LR4.4 how to turn off Import Presets

As above, how can I set my import preset settings in the files so that it speeds up importing? I not long imported about 110 CR2 files direct from my mem card and into LR4.4 and it took nearly an hour to load them before the load complete and eject info showed on screen.
While each file was loading they looked like they were having the cam profile settings loaded, yet when I checked on the right hand side where the import settings panel is, and in the quick develop settings it shows - default, and the metadata panel is showing - exif

Any ideas folks as I surely should not take that long to just load simple 18mp CR2 files if they were set up to just load the file with minimal to no presets done.


Pagman.

The problem you are getting is down to using a machine that is only barley capable of running LR, which is also my situation. When LR imports images it it has to generate preview JPEG's for each one. When/if you then view the image it 100% it has to then generate a 100% sized preview first. All of this preview generation is what acts to slow down LR. If I am importing only a few images from a card these days, then I will do it using LR direct from the card. More than about 50 or so images I will usually download the images from the card, to the correct location on the computer's drives, using the computer's own file management system, for windows that's Windows Explorer. As all you are doing is moving files this can be quite quick, even using USB2.

Once I have the images on the disk, then I import to LR, using the ADD option. This means that LR is not also trying to write the preview files to the HDD, while also updating the LR Catalogue database with information about the images, and writing the preview files to disk. Unfortunately it is impossible to do parallel writes to the same disk, so there is zero way to do them faster. Also LR tends to write an awful lot of small writes to the disk, each of which will require the disk to do a seek for the correct location. Rather than writing one large lump to the disk.

Unless the disk is severely fragmented, using the OS system to copy the files can mean that the computer will try to drop all of the image files sequentially on the disk, so that it can effectively write them as one big data chunk, which is much more efficient, radically reducing the overall time taken to transfer the files.

Using the above system I can download and import around 3000 CR2's from my 50D (around an average of 21 MB per image) in about a couple of hours. I have one 32Gb card, and three 8 GB cards that I use. If I import direct from the card, then it will take LR longer than two hours to process one of the 8 GB cards. In this situation I have LR add basic keywords about the main event that has been photographed, as well as using a processing preset, so that I can import the images with a non standard set of default settings.

Alan

Pagman wrote in post #17776477
Any ideas folks as I surely should not take that long to just load simple 18mp CR2 files if they were set up to just load the file with minimal to no presets done.

What size cache do you have set in Edit > Preferences > File Handling > Camera RAW Cache settings?

BigAl007 wrote in post #17777151
The problem you are getting is down to using a machine that is only barley capable of running LR, which is also my situation. When LR imports images it it has to generate preview JPEG's for each one. When/if you then view the image it 100% it has to then generate a 100% sized preview first. All of this preview generation is what acts to slow down LR. If I am importing only a few images from a card these days, then I will do it using LR direct from the card. More than about 50 or so images I will usually download the images from the card, to the correct location on the computer's drives, using the computer's own file management system, for windows that's Windows Explorer. As all you are doing is moving files this can be quite quick, even using USB2.

Once I have the images on the disk, then I import to LR, using the ADD option. This means that LR is not also trying to write the preview files to the HDD, while also updating the LR Catalogue database with information about the images, and writing the preview files to disk. Unfortunately it is impossible to do parallel writes to the same disk, so there is zero way to do them faster. Also LR tends to write an awful lot of small writes to the disk, each of which will require the disk to do a seek for the correct location. Rather than writing one large lump to the disk.

Unless the disk is severely fragmented, using the OS system to copy the files can mean that the computer will try to drop all of the image files sequentially on the disk, so that it can effectively write them as one big data chunk, which is much more efficient, radically reducing the overall time taken to transfer the files.

Using the above system I can download and import around 3000 CR2's from my 50D (around an average of 21 MB per image) in about a couple of hours. I have one 32Gb card, and three 8 GB cards that I use. If I import direct from the card, then it will take LR longer than two hours to process one of the 8 GB cards. In this situation I have LR add basic keywords about the main event that has been photographed, as well as using a processing preset, so that I can import the images with a non standard set of default settings.

Alan

Thanks alan much appreciated

P.

Dan Marchant wrote in post #17778527
What size cache do you have set in Edit > Preferences > File Handling > Camera RAW Cache settings?

1GB


P.

Try increasing it to something like 20gig. many people have reported much faster performance with a larger cache.

Dan Marchant wrote in post #17778601
Try increasing it to something like 20gig. many people have reported much faster performance with a larger cache.

I will try that, any idea what the setting - matrix means in the camera profile section? no alternatives are there in the camera profiles section just the word matrix.

P.

Pagman wrote in post #17778673
I will try that, any idea what the setting - matrix means in the camera profile section? no alternatives are there in the camera profiles section just the word matrix.

P.

What camera are we talking about? I thought you have a Nikon now, but you wrote in the OP CR2 files. "Matrix" might mean that it doesn't have other profiles for that camera.

tzalman wrote in post #17778739
What camera are we talking about? I thought you have a Nikon now, but you wrote in the OP CR2 files. "Matrix" might mean that it doesn't have other profiles for that camera.

I have been using a 7d since July, what I have done different is to change my laptop set up as I was having troubles, so I changed user accounts and transferred everything across, LR4 that I use was available on my system for both main and guest user but no folders of files where loaded into it like it was starting a fresh, the only difference is with the camera profiles that where there under the main user but not under the Newly changed guest user, the only camera profile showing now in guest user is Matrix.

P.

Pagman wrote in post #17778922
I have been using a 7d since July, what I have done different is to change my laptop set up as I was having troubles, so I changed user accounts and transferred everything across, LR4 that I use was available on my system for both main and guest user but no folders of files where loaded into it like it was starting a fresh, the only difference is with the camera profiles that where there under the main user but not under the Newly changed guest user, the only camera profile showing now in guest user is Matrix.

P.

Just out of curiosity: what is a guest user?

john crossley wrote in post #17778945
Just out of curiosity: what is a guest user?

All pc/laptops have more than one user accounts so different people can use the same machine but with there own settings or sites they use, you know - you find it each time you log off/on through the start menu.

P.

Just bumping this to see if anyone has any other ideas?

P.

Just Bumping this folks - as the Issue is still present and I am still in hope that some one can help

P.

If there was something wrong with LR then switching to a different user wont fix it as it is the same installation.

I would suggest that you try the following...
1. Try a different card reader or USB cabel to see if the problem is transfer related.
2. Change the "build preview" settings to minimal to see if the problem is LR building previews.
3. Uninstall and reinstall LR.

You should note that Lightroom doesn't actually copy the files during Import. It just asks the OS to do it, so the problem may be corrupted OS files, which would require a reinstall/refresh. Or it might just be that your computer doesn't/barely meets the minimum specs for Lightroom.

I changed and created a new user not because of LR4 as it was working fine showing all my cam profiles etc, I changed due to other laptop issues at the time, LR4 in my other user is working ok minus the camera profile section that does not show anything different regardless of what I have installed on my cam, standard/ landscape profiles etc are missing, all its says under the cam profile section is Matrix and it can not be altered or changed.
I don't understand matrix - is it a funny default setting where no cam profiles are shown? I can set up my lens profile or change that, and my exif shows my cam details I even try to select camera filters under the input section to activate the profile chosen by me in camera, it selects this but doesn't store it and makes no difference.

Also I don't know if LR4 only recognises one owner on my laptop - resulting in a limited user when used in a guest user on my laptop despite it being activated just the same with my key.


P.