jimmymac928 wrote:
Given I have 25,000 images in Aperture, I was just a little upset to find that Apple is no longer supporting that software.
I think that new versions of the operating system will not be compatible and I assume new cameras shooting in RAW will not be handled.
So, what to do? And, how to do the conversion most efficiently.
Does one go to Lightroom and move existing raw "masters" and edited "versions" over?
Any help would be most appreciated.
Apple announced Aperture was done over a year ago, when they did I moved my 20,000 odd images from an Aperture Managed Library over to Lightroom fairly easily. I exported all my originals (a section at a time) into a temporary folder then imported them into Lightroom and placed them in a folder structure making them referenced in aperture terms. With each section successfully moved I became bolder and did larger and larger sections, then a final section that was quite large - everything went without a hitch. Lastly any finished files were exported as the edited version and imported into Lightroom.
Newer versions of Lightroom make the process a bit easier since it can access the aperture library file and handle the conversion for you.
If you were comfortable with Aperture, you should feel right at home with Lightroom, and be pleased with the improvements ;)
As for Aperture supporting newer cameras for raw conversion - Aperture did not do any raw conversion, that was built into the OS - always was, and as new cameras come out, Apple Digital Camera Raw Conversion will be updated to support Photos - Aperture would get that same ability to read new raw formats, HOWEVER, Aperture would get zero support from Apple, no new features, and may be phased out completely with a new OS.
BTW - I found that I prefer Adobe Camera Raw conversion vs Apple Digital Camera Raw. BUT that is a personal choice.
Get comfortable with Lightroom concepts for how to manage your files - there are tons of videos on the internet that will point you in the right direction, including a huge library free from Adobe here:
http://tv.adobe.comYou can download Lightroom free for 30 days to try before buying, and look at the Creative Cloud Photographer's Package - $9.99 a month for Lightroom AND Photoshop - best deal around in my opinion.
And just because it has Cloud in the name - all software resides on your computer, all editing resides on your computer, and all your images reside on your system wherever you wish to place them. Nothing is uploaded to the "cloud" unless you want.