S2 S/W Speedup?

[Tom Pierce]

I'm wondering if anyone's found any tricks to speeding up the workflow with the S2 Pro software, both the Finepix Viewer and the RAW Converter EX. (NOTE: I'm using Windows XP)

I'm finding that any processing of pictures takes a long time. Even batch rotation seems to take awhile. Don't get me started about RAW conversions...

What I'm looking for is something more clever than "more RAM, faster processor".

Is there a way to allocate more RAM?

Perhaps a way to use the video card hardware for rotation?

Any thoughts?

[David Kosmin]

This may be a dumb question but ...have you saved the images to your hard drive before trying to process them? I was unknowingly processing them off my flash card and they were being automatically saved back to the flash card...it really slowed down the processing time.

I would also like to speed up workflow. Is the quality of a processed RAW file worth the extra time it takes shooting and processing? It sure is a lot faster to shoot in the highest quality jpeg mode, copy the images to my computer, open up the contact sheet in the FinePix software, open the ones you want in Pshop, apply some unsharp masking, do some sytem work if needed and save. Part of the reason I bought this sytem was for the Raw files, but now in actually using the system I'm not sure I will use it. I don't really see the advantage to Fuji's Raw Conversion software. The sharpening is not as good as Pshop and I can put all the settings in on camera. Unless I totally screwed up some setting while I was shooting why would I have to change them later?

[SSonnentag]

Maybe it's just me (or my computer), but I thought that 23-24 seconds per image for the conversion process wasn't too excessively slow. How long does it take your computer to do a raw conversion?

Shawn

[SSonnentag]

According to my stopwatch:

RAW Conversions -- 21 seconds / image
Rotations -- 8 seconds / image


Dual AMD Athlon MP 2000+ with 2 GB DDR memory

[The']

Dual AMD Athlon MP 2000+ with 2 GB DDR memory... Impressive sytem! How many of us have this? No wonder you're not complaining about slowness. :-)))

What... you have Tag&Huer stop watch too?

The' :(

[Digi4Ever]

OK, I have to ask this, The' what? (Sorry, just kidding)
Anyway, Our esteemed host is really not far off what I see as the "Standard" machine for graphics processing these days. Hardware is SO cheap and since I do my own upgrades, I keep our home systems up to date by performing upgrades every 6 months or so. I just finished the rounds updating all 3 of the machines in my house (My workstation, my wifes, and the server) bringing them all up to a new Athlon XP processor, 1.5 gigs of Ram and in the case of the server, adding 2 - 80gig hard drives for less than $800.
It really is not hard, or terribly expensive, but of course I would lose my membership in the ultra-secret "PC Technicians Guild" if anyone tells that I said this!
I also have a 128mb Radeon 8500 graphics card, so my video system is very fast.
My individual times were slightly different than Shawn's.
I timed as follows:
Raw Conversions: 27 secs
Rotations: 5 secs/image
Batch conversion, auto balance, Unsharp mask, resave, to 25 images off my server: 12:35 (12 minutes, 35 seconds) I have a 100mb switch servicing the network, so it is also very fast.
Now I may have to change to a Dual-processor system board to keep up with the Shawns! (he...he)

I know you said you did not want to hear "more RAM, faster processor", but I really believe that this is the way of the future. They will keep coming out with software which requires more performance and we will keep upgrading! I equate it with evolution. Survival of the Fastest!
Bill

[SSonnentag]

I guess my computer is a little faster than the average, but I work in the IT industry and it's no fun knowing all about what's out there and not having it. So I keep my computer systems pretty much up-to-date, GeForce4 Ti-4600 and all. :)

Just FYI... If you're looking at upgrading in the near future, be aware that dual-processor machines running Windows usually won't run your software any faster than a single-processor machine. Unless your software is specifically designed for SMP (multiple processors) you only gain the ability to run multiple processes without slowing down your system as dramatically as a single-processor system.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoy the computer industry and keeping up with all of the latest technology. :)

Shawn

[The']

Bill and Shawn,

Thanks for the upgrade advices. I can only wish I can upgrade every 6 months... wifie would devorce me if I keep upgrading... computers that is :-)) I decided to drop out of the tech-rat race few years ago and since have really fallen behind; just could not keep up--too costly.
Maybe, you guys make some money from this so it is justified for you to keep upgrading hardware.

I can only learn from you w/ computer stuff but if you guys ever need help w/ networking in general, I can help--I support Nortel networking gears.

BTW, The' is pronounced 'tay' or 'teh' NOT 'The' of 'Thee' :-))
Hey, I didn't pick my name, alright!

Regards,
The'

P.S--If you guys own the forum, thanks for starting it.:p

[picthis]

As a busy professional I don't have time to use thr Fuji software. After downloading the images from the card I use Photoshop 7's browser to open & view images. I don't shoot raw images, that takes more time to process. Use a light meter & shoot manual. You'll get good exposures that you don't need to do a lot of tweaking to. Don't forget to white balance. I use Cus 1 for my studio lights and Cus 2 is used outdoors. The presets don't impress me.

[ncphotoman]

Just by a MAC!!!

All kidding aside, I have a Mac G4 - 933. It screems with most all photoshop and imaging related software. It is much faster than my P4 1.5gighrz PC. Not being the most PC savy guy out there maybe there are some memory setting I can change to equal the playing field!

[Bedpan]

First.. despite the obvious of the system upgrade...
I would avoid using the Fuji software..
Personally I use Irfanview (www.irfanview.com) to do all my batch conversions, and have started using Qimage for my RAW conversion. After a couple weeks... Qimage is looking much better then the Fuji software, although it took me sometime to figure out.

Here is a good write up on using it..

http://www.outbackphoto.com/reviews/equipment/Fuji_S2/Fuji_Qimage_RAW.html

Cheers and goodluck

Oh.. Here are a few of my images from around singapore.. All 100% out of Camera..
http://208.231.0.96/bedpan/S2/thumbs_d/thumbs_p.html

Mike


Originally posted by Tom Pierce
I'm wondering if anyone's found any tricks to speeding up the workflow with the S2 Pro software, both the Finepix Viewer and the RAW Converter EX. (NOTE: I'm using Windows XP)

I'm finding that any processing of pictures takes a long time. Even batch rotation seems to take awhile. Don't get me started about RAW conversions...

What I'm looking for is something more clever than "more RAM, faster processor".

Is there a way to allocate more RAM?

Perhaps a way to use the video card hardware for rotation?

Any thoughts?