Advice on Catalogue per job - Coming from Capture One Session workflow

[Klickflip]

Hi, 

I'm coming from Capture One Pro and trying to sus the best workflow for me in Lightroom. 

Normally each shoot is around 20gb to 200gb  (i'm a professional) .

That is self contained in one shoot folder, plus capture / import folder containing sub folders for each shot.

And my output, selects folders. 

See screenshot-

That way I can remove / back from computer when job is done and all raws, adjutments are saved.

I generally dont need long term access to all my shoots, and digging out a hard drive is fine if needed later.

Plus I sync 2 computers via dropbox for my jobs, so like to keep hard drive space maximised, and folders clutter. 

On testing I see each card import or tether is auto organised in a date folder. How can i turn that off?

I want complete control and naming of my import / tether folders. (within the main shoot folder) Normally a subfolder for each shot setup , or product, person within that shoot. I can have  up to 50 'shot' folders within a shoot.

I suspect I have to go the multiple catalogue route to be able to have each shoot self contained. 

However I've read watched loads of advice that say just a couple of main catalogues is better. 

but I need to be able to clear hard drive every couple of weeks for new jobs. 

Any tips would be much appreciated, especially if anyone has experince coming from C1. 

Cheers

S

[Klickflip]

screenshot of my file structure

[cmgap]

Can you post a screen shot of your Tethered Capture Settings dialog box? Do you have Segment by Shots ticked on? This is where you can create a template for how you want your tethered sessions to be added to your catalog.

[Klickflip]

Thanks, I'm looking into testing that now, and how adding subfolders in library tab & finder all interact together. 

As sometimes I premake while folders structure before shoot , and often also have to add capture subfolders on the fly. 

One thing I cant seem to do , is be able to change the tether capture destination folder on the fly.  without stopping capture , starting again , and then is makes anoter capture session in library side car  - seems a bit messy? 

I can change import folder on the fly , but not tether capture. 

Should import and tether folder not be linked or selctable , as destination for both tether capture and card import? 

Sometimes I'll have to shoot to card in the middle of a tethered session, but need to keep images coming into same folder 

Thanks

[cmgap]

You might want to consider a full round trip workflow... Set up folder structure by date-shoot-job name, raw files saved to external drive (by-pass internal drive), back up external. If your Lr catalog gets too large 200K+ images, keep a smart preview of a couple of images in your job folder and remove the rest from the catalog. This way you will always be able to right-click on an image and select 'Show in Finder' and Lr will open the location of the folder containing a given shoot.

[dj_paige]

You don't really say what subject matter you are shooting. I can see why some wedding photographers prefer one catalog per shoot, but others do not. Still I think the advantages of a single catalog outweight the disadvantages, especially if you want to put together a portfolio of your best shots, you can't do that if these photos are scattered across multiple catalogs.

However I've read watched loads of advice that say just a couple of main catalogues is better. but I need to be able to clear hard drive every couple of weeks for new jobs.

The loads of advice I have seen is that ONE catalog is best, not a couple. There is no problem clearing the hard drive of photos every couple of weeks, Lightroom Classic allows you to move the photos to an external drive while still cataloging the photos in the catalog. It's the photos that take up most of the space anyway; you could leave the ONE catalog in place. Better yet, don't put the photos on the computer's internal drive, and then you won't have to move them later; this saves effort on your part and avoids potential mistakes when you move the photos.

A better understanding of how Lightroom Classic works would help you make a better decision. The idea of clearing the hard drive every couple of weeks indicates to me that you don't really understand how Lightroom Classic works.

[Klickflip]

I shoot commercial advertising & lifestyle, fashion,  portraits & product . Studio & location. 

But it doen't really matter what subject matter , in terms of workflow. I need consistent organised workflow.

That can be moved or backed up to hard drive another computer instantly if needed.

-Which needs to keep all the raws, with the develop adjustments together (and added subfolders of exports , retouch finals etc) .

So I dont need to think about what catalogue raws have to be synced to at a later date if required. 

A question though - If i deleted the catalogue by mistake, then tried to open / re-import the capture folders later - would I have lost all the develop & adjustments on the raws I'd made?

And can catalogues be synced over dropbox between multiple computers?. Is there funny metadata that likes computer system info to match up or anything. 

- Which is why I'm thinking one catalogue per shoot , which is contained within the main Job folder, That contains all the raw captures as well. Plus the aforementioned output , retouch subfolders. (and this job folder gets synced to dropbox so it doesn't matter if i'm at desktop at the studio or out on the road or at home using my laptop) 

Once outputted final shots are graded & retouched , then those are my portfolio shots copied, duplicated to another folder location for easy access. 

So I dont really need to be able to acess all shoots shots at one time, and re-edit in lightroom much.

I guess its a funny one, a lot of people like to have access to all their shots via lightroom, I have another structure for work / portfolio archives. 

For me keeping laptop , desktop clean and space for new jobs is the key. 

As is backup and modularity, also contingency if laptop gets damaged , stolen. 

The less on computer the better . 

And yes backups are essential , multiple times daily or after every shot while on a shoot to external HDs. 

Agred I have to understand more how lightroom works, but it's about getting lightroom to work for this type of modular workflow. which is essential to my type of work. 

I've worked with other photographers who keep massive lightroom catalogue and linked hard drives , and its a nightmare! Most I know prefer the modular self contained folder job by job approach. - which is C1 way of working. 

I'm just seeing if Lightroom can work for my needs , as it tethers the Canon R5 well. 

Thanks! 

[dj_paige]

So I dont need to think about what catalogue raws have to be synced to at a later date if required.

One catalog makes this as easy as it can be. Keep all the photos cataloged in Lightroom Classic. Then you never have to sync raws to the catalog. Don't add in extra work and extra steps that add no benefit.

A question though - If i deleted the catalogue by mistake, then tried to open / re-import the capture folders later - would I have lost all the develop & adjustments on the raws I'd made?

You make regular and automated backups of your (ONE) catalog file, and then you will not lose your edits.

And can catalogues be synced over dropbox between multiple computers?

Not recommended. Although in the right situation, the answer is yes. That's a long discussion.

So I dont really need to be able to acess all shoots shots at one time, and re-edit in lightroom much.

And yet, what I have described using one catalog in which all of your images are cataloged, is easier than what you have described.

There are people who use a travel laptop, then move their work to a desktop computer when they get home. This is a possible solution, with travel catalogs that get imported into a master catalog at home. This is all spelled out here: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/threads/working-with-a-temporary-catalog.37583/#post-124743...

[Klickflip]

Thanks, much appreciated. 

Though I'm not sure you're acutally approaching help from my list of requiremts to help me configure Lightroom to work in my situation. 

Could you try to adapt your great knowledge of LR to my required workflow? 

I guess if it won't work for me then so be it! 

So I dont need to think about what catalogue raws have to be synced to at a later date if required.

One catalog makes this as easy as it can be. Keep all the photos cataloged in Lightroom Classic. Then you never have to sync raws to the catalog. Don't add in extra work and extra steps that add no benefit.

-Why should I , it seems like keeping more info on computer than I need to ( and unsaved with my job folder archive has potentially more to go wrong a couple of years down) ,

-How much space will a catalogue of 50,000 45mp images take up (which is probably one years worth of shoots)

A question though - If i deleted the catalogue by mistake, then tried to open / re-import the capture folders later - would I have lost all the develop & adjustments on the raws I'd made?

You make regular and automated backups of your (ONE) catalog file, and then you will not lose your edits.

- Having multiple backups of the catalogue to link up with saved raws capture folder seems over complicated. Compared to one catalogue per shoot , archived with raws. - whihc is what I was asking for advice on really! 

And can catalogues be synced over dropbox between multiple computers?

Not recommended. Although in the right situation, the answer is yes. That's a long discussion.

- This is required, if GBs of raws sync fine for me would catalogue not? 

What would be basic of the 'right' situation be? I'm used to letting other computer sync the latest shoot folder before working on it. 

So I dont really need to be able to acess all shoots shots at one time, and re-edit in lightroom much.

And yet, what I have described using one catalog in which all of your images are cataloged, is easier than what you have described.

- it isn't really, I still have to dig out hard drive of shoot raws. And a couple of years later , I would have a new laptop and possibly made a new lightroom catalogue on it , and have to search through lots of HDs to find the old laptop catalogue. As organised as I am, I try to ensure any file mis matches are minimal if that makes sense. 

There are people who use a travel laptop, then move their work to a desktop computer when they get home. This is a possible solution, with travel catalogs that get imported into a master catalog at home. This is all spelled out here: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/threads/working-with-a-temporary-catalog.37583/#post-124743...

It sounds a nightmare tbh! 

I used to have to constantly copy / backup current jobs to HD, then I'd do some more work on laptop at home in the evening, then have copy updated folder to studio computer the next day, it just gets confusing. 

Dropbox syncing has been a revolution recently. I wouldn't want to go back to working with copy/ updating folders via HD ever again! 

HD's are only for on the go backups for safety thesedays or archives in cupboard. 

Also sometimes the client or agency wants all the files to edit themselves, but using my first grade. 

How can you save an archive of the shoot , with catalogue just for that shoot (so they dont have access to any previews or data from everything else in my catalogue? 

Then can resume edit it on their lightroom. 

All this is why the modular self contained file structure works really well for my situation. 

I get that it may be quite diferent from how most people use, and love LR keeping everything together or editable side by side. 

How best, or can I even use LR to my needed workflow? ! 

Cheers!

S

[dj_paige]

Could you try to adapt your great knowledge of LR to my required workflow?

I think you should adapt the workflow to the strengths of the software, rather than assuming your workflow is best with all software.

But as I said, some photographers who do distinct jobs (like you) use a catalog for each job. If that's how you want to do it, then by all means, do it that way.

Other photographers who disinct jobs use one catalog. There is probably a good reason ...

[DdeGannes]

See info available on LrC Catalogs. The forum has a series of articles on Lightroom Catalogs.

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/one-or-multiple-catalogs/