I understand that when I first load my RAW photos into Aperture it needs to generate a preview and so that's why it slows down and shows me "loading...". If I want to bypass this I can use quick preview mode. That's how I understood it so far. But I don't understand why it would need to load again at a later time? If I browse elsewhere and come back to this project, it'll start loading again. Does Aperture for some reason deletes the preview?
There is more than "Quick Preview Mode" that controls the generation of Previews:
See: Navigating Through Images in Quick Preview Mode
Reagrds
Léonie
Two followup questions:
1) How do I force aperture to generate preview for everything, and not one by one. I'd rather go away and let the computer do its thing for a while than get disturbed every time I hop to the next photo.
2) Also this still doesn't explain why it needs to be done more than once? Why would it generate the preview again if I haven't changed any adjustments etc?
1) How do I force aperture to generate preview for everything, and not one by one. I'd rather go away and let the computer do its thing for a while than get disturbed every time I hop to the next photo.
You can select all images in the Browser and use the command "Photos > Update/Generate Previews" (Update will turn into "Generate", if hold down the ⌥ alt/options key). This way you can generate the previews over night.
2) Also this still doesn't explain why it needs to be done more than once? Why would it generate the preview again if I haven't changed any adjustments etc?
It will only keep and store the preview permanently, if you have enabled the sharing of previews in the "Preferences > Preview" tab. If you do not enable this, Aperture will not store the previews, to save space.
2) Also this still doesn't explain why it needs to be done more than once? Why would it generate the preview again if I haven't changed any adjustments etc?
It's not doing it more then once. The 'loading' you see when you are in the Viewer and select an image is the loading of the orginal. As Léonie pointed out the original is loaded into the viewer unless you have Quick Preview mode set.
In Aperture in the Viewer you are always dealing with the full resolution original unless Quick Preview mode is on.
Ok thanks Frank, that cleared my confusion. So it has nothing to do with previews, it's the loading of the originals. So I guess the question is, how do I speed this up? It's really annoying browsing photos (originals). I already have the library on a SSD drive. Is it more related to the graphic card?
How long is it taking? How big are your originals?
When you first open an image in the viewer you should see the image immediately, Aperture shows you the preview while it loads the original. You mention that the library is on an SSD but what about the originals? Are they managed or referenced? If referenced whart drive are they on?
How much memory do you have? (BTW what is your system, looking back over the thread I don;t see the hardware or software you are using mentioned).
The location of the originals anf the amount of memory are the two biggest factors in getting the images into memory and keeping them there.
regards
leonieDF wrote:
It will only keep and store the preview permanently, if you have enabled the sharing of previews in the "Preferences > Preview" tab. If you do not enable this, Aperture will not store the previews, to save space.
I have a slight fever 😟 , so I may be reading this wrong, but it doesn't match my understanding, which is that Preview generation and retention is handled separately from _sharing_ of Previews. You can (and imho, should) use Previews even if you have no need to share your Previews. It seems to me that Previews are handled by Aperture's native database; sharing Previews adds them to a separate database (probably by alias) handled by the Media Browser.
Jumping in to provide this link to the (extensive) User Manual page on Previews. It answers some of your questions, but more importantly gives you an understanding of how Aperture works, which will help you frame your questions as well as design a snappier workflow.
I've always used large RAW Originals (24 MP) and always generate Previews in the 1400 px range. I used to have to wait a full second (2009 MBP), and now have to wait a fraction of a second (2012 rMBP) for most Images to load in the Viewer. But note that Aperture does maintain some of these in memory -- if you work in one Project, or with one set of Images, they seem to be "pre-loaded" after they have been loaded once.
It's taking around 1-2 seconds. The originals are RAW so maybe 14-15Mbs.
You are correct, I do see the preview first and then the originals are loaded in. They are managed, but the entire Aperture library is located in a thunderbolt SSD drive.
I have 12 Gb of memory and most of the time a lot of it is free. I have a 2011 iMac.
I'm just surprised that it takes that long to load originals, and wanted to make sure that it has nothing to do with graphic rendering. Also, I wish there was some way to force Aperture to cache the _originals_ not just previews. I know aperture does this to a certain extent, for example, if you immediately press left arrow to go to a previous image it certainly does not load the original again. But if you wander off to somewhere else and come back, the original is gone.
So the originls are managed?
Preview generation and retention is handled separately from _sharing_ of Previews.
You are right, Kirby. I meant to say something differently 😊: "It is necessary to tell Aperture to create previews, if you want to keep them permanently. And if you want to always create previews by default, use the "Previews" settings in the "Preferences" panel (new projects automatically create previews). But the "Sharing" setting determines when the previews will be generated - immediately or later - not only if they will be shared."
Why would aperture load more than once?
