Live news workflow - Android, Press IPTC

[Katie]

Hello people! I'm looking to improve my live news workflow and just looking to see if there's software or methods to improve on what I have in mind.

 

My goal is to be able to submit fast (minutes, even seconds when really needed) from events, and to that end I'm looking for a camera > FTP workflow. I have wireless transfer capability with my camera setup, so that's fine, but it seems like the best way to do it is to go via a smartphone or other device. (I could go via a laptop, but that's slower and unviable at a lot of events.)

 

A lot of people seem to use Shuttersnitch on iOS, but, I'm on Android. I've come across Press IPTC, which seems like it can take images, automatically add captions, and then submit them, all without any user intevention. Does anyone use this? Is it worth it? (And, I don't suppose Press IPTC supports submitting to multiple FTPs at a time, does it? Wishful thinking...)

 

Any other general workflow advice on the technical side, or alternative apps worth considering, would be appreciated! Thanks.

 

(Do ignore my image totals and submissions to date)

Edited May 22, 2018 by Katie

[TeeCee]

I know several people here use Press IPTC,  personally I use the paid for version of MoPhotos - works fine and (IMHO) was easier to set up for a luddite like me.
For LiveNews I shoot RAW plus a medium JPEG, which I can submit quickly and easily.

[losdemas]

It's probably me, but...I find Press IPTC far from intuitive!  I've only used it a couple of times - it's OK, but I don't really like it.  Might take a look at this MoPhotos that TeeCee mentions.

[Katie]

5 hours ago, TeeCee said:

I know several people here use Press IPTC,  personally I use the paid for version of MoPhotos - works fine and (IMHO) was easier to set up for a luddite like me.
For LiveNews I shoot RAW plus a medium JPEG, which I can submit quickly and easily.

 

MoPhotos appears to require an Eye-Fi card (or that's what the app page says), so it wouldn't be an option if it won't work with wireless transmitters or other transfer methods...

Edited May 22, 2018 by Katie

[TeeCee]

4 hours ago, Katie said:

 

MoPhotos appears to require an Eye-Fi card (or that's what the app page says), so it wouldn't be an option if it won't work with wireless transmitters or other transfer methods...

Hi Katie - never understood the EyeFi thing either, but no, it doesn't need that, you just choose a directory on your phone where the photos are located.
I transfer from camera to phone via WiFi, locate the pictures where MoPhotos is set to look. I have some preset IPTC templates, apply those, and ftp out.

Free version never worked out for me -  paid for version is cheap (about £4.00 if I remember rightly) but highly effective.

Neither this or Press IPTC was simple to configure for me, as I said, bit of a luddite with apps, but in the end I preferred MoPhotos, and I use it on a regular basis.
Worth pointing out that as Paul says above, if I've got anything truly worth the effort, I bung the laptop in the boot and use regular ftp ... Mobile phone screens may be a lot better than they were, but they're still tiny tiny!

Tony

[James Hodgson]

Hi

I transfer photos to android with an otg cable, (find wireless transfer problematic), then basic lr mobile adjustments before uploading with Press IPTC. I find the app very good. Took a bit of a while to get my head around the setup but once it's up and running it's great. 

[RedSnapper]

Shame you don't have an iPhone..Shuttersnitch is the app i use...shoot>send in seconds

 

km

[RedSnapper]

17 hours ago, LawrensonPhoto said:

Same as Press IPTC for android then

 

you have many more steps in your workflow than me

 

km

[Katie]

2 hours ago, RedSnapper said:

 

you have many more steps in your workflow than me

 

km

 

Hi Keith, just out of interest, can you elaborate how? From my research on both, it seems like:

 

Shuttersnitch: Send from camera to device, automatically apply metadata, upload

Press IPTC: Send from camera to device, automatically apply metadata, upload

 

The only difference I can see is that Shuttersnitch seems to more directly support, for example, EOS Utility whereas Press IPTC can only monitor a folder, but does this not achieve the same outcome? I'm interested as if it truly came to it one day, it might be a reason to jump to iPhone.

[Milton]

On 23/05/2018 at 02:57, James Hodgson said:

Took a bit of a while to get my head around the setup but once it's up and running it's great. 

I am still trying to get my head around the setup of Press IPTC.  For those of you who have sussed it out already are there any pointers on how to configure it correctly - particularly setting up IPTC templates and which fields to use for descriptions/keywords.  Or alternatively, do you know of any step by step instructions that are available?

[Katie]

6 minutes ago, LawrensonPhoto said:

Click on templates

click the + sign

drop down the orange tab (IIM Application)

tick the caption check box and click the eye? icon and fill with some data

tick the headline check box and click the eye? icon and fill with some data, I have; UK Weather: Raining in London, uk

save

 

You can also add an already captioned image to your phone and then import the metadata from it to a new template. That way you can see how the fields you normally fill in appear in the app. Also, some fields on different dropdowns are linked, so if you change it on one it changes on the other. It'd be nice to be able to customise them, but I think Press IPTC is abandonware now.

 

Ideally I'd like to see Camera Bits create a mobile version of Photo Mechanic.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Katie

[Milton]

Thanks @LawrensonPhoto and @Katie.  That has helped loads.

 

One final question - when setting up the FTP server connection, after filling in the host/server and port number, it is asking for a directory path.  Do you know what should be entered?

[Katie]

It depends on what you're shooting:

 

/Stock/

/Live_News/News/

/Live_News/Entertainment/

/Live_News/Sport/

[Milton]

9 minutes ago, Katie said:

It depends on what you're shooting:

 

/Stock/

/Live_News/News/

/Live_News/Entertainment/

/Live_News/Sport/

You're a star.  Thank you!

[Zollikon]

Reviving this old thread...

I have managed to get Press IPTC to connect to Alamy FTP and the LIve News folder. My problem is Press IPTC can't see any of the photos in my phone, and it also won't let me create a new folder on my phone that I could put photos into.

 

I am going to "Settings", Directory says /storage/self - what or where is that? If I try and create a new folder pressing the file icon top right, I get a svreen that reapeat /storage/self and also has a plus sign. If I click on the plus sign it ask New Directory Name. I put omehting in there, e.g. alamy and then press OK, and nothing happens, it jjst take sme back to the screen that asks choose a diectory, but the folder I just created is not there.

 

If anyone can help me create a folder, list of folders (one per shoot?) that I can then apply IPTC/Exif to and then FTP, that would be great. Losing sales because I can't process and upload till I get back home which is way too slow for news.

 

Hoping it isn't because the app is simply too old/abandoned now?

[James Hodgson]

On 01/02/2020 at 04:19, Zollikon said:

Reviving this old thread...

I have managed to get Press IPTC to connect to Alamy FTP and the LIve News folder. My problem is Press IPTC can't see any of the photos in my phone, and it also won't let me create a new folder on my phone that I could put photos into.

 

I am going to "Settings", Directory says /storage/self - what or where is that? If I try and create a new folder pressing the file icon top right, I get a svreen that reapeat /storage/self and also has a plus sign. If I click on the plus sign it ask New Directory Name. I put omehting in there, e.g. alamy and then press OK, and nothing happens, it jjst take sme back to the screen that asks choose a diectory, but the folder I just created is not there.

 

If anyone can help me create a folder, list of folders (one per shoot?) that I can then apply IPTC/Exif to and then FTP, that would be great. Losing sales because I can't process and upload till I get back home which is way too slow for news.

 

Hoping it isn't because the app is simply too old/abandoned now?

I do remember someone mentioning they couldn't get this app to work on a newer phone but it does still work with mine. From what I remember when I first set it up, I used it in conjunction with astro file manager app. to get pictures in the correct place and create folders. basically set up a lr export folder that had pics ready to go and an uploaded folder  to store them  until they appeared on news feed. before running the upload. was a bit trial and error at first but got it working great. 

[Zollikon]

21 hours ago, James Hodgson said:

I do remember someone mentioning they couldn't get this app to work on a newer phone but it does still work with mine. From what I remember when I first set it up, I used it in conjunction with astro file manager app. to get pictures in the correct place and create folders. basically set up a lr export folder that had pics ready to go and an uploaded folder  to store them  until they appeared on news feed. before running the upload. was a bit trial and error at first but got it working great. 

 

Thanks James, I'll check this out. Currently trying Sony tagging app which someone suggested but I may be moving back to Nikon at some point so rather not be tied to one camera.

 

I have to say, would it not be in Alamy's interests to develop an app that did this? Surely they want fast, accurately tagged news pix asap?! I would have thought if they threw 5 or 10k at it that would repay itself pretty quickly and help establish them as a serious (aka FAST) news provider?