Aperture Sync between 2 Mac's

It sounds interesting. Third-party apps are scary with Aperture IMO, so I will be very interested to also hear the results from other users here using dropsynch.

Me, I keep begging Apple to support a single-user two-computer Aperture Library synch workflow. Like Apple's Filemaker has done for decades, or more recently like iDevices do. <Sigh...>

-Allen

Scary because synch is enterprise-critical for pro photogs, and to date no single-user two-computer alleged synch-type workflow has qualified as bombproof. Nor for that matter as true synch.

-Allen

Example.

I make some edits to some pictures and delete unwanted images in Aperture on my iMac.

After this is done I plug in the fire wire cable to my MacBook and boot it up as an external drive.

This will then appear on my iMac Desktop as an external drive. I have Dropsync configured to see this drive. I then run a preview to the right in Dropsync. It will see the changes in the Aperture library and then sync those changes to the library file on my MacBook.

Okay, that's incremental backing up. Library on Machine A is backed up to Machine B.

If I had made the changes on the MacBook the process would be the same except Dropsync would preview and sync to the left.

In the case, Library on Machine B is backed up to Machine A.

But is that syncing? The general term means when two Libraries (A and B) are compared and files in Library A are copied to Library B, while files in Library B are also copied to Library A so that both Libraries are identical.

This is simultaneous bi-directional copying and that's a different thing. The simultaneous is the key issue here. That involves not just copying the db, but writing to it - does this app have the ability to actually the edit the sql files?

If the process is sequential then all the happens is Library A overwrites Library B, and then is copied back to the source machine in a never ending loop.

Before you test syncing, make sure you back up both libraries first.

Regards

TD

Whatever it's called is very important. What you're doing is incremental backing up. That's been around for a while and lots and lots of apps do it - Time Machine, for instance, but there are others.

Unfortunately, the title you have on the thread is not about that, but about another process, and one that many people are seeking a way to do. Unfortunately, that's stll not possible.

Regards

TD

Yes, incremental backing up is very useful, and I'm glad you've found it - though, like I say, it has been around for a while and many apps do it. However, that's not syncing Aperture between two macs. That's all. My only reason for posting is to help other people who are searching for syncing and not backing up.

Of course use it for making incremental back ups. It's excellent if that's what you want to do. But that's not syncing iPhoto across two machines, that's all. As I said above:

But is that syncing? The general term means when two Libraries (A and B) are compared and files in Library A are copied to Library B, while files in Library B are also copied to Library A so that both Libraries are identical.

This is simultaneous bi-directional copying and that's a different thing.

Apologies for the typo I meant Aperture - though it's true of both Apps.

If I run Dropsync so that it analyses or compares both libraries at the same time and then makes changes to both to make them identical would you call that Syncing?

If it works, yes. But before you try, back up both Libraries first.

I notice that it makes no mention of working with Aperture or orther complex databases. Remember what happens if you import a shot. It gets put whereever you want to store it, then it's analysed and catalogued - and that information is written to the database files. Thumbnails and Previews are created

Then, if you delete a shot, the file is moved to trash, the Previews and thumbs are destroyed and then the database is opened and the catalogue information, plus any edit information is deleted from it.

So, when you back up the Library - copy from Machine A to Machine B, that means that the copy is straightforward.

However, if you sync - the Library is examined and compared - not just the files, but the actual SQL tables in the DB. So, if two files have been deleted in Library A and one has been added to Library B, what happens?

Both databases are opened, two deletions are performed (in Library B) and one import (in Library A). This is not just copying the files over, but atually opening and writing to the database files.

If DropSync can do this, then no problem. If it can't - and I note again that nowhere on their website do they say it can - then one or other Library will be damaged.

They say on their website:

DropSync is a tool for keeping folders on different computers or different hard drives in sync.

And an Aperture Library is more than just a folder.