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1. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
Lee Jay Mar 17, 2012 5:50 PM (in response to RDB_Mac)The catalog has to be local.
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2. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
RDB_Mac Mar 19, 2012 4:51 AM (in response to Lee Jay)I'd Dropbox replicates the Catalog in each computer is that local?
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3. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
john beardsworth Mar 19, 2012 5:04 AM (in response to RDB_Mac)Yes, but it also replicates the previews.lrdata. Have you enough space on Dropbox?
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4. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
RDB_Mac Mar 19, 2012 1:30 PM (in response to john beardsworth)I have 50GB.
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5. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
john beardsworth Mar 19, 2012 1:42 PM (in response to RDB_Mac)50Gb isn't many flash cards? Also the previews.lrdata can be big and a lot of files can change, so you'd also need the bandwidth. But assuming that's all OK, when you want to leave city A and close LR, you would then have to leave that computer on so the local catalogue and previews can sync up to the cloud. And in city B, you'd have to wait for the sync down to the local machine. Otherwise there's a risk that in city B you'd open LR and be working on an older version of the catalogue. It can be done, if you're careful and increase your backup, though it might be easier just to carry a big portable hard drive.
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6. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
dorin_nicolaescu Mar 19, 2012 2:02 PM (in response to john beardsworth)I don't think he has to sync the previews. At least since Lr3 they are
independent from catalog.
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7. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
john beardsworth Mar 19, 2012 2:18 PM (in response to dorin_nicolaescu)They've always been separate and I agree he doesn't have to sync them - but it will happen automatically and impact his Dropbox space and bandwidth. Maybe there's a way to tell Dropbox to ignore them?
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8. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
Cornelia-I Mar 19, 2012 2:27 PM (in response to john beardsworth)Yes, there is: move only the .lrcat into the dropbox part of your hard disk. Leave the previews folder outside, i.e. In a separate location not next to the catalog.
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9. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
john beardsworth Mar 19, 2012 3:07 PM (in response to Cornelia-I)Is that a paid option, Cornelia? I'm assuming that the OP will simply leave the lrcat on Dropbox, never copying or moving it.
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10. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
Cornelia-I Mar 19, 2012 3:12 PM (in response to john beardsworth)No, not a paid option.
When you install dropbox it creates a folder on your hard disk.
Only things or subdolders you put into it via explorer will be synched.
Dropbox does not automatically grab all your stuff...
The 2GB you get for free would never be sufficient for that.
While it may last for one .lrcat of some 150'000-200'000 images.
Cornelia
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11. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
john beardsworth Mar 19, 2012 3:28 PM (in response to Cornelia-I)I thought I'd heard there was a new option to point Dropbox to any folder. That said, I couldn't find it. So you're simply copying/moving the catalogue onto Dropbox, which would work - and isn't much effort.
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12. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
RickBu Mar 19, 2012 3:30 PM (in response to RDB_Mac)It seems like you say you travel between these two cities. If so why don't you just put your photos and catalog on an external hard drive, stick it in your briefcase and take it with you?
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13. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
Cornelia-I Mar 19, 2012 3:42 PM (in response to john beardsworth)If I read Victoria Bampton correctly in her new LR4-missing FAQs, you need to create a symbolic link inside the dropbox folder to tell the LR catalog where the previews are... (see page 335).
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14. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
SeanMcCormack Mar 19, 2012 7:52 PM (in response to Cornelia-I)You can indeed make a symbolic link. The link needs to be in the same folder as the catalog file, or Lightroom will simply create a new one, right there in the Dropbox folder.
I think you're pushing it a bit though because each time the catalog is closed (and it needs to be closed before you leave), it will have to upload to Dropbox entirely. For a large catalog, that could be 2GB at a time-which over time is a lot of bandwidth back and forth, and a lot of waiting on it to download. A baby G-Tech drive with catalog and photos would probably work out better..
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15. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
dorin_nicolaescu Mar 20, 2012 5:26 AM (in response to john beardsworth)1 person found this helpfulThey've always been separate and I agree he doesn't have to sync them
Yes, the previews themselves have always been separate from the catalog. But the "preview directory", i.e. the database tables that linked the images with their preview files, has been inside the catalog until LR3.
That created a bit of a trouble for those that had a "copy entire catalog" workflow, the OP was talking about. Namely, even if you had all previews built on both machines, copying a catalog from machine A, invalidated the preview cache on machine B, since the "preview tables" were now pointing to different preview files. And we now that building a new cache takes many hours.
Thankfully, in LR3 those tables had been moved to a separate SQLite database (previews.db file in the root of the preview cache).
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16. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
hamish niven Mar 20, 2012 9:02 AM (in response to RDB_Mac)1 person found this helpfulI'm with RickBu
In fact that is what I do
take a passport drive along with me and have the needed photos on that. Its small, quick, light and 500Gb.
Using the cloud is a huge hog on resourses. Maybe when 4G / LTE becomes mainstream and the speeds it promises are true, then maybe the iCloud would be a viable way of working.
I've often shot on a 16Gb card, and then put my LR catalog on that. Its not ideal, but it works and is great for emergency use, and a CF2 card is small enough to be lost in a wallet and a SD card even easier to put away somewhere safe.
Does limit your library to a small number of photos though.
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17. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
RDB_Mac Mar 24, 2012 11:32 AM (in response to hamish niven)All,
Great discussion. What I have learnt so far:
1. It is possible to use Dropbox as a tool in this situation,
2. Risks are: not closing LR and having the files out of sync, not alowing enough download time in City "B"
3. Using a portable drive might be more efficient
Regarding the portable; I have a RAID 3TB G Drive and an additional 3TB G Drive as my primary drives. I use Time Machine to backup my PRO and the 3TB RAID drive to the 3TB G Drive so I have double redundancy for my pictures. My lrcat file is on my MacBook so I would need to move this to a drive that would then be portable - a solution may be to purchase a smaller G Drive that I carry to city "B" or to place just the lrcat file in Dropbox.
Ron
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18. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
SeanMcCormack Mar 24, 2012 12:03 PM (in response to RDB_Mac)1 person found this helpfulRisk #2 is not about sync, it's about corrupting the catalog.
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19. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
hamish niven Mar 24, 2012 2:00 PM (in response to RDB_Mac)RDB_Mac_LR3.5
buy yourself a passport drive, a portable a larger internal harddrive for your lap top. If you value your data, dont mess around with your head in the clouds.
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20. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
john beardsworth Mar 24, 2012 2:06 PM (in response to SeanMcCormack)1 person found this helpfulSean, it's as much about the catalogue being out of sync. In city B, he'd be opening his local copy which would be older than the one closed in A.
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21. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
hamish niven Mar 24, 2012 2:08 PM (in response to john beardsworth)the mind boggles, that is flying faster than time?
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22. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
RDB_Mac Mar 24, 2012 3:25 PM (in response to hamish niven)Just looked at my lrcat file and it is 299.6MB. Not sure if that is large or not but that is the file that would have to sync...
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23. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
RDB_Mac Apr 14, 2012 7:59 PM (in response to RDB_Mac)All, I now have been convinced that my 16gb catalog file should not be synced through Dropbox. I have a portable G-Drive and would like to export my catalog and work on it from the portable dirve. Is there a place here that I can go and get a simple overview of the process? I would like to export some photos work on them on the portable then import them back into light room.
Thanks,
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24. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
dorin_nicolaescu Apr 14, 2012 10:14 PM (in response to RDB_Mac)Last time you said the catalog is 299MB. You dont need to sync the preview
cache.
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25. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
Cornelia-I Apr 15, 2012 1:23 AM (in response to RDB_Mac)Hi,
For instructions you might look at http://www.lightroomqueen.com/downloads/bookexcerpts/lr3excerpts/lr3sample-13-movingcomput ers.pdf.
Put simply:
If not already done, take care that your images inside LR have 1 common [great-(grand-)]parent folder, e.g. like the default-windows MyPictures.
Copy that over to your new portable drive, as well as the Lightroom-folder with the catalog and previews.
Open your catalog on the external drive and reconnect the missing [great-(grand-)]parent folder to the one on the same drive.
Continue working from the external drive, plugged in on both computers.
This leaves you the plugins and preferences separately on both macs.
But for those you could actually use Dropbox synch, as Victoria Bampton does. Her description about this dropbox use is not part of the free preview reading material, but then you need to spend 14.99British Pound for instant download of her eBook.
Cornelia
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26. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
RDB_Mac Apr 15, 2012 6:15 AM (in response to Cornelia-I)Thanks.
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27. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
RDB_Mac Apr 15, 2012 9:39 AM (in response to Cornelia-I)Ok, I just tried to move some files using the following process:
1. Add my G-Safe Mobile drive to LR
2. Create a folder called "mobile" on the G-Safe Mobile drive
3. Drag my folders from the existing location to the "mobile" folder
Many of the files did not move. I have had this problem in then past using LR file management functions.
So, I reverted to my backups and restored everything to my starting point.
Now I am back to the same problem I have had for weeks. I need to be able to take these pictures with me to another city. Is there a clean and 100% fool proof way to move or export a group of pictures work on them then re-import them to their original locations?
Thanks for the help.
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28. Re: Using Lightroom on a Cloud with Two Computers / Different Cities
Cornelia-I Apr 15, 2012 1:43 PM (in response to RDB_Mac)RDB_Mac_LR3.5 wrote:
Ok, I just tried to move some files using the following process:
1. Add my G-Safe Mobile drive to LR
2. Create a folder called "mobile" on the G-Safe Mobile drive
3. Drag my folders from the existing location to the "mobile" folder
Many of the files did not move. I have had this problem in then past using LR file management functions.
Why did they not move? What sort of error message did LR display to you?
You do never re-import pictures, but maybe catalog records, if need be.
The sketched workflow for you was that you work entirely on your mobile drive, not on your Macs, meaning that the LR catalog+previews + images to work on are on this G-Safe.
Once you are ready with your images you may move them within LR to a permanent storage location (which I would expect to be neither of the 2 Macs?).
But for that you need to get the LR file moves to work flawlessly with your OS.
I am not a Mac expert, but know from forum reading that usually it is a permission problem if it fails on Macs.
So please investigate this, otherwise you will not arrive at the "clean and 100% fool-proof way".
Cornelia