error message in AE CS5 when trying to point missing file to new path

Adobe After Effects

error message in AE CS5 when trying to point missing file to new path

Posted by Joe Daniels on January 27, 2011 at 8:48 pm

Hey guys,

I am having this weird issue.I have After Effects projects and assets that were created on a Mac from a client, put on an external drive, and copied onto the desktop of a pc to start using.

Well I open the project, it gives me a message that it has to convert it, yadda yadda.

Once opened there are like 370 missing files. (mostly .png’s)

So normally, in the past, you could point one missing files to the new location, and all the other ones would be found.

Not the case here. I get a weird message (see image posted below)

Any thoughts?

Walter Soyka replied 15 years, 3 months ago 2 Members · 6 Replies
6 Replies

Joe Daniels
January 27, 2011 at 9:20 pm

Dave,

I have tried running it off the external drive initially, and was getting that error message, so I figured “Why not copy the millions of gigs of footage locally?!” And I am getting the same error message.

HELP!
Walter Soyka
January 27, 2011 at 9:42 pm

Do the files have any strange characters in the names or path?

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events
Joe Daniels
January 27, 2011 at 9:58 pm

there are alot of underscores _ in the file names. For example:

product_sample_version2.png
Walter Soyka
January 27, 2011 at 9:59 pm

Underscores shouldn’t be a problem. Can you open all the PNGs in Photoshop?

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events
Joe Daniels
January 27, 2011 at 10:22 pm

there are folders with bullet point things in front of the name, etc.

What I did do was copied one of the png’s to my desktop and tried pointing the missing file to that and it found it.

So my question to you guys is…

Do I just start creating my own file structure, like create a folder called PNG and search the drive for all PNGs and dump them there…then a folder for PSDs, MOVs, etc?

Now on a coworkers mac he can open these fine (grrr). I read somewhere that the person with a working version can go to File, Collect Files and collect files all in one place or something? I have never used this feature, so I am not sure if something like this would work?
Walter Soyka
January 27, 2011 at 10:25 pm

[Joe Daniels] “there are folders with bullet point things in front of the name, etc.”

That’ll do it — that’s why I asked about the filename and path. AE needs to parse the whole thing to get to the file, and it saw something it didn’t like and got terribly confused.

[Joe Daniels] “I read somewhere that the person with a working version can go to File, Collect Files and collect files all in one place or something? I have never used this feature, so I am not sure if something like this would work?”

Yup — see Collect files in one location [link] for more.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

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