I hereby propose the development of a standard XMP schema for rail photography.
XMP, or the Extensible Metadata Platform, is an XML-based system for storing metadata for image files. But unlike most schemes for storing picture metadata, which typically rely on an a proprietary imaging application or external database, XMP actually stores the data within the image itself (most major image formats are supported, including JPEG and PNG). That means the data about each picture is persistent; it stays with each image, even if you transfer the pictures to another computer or send them to a friend on CD- or DVD-ROM.
XMP is presently supported by a number of image applications, including IdImager, BreezeBrowser and the photo gallery in Windows Vista. It is planned to be in version 8 of ThumbsPlus.
So, how can XMP benefit us railfans? Well, most of the common photo data, like the photographer, time/date, and location, is already available in IPTC (which is becoming integrated with XMP), and the technical details such as F-stop and shutter speed remain in EXIF as before. But what we should discuss here is what rail-related properties and values should be included in what I suggest to be called the "rpx" (RailPix) schema, so all rail photographers around the world would be able to exchange photos containing the same kind of data. Some sample schema values might include:
rpx:Loconumber -- the locomotive number
rpx:Locopower -- values for this could be from a dataset, including "Diesel", "Steam", "Electric", "Turbine"
rpx:RRco -- the railroad company, e.g. CSX, BNSF, etc.
rpx:track -- for when the power is not the same as the host railroad
rpx:traintype -- dataset of "Freight", "Passenger", "Commuter", "Rapid Transit", "Light Rail", "Trolley", "Tourist", "Circus"
Or for non-rolling stock, or unusual photos:
rpx:structure -- "trestle", "tunnel", "bridge", "signal"
rpx:physplant -- "yard", "abandoned", "street-running", "carfloat"
Not all properties need to be included for each photo.
See http://www.adobe.com/products/xmp/
for some basic information about XMP. For the detailed specification, see
http://partners.adobe.com/public/develo ... cation.pdf.
I have also started a Yahoo! group, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/railphotoXMP/, for further discussion.
So, what values might be best included in an XMP schema for railfans?
XMP, or the Extensible Metadata Platform, is an XML-based system for storing metadata for image files. But unlike most schemes for storing picture metadata, which typically rely on an a proprietary imaging application or external database, XMP actually stores the data within the image itself (most major image formats are supported, including JPEG and PNG). That means the data about each picture is persistent; it stays with each image, even if you transfer the pictures to another computer or send them to a friend on CD- or DVD-ROM.
XMP is presently supported by a number of image applications, including IdImager, BreezeBrowser and the photo gallery in Windows Vista. It is planned to be in version 8 of ThumbsPlus.
So, how can XMP benefit us railfans? Well, most of the common photo data, like the photographer, time/date, and location, is already available in IPTC (which is becoming integrated with XMP), and the technical details such as F-stop and shutter speed remain in EXIF as before. But what we should discuss here is what rail-related properties and values should be included in what I suggest to be called the "rpx" (RailPix) schema, so all rail photographers around the world would be able to exchange photos containing the same kind of data. Some sample schema values might include:
rpx:Loconumber -- the locomotive number
rpx:Locopower -- values for this could be from a dataset, including "Diesel", "Steam", "Electric", "Turbine"
rpx:RRco -- the railroad company, e.g. CSX, BNSF, etc.
rpx:track -- for when the power is not the same as the host railroad
rpx:traintype -- dataset of "Freight", "Passenger", "Commuter", "Rapid Transit", "Light Rail", "Trolley", "Tourist", "Circus"
Or for non-rolling stock, or unusual photos:
rpx:structure -- "trestle", "tunnel", "bridge", "signal"
rpx:physplant -- "yard", "abandoned", "street-running", "carfloat"
Not all properties need to be included for each photo.
See http://www.adobe.com/products/xmp/
for some basic information about XMP. For the detailed specification, see
http://partners.adobe.com/public/develo ... cation.pdf.
I have also started a Yahoo! group, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/railphotoXMP/, for further discussion.
So, what values might be best included in an XMP schema for railfans?
