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Q: Screen Saver doesn't use all Pictures

I am using one of the built-in Apple screen savers to display pictures from a folder of my choosing.  I have the source set to my pictures folder, which contains about 5000 images.  However, anytime the screen saver activates I see the same 20 pictures over and over, sometimes with the same picture visible on the screen in 3 locations simultaneously.

 

How do I get the screensaver to use a larger set of photos (ideally all 5000)?

 

I am using El Capitan OS.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Oct 14, 2015 4:40 PM

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Q: Screen Saver doesn't use all Pictures

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  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Apr 30, 2016 11:04 AM in response to whsettle
    Level 5 (6,401 points)
    Mac App Store
    Apr 30, 2016 11:04 AM in response to whsettle

    FWIW, if it is truly random then it wouldn't be "without replacement". It would be like saying, throw a coin 1000 times but make sure you don't throw 10 heads in a row.

     

    There is no setting you can change.

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Apr 30, 2016 11:05 AM in response to wizcreations
    Level 10 (141,331 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 30, 2016 11:05 AM in response to wizcreations

    Are all of your photos "loose" in the Pictures folder or are they in a number of sub folders?  How many image files are loose in the Pictures folder?

    OTsig.png

  • by whsettle,

    whsettle whsettle Apr 30, 2016 11:59 AM in response to dialabrain
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 30, 2016 11:59 AM in response to dialabrain

    Yes, of course, my slip-up in writing. thanks

  • by whsettle,

    whsettle whsettle Apr 30, 2016 12:01 PM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 30, 2016 12:01 PM in response to Old Toad

    No sub-folders. Roughly 1,700 files.

  • by whsettle,

    whsettle whsettle Apr 30, 2016 12:03 PM in response to whsettle
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 30, 2016 12:03 PM in response to whsettle

    Sorry. I have one sub-folder in the "pictures" folder, with the 1700 files within.

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Apr 30, 2016 1:05 PM in response to whsettle
    Level 5 (6,401 points)
    Mac App Store
    Apr 30, 2016 1:05 PM in response to whsettle

    whsettle wrote:

     

    Yes, of course, my slip-up in writing. thanks

    No Problem. This isn't really about Windows vs OSX. It's really about peoples' perception of randomness. Instead of pictures in a folder think about a deck of cards. If you shuffle the deck well and the Kings all end up together, most people would think "How strange". The reality is, the probability of all four Kings ending up together is exactly the same as them ending up in any particular positions. We just think it's odd becaue we recognize they are all Kings. However, if the three, seven, five and Jack of different suits ended up together, we would think nothing of it.

     

    Which leads up to the last part. People think past events affect future events. So because the four Kings were together on the first shuffle, they can't be together on the next shuffle. That just isn't so, the probability is the same. and if the other sequence was together again, people wouldn't notice most likely.

     

    I hope I explained that well.

  • by pinkstones,

    pinkstones pinkstones Apr 30, 2016 1:55 PM in response to den.thed
    Level 5 (4,209 points)
    Safari
    Apr 30, 2016 1:55 PM in response to den.thed

    den.thed wrote:

     

    I'm not knocking your picture system if it works for you. But if you want to use some or all of them for Screen Saver, then you will need to Import them into Photos.

     

    I haven't felt the need to do that either.  I have a subfolder within my Pictures folder that is just images I use as a screen saver.  There's about 60 in there right now, and I haven't experienced what the OP is describing, so I'm not entirely sure not using Photos is the problem.

  • by whsettle,

    whsettle whsettle Apr 30, 2016 2:42 PM in response to dialabrain
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 30, 2016 2:42 PM in response to dialabrain

    Thanks. I think I'm clear on what is the definition of random. What I've described for the behavior of the program (as I'm experiencing it) looks to be an initial random choice for a predefined subset length of 30, 60, 100 (mostly 30), which is then repeated precisely in order of that initial choice until you step out and then back into the screen saver. The point being that if you wished to kick back in front of your screen saver and just enjoy an endless parade of your favorite of your 1,700 photos (yes, some of them repeated more frequently than others) you're going to see only a subset repeated in exactly the same order. I find it mildly annoying and am surprised that the OS isn't really set up to do a random choice. I'll see what I can find out about resetting parameters in the guts of the program. Thanks again

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Apr 30, 2016 3:26 PM in response to whsettle
    Level 5 (6,401 points)
    Mac App Store
    Apr 30, 2016 3:26 PM in response to whsettle

    FWIW, mine doesn't do what you're describing.

  • by brad@net-net.com,

    brad@net-net.com brad@net-net.com Jun 12, 2016 9:15 PM in response to whsettle
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 12, 2016 9:15 PM in response to whsettle

    This (whsettle's descriptions) happen to me and my father's computers (2 different MAC's with 2 diff sets of 10,000's of photos).   It is simply not random after one photo shows up for a second time.  Then we will see the same subset of photos over-and-over.  This is not random, I dont care how you define random.  I can actually tell you the next photo that will show up and get it 100% of the time.  I wish I could pick Stocks going up/down so well !!!  I think the programmer(s) of the Screen Saver s/w have set a maximum somewhere (number of JPGs or size of collective files or ...) and it cannot pick randomly to ALL of the files, just those seen before the max is reached.  It is SSSOOOO wrong for a system where this is one of the major reasons people put all their photos in Photos.   Arggh.

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Jun 12, 2016 11:02 PM in response to brad@net-net.com
    Level 5 (6,401 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jun 12, 2016 11:02 PM in response to brad@net-net.com

    FWIW, as I mentioned before I don't have this problem. And apparently pinkstones doesn't either. I have approximately. 2900 images in my Photo library but I don't get a repeating subset. The only thing I can think of to try is rebuilding the spotlight index.

    Rebuild the Spotlight index on your Mac - Apple Support

    As far as this goes…

    It is SSSOOOO wrong for a system where this is one of the major reasons people put all their photos in Photos.

    I'm not sure about that. It would be the last reason for me. I don't normally use the photo screensavers.

  • by brad@net-net.com,

    brad@net-net.com brad@net-net.com Jun 13, 2016 8:01 AM in response to dialabrain
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 13, 2016 8:01 AM in response to dialabrain

    I will try it, but this seems like a really weird solution:  to rebuild the Spotlight index in an attempt to fix the problems with Photos (app) not being able to randomly display pictures amongst my 10,000+  pictures when using Screen Saver.  I do not understand why there would be a link between Screen Saver and Photos and Spotlight, so I am not optimistic that this solution will work to fix Screen Saver.  I would understand it if Photos had a reindexing task, but it does not.

     

    By the way, following the instructions in the link to Rebuild the Spotlight Index, in Step #3, there is no "OK" to be clicked.  The folder drags in there and will be placed at the top of my (previously) empty list.  Step #4 works.  Step #5  gives no indication that a reindexing is occurring ... is there any way to know if it reindexes?

     

    Also, this seems like a weird way to create a reindexing event:  add something to a list of files NOT to use in Spotlight, then remove it, triggering a reindexing.  Why not have a button that says "Reindex Spotlight" somewhere and provide a wheel or progress bar that shows it reindexing.  Is reindexing a 1/2-second task or a 2-hour task?

     

    OK, I will re-word this to state:  It is so wrong for a system where ONE OF THE MAJOR REASONS people put all their photos in Photos ...

     

     

    Thanks for your ideas on this, dialabrain. 

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