I have no interest in organizing using CC's Collections and prefer to use folder hierarchy from Classic.
- Keep Import folder separate to catch problems!
Preferences, Lightroom Sync, Location, Specify location for Lightroom's Synced images
- Set
Catalog Settings > Metadata > Automatically write changes into XMP
so removing from Classic to add back some data is recovered - Video edits don't propagate, but if added to CC first, they can be moved among synced Collections
I get rid of sidecar JPEGs. They sometimes confuse it.
Assuming your photos are already in Classic
- Drag all photos under 200MB to "All Synced Photographs"
- Wait for completion.
To find unsynced photos in Classic:
-
clear Quick Collection
-
Catalog > All Synced Photos
- Edit > Select All
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Catalog > All Photographs
- Edit > Invert Selection
- Add to Quick Collection
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Catalog > Quick Collection > Library Filter > Attribute > Original Photos (hides videos)
-
Photos appear in CC under filter
Sync Status -> Synced from Lightroom Classic
-
Import same photos to CC (beware of > 200MB, permanent sync error)
- Photos disappear in CC under filter
Sync Status -> Synced from Lightroom Classic
- Photos appear in CC under filter
Sync Status -> Synced and Backed Up
- Photos disappear in CC under filter
Mismatched adds to CC come back to Classic as virtual copies or to the designated Import folder.
I do one folder at a time.
- Select videos in Classic
- Remove from Lightroom (leave on disk). This makes them dangling files.
- Import these videos to CC. (some HEVC silently fail; must upload from web)
- Wait for videos to appear in designated Import folder
- Delete dangling files from their original folder
- Move them back to their proper location in Classic
They can now be moved to Collections and sync.
If Classic shows a greater count in a collection than CC, that video did not come from CC and is not synced.
(Is there another way to tell if a video came from CC?)
If a virtual copy shows up as "Synced from Lightroom Classic" then remove virtual and original from All Synced Photos then add them back, then add originals to CC.
exiftool "-DateTimeOriginal<CreateDate" VIDEO*.mp4 if it imports to CC as current time.