Introduction

Asset capture by means of a traditional camera and lights set-up is commonly used in studios today. We also know that studios may use some form of a third party software such as Capture One, Adobe Bridge, or similar. The principle is that the third party app manages how to name files and the captured images should then be saved upon capture. Ideally you capture directly from the local computer.

ProStudio can work independently without any third party software, but can also work with third party software such as Capture One. 

Prerequisites

For optimal use, we recommend that ProStudio is set up with products and style guides. 

Please see the articles "Import products" and "Style Guides" for more information.

All the products you aim to capture should be in a Work Order and Style Guide views should be attached to each product in that Work Order. 

Please see Beginners guide "Planning - Create a Work Order".

The Upload matching rule should also be defined to work with any naming convention that you prefer to use. 

Please see System configuration, "Asset recognition rule (Upload matching rule)" for more information.

If you are using Capture One, it must be installed and set up according to their guides.

The capture process

Asset capture

Assets can be captured by using a number of different ways and all are compatible with ProStudio software. 

This is applicable when using a standalone camera and transferring the memory/SD card from camera to computer; and also using a software like Capture One to perform tethered shooting from a computer.

Asset naming in capture

Naming assets in the photo shoot is one of the key elements in order to streamline the content creation process. ProStudio is optimally used when you can identify both the Product and the View when capturing assets. This means that you need to have a clearly structured and consistent process for asset naming in the capture process. It also means that these identities need to exist in ProStudio, both in the product data for the product and in the style guide for the view (angle).

NOTE: You may have additional information strings in the filename. They should be clearly separated in the name with an underscore "_", or with a dash "-", or other similar characters that can separate the strings. These separators are used to strip the filename in the upload process.

If you use any desk top application (example: Capture One), you must export the assets from the third party software before uploading them. If you use the color labels in Capture One or similar program, the color labels must be defined in ProStudio. 

For more information, please see advance feature, "Import assets using Lightroom/Bridge/Capture One color labels".

Asset upload

To upload Assets, follow these steps:

1. Log into ProStudio.
2. Select the valid Work Order.
3. Select "Upload Assets".
4. Drop the Assets in the drop zone.
   • The selected Assets will be displayed on the right hand side of the application.
5. Select the Upload matching rule.
6. Select the Asset category.
7. Set status for the uploaded assets.
8. Select "Create and match selected assets".

NOTE: You can upload multiple assets in batches simultaneously.

Asset matching

As described above, we use upload matching rules to identify the Assets when uploading to ProStudio. The upload matching is configured when we set up the system. 

The matching is done in two steps:

1. Identify the Product - This is done using the product data
2. Identify the View - This is done using the style guide

This Upload matching will attach the Asset to the related Product and View. This makes it possible to validate that you have all the images that you need from the content creation session. 

NOTE: You do not have to match each Asset to a Product or View manually. This is an automated process as long as there is a consistent naming convention in the capturing phase.

NOTE: You can have multiple Upload matching rules to choose from when uploading.

Asset renaming

Often, e-commerce content requires detailed file names to manage assets effectively, which can be time-consuming during the capture phase. As a result, renaming assets later can be a big task, typically handled with complex scripts or custom tech solutions.

ProStudio uses "Asset Naming Definition" to integrate these features, simplifying the naming convention. Every existing field in ProStudio can be used to name the Assets. Furthermore, if more fields are needed, these can be added through configuration.

Use Product data and Style Guide fields to define how to name assets to your advantage. 

Please refer to System configuration, "Asset Naming Definition" for more information.