-
1. Re: Transition from Adobe Bridge to Lightroom
dj_paige Jul 8, 2013 9:47 AM (in response to Bakerxxxxx)Importing 50000 images will cause your processor to do a lot of work generating previews, and your Lightroom will be extremely slow until all the previews have been generated. It is probably better to import the files in small batches.
Starting over by erasing all images from Lightroom and then using the program on piecemeal basis eliminates the speed issue, but creates all kinds of dead end options and confusion when importing new images.
???
What confusion and dead ends?
My images were/are imported onto the computer and organized by time (year/month/subject). How do others overcome these initial problems of making a transition from Adobe Bridge to Lightroom while maintaining a time based organization ...
If you want to keep your folders organization, you import via the "Add" option; your folders will remain unchanged.
... from which to develop folders of images based on themes and topics?
You don't want "folders of images based upon themes and topics". Instead, you want to leave the photos in the same folder they are in now, and then use keywords, captions and other metadata to create organization based upon themes and topics. Keywords are like "virtual folders", you can assign a photo many keywords ("skyscraper", "Chicago", "Illinois", "summer vacation", "beaux arts" and so on) and thus be able to find the photo on any one of those (or multiple of those) keywords. You can't really do that type of searching if your only organizing tool is folders by date.
-
2. Re: Transition from Adobe Bridge to Lightroom
Bakerxxxxx Jul 8, 2013 6:04 PM (in response to dj_paige)Thank you for taking the time to help me.
Yes, your are correct about importing so many images at once into Lightroom. But from my limited experience the waiting time between when I clicked on an image and it becomes available for my processing remained slow. After importing photos to Lightroom was completed, I tried to work on a single image. Too slow. Then I tried the same later on, possibly the next day, but it still took 2 to 5 minutes to appear ready for processing. Could it be that I needed to wait even longer "until all previews were generated"? I don't know. Eventually, I gave up, decided to erase all the imports and instead imported just one photo session of maybe 30 to 40 RAW images. Access to those images was almost immediate. And at that point I began to use and love Lightroom for first level of processing RAW images.
I decided to expand my limited success by including each photo session as a catalogue. I would have used "folders", but Lightoom didn't seem to offer a "create folder" option under the "File" menu. Then I began running into difficulties attempting to import and group several previous photo sessions with new sessions into the same catalogue. I wanted to be able to look at all thumbnail images from several sessions at the same time. But I coujld not group the new photos with previous photos even though the images were downloaded into the same date/subject folder on my hard drive. Maybe Lightroom outsmarted me and pulled the photos from the Compact Flash card I still had attached to the computer, instead of pulling all photos from the folder, even though I directed Lightroom to import all the photos from the folder I identified. In any case, Lightroom would not allow me to review all the photo thumbnails at the same time. Lightroom put the new photos in a separate "
folder" with date....(Background: I manually download all photos onto the computer hard drives, organized by date and subject before any processing is done. I could not see myself transitioning to another method of organization unless I find a way that is understandable and predictable.)
One of the features of Lightroom that I had hoped to employ was to create a "virtual folder" and/or sub folders for assembling my best shots for stills, sports, weddings, over the years, in other words a portfolio of sorts. I think the best approach for such an undertaking is to import all the images from several hard drives in Lightroom. But presently that's not possible for reasons described above.
I've tried several on-line, free training sessions, but either I missing something that the instructors assume I should know or there is a hardware problem. I don't think it's the latter given that I'm using a NVidia GeForce 9800 GTX, 8GB RAM, 64-bit Windows 7 professional OS, Intel Core 2 Quad cpu Q6600 @ 2.40GHZ on a dedicated (photos only) desktop PC.
-
3. Re: Transition from Adobe Bridge to Lightroom
dj_paige Jul 9, 2013 4:01 AM (in response to Bakerxxxxx)I can't explain why your Lightroom is so slow, other than Lightroom is still performing background tasks. When you had this speed issue, did you check to see how much of your CPU power and memory was being used?
Multiple catalogs for each group of imports is a terrible idea for organization purposes. There is no way to organize or browse across multiple catalogs.
I would have used "folders", but Lightoom didn't seem to offer a "create folder" option under the "File" menu.
Virtual folders, as I said, are keywords. Actual folders can indeed be created on import, or by clicking on the + sign in the FOlder Panel
-
4. Re: Transition from Adobe Bridge to Lightroom
john beardsworth Jul 9, 2013 4:06 AM (in response to dj_paige)"Virtual folders, as I said, are keywords."
Also collections and collection sets. As Paige says, mutliple catalogues aren't a great idea - not until you know what you're doing (and usually not even then).
To the OP, something is very wrong if you're seeing 2-5 minute delays when you go into Develop. LR doesn't need the previews (which, 1:1 or smart previews?) to be generated before you can get on working, so ignore or cancel preview building, Your system seems up to spec, what about the drivers - check your video drivers are updated.


