How do I batch rename filenames linked in Aperture

Dear all,

I am currently trailing a copy of Aperture 3 and I have a question regarding batch renaming of filenames.

Up until now I have always downloaded the files off my camera to my computer. This I stored in a folder titled 'toamend'. When I get time I then run some EXIFTOOL scripts to modify the metadata. I then run a programme to title the files according to their EXIF date and time.

Once this is done I then use a batch programme to add additional text to each photo for a particular event I was shooting. I would then move the files to a new folder titled 'to retitle'. At some point in the future, when I had time, I would then add details for each photo to describe what it is. Still within the filename.

Once this is done I then run another EXIFTOOL script to copy this to fields in the EXIF and IPTC metadata. I would then move the files into their own folder which would be dated and located in a folder for the year the photos were taken.

I am now trying to continue this way of working within Aperture but not sure how easy it would be to do this, whilst retaining some of the batch elements. Having downloaded the trail copy of Aperture, I let it import all my photos as referenced masters.

The problem I now have is how do I retitle all the filenames in batch, without losing the links to them in Aperture. Doing it outside of Aperture seems to break the link to the referenced masters. Having to manually type the date and time for each filename is rather laborious. It is possible to batch add the details directly to the EXIF and IPTC metadata fields using EXIFTOOL. If this was done would Aperture pick up the detail changes?

If I did work that way, how would I go about copying those details to the filenames? EXIFTOOL would do this, as would A Better Finder Rename but both are outside of Aperture. I don't mind having more detailed descriptions in the metadata but I would always want some basic details in the filename because not everyone knows where to find the metadata in order to see what the photo is about.

If I move files within Aperture, does it move them on the physical discs?. I work across multiple hard drives, often downloading newer photos to my Laptop, before moving them to an external hard drive later on. Thus I need to be able to do this fairly easily.

So I would be grateful for any suggestions people may have. I don't mind modifying my work flow, providing it allows me to achieve a similar out come.

Kind regards

gnd said:

Why don't you import AFTER you did all your renaming and exif copying and all that. Import to Aperture only after you move the photos to your folder structure. That way you keep your file name scheme, folder structure, exif and iptc fields with your data and all that.
I use Lightroom and I always move the photos to their final destination before importing to Lightroom.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply gnd. The reason is that I don't always get time to sort out all the photo details straight away but sometimes I require the photos for use on greetings cards. In those cases I take the photos as they are.

Therefore I still want to be able to search through all my photos whilst titling them.

Titling them before I get into Aperture, partly defeats the purposes of getting it. Using Aperture allows me to see multiple photos easily whilst titling them, something that isn't so easy in Finder.

I'm trying to move away form finder but I still need a filename that means something because not everyone knows about meta data.

I've run into problems earlier this year when I gave someone photos with long filenames. So although I'm now trying to cut this down and just have the metadata longer, I still am uncomfortable giving someone a photo named IMG06567.JPG. That tells them nothing useful.

Before posting on here I had been looking up how to refresh the links to file. However after posting on here last night I changed tact I looked up how to rename files in Aperture. This gave the following links which I think will help me understand how I might do this:

http://aperture.maccreate.com/2010/02/26/renaming-masters-from-batch-change-in-aperture-3/

http://photo.rwboyer.com/2009/12/26/aperture-renaming-files-after-you-import/

As long as I do all the renaming within Aperture, which is what I didn't do yesterday, I should be okay.

Kind regards

Having continued my test with Aperture, I then realised that all metadata changes, such as adding a caption, were not written back to the photos themselves.

The only way to do this was to move the changes to the master file. However as soon as that was done, Aperture would become destructive and change the creation and modification dates of the master files attributes to the current date.

For a non-distructive programme, I would expect those to remain the same or give me an option to keep them the same. If anything the original creation date shouldn't change, even if the modification date does, as I'm not creating a new photo per say, just amending it. Or in this case it's metadata. At which point I decided Aperture wasn't for me as I wish to keep all my modification and creation dates set to the point at which the photo was created.

If I amend the photo image itself then I don't mind them change but not when I'm only amending the metadata. Whilst I can amend the metadata using EXIFTOOL, I wanted a GUI programme which allowed me to view what I was doing, making the process of titling far easier than with command line. There is graphic converter but I really wanted a DAM based system.

Today I did some more research and I am now going to test Bibble Pro 5 [http://www.bibblelabs.com] and see if that is any good for my needs. I tested Bibble Pro 5 but I wasn't keen on it for my workflow. Firstly the only way to output the metadata was as a sidecar XMP file which I had to do by manually going to a menu and selecting create standard XMP file. I continued my research, looking at other programs. I didn't include Lightroom because I believe that adds in it's own metadata. Correct me if I am wrong.

Eventually I came across AtomicView [http://www.antzero.com/]. Now this is only a DAM and doesn't do RAW processing. However it does give me greater flexibility with writing back my metadata. I have a choice of database; database & original file and the creation of a sidecar XMP file. By writing back the changes directly to the original file, it means the modification date changes in the file attributes but it doesn't change the creation date. I would expect this behaviour over Apertures changing of the modification and creation dates. However I don't even want the modification date changes so if I tell it to automatically create an XMP file, I can then merge that into my photos, using EXIFTOOL. The only thing it doesn't appear to read is the metadata stored with quicktime mov thumbnails but then nor did the other software I tested.

By going down this road I of course will eventually need to get a programme which processes RAW images and one that can easily deal with metadata that has changed in the referenced files. However most of my photos are taken as JPGs. Since I'm only starting out with RAW, I don't feel the need to take every photo with that quality. It saves of disc space this way. As I get more advanced then I will consider taking more RAW format photos.