Two catalogues- exporting collections

[Chris Bishop]

I've all but stopped using iVMPro for my archive catalogue, I would like to run a separate archive catalogue in LR2.
Is there an easy way to transfer my collections etc from my main catalogue to my archive? I am assuming (mistake!) the ratings and labels will be burnt into the DNG file on conversion. I intend to
burn metadata to sidecar file
export
convert to DNG with Adobe converter
burn to DVD
import into new catalogue from the DVDs
Most of my work will be carried out in the "other" (main) catalogue, this is just a type of index of the archive backup DVDs, I do not intend to use it except in a crash situation.
I think - untried as yet, that it would be helpful to have the collection names in both catalogues I have to ak myself why? But I've thought of it and would like an answer, probably wouldn't work anyway.
Chris Bishop

[johnbeardy]

File > Export as Catalog creates a catalogue of just the items you select. You can then remove them from the working catalogue, and File > Import from Catalog to bring the recently-exported catalogue into it. Or just periodically import your working catalogue into the archive one, and empty it out afterwards.

Smart Collections are easy enough to move between catalogues - right click reveals import/export. Keyword spellings can easily get out of sync, so there's a bit more time you'll need to put into keeping things tidy.

I do feel you're making work for yourself.

John

[JeremyH]

I [think] I would like to create two separate LR catalogues - one with commissioned work and the other with non-commissioned/stock work. The commissioned work would not need too much metadata keywording apart from at import whereas the stock work would be extensively keyworded - mostly in the geographical/location fields. I am currently fairly happy with just one catalogue but don't really want shots from jobs showing up stock interest searches. If I just don't fill in the location field, then it filters those job file down to 'unknown country/city/location' results which then throws doubt as to whether my cataloguing is comprehensive.

Am I making work for myself creating two catalogues?  Any sensible solutions?

Jeremy

[johnbeardy]

To some extent I think you are, but can we assume there's absolutely no overlap, and never will be, between the two categories of pictures? So no keywords in common, no locations, no need to produce a single collection of your 5 star images, etc. Most of all there is no criss-crossing of pictures' physical folder locations - ie no chance of commissioned work being in folders 2008/12/20081201, 2008/12/20081203, 2008/12/20081204 and non-commissioned work in the same folder structure but in 2008/12/20081202, 2008/12/20081205. With two catalogues that would get really messy - eg do a folder sync on 2008/12 and you would suddenly start importing the days when you did the other sort of work.

Providing you do physically separate the streams of work, you'd probably be OK, and you just have one catalogue for commissioned pictures, which are only on the commissioned work hard drive or folder path, and another catalogue for those pictures on the other drive. If you took it further though, and started client-based catalogued, you'd soon start thinking JB's not so crazy after all.

John

[peterkrogh]

Jeremy,
I think it's much better to use metadata to mean something, than absence of metadata, or where you happen t be keeping it right now.

If you want to make sure the unlicensable client work is separate from the licensable work, create a tag to indicate this - could be a keyword, or something in the usage rights field.

As to Chris's question, I think that it can make sense to have "feeder" catalogs for projects coming in.  But it's probably simplest to bring these through a works-in-progress phase, and then add the whole catalog once you're ready to archive the files.  And if you are going to use DNG, I'd be making them at the start of the workflow, especially if you are going to use collections for anything important.

Peter

[JeremyH]

Thanks John, Chris and Peter, one catalogue it is then, it's difficult enough separating my left and right brain!

and there's always the option of exporting jobs as catalogue if I want to remove older jobs

Thanks again,

Jeremy