Quote Hi, new here which you will be able to figure out within 5 seconds of reading the following:

Why is it that when Ive created/edited a project, not yet ready to produce, if I dont have the SD card inserted into my laptop, the files arent in my project when I go to play/review it?

What do I need to do to be able to have the footage ready to edit, etc even if I dont have the card?

Anyone willing to help a noob?

It's usually never wise to edit video with files directly from a SD card. The PD data file (pds) just stores pointers to file locations, not the actual file contents be it video or pics. As such, when the card is no longer available or even if the drive letter designation for the card changes, these files are then not available for PD to reference when the project is opened.

Your better option is to copy the files to a structured location on your hard drive and import and work with the files there. Keep in mind here too, if you move the files, your PD project will be lost for content as it's expecting the files you imported into a project are still at the location they were.

Jeff

Quote Hi, new here which you will be able to figure out within 5 seconds of reading the following:

Why is it that when Ive created/edited a project, not yet ready to produce, if I dont have the SD card inserted into my laptop, the files arent in my project when I go to play/review it?

What do I need to do to be able to have the footage ready to edit, etc even if I dont have the card?

Anyone willing to help a noob?

Hi,

[Jeff answered whilst I was typing up my reply]

Simply put for this context, .pds files are structured like this - whatever is in the Media Library is referenced within the .pds file. By that, I mean that the full file location address is hard coded into the .pds file, not the actual files themselves.
https://help.cyberlink.com/stat/help/powerdirector/21/win/enu/04_00_00_pdr_projects.html

For example, here's an abstract of a relevant section from a .pds file:
SRC="D:\Video Archive\Croatia 2017\Croatia 2017 01_08 0002.MP4" NAME="Croatia 2017 01_08 0002.MP4"
SRC="C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDirector18\SampleClips\ntsc\Skateboard.mp4" NAME="Skateboard.mp4"
SRC="C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDirector18\SampleClips\R You Up for It.m4a"

So a project file only contains the project structure and editing instructions, it does not contain the assets used in the project.

In your scenario, if you edit from the card, the card based file location address will be referenced in the .pds file. If the card is no longer available, PDR cannot find the files and you will not be able to manually browse to them, because they are no longer "in the system".
https://help.cyberlink.com/stat/help/powerdirector/21/win/enu/04_02_00_exporting_projects.html

There are many tutorials out there on Project Management/Setup, and individuals will have their own choices to suit their workflow. Search on youtube for PowerDirector Project Management to get a good selection of ideas from forum members and others.

Other members might chime in with their preferred workflow/organisation for projects.

Cheers
PowerDirector Moderator

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Quote

It's usually never wise to edit video with files directly from a SD card. The PD data file (pds) just stores pointers to file locations, not the actual file contents be it video or pics. As such, when the card is no longer available or even if the drive letter designation for the card changes, these files are then not available for PD to reference when the project is opened.

Your better option is to copy the files to a structured location on your hard drive and import and work with the files there. Keep in mind here too, if you move the files, your PD project will be lost for content as it's expecting the files you imported into a project are still at the location they were.

Jeff

Ok thank you for this! I was using adobe premier rush before and it would always be there. I will be looking up those links the other responder gave so I can learn.

Thank you for your help!