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editing pds files
roger608 [Avatar]
Newbie Location: Florida, USA Joined: Apr 21, 2009 16:15 Messages: 19 Offline
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I tried to move a project between computers using the flash drive that contained the project files and video. Of course, I chose to ignore the message about the file location now I have a project that has all the titles, effects, library, etc., but no media, ie., just empty clips on the video tract. I've edited the pds file to insert the correct file reference in the library including replacing all the "(null)"s found in the pds file NAME="VIDEO_USER_DATA_ORI_FILENAME" with the correct file path all to no effect.

Are there other edits that need to be made to restore the video to the clips? AMD FX8350 8 CORE, 16GB, Win 10 Home Prem 64-bit, GTX 1050 2GB, 250GB SSD, 1TB Hitachi SATA 2, PD16
vn800rider
Senior Contributor Location: Darwen, UK Joined: May 15, 2008 04:32 Messages: 1949 Offline
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Hi Roger,

Firstly, the only secure way to move projects is with the export>pack function which produces a portable project in the location of your choice.

However, we are where we are.
With a bit of luck one of three options will work.

1.
If you have the original .pds available try to open it and then browse for each clip that cannot be found. But that might not be possible if I understand your post correctly.

2.
Edit the .pds file to give the proper new file references - but this has not been successful so far as I understand it.

3.
Try to emulate a packed project.
Make a copy of the original .pds file.
Place it and all the assets into a folder - say c:\myproject or whatever
Edit the .pds file to just have the file names - not the file path
Search for the text string PACKPROJECT="FALSE"
Replace it with PACKPROJECT="TRUE"

In effect this is trying to do manually what the export>pack function does. It places all the assets and the .pds file into a single location and alters the .pds to reference only the file names not the file paths.

Otherwise I'm not sure what else to try.

Cheers
Adrian






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AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.
ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline
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Roger -

I don't know enough to help you with that particular question, but I would:

1. Trash the copied files from your flash & the other PC.
2. Go back to the PC containing the project and pack it. Director's Chair > File > Export > Pack Project Materials. PD puts all your files into one folder (videos, images and other media).
3. Transfer the packed project folder to the other PC, via flash.

Cheers - Tony

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Sep 05. 2009 12:14


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roger608 [Avatar]
Newbie Location: Florida, USA Joined: Apr 21, 2009 16:15 Messages: 19 Offline
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Thanks for the suggestions. May just have to start over.
BTW how long does the "pack" process take? The project is about an hour long with 10 titles and 6 chapters & about 4GB of video. Will PD7 give me a completion message? Packing has ben running about 1/2 hour so far.

(edit) OK the hd stopped spinning @ 45 min. But the designated folder is mty. ?? What is the file extension for the 'packed' file?


Thanks

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 05. 2009 11:43

AMD FX8350 8 CORE, 16GB, Win 10 Home Prem 64-bit, GTX 1050 2GB, 250GB SSD, 1TB Hitachi SATA 2, PD16
ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline
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Roger -

The packed file is just a folder with copies of (a) the project - pds file & (b) all the music, clips, images & media. The folder will be wherever you "put" it and will be named whatever you called it. It has no file extension, but the files in it will retain their original properties (eg. .jpeg, .mpeg etc).

When you copy that folder to your flash and then to the other PC, you'll have all you need to work on the project.

Cheers - Tony
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James W
Senior Contributor Location: Lakeland, FL USA Joined: Aug 18, 2008 10:36 Messages: 911 Offline
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In my experience, packing a project may take a long time. It depends on the number of video tracks, pictures, and the quality of each. If you are using high quality AVCHD video then you can expect it to take awhile. Of course, it also depends on how fast your HD can read/write. Q9300 2.5 GHz
4 GB Ram
Nvidia 9800 GT
roger608 [Avatar]
Newbie Location: Florida, USA Joined: Apr 21, 2009 16:15 Messages: 19 Offline
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Thanks for the input. Don't know why could not pack that one project but others went well.

On another topic: is there a guide to interpreting the mumbo-jumbo in a PDS file? AMD FX8350 8 CORE, 16GB, Win 10 Home Prem 64-bit, GTX 1050 2GB, 250GB SSD, 1TB Hitachi SATA 2, PD16
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