Converting a MrSID raster into another format is time consuming

Description

When loading an MrSID raster into a geodatabase, it takes much longer than loading the same raster data in a different format.

Cause

MrSID raster datasets are normally highly compressed with a lossy compression algorithm. When loading MrSID datasets into a geodatabase, they are first uncompressed to get to the actual pixel values, which are then loaded into the geodatabase. The uncompressing of the MrSID encoded data results in the long processing time.

Solution or Workaround

Note:
ArcSDE software, including the application server, command tools, and SDK with C and Java APIs, was deprecated at ArcGIS 10.2.2 and is no longer distributed. ArcGIS software features were deprecated, rather than immediately removed, to provide customers with backward compatibility and give as much advance notice as possible to adopt newer technology.

To reduce the overall processing time:

1. Export the MrSID raster into a different format, such as TIFF.
2. Import the new raster into ArcSDE.
   
   The conversion of the MrSID file to a different raster format and loading it into ArcSDE takes less time than loading the MrSID data directly. Reductions in processing time of 50% are possible with this technique.

Note:
In general, it is not recommended to load MrSID or other lossy-compressed raster datasets into a geodatabase. The storage space required is significantly increased over the original MrSID file, and the quality of the data is not improved. We recommend loading the original data from which the MrSID file was created.