Using LRC in a NAS environment with multiple PC/Mac and multiple users

[Danevander]

I just posted this to an old (2017) question. If you have a NAS (network) environment with multiple users and multiple workstations there is a way to use LRC so image editing can be performed in a colaborative process. Our Sun City AZ Photography Club uses LRC in this type of environment with no issues.

This will work with a few assumptions about your workflow. First, each PC/MAC has its own LRC catalog and all images and all XMP data is stored on the network.

When you start Lightroom, from Grid View with the subject images selected, perform a Metadata/Read metadata from Files. This fully updates that computer's lightroom catalog from whatever computer's catalog you last used.

At the very end of the session, you repeat by going into the Library's Grid view with the edited images selected and doing a Metadata/Save metadata to files. It takes less than 5 seconds to do each. Of course, only one person can be editing the images at a time, but we have experimented with two people having the image up at the same time. After one person makes a series of edits, they need to do a metadata/save and the other person then does a metadata/read. That will give both people the same state of changes. 

[dj_paige]

Sounds like you are not really doing anything with the Lightroom Classic catalog, and so you could do this in Bridge and not have to0 worry about reading metadata into LrC; Bridge will read it automatically.

[Danevander]

Thanks DJ. We have club members that work entirely in LRC, so Bridge is not an option. This technique keeps all changes within the LRC environment. Rumor also has it that Bridge and the LRC catalog may merge in a future release. We arn't sure what impact that change will have. Bottom line on all this was simply that Adobe provided a few tools (perhaps unintensionally) to allow us to use a NAS even through they claim otherwise.

[Jao vdL]

>Rumor also has it that Bridge and the LRC catalog may merge in a future release.

Not going to happen. At most Bridge will disappear but the two programs won't merge. Their models are orthogonal and not compatible. For your use case Bridge combined with camera raw/Photoshop is really the only thing that will prevent data loss. Classic doesn't really work well as it is highly likely you overwrite xmp data in a setting like you describe.

[Danevander]

I suppose I should have said that I heard that Bridge is going away. Maybe a political-year meme.

[Lumigraphics]

Just remember that Bridge and Lightroom Classic keywording are NOT compatible if you use hierarchical keywords.

[Danevander]

Good point. And the solution for using a NAS is not one we recommend to most people. One needs to be very careful and not in a situation that they rely on both LRC and Bridge.

[ManiacJoe]

One thing to keep in mind is that not all the edits get written to the XMP files.

[Danevander]

Joe, from our test, as long as one does the Read metadata from XMP at the beginning of a session and always does a save metadate to XMP at the end, we seem to always have the full set of edits in LRC. I will agree that the procedure to make all of this work is only offered as a solution for thoses that have no other reasonable alternative. Also, the keyword (no pun intended) is for those in a collaborative environment and with peers that know what they are doing.