Isn't the database in SQLite?

So, you can open it in a SQLite GUI (eg sqlitebrowser.org, which I'm a dev member of) to see and/or screw with stuff?

Lightroom’s is. Not sure about capture pro. In Apertures case, the photos and meta data are in one giant blob. I’d want to avoid that. Manage the files my way, then have a separate metadata store.

The downside of the SQLite dB is no network editing. I’d love to be able to edit from multiple machines without a cloud subscription or super slow NFS.

Cool, makes sense. :)

It’s just files inside a magic folder. Edits are stored in sidecar files. So even if the database is corrupted, you can still recover.

You don’t need to have your photos inside the catalog either, they can be referenced externally.

If you like to maintain your own structure, you might like the Sessions feature. It’s an folder-based alternative to the monolithic catalog.

Yeah, I use sessions, which basically means there’s no catalog. I just keep the files where I like and open those folders with Capture One when editing.

I also like the EIP package format. You can package an image into a zip of the original image and all Capture One data. Then it’s just one file for your archives but everything you need is there for the future. Even if you can’t open the Capture One bits at some point, the original is still in there.

I'm in the same boat and slowly realizing that the one-two punch of managing assets and editing may have to be split into separate apps.