All I want is when I click on "pictures", just a long dated list. I have no need for sessions etc. The at the end of each month, I copy over to a backup drive.
But for some reason, having set up session 1, and session2. Session 3 ended up in session favourites. Buggered if I know what's going on...
Bridge is a file browser, and works differently to C1 (or Light Room and other similar programs) which assume you want to use C1 to "manage" your files as well as process them.
But, unlike most (maybe all) of these programs C1 offers several management options, which makes it very powerful, but also potentially complex. It's not that difficult, but it does take a bit of effort to sort out, especially if you come from Bridge as browser or Lightroom as a catalogue, because it doesn't work like either of them.
Catalogues work on the assumption that you want to manage all your images from inside a catalogue, and works best for people who need to search through multiple files (using keywords) to find specific images. Apart from long term C1 users (like me) and Bridge/ACR users (like you) this seems to be what most people want.
C1 allows you to choose a "referenced" catalogue (like LR) where the files stay where they are on the HDD, and C1 builds a single catalogue of previews, keywords and processing info into a single searchable catalogue that links to the original files.
C1 also allows you to create a "managed" catalogue (as Aperture did) which is similar to the above but the raw files are physically moved from HDD to inside the C1 catalogue. Creating a single massive catalogue file.
Sessions are like "mini" catalogues, with the idea that you set up a new session. for each new project. Creating a new session creates standard system folders inside the session folder/ directory and raw files are imported into the session "capture" folder with all the editing information also stored inside the session directory. There are further folders in the session folder for output files etc. The idea is that "everything" related to a specific project, which might be a portrait session, or longer term project are all under a a single session folder that can easily be backed up, or archived. If your work is project based, this is a safer way of working than catalogues.
There is a fourth option of creating a "dummy" session, mine is called C1_Viewer and it lives on the same SSD that holds the Operating system.
Once created, you can open it and browse your hard drive from inside C1, find a file open it and edit it without importing anything anywhere. Or you can simply drag a file into C1 and work on it, again without actually importing anything into C1.
However, unlike LR and ACR the editing information is not stored in the XMP files, but in a "CaptureOne" folder in the same folder /directory where the edited raw file lives. So if you archive raw files and want to revisit the edits. you also need to archive the associated "CaptureOne" folder.
There are lots of ways of using these tools.
I have all my raws in a folder/directory organised by Year and date that I catalogue in Lightroom (but you could do it in C1).
I use my C1_Viewer dummy session to open individual files and do test edits, quick edits etc.
But I also have sessions set up for specific projects, and files that I want to use for specific projects are "copied" or imported into the session associated with that project.
That means I have the raw files duplicated, but that is part of my backup procedures.
IF, I have edited a file with my C1_Viewer, I "import" them into a session as this means the editing is imported with the raw, but if I haven't edited it, I just drag it into the Session capture folder.
This is much easier than it all sounds, and you may well find that creating a dummy session to use as a browser, might work for you. OR you might consider creating a new session per month and importing your raws into the session capture folder.
