AI Denoise no longer functioning properly

[MrKohee]

LR Classic 15.0.1

Camera Raw 18.0

MacBook Pro (Apply M4 Max)

36 GB Memory

Sequoia 15.7.2

Lightroom Classic does not seem to bulk apply AI Denoise to images. Despite choosing images of various quantities (2, 5, 10, 200, etc.), denoise only seems to be applied to the initital image. I have tried all of the methods I can find -- copy and paste, sync, shift-clicking images, and more -- but Denoise is not applying across the entire selection. And, images that I've denoised seem to revert randomly.

• I've also uninstalled, rebooted and reinstalled the app. 
• Thesre are Nikon NEF files.

Any thoughts on how to proceed?

[dj_paige]

Select all the images you want in the Lightroom Classic Library Module. Go to the Develop Module, turn auto sync on, do the AI Denoise step, turn auto sync off.

[MrKohee]

I just did that to 33 images and Denoise was only applied to images 1, 32 & 33. I can confirm that Lightroom is popping up the information box that it's running through the Denoise process.

[dj_paige]

Looking at one of the photos that you said didn't have Denoise applied, does Denoise appear in the Lightroom Classic History Panel?

I know you said these are all Nikon NEF photos, but could you please double check the ones that don't have denoise applied to make sure they are not JPGs.

[MrKohee]

Thanks for the followup. I have checked a few times through the process and just looked again ... these are all NEF files.

I can also confirm that the images that appear to have no Denoise applied, actually do have the check box flagged to show that it has been applied.

[dj_paige]

So Denoise is applied, but it doesn't display. This is the third time I have seen people report such a thing in LrC 15.0 or later, but I am not aware of a solution. 

Please provide one of the photos on DropBox or similar and then provide us the link so we can download the photos and see if the problem replicates on other computers.

[MrKohee]

Thank you ... link is below.

• _8502269..dng - I uncheckd Denoise and reaplied it.
• _8502269.NEF - LRC shows as Denoised, but actual image is not showing that in the preview.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/w9kssxe7oxgpg18pamqjl/ANnUe2pvLRM9E-8ddF1wSpQ?rlkey=uasqunh794t5qrizc...

[dj_paige]

Hello @MrKohee , thanks for sharing that .NEF file.

When I use AI Denoise on your photo, it works as expected and the image is shown with noise removed. I am doing this on Windows, and perhaps some Mac user will try it and see if it is displayed as denoised on a Mac. 

In notice you are using Sequoia 15.7.2, is there a reason why you do not have the most recent MacOS? I would recommend as the next step seeing if the problem goes away with the most current MacOS, but you may have a reason to not upgrade your OS. 

[MrKohee]

Well, heck ... I haven't changed any settings lately, so this seems to be a system issue. Thank you for taking the time to help.

Tahoe apparently has performance and bug issues.

[dj_paige]

Tahoe apparently has performance and bug issues.

By @MrKohee

Ok, that makes sense.

[johnrellis]

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I tried applying Denoise to the .nef with LR 15.0.1 on Mac OS 15.7.1 and 26.1, and it worked as expected:

Mac OS 15.7.1:

Mac OS 26.1:

[MrKohee]

Hmmmm ... I'm still not sure why it's giving me fits applying to multiple images at a time. Single images seem to be fine.

[Ian Lyons]

Adobe have not identified and issues between LrC / LrD / ACR / Photoshop and Tahoe 26.1. I've been using Tahoe 26.1 and now 26.2 on 4 Macs with no performance or other issues.

[MrKohee]

Excellent. I'm guessing there's some sort of hitch in the giddyup. Perhaps there's an issue created on import, but I don't believe I've changed anything with LRC or Mac settings recently to cause a problem. I'll check my ingestion process again to make sure I haven't done something there to create the issue.

[johnrellis · Accepted solution]

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@MrKohee: "Perhaps there's an issue created on import"

With Import in particular, if you apply any of the AI commands via an Apply During Import preset, the AI settings will be applied to the photo, but they won't be computed -- the AI Edit Status button in the upper-right of Develop will be yellow. After the import completes, select all the photos in Library and do Photo > Develop Settings > Update AI Settings.

But the other batch operations (Copy/Paste Settings, Sync Settings, Auto Sync, Quick Develop > Saved Preset) should automatically compute the AI settings after applying presets.  When one of these commands fails to do so, check the AI Edit Status button -- is it yellow?

[dj_paige]

@MrKohee this happened to me today on a new computer that I just got yesterday. I had photos with AI DeNoise as indicated in the History Panel but it didn't display. So I changed the DeNoise slider and then returned it to its original position and then the effect of Denoise did show, and the rest of my photos also showed the Denoise properly without the moving of the slider somewhere and back.

[MrKohee]

THAT is interesting. I'll try that.

[einsof613]

@johnrellis Thank you for your explanation. My wife was searching everywhere for a way to apply noise reduction to over 2,000 images. Previously she had exported the images and denoise was not applied. Updating the AI settings when all the photos were selected worked perfectly. Thanks!

[MrKohee]

I tried a number of things, including Update AI Settings, and nothing appears to have worked. I even uninstalled Lightroom and deleted the preferences, etc. for a clean install using the exisiting cataloge.

However, there is another bit of information that later came up as a potential clue. Lightroom was no longer allowing me to create a catalog backup. No matter what volume I tried saving it to or any fix I tried, bsckup was no longer working. After digging around, I noticed the lrcat-data file -- which stores the AI history -- has not in sync date wise with the other lrcat files. It had somehow become corrupted. Rebuilding it from scratch seems to fixed all of my issues. Now, anyone know how to fix a corrupted lrcat-data file or am I SOL?

[johnrellis · Accepted solution]

@MrKohee: "After digging around, I noticed the lrcat-data file -- which stores the AI history -- has not in sync date wise with the other lrcat files. It had somehow become corrupted. Rebuilding it from scratch seems to fixed all of my issues. Now, anyone know how to fix a corrupted lrcat-data file or am I SOL?"

I haven't seen anyone post steps to repairing .lrcat-data files.  They're managed by an open-source non-SQL database package RocksDB.

The .lrcat-data file stores the computed results of various AI commands (AI masks, lens blur, denoise, etc.).  However, it's straightforward to rebuild it: After deleting it, start LR, in Library Grid view select all photos, and do the menu command Photo > Develop Settings > Update AI Settings.  This will reconstruct the exact appearance of all the photos with AI commands, with one important caveat: Generative AI Removes will have different variations, and there is no way to recover the original variations (a LR design defect).  For simple removals, you won't notice the difference, but for ones in which you examined many variations before picking the best one, you'll have to go back through that same tedious process to pick a good one.  

[MrKohee]

Excellent! Thank you!