Hey Rob - You're right about books - especially rare books - with their tender spines, I can't see the LOC letting anyone but one of their folks scanning those holdings. Books aren't part of the public record like most, but not all, of the NA holdings are - and the topic of "don't hurt the item" comes into play with very old rare books. When I worked with rare books, the head of the library was a yahoo who grabbed our set of books from 1589 & 1600 and whipped them open in front of a patron without using gloves and without support. I quietly stepped in and took over, but he nearly ditched half of a $30,000 set of books. So, being a "pro" doesn't mean you actually know anything, either! Being a semi-pro at this stuff may help, but at least the NA archivists will be really helpful if you contact them in advance - and the ship's logs I need to scan are only from 1876-1920 and are very sturdy - and are part of the public record - one of the big differences.
I do understand your frustration.
Electronically Impaired
Moderator: peterZ
Re: Electronically Impaired
Ann, I've been looking at ways to automate cameras as well. There's a third-party computer program that can most likely do what you need - PSRemote by Breeze Systems. It allows remote control of Canon PowerShot cameras via USB using the factory original firmware. I found it when evaluating another program by the same company to computer control DSLRs for my institution's cradle project.
The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not necessarily represent those of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
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daniel_reetz
- Posts: 2812
- Joined: 03 Jun 2009, 13:56
- E-book readers owned: Used to have a PRS-500
- Number of books owned: 600
- Country: United States
- Contact:
Re: Electronically Impaired
Misty, can PSRemote do more than one camera at a time?
Re: Electronically Impaired
It can, but their licensing only allows one camera to be used per license. It needs two licenses to operate two cameras together. On the other hand, it and DSLR Remote do have specific features for multi-camera functionality; it can synchronize camera settings and fire multiple cameras simultaneously with one keypress.
Here is the multi-camera feature page for PSRemote, and here is the one for DSLR Remote.
Here is the multi-camera feature page for PSRemote, and here is the one for DSLR Remote.
The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not necessarily represent those of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
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Ann
Re: Electronically Impaired
Hey Misty - Thanks! I'll look into this and see if it will work with the cameras we chose to use. Appreciated!
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rogermaris
- Posts: 10
- Joined: 04 Mar 2014, 00:52
Re: Electronically Impaired
Correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't programs like Multicamera PSRemote render (analog switches, any TV output, memory card(s), and remote handle) all obsolete?
My main source: http://stereo.jpn.org/eng/sdm/upload3.htm
Let me explain what I am thinking:
I want to reduce the cost of constructing a book scanner via subtracting the need for – Camera hacking, input/output onto an external display, and remote handle. Consequently, it will also increase the speed. (Transferring Images will be direct)
Suppose the materials for the project are as follows: I get two supported cameras (e.g. 2 Canon G7s--or something cheaper) and hook it up to my laptop with
http://www.breezesys.com/MultiCamera/psr_index.htm Installed All I would need is a bookholder device e.g., Nalfonsos' setup – then I would be good to go.
The solution to speed the image transfer process has led people to spend more money in buying fast memory cards and/or wireless cards. All of these are viable solutions, but I think there is no need for a memory card because PSRemote would allow me to directly transfer images to my computer—and this would be a superior option for portability because transferring from card to computer would not be necessary. Not to mention, transferring from card to computer would have to be a distinct step, (meaning more time), whereas direct transferring as I am suggesting would combine two steps of 'capture & transfer' into one. So that is to say, that the USB cable/firewire might not be the fastest solution of data transfer in general, but what would mostly contribute to time saving and speed increase is cutting two steps in the process of book scanning into one. Additionally, No need for huge cards (20GB)—for the space relies on your computer hardrive.
Although I have a lot of respect for Dan's knowledge about how to design a frugal electronic handle & switch/TV, still, I think I can save more money by not needing to buy any memory card, or bother myself with electronic switches & remotes, as well as analog outputs (TV) –because I would take care of all of that from the computer.
Of course, the problem I see with my suggestion is Multiremote PSRemote costs money. However, there are similar programs like PSRemote that are free and/or open-source. But the point is that PSRemote is a good example of a computer application that would allow us to skip some of the steps in constructing a portable scanner and the process of scanning itself.
Oh and perhaps I could be mistaken about triggering the shot from the computer rendering no need for a physical remote to fire to shots at once
Anyway, aside from that rough explanation above, please correct me if I am wrong, in saying that I don't need memory card, or all the other things I mentioned.
Thanks
My main source: http://stereo.jpn.org/eng/sdm/upload3.htm
Let me explain what I am thinking:
I want to reduce the cost of constructing a book scanner via subtracting the need for – Camera hacking, input/output onto an external display, and remote handle. Consequently, it will also increase the speed. (Transferring Images will be direct)
Suppose the materials for the project are as follows: I get two supported cameras (e.g. 2 Canon G7s--or something cheaper) and hook it up to my laptop with
http://www.breezesys.com/MultiCamera/psr_index.htm Installed All I would need is a bookholder device e.g., Nalfonsos' setup – then I would be good to go.
The solution to speed the image transfer process has led people to spend more money in buying fast memory cards and/or wireless cards. All of these are viable solutions, but I think there is no need for a memory card because PSRemote would allow me to directly transfer images to my computer—and this would be a superior option for portability because transferring from card to computer would not be necessary. Not to mention, transferring from card to computer would have to be a distinct step, (meaning more time), whereas direct transferring as I am suggesting would combine two steps of 'capture & transfer' into one. So that is to say, that the USB cable/firewire might not be the fastest solution of data transfer in general, but what would mostly contribute to time saving and speed increase is cutting two steps in the process of book scanning into one. Additionally, No need for huge cards (20GB)—for the space relies on your computer hardrive.
Although I have a lot of respect for Dan's knowledge about how to design a frugal electronic handle & switch/TV, still, I think I can save more money by not needing to buy any memory card, or bother myself with electronic switches & remotes, as well as analog outputs (TV) –because I would take care of all of that from the computer.
Of course, the problem I see with my suggestion is Multiremote PSRemote costs money. However, there are similar programs like PSRemote that are free and/or open-source. But the point is that PSRemote is a good example of a computer application that would allow us to skip some of the steps in constructing a portable scanner and the process of scanning itself.
Oh and perhaps I could be mistaken about triggering the shot from the computer rendering no need for a physical remote to fire to shots at once
Anyway, aside from that rough explanation above, please correct me if I am wrong, in saying that I don't need memory card, or all the other things I mentioned.
Thanks
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Ann
Re: Electronically Impaired
Hey - I don't know about any of the stuff you just wrote about. I'm not that techy. I've solved my problem by purchasing a Canon Rebel XSi with the Live View Function that allows me to see what my camera see in real time on my Mac laptop through the EOS Utility software and the USB connection. All batching & editing will be done with the Canon software & Graphic Converter. For me, since I have to meet really high standards for these images in RAW form, I have to check every image for quality assurance before I shoot. So, Live View shows me exactly what the camera sees and allows me to control the shutter through my laptop. As for skipping memory cards - that wouldn't help me since just for one project I'm planning, I'll be taking 15,000 high quality RAW images and storing that information on an 1 TB external drive, so the laptop I'm using isn't my final storage place, and I can edit the images from the external drive through my laptop. I don't have enough HD space on my laptop for 15,000 15mb+ images anyway. So, that's where I was going when I began this thread, and I don't know if you can just save the images to your HD instead of a memory card. Sorry! I do understand why you want to do it, though.
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Ann
Re: Electronically Impaired
Oh - and for Mac users - I've looked into the anlaog-digital TV connector stuff and that doesn't work for Mac - at least I couldn't figure it out. I also ordered an EasyCap vid capture device, expecting that I could use it to just see what my camera sees in real time - but the description of the device didn't list the processor restrictions, and my Mac won't work with it anyway. So, we found out about Live View in certain Canon cameras and our problem is solved - w/Canon's software and a USB cable - and it works great with OS X.3 and higher, with a PowerPC processor; might have problems with the Mac Intel processor, though (not sure about Intel Duo); so that has to be looked into for the Intel users. I have PowerPC and it works great - & we found a barely used Canon XSi locally in mint condition.
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spamsickle
- Posts: 596
- Joined: 06 Jun 2009, 23:57
Re: Electronically Impaired
If the description at your link is correct, and PSRemote is unable to control focus, that would be a dealbreaker for me. Autofocus is just not reliable on pages with lots of white space -- title pages, end-of-chapter pages, etc. Any time savings you realized by eliminating a separate transfer step would be more than eaten up by the need to reshoot a half dozen or so pages per book, and integrate them with the originals.