Recommended computer specs for LrC + M11

[shawn2nd]

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Hey Guys, 

Apologies but I couldn't find an previous thread discussing this via search, but does anyone have either/or:

1. Real world Mac specifications to get LrC working fast with M11 60MP Raw files?
2. An actual speed up lightroom tutorial that works for LrC + M11 60MP Raw files?

I user a newer M2 Macbook Air with 16GB RAM that I bought in November of 2023. Just started shooting 60MP on my M11 and LrC just DIES trying to handle these files. In dev mode, it literally takes me about 10 seconds just to switch from one photo to the next, much less trying to edit them. 

I guess 60MP is just over the threshold of what my specs can handle. The last highest resolution camera I had was Q2M which, and with that the 47MP were workable. 

Thanks!

 

[jakontil]

I use MacBook Air m2 16gb, photos are all stored in external ssd, I use mainly Lightroom CC and Classic since I scan negatives too using my M10r

I find the Lightroom will hold on my files from M11 as well as X2D with 100 max no problem since actually when you are editing them, they are scaled down image not the whole but I might be wrong 

[jgeenen]

I learned that data throughput is the most important limiting factor. I have a M1 Studio with 2TB internal SSD and 32G RAM. The catalog is on the internal disk. In addition to the internal disk I have a fast Thunderbolt 3 connected M.2 (PCIe 4 NVMe) SSd (4 TB) and a USB3 connected 4TB SAndisk SATA SSD. The internal disk is used for current projects, the archive is on the Thunderbolt drive and the backup 1is on the USB3 SSD (there is a second backup on NAS). I tested LrC with all four drive types and speed on the internal disk blows all. First switch into development mode takes maybe 2 seconds, all edits in color and exposure etc and standard masking is pretty much instant (AI and bit operations like exporting etc take much longer). Taking the „damn fast“ Thunderbolt drive instead triples the times already. I had initially a lower spec SATA SSD connected with Thunderbolt - not worth trying it. Use it with a cheap 30 Euro USB3 link for backup.

my advice - don’t look for M1, M2 or M3 or whatever - look for the fastest disk possible to make you LrC experience positive. And yes, processing Q2 files is faster than M11 files.

Edited July 20, 2024 by jgeenen

[shawn2nd]

6 hours ago, jakontil said:

I use MacBook Air m2 16gb, photos are all stored in external ssd, I use mainly Lightroom CC and Classic since I scan negatives too using my M10r

I find the Lightroom will hold on my files from M11 as well as X2D with 100 max no problem since actually when you are editing them, they are scaled down image not the whole but I might be wrong 

Mmmm I have same spec MacBook Air, but my performance is garbage. I have the catalog on internal disk, and the actual photo files are on a SSD external drive 😞 Your Air is even handling X2D files fine in development mode? I feel like I'm definitely missing a setting somewhere that could help with performance 

[jgeenen]

I definitely might help to generate smart previews on import (or later), then most operations in dev mode are carried out on a smaller preview file and the original file is only loaded when necessary (eg. in 1:1 zoom)

[shawn2nd]

4 hours ago, jgeenen said:

I definitely might help to generate smart previews on import (or later), then most operations in dev mode are carried out on a smaller preview file and the original file is only loaded when necessary (eg. in 1:1 zoom)

This might be it! I don’t think I’ve been doing this to date. I’ll try on next import 🙂

[BWColor]

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Lightroom seems to benefit from faster cores and not more cores.  Some functions benefit from faster GPUs .  Larger internal SSD is very important.  I have the current 16” MacBook Pro with 64GB of memory, top end CPU/GPU and most things are fast, but importing is slow, but sidecars are being generated with import. Also, enhanced functions take way more time than predicted.  I have one of the fastest Thunderbolt 4 external drives, but they are slow compared to the internal drive per speed test.

Edited July 21, 2024 by BWColor
Typo

[shawn2nd]

11 hours ago, jgeenen said:

I definitely might help to generate smart previews on import (or later), then most operations in dev mode are carried out on a smaller preview file and the original file is only loaded when necessary (eg. in 1:1 zoom)

So I just tried this on my photo walk from today, on import I checked the "create smart previews box" and when it was done it said XX smart previews have been created. 

Stupid question, but do I have to do anything afterwards to make LrC "recognize and use" the smart previews? Developer mode was as slow as ever 😞

[shawn2nd]

Think I've cracked the code on previews, watched a bunch of YouTube videos on the topic today haha. Thanks all for pointing me in the right direction!