P: Allow Catalog to be stored on a networked drive.

I can't imagine I'm the first person to think of this, but I would love to be able to check a sync box next to collections (and hopefully smart collections and FOLDERS) on my main desktop computer and have them sync OTA to a second computer.. I'm often on the go and currently export/import satellite catalogs for active or current work. I'd love to just be able to check a few boxes and go to bed knowing that tomorrow what I need will be on my secondary computer waiting for me.

Bernhard Weichel:
"how can Daminon access the LR-Catalog. "

Daminion can't access directly to LR-Catalog. But both programs can manage the same photo archive and exchange data via XMP.

LR's hierarchical keywords and other metadata are visible in Daminion, and visa verse.

Hi ... I have a little batch script that I use to allow two PCs to use the same catalog (but not at the same time obviously). The images are on one PC (but they could be on a network drive). It's important that the location of the folders is specified as a network location (in the Lightroom catalog), so that either PC can access the images without having to remap the folder locations.

Here is the script I use:

net use \\remote-pc "password" /user:username /persistent:no
IF EXIST "\\remote-pc\Lightroom Catalogs\*.lock" (
echo Lightroom running in remote-pc
pause
exit
)
xcopy "\\remote-pc\Lightroom Catalogs\*.lrcat" "this-pc\Lightroom Catalogs\" /Y /D
"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Lightroom\lightroom.exe"
xcopy "this-pc\Lightroom Catalogs\*.lrcat" "\\remote-pc\lightroom\Lightroom Catalogs\" /Y /D
exit

The same script should be used on the other PC.

I know that this is just a workaround, but it does make it quite easy for two (or more) PCs to use the same catalog and access the same images without having to carry external drives from PC to PC ... or whatever.

We use a gigabit ethernet and the performance is excellent.

how can Daminon access the LR-Catalog.

ColinB, this is what we have been asking for for years. Adobe has consistently ignored our requests. This is why I haven't upgraded any Adobe software for over two years. If they ever decide to provide the features users are requesting, I'll be happy to purchase upgrades.

Move the LIghtroom catalog system towards a model that allows multiple people to access a catalog and images on a network attached storage device. Gigabit wired access makes data transfer reasonable and a shared storage system makes more sense for multiple people working on the same photo set.

Actually, this is not a technical problem, it is a management problem. If they wanted to change the DB they could, it is not that hard. In fact, I think they could go to a pointer model where all the picture data is kept in a file next to the picture with an index in every directory. It could work much like a source control system with individual file locks.

This would work much better than keeping everything in a SQL lite db.

The problem here is that Lightroom is built on a decade old technology. They've spent money improving the features, but nothing to improve the architectural structure of the program.

You are not going to be able to upload picts to cloud, but the database and references could be in the cloud.

I agree with both David and Howards sentiments here.

I think uploading to the cloud is just going to be to slow (latency + transfer time) for at least the foreseeable future (10+ years).

I don't think it's reasonable to require my entire repository of images to go to the cloud. Pushing hundreds to low thousands of high rez images to the cloud, just a single shoots worth, will take a long time. Fiber speeds to the backbone don't come cheap.