Speed Issue

[heirloombob]

My home PC has been running Lightroom so slowly that for large editing projects, it's almost unusable as one waits for a reaction to inputs.

I had read that the number of images that are in the LR Catalog, is largely unimportant so I have never been too worried about the numbers but I am up to +500,000. Yes I know it's a lot and yes, I should have perhaps cleaned more off but since everything I have read says no worries, I have not done anything about it.

Yesterday saw an import of 1,000 images and the process of editing was so bad, I have to do something.

I have boosted my Camera Raw Cache to 100 gb and that helped but only a little. I am running Windows 10 64 bit, 32 gb RAM,i7-4790 processor and lot's of drive space on that machine.

Today I imported the same images to my work PC. Camera Raw Cache is only at 5 gb, Windows 10 64 bit, 16 gb Ram, i7-8700 processor and lot's of drive space. Only 22,000 images however.

As a test,I have exported all 16,000 of my 2019 images from my Lightroom PC at home. When that project completes, I will import just those 16,000 images into a new catalog. That should prove if the number of total images is the issue.

In the meantime, any thoughts on what else may be the culprit?

[dj_paige]

I had read that the number of images that are in the LR Catalog, is largely unimportant so I have never been too worried about the numbers but I am up to +500,000. Yes I know it's a lot and yes, I should have perhaps cleaned more off but since everything I have read says no worries, I have not done anything about it.

Correct decision.

My home PC has been running Lightroom so slowly that for large editing projects, it's almost unusable as one waits for a reaction to inputs.

More specific and detailed information is needed. Exactly what actions are slow in Lightroom?

Also, please state the size of your monitor in pixels (not inches).

[heirloombob]

My workflow is to run an action on import. That process is fine. Once imported I generally increase Shadows (commonly a slow response to the slider input and then can't do any other slider adjustments until it completes) Darken, reduce highlights. I then typically select the Adjustment Brush, it's also slow to launch. Complete my edits here and then close the adjustment brush. Time delay to close the local adjustment brush also. I then have an action to sharpen and reduce noise, then a medium vignette action. Now I have to wait for catch-up before exporting to my edit folder. The export takes place and while exporting I generally have to wait for completion before I can start on the next image for editing.

My export mentioned earlier, is still taking place but I wonder if I filmed a quick video of my process might give a better idea on the time it is taking?

Monitor Pixel size 1920 x 1080

[dj_paige]

I guess the video isn't necessary, if the slider to increase shadows is laggy, that's a problem. Are you using a wide angle lens, and automatically doing lens corrections via the action at import? What is the action at import?

[heirloombob]

No wide angle lens and doing a "General Boost" on Import which lowers highlights, increases shadows and adds a little Clarity, Vibrance and Saturation.

[dj_paige]

So, when you do the import, do you wait until Lightroom has built all the previews for the newly imported photos before you begin editing, or do you jump right into the editing before the previews are all created?

[heirloombob]

Wait for completion.

[dj_paige]

Good, we've eliminated some possible causes.

Please check and make sure that face recognition, and uploading/synchronizing with Lightroom CC are turned off. Do not say "I never turned them on", do not say "I never use them", do not say "I'm sure they are off" — I want you to verify by looking at the settings that these are turned off.

[heirloombob]

Facial Recognition was not initiated, and is currently showing "paused".

Sync with Lightroom has not been started.

[dj_paige]

So it's not that.

Next time you do the Import and then wait until the previews are generated, have your computers resource monitor open, and when the previews are finished, and you are about to begin edited, see if the resource monitor is detecting any CPU or disk activity from any program.

[heirloombob]

dj, I may have solved the issue. It seems my SSD which is running LR, needed a firmware update. Did that and everything seems to be as it should be. Many thanks for your patience in working through this with me.

[dj_paige]

heirloombob  wrote

dj, I may have solved the issue. It seems my SSD which is running LR, needed a firmware update. Did that and everything seems to be as it should be. Many thanks for your patience in working through this with me.

Interesting. I had not heard of this as a possible cause, but I'll have to keep it in mind.

[Jao vdL]

Are you running any antivirus software? If so try if excluding the Lightroom catalog, Lightroom images, and preview database from scanning helps. In many cases the culprit of extreme slowness is an overactive antivirus scanner that tries to scan the Lightroom catalog after every small slider adjustment. Not a panacea but worth a try.

[heirloombob]

Good advice nonetheless. I have now done that. I think I found the solution however. See my reply above.