Here is something I discovered while poking around in Lightroom 3: the cache for Adobe Camera RAW 6 (the engine behind Lightroom 3) is independent of the cache for LR3. Why is this significant? Because you can move this cache to somewhere rippin fast, and see a huge increase in the LR3 response time.
Now, this is not for everyone because it involves spending some money on a very fast SSD drive, installing it and formatting it. But any working photographer will appreciate the speed enough to easily see the value.
So, like I mentioned, LR3 uses ACR6, and the cache for ACR6 is independent of the cache for LR3. And from what I can tell, the ACR6 cache is the one that now creates the preview files, which are the ones LR3 uses to show you the effect of your adjustments. And loading the previews is one of the bottlenecks as you switch between images in LightRoom.
So the tip is simple: buy a smallish SSD drive, and put the ACR6 cache on it. I use a 40GB Intel SSD for this, and the difference is dramatic. The 40GB Intel I got cost about $140, to give a frame of reference.
Once you get your SSD installed and formatted (no I’m not going to describe how to do that), open LightRoom and go to Preferences, File Handling, Camera Raw Cache Settings, and set the path to a folder on your new SSD. Set the cache limit to 35GB, and restart LR.
Presto: huge speed increase.
…Mike
Awesome tip Mike! I just got an ssd as a “hopper” drive and I am LOVING it. I have not seen such a huge speed increase in years. I can’t wait until ssds are big enough and cheap enough to run everything.
I highly recommend OWC’s Mercury Extreme Pro as a very fast and relatively cheap option.
Thanks again for the tip!
Well, connecting the drive ho? There is no SATA connection on my Imac. I can daisy chain a SSD/Firewire800 enclosure to my Firewire 800 external but then you’re limited to the 800 Firewire Bus.
How do you connect yours to your mac?
Anyone?
Thanks
I’m not sure Sam, I didn’t try that part. For me, the slowness seemed to be solved by the ACR6 cache. However, if you’re looking for an overall speed increase, put your system drive on an SSD too. It will feel like a new machine!
Nice tip Mike, I’m currently doing research on SSDs for LR3. I was looking to dedicate an SSD just for the lightroom folder containing the catalog and previews and probably the cache thoughI wonder if a 2nd SSD would be good the the cache.