Am I the only one ?

[Frank Doorhof]

Don't get me wrong, I love aperture but I also hate it.
Much to often I get the beach ball and aperture stops working, force quit is the only way to stop, but more worrying is the fact that from 10 times I have to force quit it 9 times when closing.
Somehow aperture stops with the updating previews for online sharing, I have left it for a night but it's still niet done.

Rebuild the database, repaired it etc.

I can't find something about it online so I wonder if I'm the only one ?
My database is not small but also not HUGE.

Overal it's much stabler than the first 3.0 but it still crashes way too much.
What can it be ?

[JonRoemer]

I'm a heavy-duty Aperture user and don't have the problems you cite.

The only issue I have is that I have to force quit once in a blue moon to get it to close (less than 5% of the time), and it's never caused issues with the database.  IOW, I can reopen and it works fine.

I run it on a Mac Pro (4+ yr. old 2x dual-core) and a MacBook Pro.

Not sure what you mean by "updating previews for online sharing."  I do use it to create many web galleries but they are self-hosted on the server that hosts my web site.

I have the previews in Aperture turned off and I have it set to not create them automatically on new projects.  If they are needed (e.g. for a slideshow) then I'll generate them for that particular use at that time.

If you are doing preview generation that automatically ties into some sort of online service - that could be a possible problem or bottleneck.  Your version could be hanging because of issues between the two or because of something on the online end.

You might want to explore not having it generate previews.  They aren't needed all the time.  Aperture will always generate very large thumbnails regardless.

[shutterpup]

I have a 3 year old iMac that I run Aperture on. I'm not what I'd call a heavy user; my library is modest. I have previews turned off and I turn previews for specific photos on when I need them which is seldom.

I do not have the issues you are speaking of in having to force quit Aperture. I download and install "all" updates regardless of their nature because I'm convinced Apple will piggyback something for programs I'm really interested in running in on an update for some other program(that's a convoluted sentence that I hope made sense). In other words, any update for anything gets downloaded and installed. Been using Aperture for almost 3 years without a hiccup; none of the problems talked about on the Apple Aperture forum. My library is currently managed and not referenced.

[RobSaecker]

I honestly can't remember the last time I saw Aperture beachball. Maybe during the update to 3.1, but not in regular use.

Maybe you could use Window -> Show Activity to see what's happening when you get the beachball? Or check crash logs to see if there are any clues there?

[Frank Doorhof]

will try that and turn off the previews.
will report back when I know something more.

[Frank Doorhof]

I think that did it (the previews) it's running much better now
Thanks.

[HannahWebster]

Hello,

This is my first post! So here looked like a good place to start.

I used to be totally pro aperture, and loved aperture 2. I was so excited to get aperture 3 and all the new features it promised, made me think that I may never have to export images in to photoshop for more heavy editing again! the brushes were a fab inclusion and I loved them...

However, I'm not sure exactly why, as most of you don't seem to have this problem, but I just find that it runs so slowly it is unusable - it doesn't crash quite as much as mentioned above, but it is still very tedious! It also makes my whole computer slow down when ever aperture is open, I am running it on a relitively new iMac so I don't think my comp is the problem!! I have done the latest update and it has made little change.

I have now resorted to buying a copy of lightroom - and so far it is working excellently. I wish I could get aperture working better, I prefer the interface, just can't stand the slowness!

Any suggestions??

Thanks

[RobSaecker]

Which iMac model? How much RAM is installed? How big is your library? How much free space on your hard drive? What does Window -> Show Activity show when it's running slow? What does the Activity Monitor app show when it's running slow (check CPU tab, System Memory tab, Disc Activity tab)? Have you tried turning off the automatically generate previews feature? Have you tried tuning off off the Faces feature?

[Tinstafl]

Turn off the faces and check your activity and see what is happening.

[tjbates]

You are not the only one. I too have Aperture but after many problems with the software over 18 months of use, I decided to simply not use it.
Photographs are priceless and I have lost all confidence in Aperture.
Of course I needed to find an alternative. I am a Canon user so all was not lost as their Digital Photo Professional software is free.
I was so familiar with Aperture that it took quite a bit of mental effort to learn DPP and found that as a Canon user it is actually better than Aperture.
For one it's more stable. It's also faster. It's tailored to Canon cameras. There is no library to archive. The changes to raw files are saved within the raw file metadata. In other words the raw file houses the original and any changes made. After 6 months of use, it has not caused me to have any loss of confidence the way Aperture did. An excellent description of DPP and it's use and ability is at
http://the-digital-picture.com/Photography-Tips/Digital-Workflow.aspx

[RobSaecker]

Why does this post show up here now, more than two months after the OP said:

I think that did it (the previews) it's running much better now.