On 2014-05-14 17:33:37 +0000, Sandman said:

So, before I start testing, perhaps someone knows. Maybe not about
Aperture, but Lightroom at least.

So I currently have some 300GB of images in my Aperture library, which is
"managed", meaning it is kept inside a special Aperture library folder.

Now, if I were to transform this to a referenced library, I would get a
neat folder system on the hard drive. I have no need for this specifically,
but I am hoping that it would enable me to use more than just Aperture to
access and edit the files.

The question is - can Lightroom (and Aperture) auto-add files it finds in a
given path? Let's say I have Aperture export all my images to
/Volumes/Photos/Library, and then I tell Lightroom to import the images
from this path.

See my concerns below.

The idea is that from that point on, I would use either Aperture or
Lightroom to import images from the camera (or another tool) and the ideal
situation is for Lightroom to auto-import new images it find in
/Volumes/Photos/Library when starting up, or would i have to manually
import all photos in both applications?

Any ideas?

I don’t use Aperture, but by having a dedicated location for the
primary imported is similar to the way LR works.

The idea of sharing *libraries* or should I say actual file locations
with both Aperture and Lightroom should be possible. However, from what
I can see there is no obvious way to direct the LR Library Module to
use/share the Aperture primary storage location. This can be easily
done with Bridge of course by navigating with Bridge to the Aperture
folder. The big caveat here is, the Apple image filing system which is
a royal PIA. Navigating to my LR image folder with Bridge, if i have
to, is a piece of cake.

Lightroom can import from any source, a card reader, a USB connected
camera, or a folder of existing image files already saved to your
computer. I believe that would include those in the Aperture Library.

I am sure that Aperture can perform a similar function.

The first complication I see with that is, both programs maintain their
own hierarchy and any file imported from one library to the other would
be duplicated.

Then there is the way Apple catalogs iPhoto image files, and I suspect
they it is a practice they repeat with Aperture, which is with an
arcane nested system of folders for each set of imports, where you have
to dig through several folders of thumbnails, etc. to get to the
original RAW files if you want access to those files outside of the
iPhoto/Aperture environment.
Importing individual files, or a handful at a time I don’t see as
efficient, more as a tedious PIA.

That is one of my major reasons for not using iPhoto for anything, and
a major reason for my reluctance to use Aperture.

So my suggestion, since you are a committed CC user, is to move to a
LR5 + PS CC workflow, and use Aperture for those times the mood takes
you in that direction, or there is something specific you want to do in
Aperture.

The other option I can think of is one which makes things a little
redundant, and one which I employ. I have my RAW (NEF) archive on an
external FW800 HDD. That is arranged according to year and month of
shoot (and some specifically labeled folders) and even though these
days I usually import directly into LR, my NEFs still get archived, and
I occasionally import from there.
If you do that sort of thing you should be able to use that as an
import source for both, or either Aperture or LR.
…and it is very simple for Bridge to navigate to the same archive.
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/Fil...enshot_697.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1295663/Fil...enshot_696.jpg


--
Regards,

Savageduck