Premiere Pro Rushes & Time Machine backups

[John Pale]

Don’t use Time Machine for your media backups. It’s not designed for that. You can exclude specific folders or drives in Time Machine Preferences.

[Dave Baum]

Thanks for your reply but that’s not that helpful – I know I can exclude unwanted files. I use time machine as a safety net, not for general archiving.

That is not the issue – the issue is the inclusion of files that have not changed, which is what Time Machine is designed for (i.e. to scan for changes on your system and update accordingly)

I have multiple internal drives on my machine, one of which is used for projects and their associated media. If the media has not changed location / duration etc, then it should not be getting backed up, no?

[Dave Baum]

I presume that Premiere is having some effect on the media file ( i.e. through referencing it in an edit) and is causing Time Machine to log a change in that file, and therefore to back it up again. As far as I am aware, that’s not what should be happening.

[Alex Udell]

Hi,

shots in the dark…

Check PPro >Prefs>Media and see what’s enabled re: XMP metadata…

if you are adding clip markers to a media file that supports XMP embedding (like .mov AND that feature is enabled)….that would qualify as a change…

Also…via some detective work….

Do the Last Modified dates on media change?

Maybe change the imported media to READ ONLY at the file system level?

Alex Udell
Editing, Motion Graphics, and Visual FX
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[Dave Baum]

Alex, huge thanks for your suggestion – this makes sense… I have added markers so could definitely be to do with that. I am not in studio until tomorrow to check but will post back.
Cheers!
Dave

[Dave Baum]

Hi Alex,

You are a genius sir, you’ve hit the nail on head.
Here’s the media prefs:
11033_screenshot20170210at10.47.06.png.zip

I guess now it’s just weighing up the pros and cons of having XMP data enabled vs having the files backing up. Will give it some thought but thanks for your helpful suggestion.

[Alex Udell]

Dave…

without it enabled…you can still use markers within project (I think….)

but if previously marked media is imported to another project (from the file system..as opposed to importing from another project) then the marks won’t be there…(I think)…

Alex Udell
Editing, Motion Graphics, and Visual FX
Let’s Connect on Linkedin
Examples: Retail Automotive Motion Graphics Spots
Example: Customer Facing Explainer Video
Example: Infotainment & Package editorial

[Dave Baum]

Thanks Alex. That’s how I understood the options too.

It complicates the temporary backup / Time Machine methodology but will give it some thought.

Even if space were not an issue, the danger is that a previous full backup of the rushes is eventually replaced with a folder that contains only one or two files that have been affected by the XMP data. I always archive at the end of projects, but Time Machine has been a handy safety tool so would be like to continue using it for this if possible.