Star Explorer Question by PM

AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
edited May 6, 2009 in SmugMug Support
Andy wrote:
I and your volunteer helpers get a zillion private messages asking for help.

We won't answer them in private message. I've asked everyone to post new threads with the PMs, and answer the questions in the open forum.

WHY?

A question by ONE (you) can be answered by MANY (me, and all of the fine helpers on Dgrin). The answer by ONE can benefit MANY (you and the others that are new, or haven't yet asked the question, or maybe they find the thread by searching. And just imagine if a few of us here got hundreds of PMs a day :uhoh

You do yourself a disservice, too - I'm not the only one that can answer - and I have been known to be incorrect ...once or twice :lol3

So, please - no private message questions for help, thanks!

Hi Andy...

Not sure if you answer customer related questions, but it seems you're a moderator/manager... and I dont really know how to word my question. I'm not SUPER technologically sound, so bear with me, if you get a minute to respond that would be great!!

So, I'm a motorsports photographer, I shoot anywhere from 2k to 3.5k keepers per event. I need to upload anywhere from 70 to 120 galleries per event. My question to you is, is there any "tricks" to uploading these 70-120 galleries efficiently? What I am doing right now, is opening 10 IE windows, and making 10 folders, and dragging my folders INTO the upload box but NOT hitting submit. Then, when they are all ready to roll, i pull them up and hit submit, almost all at once, since I see smugmug will only upload 4-5 windows at a time (which is good right?) Is there a better way? This still means throughout 1 day, i am coming back 7-10 times, and having to make new folders to upload.


Thank for the question! It's best asked in the open forum :D Why? StarExplorer www.starexplorer is your best friend I'd say. And there are plenty here that use it :deal

Comments

  • jfriendjfriend Registered Users Posts: 8,097 Major grins
    edited May 5, 2009
    Andy wrote:
    Thank for the question! It's best asked in the open forum :D Why? StarExplorer www.starexplorer is your best friend I'd say. And there are plenty here that use it deal.gif
    The #1 reason I use StarExplorer is because I shoot a lot of events and to make the large number of photos managable for my viewers, I split them into meaningful galleries. That means I end up needing to upload 500-1000 photos to 30-50 galleries.

    Star Explorer to the rescue. It can do unattended uploads of thousands of photos across as many galleries as you want. Furthermore, it has a persistent upload queue so even if your power goes out or your internet connection drops or you computer crashes, the next time you start it, it will still have the queue of images that it has not yet uploaded. When you're uploading a 1000 images, the last thing you want to have to do is to spend several hours trying to sort out what did and didn't upload after some sort of hiccup. Give it a try.

    The author hangs out over here and answers questions via email support if you need any help.
    --John
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  • MotophotogMotophotog Registered Users Posts: 35 Big grins
    edited May 5, 2009
    Thanks for the answer Andy. I appreciate it. As you can see, i kind of had to explain WHY so many racer galleries. This sounds like the ticket to me!!

    Jfriend, This could be a LIFESAVER!!!

    Thanks again!!
    www.darrenbeattyphotography.com
    Contracts for: WMRRA, Sullivan Race School, AMA, Epic Trackdays, NMC Magazine
    ***Seattle - Shelton - Portland - Spokane***
  • MotophotogMotophotog Registered Users Posts: 35 Big grins
    edited May 5, 2009
    So i checked the website out... It shows they have a way of making multiple galleries at once, but it doesnt state how it knows all the folders, and/or will upload them? Ideas?this is all i care about for the program. Anyone know if you're able to do so with the standard? Or should i get the midrange?
    www.darrenbeattyphotography.com
    Contracts for: WMRRA, Sullivan Race School, AMA, Epic Trackdays, NMC Magazine
    ***Seattle - Shelton - Portland - Spokane***
  • denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,409 moderator
    edited May 5, 2009
    Motophotog wrote:
    So i checked the website out... How is this going to help when you have different galleries/numbers, multiple of them....... Did i miss that fine print? jfriend? Anyone?
    You specify the gallery that each photo will upload to (by highlighting the gallery and dragging the photos into the queue pane) - and you can specify multiple galleries in any one upload. It's both easy to use and bullet-proof. I've been extremely happy with it, and I can't imagine going back to any other uploader.

    Nikolai offers a free 30-day trial, noted on the Why purchase? page of www.starexplorer.com. Why don't you try it?

    --- Denise
  • jfriendjfriend Registered Users Posts: 8,097 Major grins
    edited May 5, 2009
    Motophotog wrote:
    So i checked the website out... It shows they have a way of making multiple galleries at once, but it doesnt state how it knows all the folders, and/or will upload them? Ideas?this is all i care about for the program. Anyone know if you're able to do so with the standard? Or should i get the midrange?
    Please read my previous post. I use it to upload to multiple galleries all the time.
    --John
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    JFriend's javascript customizationsSecrets for getting fast answers on Dgrin
    Always include a link to your site when posting a question
  • bhambham Registered Users Posts: 1,303 Major grins
    edited May 5, 2009
    I can highly recommend star explorer as well. I have uploaded over 400,000 photos with it and it is a lifesaver. Trust me, its has been worth its cost 10 times over.

    I think I uploaded close to 5k this past weekend with it.
    "A photo is like a hamburger. You can get one from McDonalds for $1, one from Chili's for $5, or one from Ruth's Chris for $15. You usually get what you pay for, but don't expect a Ruth's Chris burger at a McDonalds price, if you want that, go cook it yourself." - me
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited May 5, 2009
    Thanks for the vouching, guys! thumb.gif

    Also let me describe a little technique of speeding things up (which is used by a surprisingly small number of of people).

    In sport (and event) photogrpahy the TTM (Time To Market) is essentially a key to success. Having pictures available online ASAP is vital.

    However there is a catch - the sheer number of pictures is often huge, straight out of camera jpegs are humongous and even the best residential bandwidth can't upload 30Gb in two hours.

    What to do? Multi-prone approach to the rescue.

    Your first line of defense is a camera that can take two versions of picture at the same time. I don't know about any that can take two versions of JPEG, but plenty can do RAW + JPEG.
    In any case the idea is to get two versions - one that can produce high-quality result (if needed - eventually), and one small jpeg which can be used immediately "as is" for online browsing. In Canon case small rough jpegs are only aobut 200K..500K in size - way smaller than large fine jpegs from the same body.
    If your camera can't take two versions you can use a transmitter (grip or Eye-Fi) and some custom software that can watch a folder and create those smaller version on the fly (in case you need one - let me know:-)
    At any rate, you'll end up with two versions of each file (large and small) at the end of the shoot.

    Your next move is to sort images out - by car, by runner, by whatever.
    I sort out RAW files, jpegs simply follow (again, I have a tool that ensures just that)

    Finally you upload those small jpegs (S*E to the rescue). Uploading even 2,000 of small jpegs with Boost mode activated would only take an hour or so on my 20/20 Fios (YMMV, but in any case it will be WAY faster than uploading those humongous large fine ones).

    Once the upload is done, I simply delete the small ones.

    The trick? When creating albums - set a delayed print. I usually go by one day, but it's up to you.

    Now, once you got the actual order you select your RAW and process it. Since the new, high quality jpeg ends up exactly the same place where original small one was and is named exactly the same, you can simply use S*E "replace" capability.

    Bottom line - your images are up in no time, and you only process and upload large files for those that are actually ordered - which is rarely 100% of the bulk.

    HTH
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
  • MotophotogMotophotog Registered Users Posts: 35 Big grins
    edited May 6, 2009
    Guys, again, thanks for the help. I am computer savy, not so code/new program savy :p

    I will be tryin this out nicolai thanks for the post and im the same guy who emailed you yesterday afternoon. Im shooting a race school event tomorrow, i will sort the images into their folders and give this a try. If this program does what it sounds like it does, im going to throw a star explorer kegger. Lol
    www.darrenbeattyphotography.com
    Contracts for: WMRRA, Sullivan Race School, AMA, Epic Trackdays, NMC Magazine
    ***Seattle - Shelton - Portland - Spokane***
  • NikolaiNikolai Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
    edited May 6, 2009
    Motophotog wrote:
    Guys, again, thanks for the help. I am computer savy, not so code/new program savy :p

    I will be tryin this out nicolai thanks for the post and im the same guy who emailed you yesterday afternoon. Im shooting a race school event tomorrow, i will sort the images into their folders and give this a try. If this program does what it sounds like it does, im going to throw a star explorer kegger. Lol

    Trust me, it does. I'm a big proponent of "eating your own dog food" approach, and as such I'm using S*E very often. So I kinda stay behind what I say it does :-)mwink.gif
    "May the f/stop be with you!"
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