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Author Topic: Just downloaded LR Beta 2  (Read 4414 times)

Morris Taub

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Just downloaded LR Beta 2
« on: May 17, 2008, 08:40:05 pm »

Ok, so please forgive this new to LR question...it's pretty basic but I'm wanting to understand the implications so I start out 'right'...

Right now my main computer is a laptop...when I open lightroom and it says 'create new catalog'...should that be on the laptops hard drive?...should it be to an external drive that's much larger which will be backed up later?...I have an external enclosure with several large drives in it...

I mean I'm 'understanding' that my 'catalog' is the database, right?...I don't want a huge database on the laptop, do I?...it only has 145 gigs left...

I think I'm going to divide my 'catalog' into years and within that into months...should I have my 'main' catalog on my external drive and just a monthly catalog on the laptops hard drive which is downloaded/exported to the yearly catalog each month?...

please tell me if i'm not understanding what LR is doing or what it will do with my info...I guess my goal is to have a yearly catalog with all my images in one place that will be backed up to larger drives...

kinda like Photography 2008>jan>feb> etc...and within the monthly folders I may have job folders, folders by shoot or location...

thanks for your help...l'm feeling a bit confused about the basic structure of LR and how best to use it...I have watched the LL video on lightroom 1 and 1.1 and honest, it leaves me, still, with questions...

M

francofit

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« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2008, 02:29:40 am »

Hoping to have well understood your doubts, I would answer this way:

- The catalog (yes, that's the LR database) occupies a very small part of your disk space.
The "Previews" which reside under a subfolder (sub-directory) could make this unsignificant disk occupation of the database a little more important or not depending on how you set the "Preview" life.
- In any case your images have the lion's share of disk space.

I am just a "dilettante" and I have just a notebook with some external disk:
my database(s) is on the computer internal disk while all the images are on the external ones.
I have no doubts that the best way to start is that: catalog on the internal drive, images on the bigger external disks.
Eventually, in case future lack of space on computer internal disk, it will be very easy to move the catalog to the same external disk where the images reside or, even better, to some other *fast* external drive.  Moving the catalog could be just a matter of less than 5 seconds if you give up the "Previews" and accept to rebuild them on the new drive or will need just some minutes in order to move the entire structure/substructure of the db+previews+backups.

Finally I would not split in different databases by date (months or years shoots), but yes I organize the actual images mainly by date (yy-mm-dd) *physically*, but everything is managed by one catalog db *logically*.
« Last Edit: May 18, 2008, 02:33:11 am by francofit »
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Franco

francois

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« Reply #2 on: May 18, 2008, 10:14:02 am »

Quote
Ok, so please forgive this new to LR question...it's pretty basic but I'm wanting to understand the implications so I start out 'right'...

Right now my main computer is a laptop...when I open lightroom and it says 'create new catalog'...should that be on the laptops hard drive?...should it be to an external drive that's much larger which will be backed up later?...I have an external enclosure with several large drives in it...

I mean I'm 'understanding' that my 'catalog' is the database, right?...I don't want a huge database on the laptop, do I?...it only has 145 gigs left...

I think I'm going to divide my 'catalog' into years and within that into months...should I have my 'main' catalog on my external drive and just a monthly catalog on the laptops hard drive which is downloaded/exported to the yearly catalog each month?...

please tell me if i'm not understanding what LR is doing or what it will do with my info...I guess my goal is to have a yearly catalog with all my images in one place that will be backed up to larger drives...

kinda like Photography 2008>jan>feb> etc...and within the monthly folders I may have job folders, folders by shoot or location...

thanks for your help...l'm feeling a bit confused about the basic structure of LR and how best to use it...I have watched the LL video on lightroom 1 and 1.1 and honest, it leaves me, still, with questions...

M
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=196311\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
The Library file (Library = Catalog) only takes only a small amount of room on your hard disk, at least compared to all your image files and to the previews database.  I don't think that you need to partition your library based on years. I see no problem putting the catalog, previews and image files on an external hard drive. You can also start creating your library on your laptop drive and if it grows too much, move the library to an external drive.

The way you arrange files in folders on your computer is not important to Lightroom. Feel free to put files as you indicated in your post (ex: 2008>January>…).

Does this help?
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Francois

Morris Taub

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« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2008, 02:22:30 pm »

Quote
Hoping to have well understood your doubts, I would answer this way:

- The catalog (yes, that's the LR database) occupies a very small part of your disk space.
The "Previews" which reside under a subfolder (sub-directory) could make this unsignificant disk occupation of the database a little more important or not depending on how you set the "Preview" life.
- In any case your images have the lion's share of disk space.

I am just a "dilettante" and I have just a notebook with some external disk:
my database(s) is on the computer internal disk while all the images are on the external ones.
I have no doubts that the best way to start is that: catalog on the internal drive, images on the bigger external disks.
Eventually, in case future lack of space on computer internal disk, it will be very easy to move the catalog to the same external disk where the images reside or, even better, to some other *fast* external drive.  Moving the catalog could be just a matter of less than 5 seconds if you give up the "Previews" and accept to rebuild them on the new drive or will need just some minutes in order to move the entire structure/substructure of the db+previews+backups.

Finally I would not split in different databases by date (months or years shoots), but yes I organize the actual images mainly by date (yy-mm-dd) *physically*, but everything is managed by one catalog db *logically*.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=196341\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

ok, thank you for this...that's what i wasn't getting...I thought the database was where all my images lived and that's not the case...the database harbors Library & Development info, keywords, metadata and the previews...the originals can be where i want so long as i point to them, so long as the link to them isn't broken...right?...

this makes sense now...thanks francofit

kind regards

M

Morris Taub

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« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2008, 02:27:13 pm »

Quote
The Library file (Library = Catalog) only takes only a small amount of room on your hard disk, at least compared to all your image files and to the previews database.  I don't think that you need to partition your library based on years. I see no problem putting the catalog, previews and image files on an external hard drive. You can also start creating your library on your laptop drive and if it grows too much, move the library to an external drive.

The way you arrange files in folders on your computer is not important to Lightroom. Feel free to put files as you indicated in your post (ex: 2008>January>…).

Does this help?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=196376\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

thanks francois...I get it...the catalog stay on my laptops hard drive for now anyway...and any images that i need there to work on when i'm not hooked up to my external enclosure...right?...

then i can save to the external...

I prefer to keep my hard drive as lean as possible so I'll be transfering images off it as soon as I can...

and now i see the catalog doesn't need to be by year or by anything if i don't want it to be...i'll just organize my folders and files how it makes sense to me...

thanks...

M
« Last Edit: May 18, 2008, 02:27:58 pm by momo2 »
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Morris Taub

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« Reply #5 on: May 19, 2008, 08:09:24 am »

ok, francofit and francois...your advice did help and i'm kind of enjoying Lightroom beta 2...I guess some things don't fully function yet...like i tried creating a preset for desaturate in the hsl/development module for b&w work but it doesn't stick...have to keep re-doing it...

nonetheless, i think i like this program...will continue to test until my trial period is over...

probably wait till august when it comes out...can't see paying three hundred now and then an upgrade fee in two, three months...will just use ps and acr until then...

thanks for your help guys...

M

francois

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« Reply #6 on: May 19, 2008, 08:36:40 am »

Quote
ok, francofit and francois...your advice did help and i'm kind of enjoying Lightroom beta 2...I guess some things don't fully function yet...like i tried creating a preset for desaturate in the hsl/development module for b&w work but it doesn't stick...have to keep re-doing it...

nonetheless, i think i like this program...will continue to test until my trial period is over...

probably wait till august when it comes out...can't see paying three hundred now and then an upgrade fee in two, three months...will just use ps and acr until then...

thanks for your help guys...

M
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Momo,
Be sure to visit the [a href=\"http://www.utiliser-lightroom.fr/]utiliser-lightroom.fr[/url] website. Lots of tutorials are provided and the site owner is very helpful.
Also, be aware that you can extend your testing period from 30 days to August 2008 (instructions)

The current beta version is just that: a beta and some features don't work or at least not as expected and it also crashes. So don't rely on it for critical jobs.
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Francois

Morris Taub

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« Reply #7 on: May 19, 2008, 09:02:21 am »

Quote
Momo,
Be sure to visit the utiliser-lightroom.fr website. Lots of tutorials are provided and the site owner is very helpful.
Also, be aware that you can extend your testing period from 30 days to August 2008 (instructions)

The current beta version is just that: a beta and some features don't work or at least not as expected and it also crashes. So don't rely on it for critical jobs.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=196533\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

thanks for those links francois...hey, now i can study lightroom in french!...

i went to the forums and asked someone to please send me an invite...

and yes, lightroom did just close down on me once or twice...very annoying...i won't be using it for 'real' work until i can buy the program...for the meantime it's for fun stuff, web stuff, and for me to learn how the program works...

merci bien francois

M

dchew

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« Reply #8 on: May 19, 2008, 06:58:20 pm »

Quote
the originals can be where i want so long as i point to them, so long as the link to them isn't broken...right?...

Actually you can break the link and still "see" them in your library, since the thumbnails exist in the library database.  You can't work on them, but you can see them.

One of the beautiful things about a database aproach to catalogs.
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Morris Taub

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« Reply #9 on: May 19, 2008, 07:03:33 pm »

Quote
Actually you can break the link and still "see" them in your library, since the thumbnails exist in the library database.  You can't work on them, but you can see them.

One of the beautiful things about a database aproach to catalogs.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=196666\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

yes, but this also frustrated me a time or two until I got used to it...I'd try and do a web site and nothing happened until i realized the originals on the external drives weren't available...

there's a learning curve...and i'm gettin' old...but it's comin' slowly...

M

gunnar1

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« Reply #10 on: May 23, 2008, 10:52:07 pm »

If I may add one piece of advice to this discussion: When you import your files, make *sure* that you name them the same on your back up as on your initial import. I know from experience that having to re-name thousands of files to match what the LR Catalog is looking for can be a tedious process...

Pat
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