Igor, Lightroom 6.7 added a preference "Use Smart Previews Instead Of Originals For Image Editing" for, I think, the reason you describe--it can be faster than using the original raw files.
https://petapixel.com/2016/09/20/adobe-lightroom-cc-now-smart-previews-faster-performance/ On Tue, Dec 19, 2017 at 11:59 AM, Igor PDML-StR <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Short summary: how having RAW images on an External drive can improve LR > performance. > > Frequently, for working with LR, people recommend storing the RAW photos > on the internal drive, which is typically the fastest, especially if it is > an SSD. I've read at least one analysis that has shown that the difference > is rather small for many "bulk" operations, so that it wouldn't be a big > deal (i.e. those bulk operations are limited by other resources, such as > CPU or RAM). However, the same study mentioned that other operations, - > such as switching from one photo to another, or from one module to another > would benefit from the RAW images being on the fast internal SSD drive. > http://www.computer-darkroom.com/blog/will-an-ssd-improve-ad > obe-lightroom-performance/ > > However, there is yet another factor: > In LR 5+, when you create smart previews, switching between photos > (especially in Develop module) is much faster if the RAW images are not > available, and you work only with the smart previews (+ regular previews, > which I choose to be full-size previews). > The difference is striking. This fact has been noted. > However, so far, I have not seen this fact to be used as the foundation > for keeping the RAW images on an external drive (but I haven't tried > hard to search for it). > > For a while, I've been using this configuration myself, first with a > laptop (internal SSD) and external USB-3 HDD, due to the lack of space on > the internal SSD. But now, I am using the same with a desktop computer. > I have a portable USB-3 HDD that has the "primary" collection of RAW > images. An added bonus is that I can use the same photos on both laptop and > desktop, if needed. > > My work flow is as follows: > 1. I copy RAW images from the SD card to the external HDD (using a fast > USB-3 SD card reader), which I can do on ANY computer (on some trips when I > don't take my laptop, I borrow my wife's laptop for this purpose). > > 1a) I also copy the same RAW files to another HDD that contains all > backups. (This step is irrelevant for the consideration here, and it is > mentioned just for completeness.) > > 2. On my "processing" computer, I import these images into LR (without > moving them! - you must deliberately uncheck that option and it will stay > that way) > 3. At the same time (importing), I check the option to generate full size > previews AND smart previews. > > 4. Once the previews are generated, I "eject" the external HDD, and > perform ALL sorting, selection, develop, web-gallery generation work with > the external HDD disconnected. > > 5. I connect the external HDD only before: > a) printing; > b) generating any jpegs, including web galleries; > c) exporting/opening the images in an external application (such as PS). > > > My "main" LR catalog and previews are kept on the internal drive. > (I occasionally create a smaller, special purpose catalog that I store on > the external HDD, especially if I need to move it between different > computers.) > > > Maybe these thoughts would be useful for some PDMLers. > > All comments and suggestions are welcome. > > Igor > > > PS. This Adobe webpage suggests increasing the size of the Camera Raw > cache: > https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/optimize-performance-lightroom.html > That should improve the response time when switching between different > images. I haven't tried this myself, so, I don't know how much this > improvement would be compared to what I suggested. However, I know that > often, even when going back and forth between just a handful of images > (2-3) - I see a huge difference in the response time when the raw images > are available and not. > So, that advice probably helps when you are actively working with a large > set of photos, so that you are hitting the default limit (of 1 GB). > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
