Meta35 User Guide (full)

Meta35 User Guide © 2015 Promote Systems

All rights reserved. No parts of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means ­graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems -without the written permission of the publisher.

Products that are referred to in this document may be either trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners. The publisher and the author make no claim to these trademarks.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, the publisher and the author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of information contained in this document or from the use of programs and source code that may accompany it. In no event shall the publisher and the author be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this document.

THE INFORMATION, CODE AND EXECUTABLES PROVIDED ARE PROVIDED AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

1 Warranty & Product Information

Promote Systems, LLC (PS, LLC) warrants Meta35 hardware against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of ONE (1) YEAR from the date of original retail purchase. If a defect exists, at its option PS, LLC will exchange the product with a product that is new or which has been manufactured from new or serviceable used parts and is at least functionally equivalent to the original product. A replacement product/part assumes the remaining warranty of the original product or ninety (90) days from the date of replacement, whichever provides longer coverage for you. When a product or part is exchanged, any replacement item becomes your property and the replaced item becomes PS, LLC’s property. To obtain product support for the Meta 35 system, visit our website www.meta35.com.

2 FCC/CE Compliance

This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

(1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and

(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.

Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help

 

3 Compatibility

Meta35 software requires one of the following OS versions for best experience: PC: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or newer Mac: OS X 10.9 to 10.12.6 Meta35 is compatible with the following cameras: Nikon F5, F6, F100, N90, N90s Canon EOS-1V Minolta Maxxum/Dynax 7D (requires optional Minolta DS-100 data reader, a Smart Media card and a Smart Media card reader) Minolta Maxxum/Dynax 9D (requires optional DM-9 data back for data storage, a Smart Media card and a Smart Media card reader)

4 Usage

4.1 First Steps

If you have not installed Meta35 software yet, please install it now. To obtain software installation packages, please visit www.meta35.com. After installation, connect your Meta35 adapter to your computer. On Windows, please wait until the device installation is finished -this should take no more than a minute.

With the adapter connected, start Meta35 software:

Immediately to the right is a list of the image scans where Meta35 will embed your shooting data as well as any metadata you provide.On the left Meta35 shows a list of your imported films followed by frames for the currently selected film. You can use "Metadata" section on the bottom left to assign titles, descriptions, keywords and other metadata to your scans.

The right side shows a preview of the selected image along with the shooting data. The exact shooting data set displayed will depend on the camera model.

4.2 Importing Data

Meta35 allows importing data from most recent and advanced Nikon, Canon and Minolta film cameras. To import film data, follow the steps below.

Nikon and Canon

Connect camera cable to your Meta35 adapter, then connect adapter to a USB port on your computer.

1. Start Meta35 software
2. Connect the cable to your camera and turn the camera on
3. For Nikon, skip to the next step. When using Canon EOS-1V, open a button cover lid on the right side, and press "M.Fn" button until you see "PC" written on the top camera LCD.
4. Before you import your films, consider filling the defaults for the “Author” and “Copyright” fields in "Metadata" section. If you use “Save as Default” feature, you won’t have to re-enter this information for every imported film.
5. Click "Import Film" button in Meta35 software. Wait until the process is finished.
6. Meta35 will prompt if you want film data deleted from your camera. This may help free more memory for new shooting data.

IMPORTANT: When done, disconnect the cable from your camera. This will help preserve your camera battery life. Due to special requirements of the data transfer process, Meta35 has to keep your camera awake at all times via the cable. If cable is left connected, camera battery may be depleted as quickly as over night with a cable still connected to the camera,even if your camera is turned off. It is safe to leave the cable connected to Meta35 adapter whether in or out of the USB port.

Minolta Maxxum/Dynax 7D

Importing shooting data from Minolta Maxxum/Dynax 7D requires an optional Minolta DS-100 shooting data import adapter, a Smart Media card (normally shipped with DS-100), as well as a Smart Media card reader.

1. Use Minolta DS-100 adapter to save the shooting data from camera to a Smart Media card
2. Insert Smart Media card into the card reader, then connect the reader to your computer's USB port
3. Start Meta35 software
4. Click "File" menu, then choose "Import Film Data from Folder..."
5. Choose the disk (Windows) or volume (OS X) for the Smart Media card and click "Select"

Minolta Maxxum/Dynax 9D

Importing shooting data from Minolta Maxxum/Dynax 9D requires an optional Minolta DM-9 data back with a Smart Media card to be used when shooting, as well as a Smart Media card reader to import data.

1. When done shooting, remove Smart Media card from the camera data back, insert it into the card reader, then connect the reader to your computer's USB port
2. Start Meta35 software
3. Click "File" menu, then choose "Import Film Data from Folder..."
4. Choose the disk (Windows) or volume (OS X) for the Smart Media card and click "Select"

Finalizing Your Import

The film data is now available for review and embedding into your scanned images. You may want to highlight the roll in the roll list and enter optional roll notes to help you remember the details when the scans are back from the lab. Note that these roll notes will not be embedded into your scans later and are here only for your reference.

NOTE: When you import a large number of film rolls, you may want to use "Filter" button to only show rolls you are working with at this moment. You can filter by the camera type or import date.

The exact set of shooting data varies between camera models. Some camera models also allow a choice between data sets to be recorded. This will also affect the number of rolls that can be stored before the camera data memory is full.

Regardless of the available data set, Meta35 will always download every bit of information provided by the camera. You can add more information using the "Metadata" fields if desired. Note that some cameras do not record frame date or time. You can use "Date" and "Time" fields located on the "Details" pane of the "Metadata" section to provide date and time to every frame, or check "Timestamp All" box to apply date and time to all frames within the selected roll.

Selecting a frame will let you see the imported shooting data on the bottom right. There is no image to go with it yet -film cameras only record film shooting data in its storage, but not the real images. You will be able to load and sync your scanned images at a later stage.

It may be a good idea to start entering frame information about the frames soon after the import is completed, while that information is still fresh in your mind. If your camera records frame date and time electronically, this information will be available. If not, frame date/time will default to the time of import, but can be changed to match the real date and time.

4.3 Embedding Data

Once film data is imported, you can load images to match them to the imported shooting data.

1. Select a film roll you want to load images for.
2. Click "Load Images" to select a folder with the images you want matched. Meta35 supports matching for JPEG and TIFF images.
3. When all images are loaded, you can select a scan and Meta35 will select the appropriate frame data and show all relevant information.
4. If the number of images in the selected folder is not the same as the number of frames in the selected roll, you will be prompted to choose a different folder, or exclude certain frames or images from embedding. If you have more shooting data than scans, right-click undesired frames and choose "Exclude". For the reverse situation, right-click undesired frames and choose "Exclude from Embedding".
5. Some images may not be properly rotated. To rotate an image, select it and use "Rotate" buttons at the top to rotate the image as desired. Finally, click "Apply" to rotate the image. Please note that the actual image is not rotated -Meta35 simply adds an EXIF flag for selected image orientation just like a digital camera would do.
6. If your scans are out of order, select the scans to move, then use "Move" buttons to change the order. You can also right-click the selected scans and use "Move to Top" or "Move to Bottom" to speed up the process. Alternatively, you can also right-click a scan and use "Sort" menu to sort your scans by file name or file date.
7. If you want to set your image metadata to be the same across all scans, select the image to synchronize metadata from, then hold Ctrl key to select images to synchronize to. When done, right-click a selected scan and choose "Sync Metadata across Images". It's a good idea to do this before doing any per-image editing, if you plan on doing that.
8. When ready, click "Embed Data" and Meta35 will record all shooting data along with any metadata you provided into the scanned images.
9. All frame rolls where data has been embedded will have "Yes" in "Embedded" column. Making any change to the data will erase that mark and require clicking "Embed Data" button again in order for updated information to be put inside the scans.

 
NOTE 1: When embedding into a set of scans for the first time, Meta35 creates a backup of all images in the same folder. This is done in order to protect your original scans from any unlikely issues that may arise during data embedding process. You can disable that behavior in Meta35 preferences.

NOTE 2: When using Meta35 on OS X to embed information into the TIFF files, shooting data will be embedded as expected, but certain metadata fields may not be written. This behavior will change in a future version to allow for complete data set to be written. This does not apply to Windows version of Meta35 nor to JPEG files on OS X -in both of the latter cases files receive the full data set under all conditions.

Once the synchronization is complete, your images are ready for import into Adobe Lightroom or any other EXIF-compatible software.

4.4 Camera Setup

Certain camera models support custom functions that help you set up the camera to suit your shooting conditions. Meta35 provides a simple, easy-to-use way to customize your camera settings. The following cameras support custom settings modification by Meta35:

-Nikon F5, F100, N90, N90s

-Canon EOS-1V NOTE: Nikon F6 supports custom functions, but they can only be modified using controls on the camera body.

To customize your camera custom settings:

1. Connect your camera using Meta35 adapter to your computer as described in the First Steps When working with Canon EOS-1V, don't forget to use M.Fn button to put the camera into the PC mode before proceeding.
2. Click "Camera Setup" button on the top right. Meta35 will attempt to connect your camera and load the existing set of custom settings.
3. Choose a setting group on the left. The settings are functionally grouped together to facilitate quick access to similar camera functions. You can also use “All Functions” group to list all settings in alphabetical order.
4. Choose a setting, then select a desired setting on the right.
5. Certain camera settings (such as shooting data recording level) cannot be altered when there is film data in the camera. To change these settings, import your shooting data first, confirm deletion of the shooting data in your camera, then try changing those settings again.
6. If you would like to erase your changes, click “Import from Camera” button. This will overwrite your changes with settings currently in your camera.
7. When all settings are set, click "Export to Camera" to save your settings to your camera.

You can also create multiple setting presets for each camera type in Meta35. A preset contains all settings for the camera and can be loaded at any moment, allowing you to quickly switch your camera between different shooting conditions. Use "Load Preset" and "Save Preset" button to load and save your current settings as a preset. Clicking "Load Preset" will also allow you to load a factory default set of settings your camera shipped with.

NOTE: if Meta35 cannot detect a connected camera when "Camera Setup" button is clicked, you will only be able to work with presets. In such case simply choose a camera model to manage its presets, then proceed as described above. If at any time you need to work with an actual camera, close "Camera Setup" window (saving your work as a preset if desired), connect your camera and turn it on, the click "Camera Setup" button again.

4.5 Preferences

Meta35 software behavior can be customized to suit your work flow. Click "Preferences" button to tweak the software settings. The following settings are available:

When downloading shooting data

By default Meta35 will skip over shooting data you imported earlier from your camera. You may wish to change this behavior by choosing to prompt for overwriting of the existing film data. Note that doing so will erase any modifications you may have entered, including any custom EXIF metadata.

After film data download

At its default settings, Meta35 will prompt you to delete shooting data from your camera once the import has been completed. You can opt to have the shooting data deleted automatically after each import, or let Meta35 leave shooting data intact by altering this setting.

Camera connection

Meta35 uses a special technology to ensure the camera is awake during data transfer. However, if the camera is kept connected for a long time, this may have a negative impact on your camera battery. Meta35 will prompt you to disconnect the cable from your camera once you are done. If desired, uncheck "Prompt to disconnect camera on exit" setting to remove that prompt. Note that the camera battery can be depleted as quickly as overnight, should the camera remain connected to the Meta35 cable. It is safe to leave the cable connected to Meta35 adapter whether in or out of the USB port.

Image backups

Meta35 software will create backups every time you embed data into a new set of images. This will protect your original scans in case of any unlikely issues during embedding, but it will take additional disk space. You can disable these backups if desired by unchecking "Backup all images before embedding".