Directories and Data Handling

PaulZ

Newbie Joined: Dec 22, 2015 17:33 Messages: 38 Offline

Solved by

Jun 05, 2018 17:44

I've been using PD 14 for a while now. I love the actual editing features, and I'm very impressed by the rendering speed, and how they've somehow managed to push the rendering priority level down so that the computer is still usable during rendering.

But, I'm struggling with the directory and data management.

I have 50 videos. Each has its own directory that initially contains raw video and audio for dubbing in. In each of these directories there are two output sub-directories - one for a server upload and one for youtube.

My first problem is that PD seems to have three directories it knows about:

1) Preferences > Files > Export
This seems to be where it puts its shadow files.
2) Preferences > Files > Import
This seems to be the default for where to import from.
3) <no direct="" access=""> The hidden, last used, directory to export ("Produce") to.

It seems to use 1) as the place to drop its own stuff. But, if you export to another directory, it switches this value (although it doesn't use it as the default directory when you actually do the Produce!). This creates problems because I export to, for example, the server upload subdirectory, and, if I do more editing, PD will drop "turds" in this supposed-to-be-clean directory.

Questions:
1) Why the heck doesn't it separate these functions ("my turds" and "your outputs")?
2) Why the heck doesn't it SAVE the directory defaults with the project???

Surely there are users out there who create more videos that I do. How do they deal with it? Unless you're going to keep all your files in one huge, flat directory, you're going to end up organizing your work as one directory per project. PD has been around long enough to support this workflow. Why doesn't it? What is the alternative?

Currently, whenever I want to switch project, I have to first do Edit > Preferences > Files. Very tedious. And then, having done that, when I do "Produce" I have to be very careful or PD will clobber files in whatever directory I was working in previously, despite the fact that I just told it where I wanted the output files. And I can't change this value directly before I start, so I'm always n danger of clobbering something.

I want to like PD, but the data management is driving me bonkers? How do other people deal with this?</no>

AVPlayVideo

Senior Contributor Location: Home Joined: Apr 06, 2016 19:03 Messages: 703 Offline

Jun 06, 2018 09:26

The way I work
1º Create a workbook (Marriage John and Mary)
Copy to it all specific material to use in this project, videos, images, music etc ..
When many files, I create subfolders, videos, photos, etc ...
Open PD, add material
Save the project to the workbook, practically everything in one place.
Generally produce more than 3 or 4 projects for the same job.
Produce also 3 or 4 videos, everything will be inside the workbook.
In the folder settings
Import Folders:
I do not do anything it will change automatically according to the working folder in use.
Export Folder:
This yes I moved, for quick access, there are all temporary files.
In my case it will mix files from multiple jobs, I do not mind that.
When I need to get files to save and copy to another place, files in this folder are deleted after 30 days, standard time. XEON-E5-2680 v4 / Mem. 16GB DDR4
M.2 NVME 512Gb / 2-SSD Sata3 1TB
AMD RX570 / Display Philips 272V8
Windows 11_64Pro / PD22/365

PaulZ

Newbie Joined: Dec 22, 2015 17:33 Messages: 38 Offline

Jun 06, 2018 13:45

Quote The way I work
1º Create a workbook (Marriage John and Mary)
Copy to it all specific material to use in this project, videos, images, music etc ..
When many files, I create subfolders, videos, photos, etc ...
Open PD, add material
Save the project to the workbook, practically everything in one place.
Generally produce more than 3 or 4 projects for the same job.
Produce also 3 or 4 videos, everything will be inside the workbook.
In the folder settings
Import Folders:
I do not do anything it will change automatically according to the working folder in use.
Export Folder:
This yes I moved, for quick access, there are all temporary files.
In my case it will mix files from multiple jobs, I do not mind that.
When I need to get files to save and copy to another place, files in this folder are deleted after 30 days, standard time.

Thanks for answering!

What's a "workbook"? Is this a PD thing, or are you just referring to a directory/folder?

PD will also output "snapshots" from freeze frames to the export directory. So, if you use a common location for all projects as the export directory, you end up with project-specific, NON-TEMPORARY files in this directory. So, you can't archive the project dir and be confident it contains everything related to that project. That's not a good thing. I want EVERYTHING related to that project in one directory.

AVPlayVideo

Senior Contributor Location: Home Joined: Apr 06, 2016 19:03 Messages: 703 Offline

Jun 06, 2018 14:46

Quote
Thanks for answering!

What's a "workbook"? Is this a PD thing, or are you just referring to a directory/folder?

PD will also output "snapshots" from freeze frames to the export directory. So, if you use a common location for all projects as the export directory, you end up with project-specific, NON-TEMPORARY files in this directory. So, you can't archive the project dir and be confident it contains everything related to that project. That's not a good thing. I want EVERYTHING related to that project in one directory.

791/5000What's a "workbook"?

In Win Explorer I create a folder named: John and Mary, for example.
Inside it may contain other folders with material.
Open PD, Import media, directs to folder John and Mary ...

Export Folder:
I consider that they are all temporary files
So whenever I need it, I cut it here and paste it into the "video photos" folder, for example, created inside
"John and Mary"

If I have a job that will last more than 30 days, or that I will take to another PC
Go to File, Pack Project Materials ...
Saves everything in the timeline to a folder along with a project file.

PD will also output "snapshots" from freeze frames to the export directory.

I do not use, you can set up PD to ask where you want to save snapshop have to do every take.

It would be nice if PD organizes everything for us, he still has no power to read our thinking to what it seems.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jun 06. 2018 14:53

XEON-E5-2680 v4 / Mem. 16GB DDR4
M.2 NVME 512Gb / 2-SSD Sata3 1TB
AMD RX570 / Display Philips 272V8
Windows 11_64Pro / PD22/365

BarryTheCrab

Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Nov 06, 2008 22:18 Messages: 6240 Offline

Jun 10, 2018 08:42

I have complained many times that switching between projects results in exports going to the last place you exported, so Nana's birthday party video exports to my fishing projects folder. You just have to remember to alter the export location, period. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

PaulZ

Newbie Joined: Dec 22, 2015 17:33 Messages: 38 Offline

Jun 10, 2018 18:52

Quote I have complained many times that switching between projects results in exports going to the last place you exported, so Nana's birthday party video exports to my fishing projects folder. You just have to remember to alter the export location, period.

Thanks for the response. Coming from a "Senior Contributor", I guess that's the last word. It's just so odd that this functionality, so simple to implement (save the import/export directories in the project file), would remain broken for so long. I mean, the tool is so good in so many other ways. Don't the developers have this problem? They must have large numbers of "projects" as well. Don't they get tired of having to do Edit > Preferences > File blah, blah, blah every time they switch projects?

Maybe I should start another thread, but it's still related to "directories and data handling":

Where the HECK does PD store "custom colors"? It isn't with the project, and it isn't centralized. I set up a custom color, it hangs around for a while, then suddenly disappears. Weird. Saved "text" objects are centralized, but custom colors seem to reside in some fading memory...

Another file system oddity... PD is like an elephant about library contents - it NEVER forgets. I have a project that I load as a template. Somehow, it acquired a video in its library. No matter how many times I delete it and re-save the project, it always comes back! It does the same thing with a file that you moved. If you EVER put a file back in the original location with that name, it will snap back to that file. There doesn't seem to be any way to tell the tool, "hey, buddy, I MOVED that file - use the new location". God help you if you ever use a library element called "temp"...