Support for .RAW image format?

[bunker12]

Originally Posted by rtv

Yeah, I've guessed something like that. For compatibility I'm not using raw format on my Panasonic Lumix, especially since it doesn't look any better than fine jpegs.

A binary program is usually of not much help if we cannot look the "inside" of it.

You can look at dcraw, a c program supporting roughly all "raw" formats output by digital cameras, and being actively maintained.
Decoding raw digital photos in Linux

Personally I'd like to see support for "raw" images somehow in MediaPortal, with thumbnails. I can live without meta-data but I'd like to see some of that too. As a user I don't care as much wether it's integrated in MP or a supporting program.

As far as reasons to support "raw" images, the main one is to me what has been said previously; I shoot in raw because it is an advantage for the post-processing. I can for example change color temperature (tone?) without any loss in quality. Converting to jpg DOES take time and a lot more hard-drive space. Typically a good quality jpg comes in at about 70-90 % of the original raw image from my Canon EOS DSLR.

[ghanz]

I totally agree, personally I would like to see .orf. Since every main manufacturer provides a codec for free, it must be possible to use that codec to provide support for raw images in MP.

[knutinh]

A much more usefull feature to me would be the possibility to read Adobe Lightroom databases, possibly using the lightroom engine to render to screen.

Since I shoot all my Canon DSLR photos in raw + jpg (neglible storage overhead), I always have access to both. For processing, I use Lightroom with nice tags and non-destructive editing. For my living-room I must either render all files as jpg, or run a 2nd copy of lightroom.

Now, space requirements for a specially rendered jpg collection for a 1366x768 lcd-tv isnt all that much, but it is an extra step.

-k

[bunker12]

Originally Posted by knutinh

A much more usefull feature to me would be the possibility to read Adobe Lightroom databases, possibly using the lightroom engine to render to screen.

Since I shoot all my Canon DSLR photos in raw + jpg (neglible storage overhead), I always have access to both. For processing, I use Lightroom with nice tags and non-destructive editing. For my living-room I must either render all files as jpg, or run a 2nd copy of lightroom.

Now, space requirements for a specially rendered jpg collection for a 1366x768 lcd-tv isnt all that much, but it is an extra step.

-k

Sorry but I don't agree with you on several points.

1. The storage overhead for shooting in jpg as well as raw is nowhere nere negligble. Adding 60-80% extra storage is a lot.
2. The standard for metadata is IPTC-tags at the moment. Lightroom is fully capable of updating your files with that data. If MediaPortal supports reading IPTC-tags it could support more photo-editing and/or -managing software than Lightroom. In fact, just about all the major ones I guess.
3. Re-using an existing application's database has three problems:
a) Future compatibility. If for example Adobe changes the database format a little so that MP can't read it we'd be stuck waiting for an updated version of MediaPortal.
b) Locks users into having to use one single software for the photo library management.
c) Non-standard solution. The standard on photo-sites and for editing and library-management software is that you create your own database and import any metadata in the actual images.

Obviously you're right that creating jpgs when shooting saves you the conversion part though, but I wouldn't want an MP implementation forcing the users to do that. And jpgs are already supported so all You would really need is a meta-data reader. If you'd just share your folder with your camera jpgs and export your tags to those files from Lightroom, you'd be all set then.

@ghanz
Codecs for raw decoding is a Vista feature. There's no such functionality in XP.

If MediaPortal used dcraw, it could support orf (Olympus) and just about any other raw file format. The Wikipedia article on raw images has a couple more links to libraries that could be used freely.
Raw image format - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia