Basic aperture library question

Trying out aperture i am discovering how large the library file can get. I have turned off previews but I am finding that my 88GB of photos is making a file around 70Gb in size. I know this is small for many people but that is way too big for me to keep on my 300 gb internal drive. Is this an average size?
I could buy another drive but it just bugs me that such a huge library is made when I don't want it. (And I thought Bridge's cache could get big) Is there a useful purpose that the library serves that I'm ignorant of ? I'm still trying to grasp the program.

I suggest Referenced Master Files (discussed in the tutorial). Try this workflow, first using the Finder (not Aperture) to copy images from CF card to computer hard drive:
• Remove the CF card from the camera and insert it into a CF card reader. Faster readers and cards are preferable.
• Finder-copy images from CF to a labeled folder on the intended permanent Masters location hard drive.
• Eject CF.
• Burn DVD copies of the original images (optional backup step).
• Eject DVDs (optional backup step).
• From within Aperture, import images from the hard drive folder into Aperture selecting "Store files in their current location."
• Review pix for completeness (e.g. a 500-pic shoot has 500 valid images showing).
• Reformat CF in camera, and archive DVDs of originals off site.
Note that the "eject" steps above are important in order to avoid mistakenly working on removable media.
If you follow the above steps exactly your files should import fine. I prefer Referenced Masters, even on a Mac Pro. IMO it makes for a clean backup workflow and a forever-logical organization. And Referencing Masters ensures that the size of the Library will always be small enough that it need not cause a hard drive to exceed 50% full and reduce speed.
-Allen Wicks

Similar Messages

Aperture - library management and external HDD question

Hi all.
I have just graduated from a point and shoot to a Panasonic GH2 (love it), and have now begun using Aperture 3 rather than iPhoto on my early 2008 MB Pro to manage my photos going forwards. Of course, I’ve now discovered that Aperture is quite the resource hog and so it’s upgrade time (darn, “have” to buy a new ‘puter!). I have a 2011 MB Pro (2.3Ghz i7 with 512GB SSD) on order and 8GB of DDR 3 arriving from Crucial. Since I have this brand-new-computer opportunity I want to make sure I’m organising things properly before I start transferring things across, and so have a few Aperture-related questions. (In case it’s relevant, I’m shooting in RAW+JPEG. So far I’ve been using RAW as master, but have since learnt it might be a good idea to import JPG as master and switch to RAW only when I need to make corrections, so I’ll probably do that going forwards.)
I understand that moving to referenced masters on an external drive might be a good idea and save me precious SSD-space. To that end, questions are:
1. Can anyone recommend a companion external HDD for Aperture and the 2011 MBPro? I guess either FW800 or Thunderbolt are the way to go. The Lacie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt might be an option but is this overkill for Aperture masters or would FW800 be sufficient. I’ve also seen the G-Tech G-RAID mini, Lacie Rugged – thoughts welcome.
Key requirements are a) as compact as possible, and b) bus powered.
2. What kind of performance can I expect if I go down this route? Is there going to be significant loading/processing delay whenever I switch to a new image?
3. How will Aperture cope with (eg) syncing photos to iPad / iPhone if the drive containing the masters isn’t connected? Put another way, are JPG renders saved in the Aperture library (i.e. on my MBP SSD) or with the masters?
Thanks in advance to anyone who responds!
Aljrob

Aljrob_UK wrote:
...I have a 2011 MB Pro (2.3Ghz i7 with 512GB SSD) on order and 8GB of DDR 3 arriving
...I understand that moving to referenced masters on an external drive might be a good idea and save me precious SSD-space.
1. Can anyone recommend a companion external HDD for Aperture and the 2011 MBPro? I guess either FW800 or Thunderbolt are the way to go.
...Key requirements are a) as compact as possible, and b) bus powered.
OWC (an excellent vendor) has the Elite Pro Mini hard drive that meets your specs:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/EliteALmini/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB
Thiunderbolt drives are not mainstream yet but eSATA and FW800 both work well. The multiple connection methods of OWC drives allow very desirable flexibility when purposing/repurposing drives.
Note too that the MBP optical drive can be replaced with up to a 1-TB hard drive DIY or OWC will do it for you. That is what I am doing with my 17" 2011 MBP.
2. Is there going to be significant loading/processing delay whenever I switch to a new image?
SSD latency is orders of magnitude less than hard drives. Switching to a new image even fast hard drives with fast connectivity add significant latency delay. To avoid that what I do is leave (Referenced) Masters on the SSD until all editing is complete (which may be a few weeks). Only then do I use Aperture to change the Referenced Masters location from the SSD to a large external drive.
What kind of performance can I expect if I go down this route?
With Masters on the SSD and 8 GB RAM imports/exports are very fast and all Aperture editing is essentially instant. You will be pleased!
Suggested workflow steps for Referenced Masters:
• Use a FW card reader or MBP slot to copy to a file folder on the SSD (never directly into Aperture or any other images management app). With fast camera cards copy times are quick, but cheap slow cards can slow this step down a lot.
• Eject and physically disconnect the card reader.
• Back up that file folder on external drive(s).
• Only after backup is complete, reformat the camera card in-camera.
• Import images into Aperture from the file folder on the SSD.
HTH
-Allen Wicks

Aperture library consolidation - newbie question

I am pretty new to Aperture. Previously I have been using iPhoto for a long time, so I have quite a big iPhoto library on my internal HDD, most of them with adjustments etc.
When I installed Aperture a few months ago I imported the iPhoto library without copying the files physically. It means all the "old" photos are still in the iPhoto library and only referenced to in the Aperture library.
After Aperture installation I do everything differently - I import photos into the Aperture library leaving the originals on a external FW HDD. So I have in the Aperture library now some photos referencing to my internal HDD iPhoto originals and some photos referencing to my external HDD.
I still use iPhoto but only for slideshows and managing of older online galleries, I published in the past from iPhoto.
My question: what is the best way to get some order into it and have everything in one place?
My plan is:
- first consolidate masters from the iPhoto library into Aperture library with the Copy option checked to bring all referenced masters into the Aperture library
- then relocate masters from the Aperture library to the external HDD with the Move option checked
- clean my iPhoto library from within iPhoto
Is the result of these steps what I am expecting to get? Is there a better way? Am I doing anything wrong?
Thanks for suggestions.
Tonden

You plan seams to be alright.
1) Consolidate (copy) masters into Aperture library.
2) Relocate masters to external harddisk.
You are writing that you "imported your iPhoto library" into Aperture by reference, and here is my question. Did you import both the original (masters) AND adjusted images (versions) into Aperture?
If you want to use Aperture for all your image adjustment then you should consider to delete all the versions you imported into Aperture (they are now masters in Aperture) and then make adjustments to all the masters you imported from iPhoto.
All the original masters files you have imported from iPhoto all have the keyword "Original from iPhoto", so they are easy to find.
Karsten

Aperture vs iPhoto library questions

Hello, I am brand new to Aperture from iPhoto. I am moving to Aperture to take advantage of the organization options because I am starting to run out of HD space with my 100 GB iPhoto library. I want to have the option in the near future to switch to referenced masters on an external drive. So my question has to do with the unified library between iPhoto and Aperture. When I upgraded to Aperture, I had to first update iPhoto to the new library format. I then opened my iPhoto library in Aperture. Everything I've read about the unified format has explained that it is compatible with both applications. But I've also read that iPhoto does not work with referenced masters. So, can I use Aperture to convert my iPhoto library to Referenced masters? Or do I need to transfer my photos into a native Aperture library first? And then once I switch to referenced masters, will iPhoto still work with my new library?
Thank you,
Ray

But I've also read that iPhoto does not work with referenced masters.
And then once I switch to referenced masters, will iPhoto still work with my new library?
Ray,
iPhoto can use referenced original master image file, it works well in iPhoto '11. Only, iPhoto has no built-in tools to repair broken references, if referenced files get accidentally moved or changed, so it is not recommended to do this in iPhoto. But since you now want to use Aperture, that will not be a problem. You will be able to repair broken references using Aperture. iPhoto will work well with a referenced Aperture library. I am using it all the time.
So, can I use Aperture to convert my iPhoto library to Referenced masters? Or do I need to transfer my photos into a native Aperture library first?
Yes, that is simple.
Upgrade your iPhoto Library by opening it in the latest iPhoto version, and then use the command "File > Open Library in Aperture". Now Aperture will work with your iPhoto library as an Aperture library. Events will show as Projects in Aperture, albums will still be albums. All keywords and ratings, Faces and Places will transfer.
To switch to referenced masters/originals select the images you want to relocate and use the command "File > Relocate originals".
You may want to read this page of the manual:
Aperture 3 User Manual: Working with Referenced Images
But make a full backup of your libraries before you start to reorganize them and relocate files.
Regards
Léonie
Since you are new to Aperture, the                 User Tips (15) might be helpful:
                 The Well-Trod Path: a Beginner's Guide to how Aperture's major parts inter-relate
                 Keep iPhoto - It May Come in Handy!
                 New to Aperture? Some Considerations when Designing your First Aperture Library
                 How do I access my Photos in Aperture?
and quite a few more

Iphoto/aperture unified library question

I have just bought a new iMac to replace an ageing one. I succesfully copied my iphoto library to the new machine (via a separte hard drive). I checked the library opened fine in iPhoto and everything was there (all fine). I then bought and installed Aperture on the new machine and pointed it the the iphoto library which it opened (after first upgrading it) with no problem. So I now effectively have a "unified" iPhoto and Aperture library, although in practice I do not intend to use iPhoto any more, I will always be working in Aperture.
I now have a simple question, my photo library in the Finder (sits in the Pictures folder) is still identified as "iPhoto Library", does this matter?.
Now I believe I can (if I want) simply rename this to "Aperture Libary" or whatever else I want to call it but this made me wonder whether there is any distinction between a unified library that began life as an iPhoto library (as in my case) or a unifed library which began life as a Aperture library. Specifically, is there any change I could or should make to my library given I only ever intending using it with Aperture - or once you have a unified library is there really no differance at al between a library labelled as an "iPhoto Library" and a library labelled as an "Aperture Library" - other than in name?
Thanks for your help.

No it makes no difference.
Regards
TD

Workflow Questions - Same Aperture Library on two machines - Sync ?

Ok, So now that 1.1 is out I copied my Aperture library to my new MacBookPro, updated to v1.1, loaded the program ... and Bam, my library is there and working perfectly (after the Migrate process).
So now, I have my libarary on my Desktop Dual Power PC machine at home and also on my MBP in the field ... I'm in heaven!
My question is this. If I make a bunch of updates to the library (adding new images, new projects, new albums, rating new and existing images, assigning keywords, etc) on my MBP while sitting at Starbucks or laying on the beach is there any way to go home and sync these changes with the library on desktop machine?
I realize that if I do all my work on the MBP in a new Project and then export that project I can then import it into the machine at home ... but that only solves 1/2 my problem ... how do I deal with projects and albums that already exist on both machines?
Copying the entire Aperture Library back and forth is an option but at 40GB and growing that does not seem like a lot of fun.
Any ideas? Even a 3rd party app would be cool if it worked. Would something like ChronoSync see inside the Aperture Library container and deal with changed items?
Thanks,
A happy v1.1 MBP user
Power PC G5, Dual 2 Gz, 3.5 GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.3) MacBookPro, 2.16GHz, 2 GB RAM

<...>
My question is this. If I make a bunch of updates to
the library (adding new images, new projects, new
albums, rating new and existing images, assigning
keywords, etc) on my MBP while sitting at Starbucks
or laying on the beach is there any way to go home
and sync these changes with the library on desktop
machine?
I realize that if I do all my work on the MBP in a
new Project and then export that project I can then
import it into the machine at home ... but that only
solves 1/2 my problem ... how do I deal with projects
and albums that already exist on both machines?
Copying the entire Aperture Library back and forth is
an option but at 40GB and growing that does not seem
like a lot of fun.
Any ideas? Even a 3rd party app would be cool if it
worked. Would something like ChronoSync see inside
the Aperture Library container and deal with changed
items?
<...>
Aha! That (file sync) is exactly the first thought I had when I read your post (though I personally was thinking RSyncX, Chrono Sync may be easier to use).
To many programs the Aperture library looks just like a directory, which it really is - Finder and a few other things treat is specially but usually the origins of file synchronization tools are more UNIX utilities that just see the Aperture library and projects therein as a series of directories.
In particular, what you'd be looking for this tool to update are:
* Import directories in exisitng projects with new images and updated sidecar/XML files.
* Added folders and albums
* (most important) new copy of the Aperture database.
All of these things are just files so it should be very easy for the sync utilitiy to find they are newer on the laptop and copy them over.
Now what will not work well with this approach would be to edit files on the laptop and the desktop at the same time, and then attempt to syncronize them - but if you are only using one at a time you should not have issues.
I would make a small sample library in both places to test this approach against but I see no reason why it should not work.
The only other approach really would be shuttling projects back and forth between systems, which you may have to do someday if your desktop library exceeds the capacity of the laptop.

Question about Aperture library size

I am storing my photos on a secondary drive. However, my Aperture library is just as large as the original source folder even though I am not copying the images into the library.
Shouldn't the library be smaller since it only references the images from another location?

If you changed the size and quality of your preview settings, it's not enough to just "Update Previews". You will have to DELETE the old previews and generate new ones.
(That's what my findings where)
To my understanding, previews are used
- if you use the Aperture "Quick Previews" functionality
- for synching with your e.g. iPhone
- in the Media browser dialog of e.g. iWork applications
(am I correct and complete?)
In my first days of Aperture 2 I increased the size to unlimited and the quality to 12, since "of course" I wanted to see the best possible quality of my pictures.
Now I learned that previews are not used in normal Aperture workflows, so I reduced the size to the lowest possible value of 1280 and the quality to 12.
This way I reduced the size of my library (30k JPEG photos, all referenced) from 108 GB to 33 GB.

Vault size vs APerture library size and related questions

My aperture library is 50GB for some 65,000 referenced pictures...how does this compare with others? To me, it seems a bit big.
Also odd. The vault backup of my libarary is 9.1GB ONLY! How come?
I think that all of my pictures are referenced.....is there an easy way to check?
If I make a new fresh library and restore from the vault, what will I loose, if anything? Will I need to reconnect pictures or anything?

that seems about right to me. what's taking up space are previews and thumbnails. afaik, the vault doesn't hold any of those, only the database, albums, projects and configuration files.
if you restore from a vault, all the previews and thumbnails have to be rebuilt. you can save a little space that way, because the thumbnail files don't shrink when you erase photos or move them to another project, but personally i don't think it's worth the time and effort.
j

There is not enough free space on your Aperture Library Volume Question

When importing more images to Aperture I get this:
There is not enough free space on your Aperture Library Volume to import the selected items
Why is this? I am a big time newbee and I am trying to take a crash coarse in Aperture. How do I bring in more photos. I only have a few hundred in there now.
Thanks for any help
Mark

Lots more and very specific info is necessary for troubleshooting. Probably your hard drives is too full.
-Allen Wicks

Aperture Library Issues on NAS - Advice Needed

List-
Need some practical advice here. I've got a 90GB Aperture library that resides on a NAS (QNAP 419P II) that is experiencing major issues. Understood that having the library live on a non-HFS+, non-local drive is not advised by Apple, but it's been there for two years with no issues to speak of.
I had a power failure occur that seems to have done some damage to the library in some way. Upon opening the library, I got an error that said that there were inconsistencies with the file and that it needed to be repaired. I repaired it, and noticed something strange. In almost all files, the picture resolution was poor and both the camera and lens information was gone--in addition to the fact that the Adjustments capability was disabled.
I ran the Aperture first aid and ran all three processes--concluding with the full library rebuild. It looked to be successful and resolution, previews, and picture info returned--but halfway through the preview reprocessing the process just stopped and the beach ball of death ensued. I let it run overnight and it never recovered. I had to force quit and now if I reopen the file it say that there are inconsistencies and that the library needs to be repaired, which won't help.
I also tried to move the library off of the NAS an onto the local drive, but encountered an Error - 50 message--something that apparently is well known in the NAS world where Mac permissions get screwy when dealing with non HFS+ drives.
I have a backup of the original library, but it is sitting in a cloud repository (CrashPlan) that will take time and money to restore.
All of the masters are intact in the Aperture directory, and I have very few major adjustments made to any photos. Aperture is really just a repository for me.
So any practical advice would be appreciated as to how I can create a new local Aperture library and get all of the existing photo files there. I am pretty much giving up on the idea of getting the existing NAS-based library to work properly, so this is more of a real-world question on how to create a new library and eliminate whatever issues there are with the other Aperture files. It looks like everything in the Aperture package is in place, but the library itself is just malfunctioning.
I am also considering moving everything into iPhoto as well, as Aperture may simply be more than I need for my usage. If is is faster and a but simpler to manage, that could be the right answer as well.
Thanks in advance for any ideas or guidance.

The problem is most likely with the library itself being located on the NAS.
But you can have a hybrid solution where the library is located on your internal drive while the actual image files are located externally, eg on your NAS. Image files stored within the Apeture library are called "managed" while image files stored externally are called "referenced". Whichever approach you take, the process is the same:
If you try to make a new Library from your masters, you will lose your project structure. The resulting mess will be in accordance to how you created your projects. Basically, if you look at your Masters folder, that's what you'll end up with when you import your masters. If that isn't a problem, the process is simple
Step 1: Prep.
Move or copy your masters out of the library bundle to a folder (to make them more accesible in finder).
Step 2: Create new library.
Within Aperture, from the File menu "Switch to Library -> Other/New..." to create a new Library on your internal drive.
Set the preferences to indicate previews/faces etc. I'd turn these off for now as they will slow you down.
Step 3: Import your images.
Within your new library, File -> Import - Folders as Projects. This gives you a dialog where you specifiy what and where to import.
If you choose "Import folders as: Folders and Projects" you will get a folder structure that matches the Masters folder, with projects at the end of the chain with names like 20120213-200100.
If you choose "Import folders as: Projects and Albums" you will get a single Project called "Masters" with a folder and Album structure that matches the Masters folder.
Neither of these will look particularly great. If you want to avoid this mess, here's what I'd try.
Fix your library again like you did before. After the rebuild, go to the Aperture activity window (SHIFT + CMD + 0) and cancel the preview generation process before it has chance to hang. This should give you a sem-functional library, hopefully functional enough for the next step:
Select all images and use File -> Relocate Original to move your original files out of the library. During this process you can specify that the originals are stored in sub-folders that match the project name, within a parent folder if required.
This gives you a much neater structure for importing into your new library where the projects will get the folder names (which will be your existing project names). It may not be perfect, for example if you have the same project name in different folders and don't/can't segregate them, but it's a lot cleaner than just importing your masters folder.
Andy

Aperture library copy vs vault

Hi,
sorry if this is redundant, but I couldn't locate the clear answer to this seemingly basic question:
if using a referenced library, what is the major difference/advantage of creating a vault versus a simple drag & drop copy of the aperture library onto an external HD?
Thanks,
Mike

The Finder is the strongest Mac app. It has been being tested by every Mac user and has had resources allocated to improving its stability since Mac day one. And, all of us use the Finder constantly so we are very conversant with appropriate usage. IMO if one has the discipline to go to the desktop and manually multiple backup using the Finder that is the surest kind of backup.
Personally I prefer manual non-incremental backups. It can be done with forethought after one is comfortable that everything is well with whatever it is that is being backing up.
I keep old iterations of the backup in the event that there is a critical flaw in what is being backed up. E.g. I built a Filemaker images database for an antique store. The db user was given admin control of the db against my recommendation, changed the password at some point, and then left town. Old db copies allowed me to go back to the last backup made before the password change and start over with a new user.
Drag-and-drop is good for Referenced-Masters folks in particular because Masters are not backed up by the Vault process when using a Referenced-Masters Library, so the users need to separately be backing up Masters anyway.
Most important however is to get the backup done however one does it. Other techniques like Vaults, Time Machine, etc. may assist folks who have difficulty maintaining the discipline to properly drag-and-drop.
-Allen Wicks

Access Aperture library over wireless?

This might be more of a general Mac questions, but thought I would start here.
My Aperture library is on my iMac. Can I access this from my MacBook over my wireless network to do basic stuff like reorganize folders/projects, assign keywords, etc? My MacBook has Aperture. loaded also.

Sorry -- it is neither recommended nor advised. From this Apple support page:
Also, it is strongly recommended that the Aperture library be stored on a locally mounted hard drive. Storing the Aperture library on a network share can also lead to poor performance, data corruption, or data loss.

ITunes doesn't see Aperture Library - iMovie doesn't see Aperture Library

Issues:
Nearly all of my videos in the Aperture/iPhoto library do not show up when I select iPhoto library option in iMovie and iMovie is unable to locate them in any other way. Sometimes the option to select the iPhoto library is completely missing.
iTunes does not recognize my Aperture library, and I get the following message:
"Your Aperture Library could not be found. Open the preferences window in Aperture and enable the preference to share previews with other applications." After reading through forums and multiple Genius Bar appointments here is most of what I have done:
Created multiple new Aperture libraries, selected them in Aperture, rebooted, switched back and forth - Note: iTunes DID recognize the new blank libraries
Booted Aperture with the Command + Option keys and run all three options to repair permssions and even rebuilt the database
Booted Aperture with the Option key and selected the library I was using all along (this worked for someone in a forum)
Opened iPhoto (not Aperture) and selected an option to share photos
Run "Verify Disk Permissions" many times under Disk Utility
Run "Repair Disk Permissions" many times under Disk Utility
Reinstalled OSX
Reinstalled Aperture
Reinstalled iTunes
Reinstalled iMovie
Run a virus and malware scan (no issues)
Verified that Aperture was set to share previews and had a Genius go through all of my options to ensure they were correct in iTunes, Aperture, and iPhoto
Have ran "Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs" from the Command + Option + R recovery partition multiple times. Each time it just hangs for hours, the latest attempt ran for over 24 hours before I finally stopped it.
Oh yes, and I found and deleted the file com.apple.iApps.plist
None of these things fixed either of my issues. According the the Genius at my last appointment, now I have to call Apple Care and pay to get support. I must have misunderstood what the Genius Bar was about when I bought my Mac and why I purchased the One to One training. Before I call Apple Care, I was hoping someone might have run across this and can help me.
I asked the Genius if I now need to just create a new Aperture Library and move all of my content to it (that was the last resort for someone in a forum); however, he was concerned that even if this might work that I probably have deeper permission and/or other issues that need to be addressed and that doing so would not fix the root cause.
Thanks for taking the time to read through this issue.

Understood. I thought perhaps the period meant that I was finished and just needed to call Apple Care and fork out the fee.
The formats are primarily .MOV straight from the iPhone. Since going to a Mac, I have pretty much given up on using my Sony Handycam for family videos due to the pains of having to locate, identify, convert, and export AVCHD video to watch on Apple TV. It is just too easy to take video with my iPhone and import it and immediately watch it, although the quality is nothing close to a dedicated video camera, especially indoors and in lower light. All of the video formats in Aperture are supported and most all of my older home videos and Sony Handycam videos are sitting on an external drive (hoping that one day I will have the time to figure out a decent workflow to access them after I work all of the bugs out of iMovie). Great thought though.
All my content is managed. After a handful of One-to-One sessions at the Apple Store, I finally learned that you could not reference videos in iMovie and had to either have them in the iMovie Events directory or in iPhoto (at least that was what she said). Their solution was to import the videos into iPhoto so they could be easily accessed in iMovie. After I had issues mentioned in this post their solution was for me to purchase Aperture that could handle larger libraries. This was supposed to fix the issue and allow iMovie to see my videos. When that didn't work they said that I needed to purchase Final Cut Pro. I'm just a Dad who wants to make a few memorable home movies for his family and I don't think that I should have to purchase a $300 application, especially after paying a premium for my Mac and the iLife software, which I am deeply regretting. But I digress.
I have repaired permissions again and am in the process of repairing the library and will rebuild it again if that doesn't work. It is taking longer so I won't be able to post the results until a later time. Definitely worth a shot to try this again.
If this doesn't work I will take the time to create a new Aperture library. Like I previously mentioned, this was the last resort for another gentlemen who had a similar issue. After doing this it might explain why the "Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs" from the Command + Option + R recovery partition is getting hung up and not working. I'll post the results at a later date. If I could save just one person the time, gas, and stress I've experienced it would be worth it.
One additional question? I read a gentlemen's post that passionately argued against ever using iPhoto, Aperture, or iMovie to ever manage video files. He suggested using folders and a file naming system similar to what I used when I was on a PC using Adobe Elements. Do you have any thoughts on that?
For my situation, I have two concerns:
I'm afraid this would not allow me to watch the videos on Apple TV as simply as I can now (although I don't know this to be the case for certain). If the videos aren't in my photo library, I'm not sure how I would be able to access them through Apple TV.
Since I'm a proud Dad I have hundreds of video files spanning many years, so I also don't want to lose the ability to quickly peruse my event library and find content that I want to import into a project in iMovie. At one point I imported some video files to edit that weren't stored in iMovie, and I could only see the file name and date and had to guess if there was content on it that I wanted. When you have hundreds of clips like I do that isn't practical.
He argued that these programs were never meant to manage content and worked much more efficiently using this method. I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts.
Thanks again.

New to Aperture - Library vs Reference files

I'm coming to Aperture from Picasa, which replicated and managed my folder structure as it appeared on my hard-disc, which was nice.
Am I better off importing images into my Aperture Library, or managing the folder structure how I want and just having Aperture work with the reference files?
I'm not a pro-photographer, just a pretty basic user, so will not have loads of large raw image files. What's the benefit of using the Library over using Reference files? I've tried Google-ing but everything I've found just addresses folder/project management within Aperture.
If I use the reference option, can Aperture manage my photos on my hard-drive in the same way Picasa could (ie if I moved a photo from one folder to another in Picasa, it also moved on my drive)
Thanks

Hi TxH,
Welcome to the user-supported Aperture discussion group.
I'm coming to Aperture from Picasa, which replicated and managed my folder structure as it appeared on my hard-disc, which was nice.
If you use Aperture for even a little while, you'll realize that the structure of your photos in your hard drive is not as important as how you organize them in Aperture, especially when you start making albums, which merely contain a pointer to the image in your library. You can have a picture in many albums, but your library (and therefore hard drive) only contains it once.
Am I better off importing images into my Aperture Library, or managing the folder structure how I want and just having Aperture work with the reference files?
That's a matter of opinion. Some people are very opinionated that using referenced files is the only way to go, some are opinionated the other way. Sometimes there really is a better solution for you depending on what you are doing.
What's the benefit of using the Library over using Reference files? I
You will find loads of conversation if you search this discussion group for "managed" and "referenced".
You will always have a library. Your managed pictures will live in the library and you won't have direct access to them through Finder (and you should not want direct access to them for the most part). Your referenced pictures live wherever you tell Aperture to take them from, but the bookkeeping parts of the Aperture library/database are still stored in the Aperture library package.
Benefits of managed include: you don't worry about where the files are; Aperture backs them up if you use its vaults; they are always with you.
Benefits of referenced include: you know exactly where the files are; your Aperture library is significantly smaller than if all your photos were in the library; you can find them with Finder if that's important to you (and a lot of people think it's important to them but then realize they only think that because they're really not using Aperture to its full potential).
If I use the reference option, can Aperture manage my photos on my hard-drive in the same way Picasa could (ie if I moved a photo from one folder to another in Picasa, it also moved on my drive)
Yes. I've never used Picasa, but Aperture allows you to "relocate" your photos in order to manage their external directory structure. You can also choose to "relocate" a managed master to make it referenced.
nathan

I have an extensive aperture library on my computer's hard drive and I want to break it up into separate smaller libraries on external hard drives. How do I take projects from one library and add them to another one?

I have an extensive aperture library on my computer's hard drive and I want to break it up into separate smaller libraries on external hard drives. How do I take projects from one library and add them to another one?

Coastal,
Frank gave you the exact answer to your question.
However, I would like to ask if you are indeed asking the right question. Do you really want different libraries? The implications are that you have to "switch" libraries to see what's in the others, and so that your searches don't work across all of your pictures? If so, then you asked the right question. If not, you may be more interested in relocating your masters to multiple hard drives so your library gets smaller, instead of breaking up the library.
nathan

Basic aperture library question

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