Got everything into Aperture but it is a mess. Prefered way of cleanup?

Question

I imported several iPhoto libraries as well as a heap of aperture projects into my new Aperture library that resides on a RAIDed volume. Speed is now OK on my new Mac Pro, but what is the prefered way of sorting out over 31000 pics? How do I use the available tools in Aperture to work out a hierarchy?
Got a partial screencap here for the ones that are interested:
http://valhall.hil.no/aperture_mess.png
All the best,
Kjell Are Refsvik
Norway

Answer 1

There is an unlimited number of ways to name files. Way back when you only had control of the file name then a lot of us tried to incorporate as much information into the file name as possible. Today things are different. Thanks to Aperture you are now able to add keywords and other metadata to your files, such as artist, location and subject.
Basically you just need to name your files with a unique name, so that two files will not have the same name. A suggestion can be the date and time stamp form when the photo was taken. This information is available from the metadata stored within the file. I use the following format for my own files:
<camera model> <date> <time>
Nikon D2X YYYYMMDD HHMMSS
Nikon D2X 20060923 234478
This way none of my files will every have the same name unless they are taken within the same second, and since I do not shot action this works for me.
As suggested by others, smart albums gives sorting a new dimension. You could theoredically put all your files in one folder and then create all the smart albums you want. You can setup smart albums, so that it include filters based on any metadata stored in your files. Keywords and smart albums makes could substitute long descriptive file names.
Don't forget to use the stacking function in Aperture, which will give you a better overview of your photos if you have many shoots of the same subjects.
Karsten