Aperture Library Recommendation for 3.3?

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Level 1

17 points

Aperture Library Recommendation for 3.3?

I have for some time worked with my Aperture library located on a USB connected disk drive following guidance I'd seen somewhere about not placing it on the same disk as the application software.

Post the upgrade to version 3.3, I'm wondering if this is still the best place for the library. Admitedly I haven't been able to use Aperture properly yet (because 2 weeks after the upgrade Aperture is still re-generating all my previews - a process slowed down by repeated lockups when trying to refresh Facebook albums - see https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4039043?answerId=18722356022#18722356022) - but it seems much slower than before - with the spinning wheel there for long periods of time even when just scrolling through the list of projects and albums, let alone trying to make an adjustment or something else useful.

Is there a change in recommendation for 3.3 to bring the library onto the main disk or should it still be located somewhere else?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.4), Aperture 3.3

Posted on Jun 23, 2012 12:36 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

194,767 points

Jun 23, 2012 12:53 AM in response to hedgert

I have for some time worked with my Aperture library located on a USB connected disk drive following guidance I'd seen somewhere about not placing it on the same disk as the application software.

Where did you see this recommendation? It must have been a very specific situation.

The best place for an Aperture library is the fastest disk you have; and that usually should be your system drive. My Aperture library resides on the SSD system volume - perfect for speedy access to the library items.

If your library is too large for the system volume, the usual solution would be to remove it to an external volume (but you would need a very fast drive and a high speed connection, fire wire or thunderbolt), or to keep the library on the system drive, but relocate the master files to a different volume; that is what I have done. Don't let the system drive get too full, this will slow down the system and Aperture.

How large is your library? Upgrading should not take that long. Usually the upgrade does not take much processing, and will not recreate all previews. But Aperture 3.3. is very sensitive to corrupted libryries. Apple advises to rebuild the library before upgrading while still on Aperture 3.2.4, and only then upgrade the fixed library. But I see you are in good hands in the other thread with Kirby Krieger as advisor. 🙂

Regards

Léonie

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Answer 2

hedgert Author

Level 1

17 points

Jun 23, 2012 1:01 AM in response to léonie

Thanks for the quick post leonieDF - I can't remember where I saw the recommendation - I've seen it for Final Cut as well. However, my library is now too big for my system drive anyway. I originally had it on a Firewire drive but the drive failed - hence now USB - but I will look for a replacement Firewire drive.

I'm interested in your comment about having the library on the main disk but the masters elsewhere - my current library has the masters within it - is this split something that could be done to a combined library - reorganised somehow?

On the rebuild, yes Kirby has posted on my query saying he's having a similar experience (with the unexpected preview regeneration) - my library is large (just over 40,000 photos). I've repaired and rebuilt the library at his suggestion, but I'm still waiting for the last 10,000 previews to be generated - it's twice got down to 8000 then the number has gone up again.

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

194,767 points

Jun 23, 2012 1:14 AM in response to hedgert

I'm interested in your comment about having the library on the main disk but the masters elsewhere - my current library has the masters within it - is this split something that could be done to a combined library - reorganised somehow?

When you relocate the master image files (or originals) to another drive, this drive must be mounted, if you want to edit your images, but you still can browse and tag the images using the previews, even if the drive is not available.

You can do this transition to any Aperture Library - what I have done is the following:

Create a folder on the volume where I want to store the originals (masters).
Then select the older projects (and all images within) that I am not currently working with and simply used the command from the main menu bar:

File > Relocate Originals.

This will bring up a File Chooser dialogue; select the folder to move the originals to.

But I would wait with this procedure, until your upgrade is done and make a backup of the original library, before you do this restructuring.

Also, if you are using vaults for backup, remember that the referenced originals will not be included in the vault, only the library itself. You will have to backup the referenced images separately with your regular Time Machine backup.

Regards

Léonie

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Answer 4

hedgert Author

Level 1

17 points

Jul 5, 2012 1:15 AM in response to léonie

Léonie,

Having got past my upgrade to a point when I can use Aperture, I decided to try relocating originals - to see if I could get my library small enough to bring back onto my main drive. (It's 882GB at present and I have a 1TB disk). So I started going through my projects and relocated originals for the first 4 - and created a store in a different location of 480MB of originals.

I went back to my Aperture library and used File Info on it to see how the size had changed - and it hadn't - it was still exactly the same size! So I've got 480MB of storage used somewhere else, but not shrunk the library!

Is there some kind of compression you have to do on the library to get the space back?

Thanks

Tim

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Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

194,767 points

Jul 5, 2012 1:51 AM in response to hedgert

Tim,

the size calculation for the library is not done immediately. How do you show the size of the Aperture library. I ctrl-click it and select "Get Info" from the pop-up panel or press ⌘-I.

When I relocated I project to an external drive, I saw the effect only after rebooting. Try to relocate a whole project and reboot.

Then you should see the effect. If not, please post back.

Regards

Léonie

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