New Mac

[rajku81]

Is there a process to follow to migrate Lightroom CC to a new Mac like migrating the Classic version of the app to a new Mac? Is there a Catalog for Lightroom CC?

I'm in the process of migrating from Classic to CC and about half way done. Whatever has been migrated to CC is synced to cloud and also have a local copy in a network drive.

thanks for your help.

[Theresa J]

With Lr CC all of your photos are in cloud. Simply instal Lr CC on your new Mac and sign into your account. You should see all of your photos. When you turn on the preference to save a local copy, Lr CC will start to download copies of your photos on to the new Mac.

I’m assuming that the Classic to CC migration is happening on the old computer. If you have the new Mac already, you can set up Lr CC and watch it populate with photos, as the migration takes place on the old mac.

[rajku81]

thank you Theresa.

I downloaded LR CC in new iMac pro, signed in. In the preferences, checked the "store a copy of all originals..." to the same location (which is Drobo) as it was with my MacBook Pro.

LR CC has been syncing for hours now. Not sure what it is syncing. All the photos are already in the external drive location and in the cloud.

[Jao vdL]

It is unfortunately not smart enough to figure out that the images are already there and will download anyway and then compare if the files are the same that are already there.

[rajku81]

Any advice on what I can do now? My file size is 177 GB.

[Jao vdL]

Only thing you can do is to wait for it to complete the initial sync.

[rajku81]

Will it be faster if I make "store local copy ..." to point to a new location on Drobo. As such storage capacity is not an issue for me. if I do this, will LRCC download new copy of everything from the cloud and if so will it be faster than what it is doing now? I'm not even sure what it is doing now but assuming it is downloading the file and comparing it with what is already present in the directory.

File size is 177 gb. I'm on the iMac pro (base model) and have 300 mbps Comcast connection. thanks a lot.

[Theresa J]

Did you try turning off the “store local copy...” and let the sync finish? You can always turn it back on later. The photos don’t have to be stored locally, especially if you have constant and good internet connection. The main benefit to storing locally is the ability to work offline.

[rajku81]

Thank you, Theresa. Ultimately I had to unmount the Drobo location. Now LR CC is creating previews off the cloud and everything is fine. I heard that the issue is with Drobo. so I have ordered G tech thunderbolt 3 HDD and planning to use that for storing local copy. Where do you store your local copy of originals?

[99jon]

Where do you store your local copy of originals?

I don’t. I can download an original at any time on the fly. Of course I keep a separate backup of all files from my camera cards.

I only use the default cache which is dynamically managed. I even set the storage limit below 25%

In any case if a file is deleted from the cloud the local copy also gets deleted.

A local copy could be useful if you are using Time Machine to backup that folder. But it’s not perfect e.g. if you accidentally delete something from the cloud before TM has performed the backup.

[rajku81]

Thank you!

[Theresa J]

I use Lr Classic for my catalog, not Lightroom CC. All of my photos are stored on local drives and backed up to another drive with Time Machine. Lightroom Classic automatically downloads everything in the Lr ecosystem, which for me means photos I capture with my phone.

If I used Lr CC I would use the same workflow as 99jon​. The only real benefit of storing local copies is the ability to work offline. If you have a fast reliable internet you don’t need to store copies locally. That’s my opinion anyway. I imagine there are others who would disagree. Remember that the stored local copies are just copies, and what is in that copy is synced to what is in the cloud. So, if you delete an image from the cloud, you lose the stored copy too, unless you set up a Time Machine backup like 99jon recommends.

If I ever migrate my Classic catalog to CC, I will first make an archived back up of all my photos (which I already have). After all of my photos finish syncing with the cloud, I would delete them from the local drive (keeping the backup offline). I would leave off the preference to store local copies.

[rajku81]

Thank you, Theresa for the detailed. reply.

[rajku81 · Accepted solution]

I purchased a G Technology Thunderbolt 3 HD and setup to store local copies of LR CC originals. Everything is working just fine now. It looks like the problem I faced with had something to do with LR CC and Drobo compatibility. If anyone is new to LR CC, don't use Drobo as storage location for full size originals.