lightroom Plugin - Newest Release - version 1.3.0 - HIGHLY recommended (unless it doesn't work).
A Previous Version - NOT recommended (unless newest release isn't working - in which case: please let me know!).
| Static content updated 2010-07-14 | Copyright 2007 - robcole.com - all rights reserved. | Dynamic content updated 07:23:24 AM |