Aperture with referenced library on a terastation

I was experiencing a problem similar (or identical) to the one discussed in this post (http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6695612&tstart=0) and made some head-way on debugging it. Since I have a few more data points, I'm creating a thread with a more specific description of the problem.
To quickly review: I was attempting to import photos from a camera or card reader and place the photos onto a volume hosted by a terastation. I would select 1 or more photos for import, push the button, and Aperture would quickly respond "0 Images have been imported" with no error/failure message.
- In the aforementioned configuration, I had the Library "package" on my local drive and was simply trying to save the pictures to the terastation.
- I started over (whacked the pictures folder, whacked the prefs.plist, whacked the library) and created a new library package on the local drive.
- When I selected a local drive as the destination for the pictures (though not IN the library itself) the import worked ok.
- Tried moving the library package over to the terastation and it said something to the effect of "could not copy all files because one or more files uses an unsupported character in the filename".
- I could move the folder containing the pictures to the terastation after import.
- If I create a library package on the terastation, it does not complain.
- So, with the library on the TS, I tried importing again with the destination for the pictures being a local drive.
- This time I got an error message saying "Import From Capture Card Completed with Errors" and it listed the files that failed (though it did not elaborate on the error).
So if either the library AND/OR the destination for the pictures is the terastation, the import will fail. Though I see no "good" reason for a failure in the case where the library is local and the pictures are on the TS.
Is there a way to enable logging so I can get a better idea for the failure mechanism?
Any known solutions/work-arounds to this problem?

Most of the description was a list of trouble-shooting steps I've gone through. The fundamental thing that I'm trying to do is keep the library on my local computer and the pictures on the terastation.
In the import dialog, I set "Store Files" to a path on the TS, copy and move are grayed (but copy is selected), subfolders is set to "Image year/month/day", I click "Import <n> Images" and it says "0 images have been imported"
None of the picture filenames are unusual. I'm not sure why its failing because none of the errors are verbose
FWIW, I believe the terastation uses XFS as the underlying format.
At this point I've disabled all access permissions and the folder should be fully writable by anyone.

Similar Messages

Aperture 3 - will Chronosync work with referenced library?

This is a one-library, two-Macs question.
The iMac is where I do my main Aperture work. The MacBook also gets Aperture use, sometimes creating new projects (easy enough to merge when back at base), but mostly I think it will be used for generally read-only stuff: slideshows/albums for friends & family; sending in emails; inserting in blog posts etc. (And maybe doing some basic metadata/rating work on previews during downtime.)
I'm a fairly new Aperture 3 user, and am still getting to grips with my preferred method of managing files (many gigabytes of photos haven't yet been imported from standard folders). Until now I've been slowly building a managed library on the iMac, and using Chronosync to synchronise it with the MacBook. Of course it's quickly becoming too large for the laptop (not to mention a cumbersome process), and there's really no need for anything but screen-sized previews on the MacBook.
What I think I'd like to do is keep a fully referenced library on the iMac to a large external hard drive, generating previews for all images, and synchronising this referenced library between iMac and MacBook. I'm hoping that all I end up synchronising is the previews + metadata (I'll use the 'Dissect Packages' option) and what I'll end up with is a Library-lite preview version on the laptop that is, to all intents & purposes, a duplicate of the full-on referenced iMac library.
Does anyone else use this setup? It seems logical to me, but I don't know if there are practical limitations. It's maybe worth mentioning I'm a long time Chronosync user, and am quite used to the discipline of only opening certain apps (e.g. Mail) on one computer or the other before doing a sync, so I'm au fait with the paradox of one-way bi-directional syncs!
Any advice gratefully received.
G

I think you may find a better answer than chronosync is to change your iMac library to all referenced, then copy the library to the MacBook. You can use the merge feature in aperture 3 to keep it all current:
http://aperture.maccreate.com/2010/02/09/the-importance-of-libraries-aperture-3s -new-syncing/
As long as your library has previews in it, you will have all the images in your library available to see on the MacBook, and you'll even be able to do some jobs like rating and tagging on the laptop.

Aperture & iPhoto referenced library issues

Hi,
For the last couple of days I've been busy trying to get my Aperture library to work properly. I recently started using a referenced library because of lack of space on my internal ssd. I've generated previews on all of my 40000 photos. I can see all of my Projects, thumbnails, metadata etc. when my external drive is disconnected. However, there are two major issues:
1) Most of the video thumbnails are broken, both in Aperture and iPhoto. By double clicking a thumbnail of a video (.mov, .avi etc.) it sometimes starts playing, sometimes it doesn't, totally inconsistent. I can export the video and it works just fine.
2) While using iPhoto with the external drive disconnected, all Events are there, the thumbnails are there, everything looks ok, but I can only view some of the previews/photos after double clicking the thumbnails. A dialogue opens up saying "The volume for [imagefilename] cannot be found. Insert the disk or connect to the server volume..", but I can actually see the full size preview behind this dialogue. By clicking "Cancel" the photo dissapears and is replaced by a black screen with a grey exclamation mark. This does not occur while using Aperture, I can see all of my previews in full glory when the external drive is disconnected. However, with the external drive connected everything works in iPhoto (except above mentioned issue with videos).
Please boys and girls, help me out with this!
System information
OS: Maverick 10.9.1
Aperture: 3.5.1
iPhoto: 9.5.1
Thanks!
//Michel

I don;t use iPhoto much so I'm no expert but looking at other posts asking a similar question sems to indicate iPhoto is not capable of doing this.
See Can iPhoto view pictures on a disconnected external drive in a unified photo library? for one example.
Again if Aperture is working correctly on the referenced images on the disconnect drive and iPhoto is not you will need to ask the iPhoto folks.
regards

Use both iPhoto and Aperture with one library-best practice?

I'd like to use both iPhoto and Aperture, but have both programs use/update just one photo library. I have the latest versions of both programs, but was wondering if the optimum approach would be to:
a)point Aperture to the existing iPhoto library and use that as the library for both programs
or
b)import the entire iPhoto library into a new Aperture library, delete the iPhoto library, and point iPhoto to use the Aperture library.
I should point out that up to now I've been using iPhoto exclusively, and have close to 20K photos in the iPhoto library, tagged with Faces, organized into various albums, etc; if that makes a difference...
Appreciate any advice!
Thanks,
Dave

Thanks Frank! I'll try it that way.
Appreciate the help!

I need to minimize the space photos take on my MacBook Pro OSx 10.7. They are in iPhoto, Aperture, Pictures/Photo Library, etc. Are they taking space in all of these locations?

I need to minimize the space photos take on my MacBook Pro OSx 10.7. They are in iPhoto, Aperture, Pictures/Photo Library, etc. Are they taking space in all of these locations?

Are they taking space in all of these locations?
It depends on how you are using iPhoto and Aperture.
iPhoto and Aperture each create their own library files, and the default location for them is in /users/youruseraccount/Pictures
You can configure iPhoto and Aperture to use the same Library file, in which case your photos are only stored once. But if you are using iPhoto & Aperture with independent library files, you may in fact be duplicating your storage.
The second consideration is whether or not you have configured iPhoto and/or Aperture as reference libraries, in which case their library files only reference photos you have stored in other places on your hard drive. Setting them up as reference libraries does not duplicate the photos inside the library files.

Can you use iPhoto as your referenced library in Aperture 3?

Hi folks, new to the forum here and I've searched around older posts for an answer to this dumb question but can't seem to find it. Any insight much appreciated.
I'm a relatively new mac user, migrated over just under 5,000 photos from Photoshop Elements on the PC to iPhoto on my new iMac and very happy with it. I was going to get the new PSE for Mac to use as my editor with iPhoto, but now that Aperture 3 is such a ridiculously good price on the App store I've been testing that out and I love it!
So the question is, as I start to get more serious about my photography I would love to be able to use Aperture for everything - but the rest of the family just want the simplicity and great interface of iPhoto for the family shots. Can I / we keep importing, storing photos in the iPhoto library, and everyone else just uses that for the cropping, red-eye removal etc., but I can access the library in Aperture (sort of like a referenced library) make changes, add versions etc. without messing it up?
Hope that makes sense, and again, apologies for what must be the millionth time this question has been asked.
James

In a word, no.
Aperture and iPhoto are entirely different applications that work in very different ways.
The only communication between the two is as follows:
Aperture is able to parse the iPhoto Library to allow it to import the contents while stacking the Originals and Modified versions, preserving metadata and so forth.
Aperture can share its Previews with the iLife apps, including iPhoto.
That's it.
So, specifically, what interaction there is between the two is designed to facilitate migration from iPhoto to the more powerful app. After that, iPhoto has exactly the same relationship to the Aperture Library as, say, Pages or iMovie.
Regards
TD

OK to use Aperture to maintain iPhoto Referenced Library

I have Aperture and iPhoto. We are an OSX and Windows household. But thanks to the Windows 8 debacle, my wife (the diehard Windows user) has abandoned her PC with all regard to photos and videos (viewing, editing, sharing). Now, I use Aperture most of the time, but my wife uses iPhoto 100% of the time. I manage all the imports with Aperture. (I currently have one referenced library that I use in Aperture of all files and a second default iPhoto Library that is managed but only has post-2010 files in it. Both created in their respective programs, if that matters.)
Coincidentally, we are also at a point where we need to quit adding photos/videos to the PC or we'll exceed its backup capacity.
Now that she is using the iMac, I would like to get the Library organized and minimize my workflow and eliminate duplication. I do not have enough contiguous disk space for single managed aperture library. I have avoided proceeding because iPhoto and referenced files are not recommended by most of the experts here, for well founded reasons. However, now that both apps can use the same library, and Aperture handles referenced libraries so much better... why not go referenced now? I can leave the pre-2010 files on the PC, and keep all the post-2010 imports on the iMac, all in one Library. The fact that nobody is getting into the files on the PC virtually eliminates all the problems I've had in the past.
Is there something I'm missing?
Thanks for any thoughts on this, or hidden gotchas.

No assuming that you have the latest version of both iPhoto and Aperture so there is total interoperability between them
LN

Import photos from SD Card into a library with referenced masters

I have the following problem:
I would like to migrate from Aperture (that I used for the past couple of years) to Photos for OS X. (Well, let's say I feel kind of forced to by Apple's decision to abandon Aperture and since I do not like to switch to Lightroom (which I fear will soon be available via Adobe's Cloud system!)). I successfully migrated my Aperture library to Photos. My library is a 'referenced library', i.e. a library where the original photos ('masters') are NOT inside the library but stored in a separate location. In my case the original photos are stored on a NAS. Photos recognizes all my photos and by right-clicking on a photo I can select the 'Show in Finder' option and Photos correctly shows then the location of the corresponding photo on the NAS. So far so good.
The problem arises when I want to import new photos from the camera (or its SD card). I plugin the SD card into the Mac and fire up Photos. Then I click on 'Import'. I do not succeed in importing the photos from the SD card in a way that the original files (masters) are copied to the NAS (the place where I keep my masters). In fact when I import then everything (also the master files) are copied into the library (which is located on the Mac's internal SSD.) This happens despite I have deselected "Copy objects into photo library" in the Photos app Preferences.
(Another problem is that, with Aperture, I could import photos from the SD card in a way that the originals were copied to the NAS, renamed appropriately (e.g. <date>-<time>.JPG and put automatically in an Aperture-created folder structure (year/month/day). I fear that the only way to keep on working with 'referenced' masters will be by NOT using Photos' Import function directly for the import from the SD card, but first to copy 'manually' (using the Finder) the photos from the SD card to the NAS (after having created year, month, day folders manually) and then to use Photos Import function. Is this really the sad truth?
Another problem is: When I delete a photo from the library, it will NOT be deleted from the masters! :-(
Has anybody experienced the same problems?
Cheers
Rainer

The SanDisk website has a PDF owner's guide that says the following;
Macintosh Disk Icons: When you connect the MicroMate Reader/Writer on a Macintosh operating system, a removable disk icon labeled
“untitled” representing the MicroMate Reader/Writer will show on the desktop when a card is inserted.
It also has directions to drag the removable disk icon labeled “untitled” to the trash to remove the disk. There is also a support link to a ebox page on a secure site that won't let me go farther (I think I need a newer browser), so I can't find drivers.
My problem is that the icon doesn't show up and I can't find it in any applications I try. I know the Disney camera is a toy, its for my 5 year old, but I am having the identical problem with both the Disney camera and SanDisk.

Issues With Reconnecting Library to Referenced Files

I'm hoping somebody may be able to shed some light on very strange behavior I'm currently experiencing with Aperture. Before I continue let me say ahead of time that I've already run a Repair Permissions, Repair Database and a complete Rebuild Database on the Library. That said here is what's happening.
My workflow consists of Importing all images via Aperture, as referenced files, on to a small, external hard drive. When I return to my studio I manually copy the folder of images, from the small external drive, over to my desktop hard drive. The next step is to Import the Field Library to my desktop MAIN library. Once the Field Library is Imported into the MAIN Desktop library I then highlight all the images and select File>Locate Referenced Files. Though I've done this hundreds of times in the past, it's currently not working on some files. Here's where the very strange behavior comes in.
When the Locae Referenced Files window comes up I see the image in the top pane that I want to reconnect. In the bottom pain I navigate to the drive the image now lives on, I find it and it too appears in the bottom window. So far all seems to be fine, except when I tried reconnecting, Aperture went through the process but didn't actually reconnect. I retried several times but after the first try to reconnect the Reconnect & Reconnect All buttons is grayed out.
Ok, so what the heck is going on? I start reviewing the Metadata of each image while still in the Locate Referenced Files window. The file numbers are exactly the same but the time stamp on each image is different. Why I have no idea. I plug in the original mini field drive with all the images that Aperture Imported to check the Metadata on the field drive. Sure enough it's identical to the Metadata on the Desktop drive which means it's different from the Aperture Library on the orignal drive Apertue saved it to as well. But what's even more interesting is that the minute the mini hard drive is plugged in, Aperture sees it and reconnects the images automatically, even though the potential issue of the metadata timestamp being different is the same on both the mini field drive and my desktop drive.
In summary, when Aperture wouldn't connect the images that were on the desktop drive I thought I found the reason; a discrepancy in Metadata. But when the original drive was plugged in, the same files had the same discrepancies yet Aperture found them fine.
None of this would be a probelm if Aperture had the ability to FORCE RECONNECT. The images are exactly the same except for some minor metadata descrepencies that I have no idea how they got changed and I really don't care about. But............. how the heck am I going to get these fiels reconnected without a Force REconnect option. Any ideas out there?

William is right - use the provided tools.
. Never once could it not find the images once I took it and showed the exact path to where the images were newly located. So what happens if that drive ever fails completely and I have to replace it with a totally new backup?
There must be something wrong with your external drive, if reconnect is not working. I had never, ever trouble to reconnect the originals after copying or cloning a drive, when I restored a mac from my backup.
Check the filesystem on your field drive, if the file system is MacOS Extended (Journaled).

IPhoto and Aperture referenced library issues

Hi,
For the last couple of days I've been busy trying to get my iPhoto/Aperture library to work properly. I recently created a referenced library using Aperture because of lack of space on my internal ssd. I can see all of my Projects, thumbnails, metadata etc. in both iPhoto and Aperture when my external drive is disconnected. However, there are two major issues:
1) Most of the video thumbnails are broken, both in Aperture and iPhoto. By double clicking a thumbnail of a video (.mov, .avi etc.) it sometimes starts playing (with the external drive connected), sometimes it doesn't, totally inconsistent. I can export the video and it works just fine.
2) While using iPhoto with the external drive disconnected, all Events are there, the thumbnails are there, everything looks ok, but I can only view some of the previews/photos after double clicking the thumbnails. A dialogue opens up saying "The volume for [imagefilename] cannot be found. Insert the disk or connect to the server volume..", but I can actually see the full size preview behind this dialogue. By clicking "Cancel" the photo dissapears and is replaced by a black screen with a grey exclamation mark. This does not occur while using Aperture, I can see all of my previews in full glory when the external drive is disconnected. However, with the external drive connected everything works in iPhoto (except above mentioned issue with videos).
Please boys and girls, I need your help on this one!
System information
OS: Maverick 10.9.1
Aperture: 3.5.1
iPhoto: 9.5.1
Thanks!
//Michel

1. Are these videos different formats? Or the same?
2. See my answer to your duplicate post.

Aperture - Converting Managed Library to Referenced Library?

I goofed. I've been using Aperture for a while, and I now realize that by importing my image files directly into my Aperture library on my 1TB iMac hard drive, this managed library is now 430GB... I need to streamline. I understand (now) the benefit of using reference libraries wherein the image files themselves are stored elsewhere (I have a 3TB external USB drive) and the Aperture library accesses/utilizes the files from that location. The big question - how do I convert my current managed library to that referenced library model? If I copy my entire 430GB Aperture library folder from the iMac hard drive 'Pictures' folder over to the 3TB external drive, it's still a managed library in that new external drive location but now with USB access times added to the Aperture work flow... correct?
I'm assuming I need to somehow 'export' my image files to the 3TB external drive, and then tell Aperture to build a reference library off of those image files - correct? If so, is there an specific way to do this? Also, if I create a referenced library as described above, I assume that in the future I will need to import image files from my camera to the 3TB external drive outside of Aperture, and then use Aperture to import them from that 3TB drive into the Aperture reference library via Aperture 'Import'... correct?
Thanks in advance for any insight here.

It's all a lot easier than you expect.
Libraries are neither managed nor referenced, they are just libraries. It's the images within the libraries that can be either managed (stored with the library) or referenced (stored external to it). So within a single library you can have a combination of both (if you have a reason to).
But the simple answer to your question is, select all your photos, and from the file menu choose "Relocate Originals". It will prompt you for where to store them. Create a folder on your external (eg "Masters" or "Originals") and chose a folder structure to store them in (I use the project name for subfolders - but more complex options can be created using 'edit'). Press relocate button and go have a well earned beer while it relocates them for you.
Andy

Prepping for Aperture 3. What do I do with iPhoto Library?

OK, gang, I’m getting ready for Aperture 3 and could use some friendly advice so that I don’t run off the road and into the ditch as I wend my way down the Aperture highway.
Here’s the background story. In 2007 I bought a 20” iMac and commenced shortly thereafter to use iPhoto for storing and organizing my Nikon digital images. I have never used iPhoto for editing but instead have always used Photoshop Elements as an external editor. (I currently use PSE 6 for Mac and intend to retain it as an external editor with Aperture 3). I acquired iPhoto Library Manager and currently have the many thousands of images in my iPhoto Library broken up into dozens of sub-libraries, each with a number of albums.
I plan to download Aperture 3 from the Apps Store in the near future and have acquired the following in the meantime:
New 27” iMac with Lion, 2 TB HD, and 8 GB RAM
“Aperture 3” by Dion Scoppettuolo
“Focus on Apple Aperture” by Corey Hilz
Three Aperture Help items: User Manual, Exploring Aperture, and Keyboard Shortcuts.
I have done some skimming of the above written material and expect soon to review it in much greater detail before downloading Aperture 3. If it sounds like I’m a bit apprehensive about Aperture 3 and am going overboard in preparing for it you’re right! I’m hoping to avoid unexpected surprises that might throw me for a loop.
One of my biggest concerns is what to do with my existing iPhoto Library. Should I leave it as is or should I import it into Aperture 3? Will all of those many sub-libraries still be distinct entities that look the same as they did in iPhoto with the same content and format? Most of those sub-libraries are smaller than they need to be, and I would like to combine many of them. Would this be reasonably easy to do if I imported my iPhoto Library into Aperture 3?
Are there any particular issues about Aperture 3 that have given users problems that I need to be aware of? If it's of importance I shot JPEGs only for a long time but recently commenced shooting RAW only, so most of the images in my iPhoto Library are JPEGs. I expect to continue to shoot RAW only after I acquire Aperture 3.
Bob

Hello Bob,
to able to advice you better we would to need more about the size of your iPhoto Libraries. The amount of images you need to store will determine, if you should better set up a referenced library or a managed library.
Here is a guide on how to transit from iPhoto to Aperture:
http://www.apple.com/aperture/iphoto-to-aperture/how.html.
The basic procedure would be to import a complete iPhoto Library into Aperture. This will ensure that you import the edited images as well as the original masters, and in the Aperture library you will find new folders, projects, and albums that will mirror the corresponding items in iPhoto. Also your keywords and captions will be preserved.
You can import all of your iPhoto libraries this way into one single Aperture Library and unite them.
Some common pitfalls you should be aware of:
Aperture and external drives: Since you have a 2TB internal disk you will probably not need to put your Aperture Library onto an external volume, but you should be aware that an Aperture library needs to be on a locally mounted volume, MacOS X formatted.
Aperture is not designed for network access, and it is a single user system. You cannot use it as a shared database.
Experiment with Aperture and explore it, before you build a large database. You need to plan the design in advance. See Kirby Krieger's Advice here:
Kirby Krieger: Start Small and Gain Skill: Re: Importing masters from iPhoto to Aperture 3 and saving as referenced files on external drive
Post back, if you have more questions. I am sure others will chime in.
Welcome to Aperture and Good Luck for the transit!
Léonie

Aperture: Migration to new Mac (Referenced Library)

Apologies if this has been covered before but I've used numerous searches and don't seem to be hitting the right combination of terms to bring up what I want.
I currently have a flagging 2007 MacBook (OS 10.6.8; 2.16 GHz, 2MB RAM and only 7GB free of the 160 GB HDD). Aperture is struggling. Time to upgrade.
My Aperture Library is currently on the Mac and is 'Managed'. I have contemplated moving the 50GB or so of Aperture Library to an external HDD and going 'Referenced', mainly because I still have some images I need to work on (even though Aperture is for obvious reasons ponderously slow with frequent SBOD on this machine) until I decide what to upgrade to (Macbook 15" or iMac with more bangs for the buck) and wait for the latest refresh of the line that I choose.
Upon getting the new machine I plan to use the Migration Assistant to help with app/doc/settings transfer but what about Aperture? I am not sure if it's best to:
1) Get the new Mac now, migrate everything across (including Aperture and its Managed library) THEN move the Aperture library off the internal HDD to an external and going Referenced, or;
2) Go Referenced now. In which case when I eventually do then migrate Aperture to the new machine will it automatically 'point' to the correct location of the external HDD referenced library when what is left of Aperture copies across or is there and easier (or indeed more convoluted) process I will have to go through if I switch to Rferenced before getting the new Mac and migrating?
Accept of course with the new Mac the HDD will be so much bigger so there may actually be no need to go Referenced, at least yet. Try as I might, save for HDD space I don't see that many benefits to Referenced
On the new Mac front, while I like laptops, I find that the iPad and this Mac do most of what I want (e.g. surfing, mailing and running the odd few apps). While a new MBP would be appreciated part of me still thinks that the more bang for the buck iMac is the better investment. The only thing I MAY need to do is upload the occasional photo shoot on the move (by creating a new project) which, if stripped back to basics, this Mac miight still be OK for until I get back home and move the project to the iMac, reloacting to the masters to the referenced external HDD after.
Any help appreciated.

Hi,
some consederations you may want to keep in mind. There is no definitive answer for the perfect library setup - it will depend on the size of your Aperture Library, the amount of available disk space, on your workflow, and on your backup strategy.
I currently have a flagging 2007 MacBook (OS 10.6.8; 2.16 GHz, 2MB RAM and only 7GB free of the 160 GB HDD). Aperture is struggling. Time to upgrade.
On that machine you really need to relocate your master image files to an external drive or free disk space in a different way. With only for 4% of empty space on the system drive, even a newer Mac will be very slow. Try to keep 20% to 30% of your system volume free.
My Aperture Library is currently on the Mac and is 'Managed'. I have contemplated moving the 50GB or so of Aperture Library to an external HDD and going 'Referenced', mainly because I still have some images I need to work on (even though Aperture is for obvious reasons ponderously slow with frequent SBOD on this machine) until I decide what to upgrade to (Macbook 15" or iMac with more bangs for the buck) and wait for the latest refresh of the line that I choose.
For best performance the Aperture library should reside on your fastest drive, usually the System drive. If you want to go referenced, relocate the masters, but keep the library on the internal drive. Only if you have a very fast connection to your second drive, or two internal drives, it may be advantegous to move the whole library to the other volume.
Managed, referenced, or mixed?
Managed: A managed library is easier to handle, as long as it is reasonably small. With 50 GB Aperture Library you can continue with a managed library, as soon as you have more disk space available. The advantage of "Managed" is that you do not have to keep track of your masters on your own, and that they will be included in the vaults. You will need an incremental backup scheme that looks inside the library package however - like Time Machine, otherwise you will need to backup the whole library over and over again, even if you only changed one single image.
Referenced: If your Library gets larger, and you have several hundreds of GB, then a managed library becomes a nuisance and it is time to go referenced. Very large libraries are difficult to move or copy between disks; It will be wasteful to have several vaults, for each vault will include the same masters over and over again.
Mixed: The Aperture library on the system drive, most of the masters on an external (or second internal) volume. This setup is perfect for laptops with limited space on the internal drive, but it will require that you have a well ordered strategy where to keep your masters, since Aperture will not manage them for you. There are two pitfalls to avoid: Accidentally deleting or modifying masters from the Finder, or accidentally relocating them to a place where you store other images that are not your masters. When you have several similar images in the same folder, it can be very hard to tell which image is the master that you need to keep and which is a redundant copy.
The "mixed" setup is great, if you are on the road (bt will put mre strain on your memory or master management skills)- you still have your Aperture library with you and the master image files you are currently working on, but not the bulk of your masters. If you create high quality previews, you probably even will not notice, that most of your master image files are still at home.
Upon getting the new machine I plan to use the Migration Assistant to help with app/doc/settings transfer but what about Aperture? I am not sure if it's best to:
1) Get the new Mac now, migrate everything across (including Aperture and its Managed library) THEN move the Aperture library off the internal HDD to an external and going Referenced, or;
2) Go Referenced now. In which case when I eventually do then migrate Aperture to the new machine will it automatically 'point' to the correct location of the external HDD referenced library when what is left of Aperture copies across or is there and easier (or indeed more convoluted) process I will have to go through if I switch to Rferenced before getting the new Mac and migrating?
Accept of course with the new Mac the HDD will be so much bigger so there may actually be no need to go Referenced, at least yet. Try as I might, save for HDD space I don't see that many benefits to Referenced
From my experience, it is less troublesome to migrate a managed library with Migration Assistant. If parts of your Library are referenced, and you migrate the referenced masters as well, you may need to reconnect them, unless you only have to plug in the volume with referenced masters. Then Aperture should reference them correctly without extra trouble.
Try as I might, save for HDD space I don't see that many benefits to Referenced
Then stick to the managed setup until your library really becomes huge.
On the new Mac front, while I like laptops, I find that the iPad and this Mac do most of what I want (e.g. surfing, mailing and running the odd few apps). While a new MBP would be appreciated part of me still thinks that the more bang for the buck iMac is the better investment. The only thing I MAY need to do is upload the occasional photo shoot on the move (by creating a new project) which, if stripped back to basics, this Mac miight still be OK for until I get back home and move the project to the iMac, reloacting to the masters to the referenced external HDD after.
Any help appreciated.
I am still waiting for my iPad to be delivered - right now I take a MBP on the road. For the new shoots I create a new Aperture library, do most of the tagging while I still remember how the images have been taken, and when back home I import the new project into my main library.
Reagrds
Léonie

In Aperture 3.4.1, I am not able to connect with referenced files on a network

I am running OS X 10.8.2 and Aperture 3.4.1, and am unable to connect with referenced files on a network. Specifically, the referenced files reside on my iMac and I am attempting to connect to them from my MBP. They appear in red in the dialogue box. While I know this has been a long standing issue in other versions, I was hoping it had been solved by now. Any assistance will be appreciated.
Thanks -
Dudley

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5922
If you want to mirror your desktop, see:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5404
Regards.

How to change to working with referenced images but keep library on laptop

Hi,
So, my iPhoto library is getting too big - I'd like to be able to have the images stored on an external drive and refer to them from within iPhoto, whilst keeping the iPhoto Library itself on the laptop. I know exactly how to do this from scratch, by unchecking 'copy items to my iPhoto library' in advanced preferences, but I'm trying to figure out how to convert my existing library, which has all the photos stored within it, to one where all the original files are on an external drive and are referenced by iPhoto. This way, I can see the previews when I'm away without the external drive attached.
Thanks!

There is no easy way to do it and I would strongly urge you to reconisder.
In a Referenced Library, iPhoto creates aliases to the location of the actual file. While there is at least one app that will help you replace those aliases with the actual files (convert a Referenced to Managed library) there is no app that will convert those files to aliases that point to the new location of the files. You will need to do each file manually.
More importantly, iPhoto has no tools to manage Referenced files. While on the same volume, aliases will track moved files. However this is not the case where the files are on different volumes. The upshot of this is that should the link to the files be broken then you could find yourself reconnecting each and every alias in your Library, one by one.
Also, I'm not sure about 09 but earlier versions of iPhoto would not open if there were movie files in the Library that were not available at time of launch.
You can move an entire Library to an external disk. There are firewire and usb disks now no bigger than a pack of playing cards and will run from the laptop's power supply.
Regards
TD

Aperture with referenced library on a terastation

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