Workflow Suggestion

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Keith

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Hello All,

I have been using LR for quite some time now. Love the program and how it has streamlined my post work.

Since upgrading my computer and LR to 2.' I have come up against a bit of a wall. My current catalog has maxed out at 52K images and is basically unusable in its current state. It crashes all the time and it is far too slow to make it a viable solution for cataloging and editing my files.

I have tried optimizing LR but it doesn't help. I have today downloaded 2.1 and will see if that helps at all.

My question: I have read about others working in smaller catalogs and then archiving to a larger catalog. Since working within one catalog doesn't seem to be working out I am considering trying to work in smaller catalogs. Can someone outline a workflow for working in smaller catalogs and archiving to a larger main catalog?
 
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You're best advised to identify the underlying problem. It won't be a mere 52k - my test catalogue is 8'k on an oldish machine and is slow but stable, while I've seen q a few 6 figure catalogues running just fine. You're just as likely to experience similar crashes with smaller catalogues.

Look at things like drivers, and when it crashes. Maybe delete or move the previews folder and let it rebuild them as needed.

John
 
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Thanks for the input John. My crashes often occur after using the adjustment brush. Contacting Adobe verified that this is a problem and they suggested that I restart LR after each use of the adjustment brush. Hardly a solution. It often hangs at random times - after flagging an image when going from Library to Develop modules. Those are the most frequent times. I will pay more attention to the crashes and what is going on when they happen.

What will happen if I delete the previews folder?
 
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I expect the upgrade to 2.1RC should help a lot.

With respect to adjustments brushes, are you running nVidia gear?

Deleting the previews, is probably the wrong thing to do. Once they're built, they only help with speed issues. You'd only consider this if disk space was critical.
 
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Agree with Brad. Now we know it's the adjustment brush, forgot all discussion related to numbers of images and previews.
 
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I've found that if LR hangs when using the adjustment brush, rather than force-quitting the app; you may be able to switch to Grid or Loupe view, then back to the local adjustments.
 
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Thanks for the tip Nathaniel and for the welcome Brad.

So I attended a LR talk at a local photo expo and the expert from Adobe told me that having one big catalog would inevitably lead to performance issues. His suggestion was to export each job folder as a catalog and remove the folder from LR.

I have started to heed this advice and have begun exporting catalogs for folders that I rarely use anymore and then removing the files from LR. This is a slow and tedious process. Will it work? I am not sure. Since I have started I have removed about 5-6''' images. Today I am working in LR and am running into out of memory errors where the error message is written in red and is displayed backwards while the preview disappears.

Here is my scenario. I am simply browsing in grid mode and making selects. I have Outlook open as well as 3 windows in Firefox. I have my Task Manager open and CPU usage never goes over 5'% and PF usage rarely goes over 2 GB. I have not been using the adjustment brush at ll. I have changed some WB of some images. Other then that nothing else going on yet I am still running into errors. In some instances when I zoom in on an image the image would duplicate itself on the screen and go from horizontal to vertical.

Obviously I would like to understand what is causing my problems and rectify this situation immediately as my workflow is all but destroyed. Working in LR has gone from a pleasure to a real pain.

To say that my upgrade to LR 2.1 has been frustrating is an understatement. At this point I am almost ready to download the Aperture software except that I am now over $3'' invested in LR.

Any help, suggestions or encouragement would be greatly appreciated!
 
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Well, whoever you met from Adobe gave you a very cheap answer. And just as I said in this thread, you've hit problems with smaller catalogues. You've got to identify the underlying problem - RAM perhaps, or maybe the graphics driver. Look at the system log for the sorts of errors.

By the way, you'll find Aperture even more buggy on the computer that's in your signature.

John
 
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I'd recommend first going on line and seeing if you have the lastest xp drivers for your video card. If you do, then I'd consider wandering down to the nearest computer store and picking up new video card. XP in particular, but all windows systems in general, can have all kinds of strange things go wrong when the video card is not quite right. I have had video cards die on me, usually not all at once but over a period of time. I've also fixed problems by getting the latest driver. But I've also had to get a better card because the one I had just couldn't handle what I was throwing at it.

Often there is nothing visual to tell me things are going wrong, but when the display seems to be acting not quite right, then I'm willing to invest a few dollars in a card and see if swapping that out fixes things.
 
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John: I have OCZ Ram and a sapphire video card. I tried updating the driver but that caused more problems. I have since reinstalled the original driver.

Brad: I am running Norton AV. I have turned it off while working in LR to see if it is affecting performance.

son: Updated driver caused issues.

My feeling at this point is that it is a driver or video card issue. I have problems playing MPEG-4 in itunes on my PC but no problems playing the same ones on my MacBook.

Can someone recommend a proper/good/proven video card with dual monitor support that plays well with LR?

Greatly appreciated.
 
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Keith said:
Can someone recommend a proper/good/proven video card with dual monitor support that plays well with LR?

Greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

At this point I'd make the rounds of the local computer stores and see if I can find someone who really does know what they are talking about. And what kind of service they offer. If they will let me buy one and return it in a few days if it doesn't work, then I'd try what they recommend. Could get expensive...
 
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This thread <http://prophotoshow.net/seim_effects/2''8/1'/15/lightroom-catalogs-photo-managment-pro/> recommends a Catalog for each job, but to my mind it is wasting what Lightroom is all about.

A couple of other discussions <http://inside-lightroom.com/2''8/1'/11/why-do-we-back-up-so-much/> are looking at the need to keep so much. In my case I am choosy what I put in my catalog, but I still have stuff that could be weeded out.

In my view anything with a 1* or more is a keeper, but all the stuff that is ' could be moved to another Catalog to weed through at a later date. There is no need to keep it in most cases...
 
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