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Restoring from Consolidated drives
In keeping with the post below…
For the first time in 14 months I’m having to restore a program that I consolidated to an external drive. So before I screw up Avid’s rather specific file structure, How do I do this properly?
Do I copy the media into a new sub-folder inside the MXF folder, ie- a “3” or “4”? Do the database files then re-build themselves automatically or is there something I will need to do?
When I’m done with the media, and don’t want to re-consolidate it with the changes, can I simply delete this newly created folder? Will the database files then re-build themselves automatically or is there something I will need to do again?
I’m quite surprised that between two comprehensive books on Avid, Kevin P. McAuliffe’s many excellent tutorials and even the current Class on Demand course, there is very little on consolidating and virtually nothing on restoring consolidated media.
Thanx for any help you can provide in telling me the correct way to do this.
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8 Replies
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[Nick Griffin] “Do I copy the media into a new sub-folder inside the MXF folder, ie- a “3” or “4”? Do the database files then re-build themselves automatically or is there something I will need to do?”
OK…so you have media consolidated to a separate drive, and it’s in the Avid file structure, and in the “1” folder? And you want to move it to your main drive, but it already has a “1” folder…and perhaps a “2” folder? Then yes, rename that folder to “3” or “4”…or “10”…and then copy it over. Once that’s done, eject the drive you copied it from, and launch Avid and the project. The database will update automatically.
[Nick Griffin] “When I’m done with the media, and don’t want to re-consolidate it with the changes, can I simply delete this newly created folder?”
Why? Why copy it over, do work…and then delete the media? I don’t understand why you want to do this.
[Nick Griffin] ” Will the database files then re-build themselves automatically or is there something I will need to do again?”
If you delete the folder with the media, you also delete the databases. They are in the media folder.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
[Shane Ross] “Why? Why copy it over, do work…and then delete the media? I don’t understand why you want to do this.”
Shane-
The whole idea of moving the media to my main system is so it can be on the RAID and therefore gain the real-time speed that I wouldn’t get from accessing a FireWire-connected drive. Then I want to get that media OFF of the Raid to free-up Raid space. Doesn’t THAT make sense? -
The media you consolidated should have a media database and pmr file in it already. No need to rebuild unless you have issues.
If your project’s media is in its own Avid MediaFiles/MXF/1 folder on your FireWire drive, just copy the “1” folder into the Avid MediaFiles/MXF folder on your Raid. If a “1” folder already exists there (if it’s your main working drive, this is probably the case) temporarily rename it to something else. The material will still be readable, but MC will not write to that folder.
Remember, Avid only will write to the “1” folder, so if you need to render or ingest anything to the project you are restoring, it’s media folder must be called “1”.
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AH. So copy the media to the RAID for speed, but keep the originals where they are. And when you are done, delete them from the RAID, but keep the originals. Gotcha.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Thanx, guys! Either of you considered writing an Avid book or making a COW tutorial?
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Nick, as it says here, Avid will only write to the “1” folder.
So along with everything else listed above, I would rename my “1” folder on the raid to something else, while you work on this project. At the end of this project, you can then take all the files in the “1” folder, and add them to your consolidated drive for the next time you have to work on this project. This will keep anything new you add to the project separate from the original consolidated media, but at the same time, make it easier to find and archive for future use.
Glenn
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Nick –
Are you on a Mac or a PC? If I remember right you run Macs, but if you’re on a PC you can use the subst command to make a folder look like a drive. It makes it really fast and easy to keep your media partitioned on a per project basis, and is great for bringing consolidated projects back to life (and for archiving them).
Here’s a forum post I wrote 2 years ago on using subst.
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/45/885117
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Michael Hancock
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I’ve considered a tutorial much like I did for FCP, GETTING ORGANIZED WITH AVID. But I’ve been fairly busy with regular work and family…
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def
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