is it even possible to come across someone such as me?
im an absolute idiot when it comes to LRC so be kind. i have downloaded a ton of photos in my mac studio hard drive LRC and now need to move all of these off onto an external hard drive to maximize efficiency. i just bought AM’s video course on LRC hence im here. will the videocourse teach me this particular step or not? if it doesnt will AM have a one on one service to let me do just this?
You are not an idiot, g, just a newbie. I don't know if AM has how to move photo files in his course but it is not difficult. The simplest method is to use Lightroom Classic to move the files where you want them. The basic steps are:
Add the new drive to the ones LRC knows about. To do this, you need to be in the Library module. Look in the Folders section (if it's not visible, hit the little triangle to open the panel.)
From here, you should see all the drives which LRC has been told to use. If your new drive is not here, look for the "+" next to the word "Folders". If you click on the "+" it allows you to add a drive to the list of hard drives/SSD drives available to LRC.
When you are adding a drive, select "Add Folder." The other options may be used later but this is the step you need.
The new drive should then appear in your "Folders" dropdown.
From here, you can use LRC to create the folder structure on the new drive you are going to use to store your folders. I use a Year-Month system because that's how my mind works. You can use whatever system you want to keep track of your photos.
An important step is to create a subfolder immediately that distinguishes this drive. I use a subfolder name called "PhotArchiveX" where "X" is a number making each archive drive unique. I suggest this as many cloud-based backup systems need a subfolder as a target from which to copy data. Backblaze uses this system. It also makes keep track easier.
Once the drive has some folders on it, use LRC to move the files from your computer's onboard storage to the external drive. Make sure you have a current backup of all your files on your computer!!!!! LRC will move the files. If there is a problem, you could lose data. I have never had an issue, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Also, I would not try to move a huge number of files at a time. I moved mine in smaller increments just to be safe.
That's pretty much all there is to it. Just take your time and don't get impatient! LRC moves files more slowly than a simple move in Mac's Finder. It has to record all the location data in the LRC catalog and that takes a little time. However, on the newer Macs and PCs, the transfer should be reasonably quick.
Let me know if you have additional questions and I will try to help.
Phil
omg !! you cant imagine how valuable this info is. whats the workflow to download from card to mac and external hard drive to keep sony creative profiles.. i know you know (fingers crossed)
Well, I shoot in RAW and have my Sony Creative Profiles off. However, if you import the images into LRC, it should bring all the information with the files. I don't know for sure (perhaps AM has more detailed technical knowledge than I about this subject) but my understanding is that the Creative Profile data is incorporated into the JPG or HEIF files. It is also included in the preview JPG files LRC uses to display the images on your computer.
I transfer my photos from my CF Express A cards via a card reader attached to my computer. In my LRC, when I insert a card into the card reader the Import window opens. There are a few things I like to do before importing the photos:
I click the box to eject the card after import. When transfering from CF Express A, the reader can get warm so I like to end the process immediately after transfer.
Make sure the dialog at the top of the screen says "Import" and "Copy". You don't want to "Move" or "Add" the files. Move does that and if there's a problem, the files could be lost. Add will add the files but not move them to your hard drive.
I rename every file automatically as it is imported. Remember that your camera will often reuse filenames. To avoid clashing with other files, I run a Preset that changes the filenames automatically upon import.
I also run a preset that adds my copyright information into the metadata of every photo imported.
I select or create a folder into which the files will be copied.
Here's what my import screen looks like. There isn't enough room to display it all but the SSD drive I use is PhotoArchive3 and the specific folder is down the list a bit.
I hope this helps.
Phil