Changing my library structure – how do I preserve Vegas projects?

[Mike Kujbida]

File – Save As.
Click the “Copy and trim media with project” option to save all assets to a single folder.
I’d give the project file a new name and check it afterwards to make sure.
I’ve only used this method a few times and, while I trust it, it never hurts to 100% certain.

[Joe Mantaratz]

The problem I have with using that function is you will lose all your folders and any assemblage of order you had. What that does is copy every file to one place. My personal rule is to use one main folder and as I go along all my files and directories are added to this one folder. That way if you need to copy a project to another location you do not have to search all your source media. There is nothing more time consuming then trying to rebuild a project and using the weak search function in Vegas to do it. It would be great if there was a way to automate the save function so that any new media that is added in on place would be saved as well in another. A little work now can save you a huge headache later.
Joe

[Joe Mantaratz]

One more point worth mentioning. Once you have created your duplicate folders on other hard drives when you are saving you project remember to use the SAVE AS function and save the changes in the other locations. I like to add the date to the end of the file name so I am always sure when I worked on it. Use what works for you. That saves me time when working at home and in my office.
Joe

[Mike Kujbida]

[joe mantaratz] “My personal rule is to use one main folder and as I go along all my files and directories are added to this one folder.”

Joe, that’s excellent advice and is the way I always do it as well.
However, I know a lot of users who grab songs from “My Music”, pictures from “My Pictures”, etc.
Then, when it’s time to do what Johan wants to do, it becomes a problem.

[joe mantaratz] “A little work now can save you a huge headache later.
Joe”

A phrase for all video editors to remember and practice 🙂

[Joe Mantaratz]

I burned myself a few times until I got my act together and stopped trusting drives to never fail and files to never become mysteriously corrupt. So now I make 4 independent back ups and continually save them. I also locate my DVD burn and file information in this folder as well. Maybe someone could write a script to alleviate this problem until then you have to do it manually.
Joe

[Mike Kujbida]

[Joe Mantaratz] “Maybe someone could write a script to alleviate this problem until then you have to do it manually.”

Try Edward Troxel’s AutoSave Custom Command (Vegas Pro 8 only).
It automatically backs up your project and provides multiple time-stamped versions.

[Johan Lundqvist]

Thanks guys! I’ll think ahead next time!

[Joe Mantaratz]

I was unaware this existed…I will look into it today. Thanks very much Mike.
Joe

[Danny Hays]

Drives are cheap now days so I do the save as and copy media to an external drive with any important projects, and turn off that drive when not saving to or recovering from. I use pics and videos from various drives, even shared drives from other computers. Once all the media, including generated media is copied to the backup drive, the editing changes are stored with the .veg files which are usally small and throw them on a thumb drive for backup instead of turning on the backup drive everytime I want to save and backup editing if no media is added. Danny