One Library - 2 Macs ?

Switching from iPhoto to A3
Is it possible to have my imac and macbook pro use the same library ?
I can store the A3 library either on my imac or a network raid storage drive (minimac server)

MacDave1967 wrote:
Is it possible to have my imac and macbook pro use the same library ?
I can store the A3 library either on my imac or a network raid storage drive (minimac server)
Aperture v3 now does have some supported methods for managing Libraries on multiple computers. From within Aperture under the Help menu search for "Merging Libraries." Experiment thoroughly with dummy Libraries before selecting and using a merge methodology on your real Library.
You could use the same Library if you kept the Library on an external drive and only connected one computer at a time to the Library. However I strongly recommend against this because it will decrease performance unless you have an eSATA connection. In general The Aperture Library should always be on an internal drive.
Also note that Aperture is a single-user app, so under no circumstances can you have Aperture running on two computers connected simultaneously on a network. Multi-user versions of images management apps (e.g. Cumulus, Portfolio, etc.) tend to be very expensive.
IMO best by a lot, especially with mobility-hardware computers like MBPs and iMacs, is to use a Referenced Masters Library with Masters referenced on external drives via FW800 or eSATA; however Referenced Masters usually do still work adequately with Masters accessed on externals via slower methods like FW400 or USB.
Remember to back up Masters separately from Vaults, which only back up the Library itself when using a Referenced Masters Library. I very strongly recommend that such backup be performed before import into Aperture or any other images management application.
HTH
-Allen Wicks

Similar Messages

  • Best Practice: One Library, Multiple Macs ?

    Despite searching, I've yet to find a definitive answer to this one - so any advice would be appreciated....
    Having downloaded the trial, I very much like Aperture, but my decision to purchase and continue using it hinges very much on whether or not I can access the same library from multiple machines.
    Here is the scenario:
    My 'studio' currently has a Quad G5 (soon to be upgraded to a MacPro), with ample Firewire storage, including 2 new 500Gb Western Digital MyBook drives. I now also have a MacBook Pro to allow me to work away from the studio.
    So far, I'm using one of the 500Gb drives to hold everything I need - 'work in progress' documents, images etc. etc. with this being SuperDuper! smart updated daily to the second drive. This allows me to take drive 1 away at night and work from home, our go out of the office with the MacBook Pro and have all my media to hand, and 'synchronise' upon return the next day or whenever.
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    However, I want to be able to access this library with Aperture on the MacBook Pro when I'm not in the office - will this work? I appreciate that I'll need 2 licenses of Aperture (one for the desktop, and one for the laptop) but my concern is whether or not both copies of Aperture can use the same library....... I wonder if the Aperture prefs would prevent this from working or screw it up completely.
    If this ain't gonna work - what other options do I have !?
    MacBook Pro 15"   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    Not sure this will help but this is what I have decided to do.
    System: MacBook Pro and a G5. Storage: 2 Western Digital 160 GB USB 2.0 Passport Portable drives, 1 OWC 160 GB Firewire 800 (for back up of my internal drive on my MacBook Pro), and 5 500GB Western Digital MyBook Pro FW drives (attached to my G5). One Aperture library resides on my MacBook Pro internal and a yearly (like 2006) Aperture resides on 1 500 GB WD MyBook Pro
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    I do the majority of the clean up of the images at this point (contrast, exposure, saturation, sharpening, leveling, blemish corrections, etc, keywording). Once done, I export the project to my primary WD Passport drive and then using the old fashion network strategy of walking, take the WD Passport drive to the G5 and import the project in G5 library converting them to referenced files so I have Finder based architecture for all my RAW files.
    Once I know the the files are on the G5, I go back to my MBP and convert the managed pictures to referenced pictures in the process moving them off my internal drive and on to the WD 160 USB 2.0 drive in a Finder based architecture. This keeps my library on my MBP pretty small and allows me to carry 160 GB worth of pictures that I can work on at any time or place. [Actually, I will probably pick up a 3rd 160GB Passport soon, like this weekend, so I will be able to carry 320 GB of pictures with me.
    Now it gets nasty because I have two sets of pictures, one on my MacBook Pro and one on my G5. Again using old fashion strategies, I decided that the work flow could only go one way... from MBP to G5 and never (or very rarely) the opposite direction. The other nasty is how to deal with changes made after the first transfer of the project to the G5. The vast majority of those changes go through Photoshop and by default they become managed files. So for a particular project when I start to do additional editing, I bring those images into an album (let's say "Selected pictures") for that project and edit away. Once I am really done, I generate a new project (Original project is 070314 and the new project would be 070314 Update) and I drag the album to the new project. The nice thing is the primary pictures remain in the original project when I move the album. I then export Project Update consolidating images and import that into the library on the G5. Lastly, I relocated masters of the managed files to the WD Passport drive. I pay the penalty of having a few replicates of a couple of pictures and the architecture of my G5 library is not identical to my MBP library, but I have all of my primary images plus CS2 changes available to my MBP and my G5.
    OK..... my library on my MBP internal is backed up to the OWC drive using Superduper so I always have a current replicate of that library. The library and pictures on the 500 GB WD Mybook Pro are backed up 2-3 times per week to a second 500 GB WD MyBook Pro.
    In case my GS fails, I can address the library by simply attaching my MBP to the firewire chain and double click on the library icon. This forces Aperture to open the library on the 500 GB WD Mybook Pro drive. In case my MBP fails, I can boot my MBP or G5 off the OWC drive.
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    Don't try to store very many images on your internal drive of any computer. Develop a methodology of keeping the images on external (FW or eSATA) drives where capacity can be readily expanded.
    Keep your MBP library pristine by regularly moving managed files over to referenced files on a bus powered portable drive.
    Make sure you regularly back up both systems.
    Hope this helps.
    steven

  • One Library, 2 Macs Questions

    Hello all,
    I've got a PowerMac G5 and a PowerBook G4. I like to keep my iPhoto library synced between the two of them. Until recently, I simply ran Synchronize Pro after a trip or import or edit session, etc. and all was good. I've two questions about this method now, and I'd like some feedback.
    1. I've started using Photocasts, and I like them (although they're buggy atm). Does anyone no if you can maintain one Photocast from two separate Macs? I think probably not, as this would ultimately confuse the .Mac account, but I'm not sure how to turn off the Photocast on one Mac, while keeping it on on the other using this synced library method.
    2. I got a new 5g iPod for Christmas, and keep all (roughly 5,000) photos on it from my iPhoto library. The iPod is synced to my desktop which has lots of hard drive space, but not to the laptop. The iPod photo cache folder is over 4 gb itself, and I don't want to keep it on my PowerBook since it's useless there. I delete it without problems apparently, but then of course it re-syncs every-time I do a sync with the desktop. Has anyone come up with a better solution for this given that the iPod can only link to one Mac?
    Overall, I'm trying to come up with the best method for the desktop/laptop sync scenario, given the new technologies of Photocasting and the iPod photo. I've done a great deal of work with my library in terms of organization, dating, keywords, etc. and wish to maintain that across both Macs. Your feedback and suggestions is greatly appreciated.
    All the best...
    KBeat
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    Hey guys,
    Thanks for the replies. Keeping the library on the network isn't a practical solution, as I want the photo library with me when I travel, which is often (and where I usually do my photography). That is, however a great method for sharing one library amongst various Macs in one household or a small office.
    The library manager program seems interesting, but I couldn't find any specific information related to Photocasts or iPods looking through the documentation on their site. Currently, I have one library that is identical on both my PowerBook and my desktop. I created it on the G5, and copied it over to the PowerBook. This worked fine in the past, and with Syncronize Pro, keeping them identical was easy. Until iPhoto 6 and the iPod photo that is, it was easy. When I copy or sync the library now, it shows both Macs photocasting the same albums to the same .Mac account, which seems to cause problems, especially when updating. Apple hasn't addressed this directly, but they've posted a KBase article saying to only manage your iWeb sites from one Mac, and the technology is very similar, so the problems would seem to be the same.
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  • One library, multiple MACs.

    Hi everyone,
    I wonder if there is a way to "share" a library among multiple computers. I know I can share a librasy and see it on another comuter but that is not exactly what I mean. I'll explain:
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    I'm thinking that you would need either a FW drive attached to the mini OR a partition on the mini's internal drive. This additional drive (or partition) would need to be set to "Ignore Ownership" (from Finder, highlight the drive and choose File/GetInfo). Put the library there.
    The reason that I'm suggesting this solution is because that's what I do to provide total and complete equal access among several users on the same computer.

  • One Library, 3 Macs ?

    Hi,
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    check this read.
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    Drrhythm2 wrote:
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    I created two iTunes libraries on my mac mini back in the day. I would like to consolidate them into one iTunes library. What is the easiest method to do this? I do use i-Match to access all my music from  iCloud, if that makes any difference.  Thanks. Mark

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  • Multiple Macs one library

    I'm not a Aperture user, I'm just trying to figure out which program to use. I tried iPhoto, I've used iView for several years (but don't really like it), I looked at Adobes program, and now I'm playing with Aperture.
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    A second way (if you insist on having the library on the slow MacBook Pro internal drive) would be to use Target Disk Mode to mount the MacBook Pro hard drive onto the MacPro and use the library from there.
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  • Can One Library be used by 3 Macs?

    Hi
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    However if I have one iTunes library, can 3 separate Macs use this library, or would it be a case of having it as one of the Macs library which the other 2 macs can share?
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  • I have three versions of itunes backed up between 2 different external hard drives and a macbook pro. I recently got a new macbook pro and want to consolidate all music into one library on my new computer. How can I do this?

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    http://support.apple.com/kb/ph990
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    Mario

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