iMac refresh 2013. Larger SSD for fusion?

[flynz4]

Just to give another perspective:
I put a 240GB SSD (OWC Data doubler) in my iMac I7 Late 2009 on top of the 1TB spinning disk.
I have everything on the SSD except the iTunes media (~200GB) and the actual referenced aperture originals (pictures). Still >50GB free on the SSD.
The Aperture library resides on the SSD ~80GB.
When you work with Aperture it accesses the library and only if you want to edit a photo it will go to the spinning disk. (referenced originals)
This gives me a significant speed boost on my iMac! I would bet 99% of the speed of an all SSD setup. And the price of the whole operation was ~ $260.
I have 24GB of RAM to keep large files in memory for applying filters etc.

I think that is a really good point. It really is the thumbnails and the previews that benefit most from being on the SSD. This gives the opportunity to use "referenced masters" (or referenced originals). The masters (or originals) are not accessed frequently as you state. Hence... I agree with your conclusion that this is a cost effective way to speed up your Aperture library.

I do not use referenced originals. I have considered moving my originals off of my 768GB SSD and onto my Pegasus R4... and would clearly do that if I run low on SSD space. I like the "package" aspect of a self contained A3 library... because I periodically put a cloned copy onto my wife's iMac... and it is convenient. However... she just wants to "view and occasionally use" pictures... by copying them into non-Aperture projects that she is working on. This is just a convenience thing. I agree that I could get the majority of my current "high performance" by using referenced originals separate from my SSD.

Good point!

/Jim

 

[eduardrw]

I copy the library to my MBA (256GB SSD) for travel. All my pictures are accessible for viewing, slideshows etc.
As for originals I only copy the last years worth.
This keeps copy times to a minimum and gives me all the access I need on the laptop.
This might work for your wife's use scenario.

BTW I use Chronosync to do this with one click bidirectionally.

 

[flynz4]

I copy the library to my MBA (256GB SSD) for travel. All my pictures are accessible for viewing, slideshows etc.
As for originals I only copy the last years worth.
This keeps copy times to a minimum and gives me all the access I need on the laptop.
This might work for your wife's use scenario.

BTW I use Chronosync to do this with one click bidirectionally.

She wants access to all of the pictures. She mostly just drags them into folders so that she could do simple things... like email, post on Facebook, or upload to Costco to make photo memorabilia. She never manipulates the actual Aperture library.

It would be really helpful if Apple implemented something similar to the "home sharing" feature of iTunes... except in Aperture. That way she could have network access to my entire library (but not editing rights).

My original intention was to just make sure that I import all photos into both of our libraries. The issue is this takes discipline, and like most humans... I somethimes get wrapped up in my work and forget to import new photos to her machine. I finally bagged that idea... and just do an occassional "library copy" to her machine. In the end, I think it is easier.

For personal travel... I just export specific Aperture projects to my MBA so that I can work on them while on the road. I create new Aperture projects as I shoot new photos... and do whatever photo management or editing that I want. Then when I return home... I merge the projects back onto my iMac.

/Jim

 

[eduardrw]

The scenario I described covers this use case.
Even without the reverenced originals on your wife's computer she can do all those things.
AP3 keeps "previews" in the library which are more than sufficient for slide shows, email, WEB pages etc.

You can tell it in Settings how "good" the previews are.

If the originals are not present she can't edit.

 

[flynz4]

The scenario I described covers this use case.
Even without the reverenced originals on your wife's computer she can do all those things.
AP3 keeps "previews" in the library which are more than sufficient for slide shows, email, WEB pages etc.

You can tell it in Settings how "good" the previews are.

If the originals are not present she can't edit.

That's a good point. She really doesn't need the masters. I keep our machines set to generate previews to fit within 2560X2560... which is the max resolution of the machine.

Since my A3 library fits in my SSD... I'll just keep it that way for now. I suspect that by the time it does not fit on my 768GB SSD... that I will have moved on to a new iMac with 2TB SSD or so.

/Jim