DNG conversions - how long does it take?

[Rick McCleary]

Dear Peter, The Answer Man -

I've got a folder with 133 RAW files (approx. 13Mb each).  How long should it take the DNG Converter to run those files?  My machine chugged along for over 40 minutes.  Time for a faster machine?  Or is this just a time-intensive chore?

(It gives me lots of time to catch up on other to-do items!)

Thanks - Rick, The Question Man

[Steve Uzzell]

Rick,

My G4 1.67 Powerbook processes 4.5 DNGs from NEFs per minute. So your folder of 133 would take 10 minutes less on my laptop. I'm getting a Quad soon and will let you know the time on that machine.

Best,
-Steve

[peterkrogh]

You can see the progress by going back in to Camera Raw. You will get a countdown of how many are left to do just over the save button.

You can also use the DNG converter to do this work.  It will keep Bridge free, but of course it will still be using machine resources.

Think of this like you are making not just DNG conversions, but that you are also making your web gallery and other proofing conversions at the same time (since you can use the embedded preview for those).

It's generally a "set this up and walk away" process for me.

It could also be done by another machine, if you have one (laptop, server).  Just drop the RAW files on the other machine and let it go. (One caveat thought.  If you have not applied CR defaults, it will pick up the current default for the machine making the conversion, which may be different than the one you were otherwise using.  This is one reason it's important to apply CR defaults the first time you see the photos.)

Peter

[Rick McCleary]

I'm generally not too concerned about the speed of the process because it's something that's done once, and then never again.  

It's generally a "set this up and walk away" process for me.

That's how I'm looking at it.  Start the process and go have dinner.  Or better yet, go to bed!

Righ now, for example, I'm writing zeros to my new set of 300Gb hard drives.  Now THAT takes a while.  Definitely time for dinner.

[peterkrogh]

or wine...