That's right.
I then selected all files in the first folder and did two consecutive runs of the Finder References script from Smile:
Finder Selection as Finder References List of 500 items:
Elapsed Time: 2.36599 seconds
Time per Item: 0.00473 seconds
Finder Selection as Finder References List of 500 items:
Elapsed Time: 2.27681 seconds
Time per Item: 0.00455 seconds
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I then selected all files in the second folder and did two consecutive runs of the as alias list script from Smile:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finder Selection as Alias List of 500 items:
Elapsed Time: 0.69517 seconds
Time per Item: 0.00139 seconds
Finder Selection as Alias List of 500 items:
Elapsed Time: 0.70882 seconds
Time per Item: 0.00142 seconds
------------------------------------------------------------------------------