LR Classic and using Synology for workflow

[DWBarnes]

My current work flow is to...

1. Shoot photos on SD or XQD cards

2. Offload/import those cards onto GDrive units

3. Post-process in LR Classic

4. Once I have processed the images I save them to the GDrive Units and then make a copy in my Synology NAS.

I've amassed more than 80K photos in LR Classic with folders, etc. But in order to re-edit for printing I've got to have all the photos on the GDrives plugged into my Mac for LR Classic to find them.

What I'd rather do is work on the photos via my Synology NAS so that always has all of the latest changes in processing on the images.

I'm guessing that means there's got to be a catalog on the Synology NAS that is constantly updated

and

that all the 80K images can all be found on the Synology NAS by LR Classic.

Question: Is the workflow that I've listed above a workflow that is sensible? workable?

Question: is there a way to make my processing in LR Classic always look for the photos on the Synology NAS?

If there is

Question: do I have to go through each filed photo and find the image on the Synology NAS?

Question: is there an easy way to do that?

I'm sure I have tons more questions to be answered but this is at least a start.

Thanks in advance for any help on this issue that you can give me.

DaveB

[GoldingD]

Lets clear something up

Are you keeping the catalog, the ".lrcat" file, on the NAS?

Lightroom Classic does not support that.

Images on the NAS fine, Catalogs on the NAS not fine.

[DWBarnes]

Thanks DavidG.  I thought the catalog should be kept on my Macbook Pro where I'm doing all the LR work. Does that make sense?

D

[GoldingD]

DWBarnes  wrote

Thanks DavidG.  I thought the catalog should be kept on my Macbook Pro where I'm doing all the LR work. Does that make sense?

D

Yes,

[JP Hess]

Your other option would be to keep the catalog on your Mac's hard drive and generate smart previews for all of those images which would remain on the Mac's hard drive. Then you could disconnect the NAS until the images were needed for printing.

[Tony_See]

Can we have an indication of what size sensor (hence RAW file size) you might be using?

I think Jims reply above is a good strategy for you: however your 80K catalog/Smart Previews solution may or may not require some 'heavier lifting' depending on where you access them.

[DWBarnes]

Tony... most of the images are from D850 and z7 sizes... anywhere from 8MB to 40MB. I'd say the average is about 10.

D

[Akash Sharma]

Hi DaveB,

Working with Lightroom Classic and Synology NAS is complex than what it looks as there might be issues related to read/write permissions,network etc without Lightroom knowing about it. This article might help you setting up the your NAS: https://www.lightroomqueen.com/community/threads/setup-lightroom-catalog-with-a-nas.31659/

Thanks,

Akash

[DWBarnes]

Akash... thanks for the link. It does seem fairly complex. I guess I'm trying to simplify by doing these steps...

1. Import images from SD and XQD cards onto 1TB GDrives via LR Classic in a folder marked by date.

2. Edit using LR Classic.

3. Keep about 5% of the images and then copy the folder of finished images to the Synology NAS.

---

It's at this point that I'd like to have LR Classic "look" for finished images on the Synology NAS as it's easier than having all of my images on a bunch of GDrives. (I have a GDrive for each year of photos) At this point, I only need to use the "LR Classic"ed images (like photoshopped images) to print from. I shouldn't need to do any heavy lifting/editing of images at that point.

And as was suggested my LR Catalog is on my Macbook Pro Solid State Drive.

Am I headed down the right path or not?

The only problem I foresee is trying to get LR Classic to find all of the images on the NAS rather than the Gdrive once they've been edited.

Hope this helps explain my workflow.

Dave

[GoldingD]

To members with Smart Previews and NAS experience.

First for Smart Preview users. Is their a performance advantage if the original images are not available (but Smart Previews are) while editing, say if the originals are on a SLOW external drive.

I assume that if you create the Smart Previews at import, then the second the import is complete, you can disconnect the NAS and Lightroom will function just fine until you need to accomplish something requiring access to those originals. An export, a print, a Slideshow, Web work, or Publishing. Some others?

Second up, for NAS savvy members (not me), would it be more efficient to import the originals not to the NAS, but to a hard drive, let those Smart Previews get created, let the import completely finish, and the within Lightroom’s Folder Panel, move the original images to the NAS. This could speed up import.

Not sure if you could work on a particular image until its move is complete. But the OP could consider moving after edits are complete.

[JP Hess]

If you are using the Smart previews it doesn't matter where the original images are stored. They don't come into play while you are working with the Smart previews. However, the one disadvantage of using smart previews is that you cannot use the option to edit in Photoshop. To do that, the master images must be available.

[mgailsmith]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm researching using a Synology NAS for archiving files with LR Classic cc and here I am. I thought one of the main selling points of Smart Previews is the ability to Edit in PS when original files are not connected. Printing, slideshows, etc I know require originals, but editing in Photoshop? I'm confused.

Thanks.

Gail

[Rob_Cullen]

Smart Previews are only for Develop editing in the Lightroom-Classic Develop module!

Any time you want to use an External editor (Photoshop, Nik, etc.), or Export derivative files, full access to the original full-size files is needed.

Some info here-

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-performance-previews-caches/