Loading a MrSID raster into a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro is time consuming

Description

Loading a MrSID raster into a geodatabase takes a longer time to load compared to loading the same raster data in a different format.

Cause

MrSID raster datasets are a highly compressed raster format with a lossy compression algorithm. When loading MrSID datasets into a geodatabase, they are first uncompressed to get to the actual pixel values before being loaded into the geodatabase. This results in a long processing time, and may require an unanticipated amount of disk space.

Solution or Workaround

An alternative is to convert the MrSID raster dataset into a different raster format, such as the TIFF format. Follow these steps to do this:

1. On the ArcGIS Pro top ribbon, click the Analysis tab, and click Tools.
2. In the Geoprocessing pane, search for and click Raster To Other Format (Conversion Tools)
3. In the Raster To Other Format geoprocessing pane, for Input Rasters, browse for and select the MrSID raster dataset to convert.
4. For Output Workspace, select the folder where the raster dataset is exported to.
5. For Raster Format, select the raster format the MrSID raster dataset is converted to from the drop-down menu. For this example, it is 'TIFF'.
6. Click Run.

7. Import the new raster into the geodatabase.
   1. On the ArcGIS Pro top ribbon, click the Analysis tab, and click Tools.
   2. In the Geoprocessing pane, search for and click Raster To Geodatabase (Conversion Tools).
   3. For Input Rasters, browse for and select the newly converted raster dataset.
   4. For Output Geodatabase, specify the geodatabase the raster dataset is imported into.
   5. Click Run.