The current functionality is so simplistic it’s getting to the point of ridiculousness. It needs to follow similar to Ancestry or other competitor software.
For example, we should be able to link the actual person in the photo by their faces in the picture in Roots Magic, so we have a record of who is in the picture - pretty basic. Especially for the primary picture in RM vs the whole picture.
In RM you have to type out who is who in the description field - like the old days when you just write in pencil on the back of the picture. I think RM can do better.
We should be able to add meta data to the picture while in Microsoft have that meta data update in RM when you drag the picture into Roots magic. So, you do not need to add the data twice.
This is similar to what happens in Ancestry as most people know if you add the media data in Ancestry and then use tree share to bring the picture into Roots Magic the metadata follows suit. But the problem is if you had used tree share previously, it will duplicate any previous picture. This is ridiculous.
The user should be able to control how the media is shared between RM and Ancestry.
RM needs a complete refresh to be able to deal with media, eliminate the duplicates and use standard current technology process that is available in other genealogy software.
Look at the functionality in FH7 or Ancestry for media as a guide - that would be a good start.
RM is a good software, but media in RM is only going to get worse if RM does not keep up with the industry standard processes.
Thanks - For me there are a few things in RM that should work better for media
Not sure what I’m doing wrong but it seems when I use Tree Share it will duplicate the media files in Ancestry Memories gallery. Especially when I only the picture once in RM. I have to go into Ancestry and delete the duplicates…… or limit the use of Tree Share.
If I add meta data to my picture in Microsoft Explorer (i.e. title, date, description etc.) when you drag and drop into RM that data does not get added to the data fields in RM. You need to retype it in the fields. In FH7 if you did a drag and drop media data fields would automatically be filled out (i.e. title date description etc.) and therefore you are only typing in the meta data once, at the original media file.
RM does not have a direct media linking process like FH7 and Ancestry. When I have a media picture, I should be able to tag the individuals to identify them and have it automatically save the picture to the individual’s media section. This is really great when there is a large group picture.
RM will not let you tag a person’s face to use as the main image in a chart etc. Both Ancestry and FH7 has this capability.
The interesting thing, not sure if you came across this, but if you first add the media to Ancestry and complete the meta data in Ancestry - when you Tree Share the meta data fields in RM get completed. The downside I came across when you Tree Share again it will duplicate the media files in RM (So I don’t want that workflow!).
I do like RM, but IMO the media process seems like an area RM could improve on with its functionality.
I believe the request for functionality, to partition individuals from out of a collective group photo, has been previously requested. Personally, I don’t see much regular use for such photo features in my collection of images. I’d suggest someone would get better results using a photo-centric program to do these occasional tasks, then do a capture of that produced output. RootsMagic is essentially a collection of thumbnails with links to external image files, anyway. Do the desired extra steps externally, then link them to RM. For Ancestry, it’s their bread and butter and it’s users can bring down those enhanced images into RM. Don’t know about FH7, but this program’s authors are well-aware of their competition and the features they offer.