Span projects across DVD

Not within Apeture. Toast 7 does span files across multiple media volumes though.

Jeff Weinberg

I create optical disk size projects and then put those into folders. For example a folder called Italy would contain several projects named Italy DVD01, Italy DVD02 - etc. Another solution is to export a really large project to a folder and then use a backup utility like Retrospect to back it up to several DVD's. This doesn't "preserve the project file integrity and span across multiple disks in a filesystem-readable format". But that task is not possible unless you have a system that can mount all of the DVD's simultaneously.
It's a bit of trouble to know exactly when a project is DVD size - I open the Aperture library package and make my DVD backup when it gets a bit larger than 4GB. The real problem with this is I will lose future work on the project (like new versions edited in PS), so my real backups are extra FW drives. So the DVD backups are a sort of "'double-secret" precaution

No your not missing anything, until the closed database is changed you can't do it. Maybe they will take a clue from lightroom and let you reference images in future versions.

Has anyone come up with a solution for backing up
projects to optical media? I can make it work with
small projects (DVD-sized or smaller) but anything
larger than one disk becomes problematic, since I
can't both preserve the project file integrity and
span across multiple disks in a filesystem-readable
format. Most of my projects, as I suspect yours are
too, are more like 10-20 gigs.

If you have .Mac, you can use the Backup program to span a project file across multiple DVD's as needed.

Backup is also nice as it backs things up file by file - so even though your library is spanning multiple discs you can still access files within the library - so if one file is corrupted the whole library is not lost.

Other Mac backup programs can do large file spanning across media I think.

Later this year we should see Blu-Ray burners which (at 50 GB a disc) may be somewhat expensive but make backing up large projects more practical.

start with a reasonable question
get 2 answers
then turn thread into a deficiency of aperture
I wondered if that was the point of the original q.
sorry to chastize but - I think you know how the program works and you wanted to point out something - I don't think you had a question. For me the program works great - I gave up on using optical disks as main back up years ago. For color correcting in 1 month with this program I get better white balance, hues, tints, blacks and shadows than I have after years of Photoshop work (I started with version 5.) Sharpening and noise reduction and resizing though are much better done outside Aperture.
(Now I got to say something!)

All optical media will fail. Tape is king. Or so I have been told.....

The shareware program Impression backs up across DVDs. Haven't tried it with Aperture projects, though.

Lightroom doesn't back up to DVD's either. Sure, you can back up just your directory/folder via the Finder, but then the Lightroom database doesn't get backed up. 6 of one, half dozen of another. (Of course, there's not much in the Lightroom database because it doesn't even have versions yet...)

Aperture could certainly use the speed optimizations (well, some of them; I don't like editing a low resolution proxy of an image the way Lightroom does) and excellent raw conversion of Lightroom. But not much else. Adobe either has a lot of innovation hiding up its sleeve, or it's got to position Lightroom to be a lot cheaper than Aperture.

Power Mac G5, Dual 2GHz, 1.5GB ram Mac OS X (10.4.4) iBook G3 800 MHz, 640 MB, ComboDrive

The problem (maybe I'm doing something wrong) is that
I want to be able to read the files on the DVD
without reimporting to Aperture. iView can read the
project files, but not once they get split.

That depends on what is doing the backing up - if you use a program that backs up files individually and makes sure they are not split across discs (the only sane way to backup, as it's the only way to be able to recover a backup when the backup software is gone as well!) then iView should be able to see inside things. What backup program are you using?

If I could make "smart projects" that were dvd-sized
and then export those subprojects, I'd be golden, but
this doesn't seem to be possible unless I'm missing
something obvious.

Well a different answer to that is to make "dumb projects" that are roughly the size you want - you can figure a rough estimate by taking the average RAW size and dividing possible DVD storage space by it, and dragging that many RAW files into a project as sets until you have enough projects to hold all your images.

Then instead of using those projects as organizational structures, define all image organization outside of those projects in a folder structure under yet another project holding albums and light tables and so on. You can put images in albums under any project, not just the one they are in.

The downside of that approach is your structure and light tables and things will not be exported automatically with any given project holding actual images, but you could simply back that folder up to DVD along with the many projects you have holding images by exporting the folder/album/light table project which would be very small as it has no images itself and could fit alongside the last image project on a DVD.

This might work:

1) Export the Project to the Finder.
2) 'Unpackage' the Project by removing the .approject extension - note that this must be done by hitting Apple-I and removing it in the name and extension pane, as removing it in the Finder just hides the extension.
3) Distribute the sub-files to separate DVDs as needed, keeping a note of which disks go to together to form the Project as a whole.
4) Do all the iView stuff.

To re-import:
1) Make a folder in the Finder with the same name as the original Project, but with no extension. Or choose a different name if you want.
2) Copy the Project contents into it from the DVDs.
3) Add the .approject extension to the folder's name and it magically becomes an Aperture Project again and can be re-imported.

As long as you collect everything together again, you can do whatever you want to the contents - the Project package is after all just a folder plus extension. Although it would be much easier if this kind of thing was built in to the GUI.

Charles - go to the other forum and look for a thread about iView - you may be less than happy about future directions for LR... "But I would not look to Lightroom to become a full-blown asset manager that serves the variety of workflows already served by iView and Bridge"

Ian

Edited for spelling.

I plan to do a backup of my 67GB Aperture library and my only method is to use backup (from .mac). Aperture was clever to build in the first level of protection ie. the Vault. All users need to take the next step(s) for insurance.

Today i need ~16 DVD's and many hours, but i will repeat this in 3 months time again using backup. If tape were cheaper or blue-ray was available inexpensively then this is what i'd do.

Bottom line is to encourage eveyone to backup their precious digits (photos & music).

J

I have not backed up a project to dvd yet. I wonder if one could simply direct Aperture to the dvd as a library? You could not change any of the settings, but you might be able to export etc.

It is a good question, hope someone had done this?

Otherwise, it is cheap to have an external HD for all your projects. We put 20 weddings on one 250GB drive. That is a bunch of Raw files for less than $180.