Blended LR family - Macbook Pro and PC Desktop

Dear PotN,

I've recently upgraded to a beast of a PC Desktop that I'm absolutely ecstatic with. My old Dell 15" laptop is to be retired and I've been looking at 13" laptops for the portability benefits they offer. Having done the rounds of most of the easily available brands in Australia, I keep going back to the 13" Macbook Pro 2.26/2GB/160GB. In fact I've discovered that I hate every other 13" laptop I've seen/handled with the closest alternative under consideration being a the Dell Studio XPS. I think I'll really only consider the Studio XPS should the MBP be likely to cause me real pain...read on

All I've read about the 13" MBP suggests that it will be fine for my field photography purposes (basically Lightroom only) - especially with the desktop doing the heavy lifting at home. I've even read up on workflow for laptop and desktop set-ups and I think they will suit my needs. The only thing I've had difficulty determining is whether am I entering a world of pain in getting my LR photo workflow to work a Mac and PC together (this is the only aspect of compatibility I'm really concerned about).

Bear in mind that it is a huge decision for me to contemplate this foray into Mac-land and at this stage the 13" MBP is the only medium to long term Mac computer likely to join my household.

Can anyone share with me their experience of blending the two? Am I mad?

Yours truly

Angus "terrified of Macs" Young

I've got a Macbook 13.5 it's great and not failed me ever.

Only problem is screen is small but for what you're after it's $1500 well spent

Thanks Thom - I'm pretty sure I'm prepared to accept the compromises of the screen size.

I don't suppose you use your MBP as a field computer with your main machine being PC?

I do use it as my field computer and I do have a desktop PC but I tend to do all photography stuff using another desktop which is a Mac.

If you don't mind having your images and catalog on an external drive then thiswill help. Otherwise thiswill probably be what you're looking for.

RockSlut wrote in post #9017681
Dear PotN,

I've recently upgraded to a beast of a PC Desktop that I'm absolutely ecstatic with. My old Dell 15" laptop is to be retired and I've been looking at 13" laptops for the portability benefits they offer. Having done the rounds of most of the easily available brands in Australia, I keep going back to the 13" Macbook Pro 2.26/2GB/160GB. In fact I've discovered that I hate every other 13" laptop I've seen/handled with the closest alternative under consideration being a the Dell Studio XPS. I think I'll really only consider the Studio XPS should the MBP be likely to cause me real pain...read on

All I've read about the 13" MBP suggests that it will be fine for my field photography purposes (basically Lightroom only) - especially with the desktop doing the heavy lifting at home. I've even read up on workflow for laptop and desktop set-ups and I think they will suit my needs. The only thing I've had difficulty determining is whether am I entering a world of pain in getting my LR photo workflow to work a Mac and PC together (this is the only aspect of compatibility I'm really concerned about).

Bear in mind that it is a huge decision for me to contemplate this foray into Mac-land and at this stage the 13" MBP is the only medium to long term Mac computer likely to join my household.

Can anyone share with me their experience of blending the two? Am I mad?

Yours truly

Angus "terrified of Macs" Young

Using both should be fine, but keep in mind that you can't have photoshop on a mac AND pc without buying a second copy (and technically you shouldn't run LR2 that way either, but since you'll be using one or the other, not both, then it's a bit more acceptable). You will have to keep the catalog and files on an external though (to share edits), and most likely usb 2.0 only. Keep in mind that WILL slow down processing on both systems.

Thanks for your input Thom and Hollis_F!

basroil wrote in post #9018897
Using both should be fine, but keep in mind that you can't have photoshop on a mac AND pc without buying a second copy (and technically you shouldn't run LR2 that way either, but since you'll be using one or the other, not both, then it's a bit more acceptable). You will have to keep the catalog and files on an external though (to share edits), and most likely usb 2.0 only. Keep in mind that WILL slow down processing on both systems.

Thanks Basroil!

I'm aware of the restrictions on Photoshop and I'm pretty much certain that LR will be totally fine. I was thinking that if I became desperate for photoshop, I could run my pc version through bootcamp in case of emergency. However, I find that when I'm in the field I'm really more interested in reviewing images via LR with clients. I think that as far as image editing goes, the develop module will meet most of my needs anyway (this matches my home workflow). LR has really significantly reduced the amount of photoshop work that I do.

I recently read an article about workflow for pulling the catalog into the desktop's catalog and I think that the first approach listed in the article will work for me.

If I'm interpretting your comments right Basroil, keeping the catalog and files on an external hard drive is no different from what I'd be needing to do with a PC laptop. Is that what you're saying?

RockSlut wrote in post #9020109
Thanks for your input Thom and Hollis_F!

Thanks Basroil!

I'm aware of the restrictions on Photoshop and I'm pretty much certain that LR will be totally fine. I was thinking that if I became desperate for photoshop, I could run my pc version through bootcamp in case of emergency. However, I find that when I'm in the field I'm really more interested in reviewing images via LR with clients. I think that as far as image editing goes, the develop module will meet most of my needs anyway (this matches my home workflow). LR has really significantly reduced the amount of photoshop work that I do.

I recently read an article about workflow for pulling the catalog into the desktop's catalog and I think that the first approach listed in the article will work for me.

If I'm interpretting your comments right Basroil, keeping the catalog and files on an external hard drive is no different from what I'd be needing to do with a PC laptop. Is that what you're saying?

Putting it on an external works for any computer, desktop, laptop, mac, not. With windows, you can also put the catalog and files on a remote share, but can't do that in OSX. Not like you are planning on that anyway.

The new Macs have an SD card slot don't they?

What about shooting in the field, importing into the Mac and working on them, then copying the photos and catalog file onto an SD card/
When you get back to your desktop, import both the photos and the catalog from the SD card into LR on your desktop, then put the SD card back into the mac for next time.

You could do the same thing with a USB drive, or a CF card in a card reader etc.

basroil wrote in post #9020221
Putting it on an external works for any computer, desktop, laptop, mac, not. With windows, you can also put the catalog and files on a remote share, but can't do that in OSX. Not like you are planning on that anyway.

Just curious why do you say you can't put them on a remote share with OSX?

Damian75 wrote in post #9022908
Just curious why do you say you can't put them on a remote share with OSX?

Because of the way OSX works, you cannot call catalogs from a networked folder of any sort. With Windows, it's fairly easy, and if you have a gig-e network, not all that slow either. The adobe website has more info if you are interested.

basroil wrote in post #9023989
Because of the way OSX works, you cannot call catalogs from a networked folder of any sort. With Windows, it's fairly easy, and if you have a gig-e network, not all that slow either. The adobe website has more info if you are interested.

Do you have a link to that info from adobe as I use NAS shares for my iTunes and Aperture Libraries without issue. Is this an issue with using SMB shares? Just curious as I was reading an article from a guy who has his LR catalog residing on a Linux server that he accesses from his MAC

Damian75 wrote in post #9024066
Do you have a link to that info from adobe as I use NAS shares for my iTunes and Aperture Libraries without issue. Is this an issue with using SMB shares?

No, it's more of LR2 hating any networked drives, and the lack of a known workaround for it on OSX. For the windows workaround, http://luminous-landscape.com …index.php?showt​opic=28723 , perhaps you can find a way to do that on OSX, then it might make OP's life easier.

basroil wrote in post #9024197
No, it's more of LR2 hating any networked drives, and the lack of a known workaround for it on OSX. For the windows workaround, http://luminous-landscape.com …index.php?showt​opic=28723 , perhaps you can find a way to do that on OSX, then it might make OP's life easier.

You could probably do it using Symbolic Links in terminal put the link in place of the original file and point it to the real file on the network share I don't run LR or I would try it. If anyone wants to try it here is a brief explanation of Symbolic Links http://www.macosxhints​.com …hp?story=200111​0610290643

Damian75 wrote in post #9024554
You could probably do it using Symbolic Links in terminal put the link in place of the original file and point it to the real file on the network share I don't run LR or I would try it. If anyone wants to try it here is a brief explanation of Symbolic Links http://www.macosxhints​.com …hp?story=200111​0610290643

I've heard bad things about doing this. Some people were reporting data loss. That's why I like to stay with Apple products - you can move libraries around without issue. Even Final Cut Studio projects as long as you keep the same basic structures. Adobe is just protecting their butts because on slower 10Mb connections (typically with hubs) there can be packet errors (CRC) which can in rare occasions corrupt the libraries (which I do not think do self repairs).

Have you taken a look at Lightroom 3 to see if it's supported? I've had it in my download's folder and haven't had the time to give it a try. Odd thing, but the PC version is almost twice the size as the Mac version.