LightRoom 6.1 Import Too Slow

Since fairly recently the import of files from the SD card to the LightRoom 6.1 became unbearably slow. Actually, moving the files are fast, it is building the 1:1 preview that is like watching the grass grow. Checking the Task Manager it shows that the LR takes sometimes 95 percent of the CPU power. RAM is not an issue, max is about 60 percent.

I have a decent Windows 10 desktop - the i7 CPU, 8 GB RAM. The LR is installed on an SSD drive, but the pictures are imported onto a standard 4TB SATA drive.

The SD card is rated at 95 MB/sec, but I doubt it is a card issue, because, as I said above, the actual copying is fast.

And finally, I work with the raw files created by the 5D4.

Any guesses?

The first thing I think of is, why make 1:1 previews of files you are going to edit? Once you make ANY edit, you have to build the 1:1 again to see the results. Why bother with the import 1:1? I only make 1:1 when I shoot JPG.

So how do I set up the LR so that it does not build the 1:1 preview?

Lbsimon wrote in post #18500073
So how do I set up the LR so that it does not build the 1:1 preview?

On the IMPORT screen, go to the top right corner. Look under FILE HANDLING. Under BUILD PREVIEWS you can select MINIMAL, STANDARD, and 1:1. I usually use MINIMAL when importing raw files because I know I'm going to modify them. I'll use STANDARD JPG files I expect to modify, and only use 1:1 when I don't expect to do much (or any) modifications (usually outdoor daylight JPG stuff).

You should also have LR OPTIMIZING your catalog at least once a week; it does everything faster if/when the catalog is optimized. LR optimizes before doing a backup. Look in the EDIT > CATALOG SETTINGS menu to select how often LR backs up its catalog. I do it weekly, and store them on an internal backup HDD.

Thanks Tom.

I found the setting, but there is something that I cannot handle: I can change the file handling to Minimal, but it did not stay, and every time I open the LR, it defaults to 1:1. Is there a way to set Minimal as default?

Lbsimon wrote in post #18500116
Thanks Tom.

I found the setting, but there is something that I cannot handle: I can change the file handling to Minimal, but it did not stay, and every time I open the LR, it defaults to 1:1. Is there a way to set Minimal as default?

You got me with that one. Mine stays wherever I set it to last. Are you using an import 'preset'? Maybe 1:1 is set in the preset?

I hope someone with more know-how than me comes along. I'll play with it, though, and see what I can find out.

I spent a bit of time playing with the IMPORT settings. My BUILD PREVIEWS stays wherever I last left it. The only thing I can come up with is that you must be using an IMPORT PRESET. After you click IMPORT, a box labelled IMPORT PRESETS will appear at the bottom-center of the import screen. Make sure you have NONE selected. See if that helps.

Just to be sure we're on the same page, here is my IMPORT screen. BUILD PREVIEWS (upper right) is set to MINIMAL, and stays wherever I last set it. IMPORT PRESETS (bottom center) is set to NONE.

It is very likely that the 1:1 preview is built into one of the presets. I will check it after work tonight.

Just noticed the entire LR screen is too small to read. These should be better. IMPORT PRESETS is bottom center. BUILD PREVIEWS is top right.

Lbsimon wrote in post #18499908
Since fairly recently the import of files from the SD card to the LightRoom 6.1 became unbearably slow. Actually, moving the files are fast, it is building the 1:1 preview that is like watching the grass grow. Checking the Task Manager it shows that the LR takes sometimes 95 percent of the CPU power. RAM is not an issue, max is about 60 percent.

I have a decent Windows 10 desktop - the i7 CPU, 8 GB RAM. The LR is installed on an SSD drive, but the pictures are imported onto a standard 4TB SATA drive.

The SD card is rated at 95 MB/sec, but I doubt it is a card issue, because, as I said above, the actual copying is fast.

And finally, I work with the raw files created by the 5D4.

Any guesses?

Curious what you mean by "slow", although I understand it must be noticeably worse than it was before. My system is similar to yours. I also have it set to do previews. I've never timed it... guessing maybe 5-10 minutes to do a couple hundred photos. It is not an issue for me, I just jump in to the photos and start editing while the previews are still being made.

Long shot maybe, but I would check your disk space and the room left in the recycle bin.

Archibald wrote in post #18500544
Curious what you mean by "slow", although I understand it must be noticeably worse than it was before. My system is similar to yours. I also have it set to do previews. I've never timed it... guessing maybe 5-10 minutes to do a couple hundred photos. It is not an issue for me, I just jump in to the photos and start editing while the previews are still being made.

Long shot maybe, but I would check your disk space and the room left in the recycle bin.

"Slow" means about 30 min for a couple of hundred short. The drive is 4TB, half full. As I mentioned earlier, it is the CPU utilization that I am concerned about, at times it reaches 95 percent. An i7 CPU should not stumble like that.

Bassat wrote in post #18500512
Just noticed the entire LR screen is too small to read. These should be better. IMPORT PRESETS is bottom center. BUILD PREVIEWS is top right.

Hosted photo: posted by Bassat in
./showthread.php?p=185​00512&i=i253191408
forum: RAW, Post Processing & Printing

Hosted photo: posted by Bassat in
./showthread.php?p=185​00512&i=i117062447
forum: RAW, Post Processing & Printing

Thanks for your troubles, but I was able to read the text on your original photo. Let me check tonight if you suggestion works.

One of the problems you have with Lr imports is that Lr starts to build previews etc, while still pulling images onto the drive. On really big imports, in the order of 1000's of images, I found that it was always better to pull the images off the card, using the file manager, and then doing an ADD import, instead of copy. This stops the computer from overloading the storage systems and slowing the whole thing right down.

On my old system, a 10 year old knackered Dell laptop, using a multitude of USB2 external drives, importing 2500 images from an airshow could effectively stall the system. I could pull the 50 GB of data from the cards in under 20 minutes, and the import in place would take about the same. Even on my new super fast system I'll do airshow imports this way.

Alan

Lbsimon wrote in post #18500618
"Slow" means about 30 min for a couple of hundred short. The drive is 4TB, half full. As I mentioned earlier, it is the CPU utilization that I am concerned about, at times it reaches 95 percent. An i7 CPU should not stumble like that.

The CPU problem points to a system issue, not an LR issue. But LR is a resource hog and will test the system. How is the boot drive?