BRED 3.1 Image Link Workflow Air Force SIA Implementation 12/21/2012 Step 1: Using the Correct BUILDER Remote Entry Database (BRED) Software Version 1. If you are using a previous version of BRED 3.1, please go to your Windows Programs menu, find ERDC-CERL under All Programs, then BUILDER RED 3.1 and click on Check For Updates. This process will guide you through the process to upgrade to BRED 3.1.3 (or later). 2. If you do not have a previous version of BRED 3.1, please use the following link to download the installer package: http://sms.cecer.army.mil/bred/bred_setup_3.1.3.exe NOTE 1: BRED 3.0 IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE USAF SIA INSTANCE OF BUILDER. PLEASE BE SURE YOU HAVE BRED 3.1.3 INSTALLED. NOTE 2: IF YOU ARE WORKING WITH MULTIPLE BUILDER PROJECTS IN WHICH ONE IS THE AIR FORCE ON BUILDER 3.1 AND THE OTHER THAT IS STILL USING THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF BUILDER, YOU CAN HAVE BOTH BRED 3.0 AND BRED 3.1 INSTALLED AT THE SAME TIME ON YOUR COMPUTER. Step 2: Syncing your camera time with the computer time This is the most critical step in this Image Link workflow. Having a perfect sync between the computer time on the computer you are running BRED on in the field and the time of the camera you are using in the field is the key factor in this workflow. 1. Open the BRED Program on your field computer / tablet. Go to File Sync Image Link Time and you ll bring up a separate window which simply displays the running computer time on your machine. 2. Every camera has a date / time menu setting. Every manufacturer and model of camera is different so please refer to your respective camera s manual for instructions how to access this setting. 3. The most common workflow to sync your camera time is to bring up the computer time on your screen as in item number 1 above, then navigate to your camera s setting screen for the
date/time. Then choose a time that 1-2 minutes away and make that time selection in your camera. As the current time window open in BRED exactly turns over to that whole minute, click OK at that exact second on your camera to lock in that time. For example, if my BRED Image Link Time is currently 10:37:41 AM, I would alter my time setting on my camera to 10:39:00 AM and then right as the BRED time strikes that time, I would press the ok/enter button my camera to set that time. 4. As a final QC step, I would take a picture of the running BRED clock. You could possibly verify your sync by playing back that photo and looking at the date/time info in your camera. Furthermore, if there is a problem when CERL backloads all your images and links them to your log files, having this initial picture of the clock may help in the troubleshooting efforts. NOTE: BESIDES SYNCING THE EXACT MINUTE AND SECOND, IT IS ALSO CRITICAL TO BE SURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT DATE AND YEAR SET. FURTHERMORE, PLEASE BE SURE TO HAVE THE CORRECT AM/PM DESIGNATION SET WITH YOUR TIME. Step 3: Field Workflow Using BRED And Taking Pictures If the inspector s date/time is synced correctly as laid out in step 2, then the inspector could theoretically capture BRED inventory and assessment, take pictures and not have to do any special organizing, renaming or manual association and uploading to the BUILDER web application. The way this Image Link workflow works is that an inspector captures a log entry by clicking the Image Link button on whatever level of inventory the inspector is at followed by taking any number of pictures needed of that inventory item. Therefore, any pictures taken after clicking on an Image Link button up until the Image Link button is clicked on a different inventory item are associated with that piece of inventory. 1. After a piece of inventory and/or an assessment is added in BRED, click on the Image Link button. Whatever inventory level you are navigated to will be the inventory ID that is logged when clicking on Image Link. Image Link logs can be captured at these levels: a. Facility b. Component-Section c. Section Details d. Inspection (Assessment Rating)
This screenshot is an example of where the Image Link button is at the Component-Section Level 2. After clicking on Image Link, the inspector will receive a message in a new window that just provides confirmation of creating a log entry. 3. The inspector would then take whatever pictures he/she desires for that piece of equipment.
4. To take pictures of Section-Details (i.e. RPIE equipment), the Image Link button is NOT at the top menu bar, but rather down in the actual Details portion like the screenshot below: Step 4: Retrieving Image Log File from BRED and Organizing Photos 1. At the end of a site visit or some other stopping point in the inspector s workflow, you can retrieve the log file by navigating to: File Retrieve Image Link Log File You ll then be prompted for a file name and location on your computer to save the text file to. We recommend a naming convention using the inspector s name and site name.
2. The log files and pictures need to be stored and organized per inspector, per site visit. Therefore, at the end of a site visit, each inspector should have a folder that contains all their pictures and one BRED log text file. Therefore, from a general contractor perspective, the data clerk or project manager should have a separate folder for each inspector for each site visit that ultimately ends up all that inspector s image files and their corresponding BRED log text file. 3. BRED will not allow an inspector to store log records across multiple BRED files. Therefore, if an inspector has been logging Image Links in one BRED file and tries to open a different BRED file for a different site, BRED will require the inspector to save that log file at that time so it can clear it out of the system. The concept is that an inspector would have a BRED file that encompasses all the facilities for an entire survey visit and only have to deal with one BRED log file. If the inspector does have multiple BRED files for a survey visit (i.e. one BRED file for each building), then the inspector will just end up with more folders (one folder for each BRED file containing images for inventory from that BRED file along with the respective BRED log file). Step 5: Resizing and Renaming of Images We request that all images be sized to no larger than 1000px in either direction. The contractor can use any program desired to perform resizing of images. We show a sample workflow below using Microsoft Office Picture Manager because it s a standard part of the Microsoft Office suite, which most people would have. For a standard installation, you can open Picture Manager by going to Start Menu All Programs Microsoft Office Microsoft Office Tools Microsoft Office Picture Manager. 1. If not already done, the user will have to click on Add Picture Shortcut on the left hand side of Picture Manager and then navigate to the desired folder of pictures. When navigated to the picture folder, the first step is to resize the images. a. Click on Edit Select All (to select all the images in the folder) b. Click on Picture Resize c. In the dialog on the right hand side of the screen, choose Document-Small (800x600)
d. After clicking OK, save the pictures by going to File Save All 2. The next step is to batch rename all the images. Although this may not be necessary, it is recommended since all the images across an entire site visit must have a unique name. If two inspectors at a certain site visit both had an image called IMG_0001.jpg, we would run into problems. Therefore, we recommend batch renaming with the inspector s name at the beginning using the following steps: a. Click on Edit Select All b. Click on Edit Rename c. In the File Name entry box, put the inspector s name followed by an underscore (i.e. bartels_ ). d. Check the box Precede existing file name e. Uncheck Add sequential numbers f. Click OK to perform the renaming. g. Go to File Save All
Screenshot of batch renaming dialogue in Microsoft Office Picture Manager Step 6: Final Packaging and Upload of Images to USACE 1. After resizing and renaming of the images, all the images and associated BRED log text file will need to be zipped together. By highlighting all the images and log file, then right clicking and choosing Send To Compressed (zipped) folder, that will create a single zip file of all the images and log file together. The screenshot below, shows the addition of a zip file in my working folder:
2. The contractor then needs to upload all zip files to USACE s Document Management Web Site for the AFCEC project. The full instructions for using this site are in a separate file called AFCEC- Document Management Website. However, we ask that you use the following Document Information when filling out the upload form: a. Document Category: Installation b. MAJCOM: Choose correct MAJCOM c. Installation: Choose correct Installation d. Program/Product Line: Facility Condition Assessments e. Document Type: BUILDER Data f. Document Source: At Contractor s discretion g. Description: At Contractor s discretion but please be sure to be as descriptive as possible. AFCEC-Document Management Website 3. USACE CERL can then download these zip files and backload the images into BUILDER through an automated system.