Need help w/ Moving Lightroom Catalog

Hi,

I am transferring all my data from one PC to another and need help deciding on how to move my Lightroom catalog and images. I have about 30,000+ images in about 400+ folders. Current Folder strcuture is

C:\MyDocs\My Pictures\[YEAR]\[YEAR-MONTH-Date]

Folder Structure on the new computer will be:

D:\Data\MyDocs\My Pictures\[YEAR]\[YEAR-MONTH-Date]

I have already copied all of the files to the new system but I have not opened Lightroom Catalog or anything. I don't really want to have to open the catelog and have to repoint each and every folder to new location again.

Thank you for any help.

Drag and drop, then open catalog (be sure to copy ALL of the files, including preference files in the user/app data folder) and right click on the top level folder (in this case My Pictures, again, this is library view in LR) and click locate missing folders. Just browse to the new folder (this case My Pictures on the other drive), and click OK. LR will automatically locate EVERYTHING within that group since it automatically goes to higher level folders as well.

The easiest way to do this is to move the files from within Lightroom. Just drag 'n' drop in the Library module and it'll do it all for you.

basroil wrote in post #9412225
Drag and drop, then open catalog (be sure to copy ALL of the files, including preference files in the user/app data folder) and right click on the top level folder (in this case My Pictures, again, this is library view in LR) and click locate missing folders. Just browse to the new folder (this case My Pictures on the other drive), and click OK. LR will automatically locate EVERYTHING within that group since it automatically goes to higher level folders as well.

Thank you. I will give that a shot.

hollis_f wrote in post #9416840
The easiest way to do this is to move the files from within Lightroom. Just drag 'n' drop in the Library module and it'll do it all for you.

Thank you Hollid but I think this will work only when you are moving to different drives on the same PC but not on two separate PCs.

Baadil wrote in post #9417009
Thank you Hollid but I think this will work only when you are moving to different drives on the same PC but not on two separate PCs.

D'oh! Must learn to read posts properly.

First, copy the catalog folder (by default in your documents/pictures directory) onto an external drive and open it in LR, making sure that your images are all in the library. From there, you can copy the images into the external drive, and when that's done your should be able to move the external drive to the new computer, open the library in LR, and do what you want.

Of course, if you network shared drives and directories you can do it all through the intranet, so if that works better for you then you can get up and running that way. You have to be aware, though, that two copies of LR on the same network can't open an LR catalog at the same time -- you have to close the one before you can open the other.

tonylong wrote in post #9418695
First, copy the catalog folder (by default in your documents/pictures directory) onto an external drive and open it in LR, making sure that your images are all in the library. From there, you can copy the images into the external drive, and when that's done your should be able to move the external drive to the new computer, open the library in LR, and do what you want.

Of course, if you network shared drives and directories you can do it all through the intranet, so if that works better for you then you can get up and running that way. You have to be aware, though, that two copies of LR on the same network can't open an LR catalog at the same time -- you have to close the one before you can open the other.

Thanks Tony for your reply. So far I have been creating an RDP session and then using LR there. I have not thought about using it over the network. Have you done this before? If so, what type of response can one expect? I have 100mb network but my laptop is using wiress G (54mb) connection so I am not sure how responsive it would be. I would think it would take a while to switch from an image to another if you have decent size previews but I could be wrong...

Baadil wrote in post #9427187
Thanks Tony for your reply. So far I have been creating an RDP session and then using LR there. I have not thought about using it over the network. Have you done this before? If so, what type of response can one expect? I have 100mb network but my laptop is using wiress G (54mb) connection so I am not sure how responsive it would be. I would think it would take a while to switch from an image to another if you have decent size previews but I could be wrong...

I haven't attempted to network things because my desktop workstation is the only thing I use for serious processing (my laptop is more auxiliary for temporary processing and I don't trust the laptops for reliable editing). Plus, I prefer to keep my catalog on an internal drive (one dedicated to data) for speed, and I do initial image onto that drive as well.

I believe also that an external drive would also be a better way of moving things from one computer to another as far as speed goes over a wireless router (assuming you have a fast port/drive connection) but I haven't really tested that yet. It would be interesting to see how the fastest wireless routers compare to, say, a USB 2.0 connection for speed -- something to check out.

Baadil wrote in post #9427187
Thanks Tony for your reply. So far I have been creating an RDP session and then using LR there. I have not thought about using it over the network. Have you done this before? If so, what type of response can one expect? I have 100mb network but my laptop is using wiress G (54mb) connection so I am not sure how responsive it would be. I would think it would take a while to switch from an image to another if you have decent size previews but I could be wrong...

Generally for photo type things, you don't want less than gigabit ethernet. You can get away with wireless g though, if you keep the catalog and previews on your computer, with 1:1 previews to help speed things up. It'll take forever to set up, but after that first import things will be not as annoying. Exporting will still take forever though.

Thanks guys for your replies. If I am thinking correctly, I don't think it would be hard to set up at all. I don't plan to store my images on external drive but on a RADI 5 Array (4 disks). I am thinking:

- Create a base folder and Share it on your main system/server
- Copy/create all images, data, previews etc inside this folder.
- On the server, map a drive to the shared folder (within itself).
- Create a new catalog or open an existing one from this shared drive.
- Re-point the parent folder to the shared drive instead of the local drive.

Now if you want to access this catalog and related images from any other machine, all you have to do it map a drive (same drive letter) to the share and open the catalog. Obviously, only one computer will be able to open it at one time as someone mentioned catalog files cannot be shared at the same time.

Am I missing something?

From what I see of what you're saying that should do what you're saying, assuming that what you are saying is what I think you are saying that you want to do!

Baadil wrote in post #9432712
Now if you want to access this catalog and related images from any other machine, all you have to do it map a drive (same drive letter) to the share and open the catalog. Obviously, only one computer will be able to open it at one time as someone mentioned catalog files cannot be shared at the same time.

Am I missing something?

Missing one thing... LR2 is smart and knows it's a shared drive, and then will tell you you need to use a local catalog

basroil wrote in post #9433480
Missing one thing... LR2 is smart and knows it's a shared drive, and then will tell you you need to use a local catalog

Are you sure about that? That was the question I had -- does LR really automatically flag a shared drive? Not fair if it does, but...

basroil wrote in post #9433480
Missing one thing... LR2 is smart and knows it's a shared drive, and then will tell you you need to use a local catalog

That sux! You ruined my whole plan with a single missing item