Moving keyword metadata to iPhoto or Aperture?

I use FCPX to make videos with still images. Thousands of images. 3700 and counting. Many are in multiple keyword collections. Problem is this work seems to slow down FCPX horribly. Unbearably. It takes 20 to boot FCPX and the same to quit. Often, actions while working produces the dreaded spinning rainbow making me cool my heels for minutes. My images are in the Event Browser. Can I use the Media Browser and iPhoto? If yes, how can I transfer the keyword metadata into iPhoto. Or even Aperture?

I'm really desperate.

How are you using these images? I would be interested in understanding you're workflow and what you are creating.

Initially my thought would be to use Motion as it handles still images much better, you could create you interim videos in there and then import to FCP X. But not knowing what you're up to makes it a loose call.

Hardware setup can make a huge difference also. Have enough RAM for FCP X to load up all the databases once, and not have to unload any. I'd say 12-16GB RAM min.

I also just condensed from my media being on 5 connected small drives to one big internal drive (Mac Pro). I found FCP X performance has increased IMMENSELY now that everything is on one single media drive.