David Tozer

Q: Need to move referenced files to new hard drive and want to retain all projects intact

I have over 200 projects and 33k total images in my Aperture 3.6 library.  99% of my images are referenced files, using a 3TB FW800 drive.  When I create a new project I create subfolders on the external drive that are named the same as the Project, so the folder structure is logical but I have a great number of subfolders on the drive. It has worked well.

 

My 3TB FW800 drive is full. I have a new 6TB USB3 drive. I also have a (slower / less expensive) 6TB drive that I will use to back up the faster, "primary" drive.  The "backup" drive will stay off site when I'm not performing a backup.

 

I wish to migrate all of my images and projects to the new, "primary" drive and want to retain the image locations in all of the projects.

 

I don't want to use the, "File➞Relocate Originals" since my impression is that the images would not be located in their respective Projects. I have dutifully created projects over years of Aperture use and I'd hate to lose that organization.

 

I did a test to export a project as a library and the import it in to a new library but it appears that the project title length gets truncated beyond 32 characters. That may not be a big deal, but overall the "export as library / import library" method seems awkward and not without its faults.

 

With so many projects, so many images and a large, new hard drive waiting in the wings, what is the best course to persue?

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), 3.4 GHz Intel Core i5 - 8 GB DDR3

Posted on Jun 7, 2015 5:20 PM

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Q: Need to move referenced files to new hard drive and want to retain all projects intact

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  • by Kirby Krieger,

    Kirby Krieger Kirby Krieger Jun 7, 2015 7:12 PM in response to David Tozer
    Level 6 (12,521 points)
    Jun 7, 2015 7:12 PM in response to David Tozer

    Hi David,

     

    There are, afaik, only two good ways to do what you want.

     

    The better of the two is to use the "File ▹ Relocate Originals" and specify "Project Name" as the "Sub-folder format".  This will, as expected, put each Image's Original in a Finder Folder named after the Project that hold the Image.  As long as your current Finder folder structure consists of a single parent folder holding child folders for each Project, this should do what you want.

     

    Second choice is to clone your current 3 TB drive to your new 6 TB drive, and then use "File ▹ Locate Referenced Files" to re-attach each Image to its Original on your new 6 TB drive.  This will retain any Finder folder structure you have.

     

    The first of these two options is always, IME, flawless.  The second regularly fails to reconnect a small percentage of the Image's Originals whenever the dataset is large.  It may take two, or ever four, executions of "File ▹ Locate Referenced Files", to re-connect all.  IME, other than this, the process works completely.

     

    Either will take hours to complete on a 3 TB Library.  You should run "Repair Database" before you do _any_ global Library maintenance.  And, as with every computer file, you should never use one without having a complete copy on another device.

     

    I phased out all my FW drives a while ago, and have been pleased with the USB-3 drives I now use.  If better performance is needed, put your Library on a SSD (in case it is not currently).

     

    HTH,

     

    —Kirby.