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redcrown on guard
Inspiring
October 22, 2017
Answered

Bridge 2018 re-caching all thumbnails - AGAIN!

  • October 22, 2017
  • 5 replies
  • 7426 views

As long as I can remember (which is a long time), Bridge has forced re-caching of its thumbnails every time a new version of Camera Raw is installed. I just installed 2018 and here we go again.

I've participated in numerous forum discussions over the years, provided ample evidence of the issue, yet Adobe still can't seem to get it. And it seems like a simple problem with an easy solution.

I've got over 30,000 images in folders, 100 to 500 images per folder. I "Export Cache to Folders" and keep the main cache size small. So, when I navigate to a folder, Bridge copies the folder cache to the main cache and displays the thumbs. That's very quick. Unless Bridge decides the cache thumbs are "out-of-date", in which case it scans all the main images to rebuild thumbs. That's very slow and gives sluggish performance - from 2 to 5 minutes depending on folder size and image type (raw files take much longer). Many hours over many weeks as I browse my 30,000 images.

Why does Bridge decide the thumbs are out-of-date? Why is it using Camera Raw to make that decision? I can only guess, and my guess is that there is a difference in precision of the dates. Bridge compares the date of the main file to the date of the thumbnail, and they are off by some small fraction of a second. If that's the case, then the solution is obvious. Round the two dates to the whole second. 

      This topic has been closed for replies.
      Correct answer redcrown on guard

      Every folder that I now open in Bridge 12 since the Nov 2021 update is full of dancing xmp files.  I've been using PS for nearly 20 years and every update seems that there are more problems and few if any real improvements.


      I had a few of those too("dancing XMPs". When I chased it down I discovered they were orphaned XMP files. No raw file to match the XMP. Once they were deleted the dancing stopped.

      5 replies

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      redcrown on guardAuthor
      Inspiring
      November 1, 2021

      Well folks. It's November 2021 and Adobe released major updates. We get a new Photoshop, Bridge, and Camera Raw. All the hype and attention is on the new masking features in Camera Raw (and Lightroom).

      But guess what lurks in the background? Re-caching! Again! Bridge 12.0.0.234 plus Camera Raw 14.0.0.950 are incompatible with previous versions of the Bridge Cache. The new system will re-cache everything! And it does it in a strange way I can't figure out. It leaves old cache jpegs behind and those old jpegs can't be cleared out with "Compress Cache" or even "Purge Cache". (This on Windows 10, don't know about MAC).

      So, buyer beware - nuke your cache and let Bridge/ACR start from scratch. Else you will carry around gigabytes of old, unused files. No easy way to find and delete them later.

      That's bad news, of course, but there is more. The new system is re-caching itself again. And it does it in the same old strange way that defies logic. Cache a folder of images, navigate to a different folder and then come back to the previously cached folder. Watch "Generating Previews" or "Indexing" flash by on the bottom status bar.

      With Windows Explorer, find the actual folder of jpegs in the Bridge Cache itself. Look at the creation dates vs. date modified. See that SOME of the files have a new date modified, matching the time you saw the re-caching. Not all the files, just some. And as in the past, I can find no logic here. Raw, DNG, TIF, Jpeg extensions, different cameras, different dates... no common attributes.

      According to my gene pool, I'll be dead in 5 years. That's when I'll stop complaining about this.

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        redcrown on guardAuthor
        Inspiring
        November 3, 2021

        Mini Update... Noticed something interesting when studying the files that cause re-caching. While there are samples of all kinds, most dominant are raw files with adjustments. So, DNG or CR3+XMP.

        And the fun part - if I make a new adjustment to those re-caching raw files, re-caching stops! Then, more fun, if I remove that new adjustment and return the file to the original state, re-caching still stops.

        Example: I have a folder with 134 raw DNG files and Bridge was re-caching 30 of them. I opened those 30 in ACR and added 1 point of Saturation. No more caching. I opened them again and reset the Saturation to 0. Still no caching. Continued this experiment making different adjustments. It makes no difference what kind of adjustment I make and then remove. Re-caching ceases after the new Bridge/ACR touches the file.

          P
          Phil Shaw
          Known Participant
          November 5, 2021

          Every folder that I now open in Bridge 12 since the Nov 2021 update is full of dancing xmp files.  I've been using PS for nearly 20 years and every update seems that there are more problems and few if any real improvements.

          Varun Varshney
          Adobe Employee
          Varun Varshney
          Adobe Employee
          June 14, 2019

          Hi redcrown on guard,

          Thank you for your feedback regarding re-caching of thumbnails on ACR update. We will continue to incorporate the feedback to enhance the experience.

          Thanks,

          Varun Varshney

          Fine Art P
          Fine Art P
          Inspiring
          October 29, 2018

          This has always seemed to be the case since I've been using Bridge (a long time.) In the bottom status bar it always says (Generating thumbnails...) regardless of what I am viewing. It can be a folder with a single image in it. I would not expect this to change.

          Deepak_Gupta1
          Community Manager
          Deepak_Gupta1Community Manager
          Community Manager
          October 15, 2018

          Hi All,

          We have released a new version of Adobe Bridge (CC 2019) on 15 October 2018. The new version build number is 9.0.0.204. This version is available to install via Adobe Creative Cloud application.

          Please check the following link to know about all new features in Adobe Bridge CC 2019 - https://helpx.adobe.com/bridge/using/whats-new.html

          You may need to update the Creative Cloud application and restart your computer to see the updated installer.

          Thanks,

          Deepak Gupta

          R
          redcrown on guardAuthor
          Inspiring
          October 25, 2018

          I installed Photoshop and Bridge 2019 on a Surface Pro4 running Windows 10 version 1803 last week. This is a new and different computer than the ones I have used in the past to test and document Bridge re-caching.

          Again. Bridge 2019 re-caches all images for no apparent reason. The images have not changed. The thumbnail jpegs do not change after re-caching. Same as all previous versions dating back several years now.

          A mystery within the mystery is that no one from Adobe has ever confirmed or denied this problem. Even a denial would be helpful. It only takes a few minutes to test, assuming you have access to old versions of Camera Raw.8bi and can swap them in and out.

            A
            Adobe Employee
            Abhishek.Seth
            Adobe Employee
            October 26, 2018

            Hi ,

            Bridge requires cache to be generated when the version of Bridge is changed.

            Once cache for all files is generated in Bridge CC 2019, the cache is not regenerated unless files are added or updated.

            Please let me know the workflow in which  Bridge is regenerating cache .

            Regards,

            Abhishek Seth

            GautamBahl
            Community Manager
            GautamBahlCommunity Manager
            Community Manager
            October 23, 2017

            Hi Ryan,

            Is the option "Prefer thumbnail generation over preview generation" checked or unchecked.

            Regards,

            Gautam

            R
            redcrown on guardAuthor
            Inspiring
            October 23, 2017

            The "prefer thumbnail generation" is checked on my system. Must be the default, as I've not paid any attention to that one. Strangely, neither Google nor Adobe Help shows any info on that option. What does it do?

            Regardless, I doubt it has any impact on the problem of regeneration. I've kept copies of Camer Raw.8bi back to version 8. When a new version of Camera Raw or Bridge starts re-caching everything, I simply replace the new version of Camera Raw with the most recent old version to test. Re-caching stops. Put the new version back, and re-caching starts again.

            Let Bridge cache a few folders with a new version of Camera Raw. Put an older version in place, re-visit those same folders and Bridge re-caches them again. Put the new version back, re-visit folders again, and re-caching happens.

            Return to the original questions. Why is Bridge using Camera Raw to make the caching decision? Seems that decision would be based on file name, date modified, and maybe file size. All that info is available from the OS.

            C
            Community Manager
            CCSS1212Community Manager
            Community Manager
            October 24, 2017

            Hi ,

            You can try few of these options

            1. In preferences panel under cache->increase the cache size to max.

            2. Check purge cache older than n days . Increase the n value.

            3. Automatically Export Cache to a folder when possible.

            Please let us know that cache or thumbnails are regenerating in central cache or in Exported cache folder. Also please mentioned how you are updating  Camera Raw.

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