Timeline clips losing their paths

[Eddie Lotter]

My only thought is that Matrox might be introducing the problem. Do you have the latest updates for Matrox?

Cheers
Eddie

[Alex Udell]

Hey Todd…

Odd, as I use RTX2 (and have used Axio as well) to edit HDV…

this has never cropped up as an issue…

Is all you media in the same place…

OR

are you using removable storage where drive letters and hence paths might change as you add and remove volumes from the system?

If that’s the case…

Note your drive letters once linked…

then if you make changes to the system…work to make the letters the same before reopening the project….

Alex Udell
Editing, Motion Graphics, and Visual FX
Younversity TV
http://www.youniversity.tv

[Todd Terry]

Hi Alex….

Good thought, but sadly that’s not the case. All the video lives on an external 3TB eSata RAID… the video is never moved and the drive letter never changes.

More evidence that’s not the problem: when it loses the paths, usually not all of the paths to all of the clips are lost… usually most of them, but not all. One clip might be fine and still linked, yet it’s right adjacent to another clip that has lost its path… even though the same source files are together in the same captures folder where they always were.

It’s puzzling…

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Alex Udell]

hmmm.

is the media all contained within the same folder or split amongst several locations?

Alex Udell
Editing, Motion Graphics, and Visual FX
Younversity TV
http://www.youniversity.tv

[Todd Terry]

All the media is in the same exact folder. I usually make a folder within the main project folder called “Captures” and that’s where all the video is.

For example in that one folder might be take01.mpeg, take02.mpeg, etc., usually sequentially numbered like that. In the particular project I’m working on now, they might be multiple takes from the same scene…. so they were all captured exactly the same at the same time from the same tape. Yet on the timeline after reopening the project some paths will be lost. If they have had filters applied or whatever so that they had required rendering, when I “link media” to restore the paths, the previews return intact, so I guess it could be worse… still it’s a huge pain in the rump.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Alex Udell]

Hi Todd,

Here’s a quick way to relink you missing assets:

1) Go to the Project Panel and set the Filter Field to Status
2) type the word OFF into the Filter Field. (short for Offline)
3) This will reveal all you unlinked assets.
4) Shift or control select them (if they are in different bins)
5) Right click and link the media.
6) PPro will prompt you to link the first asset.
7) Find it and link it. BUT sine you media is all in the same folder, it should find the rest you selected automatically.

Now about your issue, I notices something interesting.
Your HDV files are “.MPEG”

If you captured all the HDV in an Axio HDV project, Matrox wraps HDV (native codec) in an .AVI file.

I have worked with .MPEG files before on the RT.X2 and remember that while they do work, Matrox goes thru a conforming stage with them (which generates an orange coforming message). Since you can relink the media I assume you are seeing the standard RED “media offline” message.

At any rate….as HDV does not batch capture frame accurately, you are hosed for this one, but hopefully the procedure outlined above will make it less painful to relink.

For the next project, double check that you star the project from a Matrxo HDV project, and not and Adobe HDV project (sorry, I hope that doesn’t sound condescending).

See if that helps….and I’d alternately suggest actually staring with and Matrox MPEG 2 I frame as opposed to native HDV.

Lemme know…I’d be intersted to find this out.

Hope this helps,

Alex Udell
Editing, Motion Graphics, and Visual FX
Younversity TV
http://www.youniversity.tv

[Todd Terry]

Thanks Alex, I will give your re-linking method a try.

Yeah, I know time-codes are pretty dodgy on HDV, but I’m not doing any batch capturing so that’s not really a big deal right now.

My files are HDV mpegs because I’m capturing as HDV via firewire within a 10-bit Uncompressed HD 1080p 23.97 project, so that’s how they come in. I do not like working within an HDV project, I just use HDV clips within an uncompressed HD project. Most of what we do are broadcast commercials, and in that case I will capture as Matrox uncompressed avi files via HD-SDI, but this is a very long project so I was trying to save a few TB’s of drive space by capturing as HDV instead. Any masters or pieces that I render for inclusion (I call them “sub Avis”) are always made as 10-bit uncompressed, so the only HDV video is the original acquisition. It all works fine and looks great with the exception of the link-breaking issue.

I’ll play with it some when back in studio on Monday…

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Alex Udell]

Hi Todd…

I understand completely your need to save the space.
I’d suggest two alternate routes…

Create the HDV Matrox project to capture only. But set your scratch disks to the main media location. Then simply import your your captures into the 10bit job after you’re done. This way you’ll get the AVI’s not the MPEG’s

or

Capture the HDV via Component HD (if your deck has that spicket) with the Matrox MPEG 2 I Frame Codec (which can be 10bit). You will save TONS of drive space over Uncompressed HD and the quality is very very good.

My comment about the timecode and HDV was really an aside, as… if you could batch capture the source in the different wrapper you’d be set. That’s all

have a nice weekend.

Alex Udell
Editing, Motion Graphics, and Visual FX
Younversity TV
http://www.youniversity.tv

[Todd Terry]

Thanks Alex…

I will give that a try.

Yes I can capture via composite, Svid, component, firewire, or HD-SDI. As I said I usually go HD-SDI. In the future I will try your suggestion with component… unfortunately at this point a lot of footage has already been captured.

I’ll give it a go….

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com