Lightroom Cataloging

jdryan3

Since I had been using CS2/Bridge on a PC for my photo editing and management needs, I have been following the Lightroom threads with some interest, but not a lot of expectation of using it. I think this has changed

In the past I have liberally used Bridge's keyword and rating tools. However, after my recent trip to Zion and the North Rim, I realized these weren't adequate for a lot of the shots I took. The reason is I did a lot of bracketing and/or panos. A 6 'frame' pano would have 3 shots for each frame - for a total of 18 RAW image files for one (hopeful) print.

Bridge does not allow me to "group" these images as a set, short of a funky file naming system. I would like to create one (child) group for each bracketed shot, and then a super/parent group for each pano. Is this easily possible in Lightroom (or another DAM)? :dunno I have about 1100 RAW files I shot in 72 hours

I am in the process of moving to CS3 on a MacBook Pro, probably the 160GB HD. I am predisposed to Lightroom, but not opposed to Aperature or another Mac app. What is the impact on my file system/storage for any of these DAM apps? :scratch Are they using file pointers since they aren't really browers? Is it easy to move files around and just reindex like Bridge? Since the MacBook Pro has limited disk space, will be using external storage for my RAW, PSD & JPG files, plus a secondary disk for backups.

Finally, I did a forum search earlier on this topic and want to thank CatOne, Rhuarc, arodney, Pathfinder and the rest of the group on their earlier posts related to this topic. :thumb

colourbox

jdryan3 wrote:

A 6 'frame' pano would have 3 shots for each frame - for a total of 18 RAW image files for one (hopeful) print.

Bridge does not allow me to "group" these images as a set, short of a funky file naming system. I would like to create one (child) group for each bracketed shot, and then a super/parent group for each pano. Is this easily possible in Lightroom (or another DAM)?

You could use "stacks" in Bridge CS3, Aperture, Lightroom, iView. A stack can appear as a single image, even though it consists of multiple images. However, I don't think stacks have more than one level. Most of those apps have a "stack by capture time" feature so that images all shot within a certain amount of time (say, within a five-second span) can group themselves.

arodney

LR can do what Bridge does (stacks and all the other stuff) and more. Its a database. So the first question is, do you want to do this kind of stacking and just view this as a browser or do you want to keep track (ala DAM) of the images? IF the later, then yes, LR is the tool, not Bridge.

Moving stuff around in LR moves the data and folders on the HD so as long as you do this in the app, all is well.

jdryan3

arodney wrote:

LR can do what Bridge does (stacks and all the other stuff) and more. Its a database. So the first question is, do you want to do this kind of stacking and just view this as a browser or do you want to keep track (ala DAM) of the images? IF the later, then yes, LR is the tool, not Bridge.

Moving stuff around in LR moves the data and folders on the HD so as long as you do this in the app, all is well.

Well, I guess my questions relate to the items I highlighted in bold: all what other stuff as it relates to image management (not image adjustment), what is the more LR does, and the advantages of a good DAM (at least I get file browsing). Thanks for the feedback.

arodney

jdryan3 wrote:

Well, I guess my questions relate to the items I highlighted in bold: all what other stuff as it relates to image management (not image adjustment), what is the more LR does, and the advantages of a good DAM (at least I get file browsing). Thanks for the feedback.

Not seeing anything in bold.

The other stuff is printing, web galleries, slide shows, etc.