This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Performing final project management steps
Before archiving a project, there are some steps you may want to take to tidy up and re-organize your media and project contents. None of these steps is required, but they can make life easier if you need to work on a project again at a later date.
Removing unused clips
In the Edit menu, the Remove Unused command will remove any clips not currently used in any sequences. This can result in empty bins because they are not affected by this workflow.
This command will not have any effect on your media files, so if you intend to move your project to another editing system, you may find it more efficient to use the Project Manager to create a new project.
Removing unused clips is useful when working collaboratively with other editors using shared storage.
By saving a copy of the project file in which you have deleted all but the one sequence you’d like to share, you can remove the unused clips and then share the project file with another editor. This will make it easier for them to locate just the clips that are used in that sequence.
Consolidating duplicates
Another approach to reducing the number of unnecessary clips in a project is to merge duplicated clips into a single clip. This is helpful if you have imported multiple sequences from other projects, with duplicate media. You may discover you have lots of copies of the same clips.
To automatically identify which clips are duplicates and merge them, choose Edit > Consolidate Duplicates.
If you have added information like log notes or a description to two copies of a clip, the information is merged into the new clip, unless it conflicts, in which case the clip is not merged and the two separate instances will remain.
This is a great way to clean up a project. Where multiple copies of the same clip are incorporated into one or more sequences, those sequence instances are all automatically replaced with the single consolidated version of the clip.
Using the Link Media dialog box and the Locate command
The Link Media dialog box gives you straightforward options for reconnecting the clips in your bin with the media files on your storage drive.
The dialog box appears automatically if you open a project with clips that have become unlinked from their media files, perhaps because the project file or media has moved.
The default options work well, but if you’re relinking to different file types or using a more complex system to organize your media files, you may want to enable or disable some of the options for file matching.
)
At the lower-right corner of the Link Media dialog box, you’ll find a series of buttons.
)
Offline All: Premiere Pro will keep all the offline clips in the project and won’t prompt you to relink them (you can still start the relinking process manually).
Offline: Premiere Pro will keep the selected offline clip (highlighted in the list) in the project and won’t prompt you to relink it. The next clip on the list will be highlighted, ready for you to make a selection.
Cancel: Closes this dialog box. All the offline clips will remain offline, and the next time you open the project this dialog box will appear again.
Locate: If you would like to relink clips, choose options to define the search settings, including File Name or File Extension (or both), and click Locate. The Locate [filename] dialog box appears, and you can search for your missing media.
By default, Media Browser is used to locate and preview clips.
)
The Locate File dialog box gives you a quick, easy way to locate your missing media. The simplest way to find a file is as follows:
Review the Last Path information as a guide to locating the file. Often the storage drive will have changed, but the path within the drive will be the same. You can use this information to manually browse and search for a containing folder.
The Path information displayed below the Last Path field is the currently selected storage location and media file.
In the folder browser on the left, select a folder that you think contains the media. Don’t worry about choosing the subfolder that contains the media. Premiere Pro can search subfolders.
Click Search. Premiere Pro will locate a file that matches the selected missing clip.
If you select the option Display Only Exact Name Matches, Premiere Pro will hide media files whose names do not match, making it easier to identify which file to select.
Confirm the correct file is selected, and click OK.
)
)
When you click OK, Premiere Pro will automatically search for other missing media files in the same location. Other locations are searched, relative to the selected folder based on the last known locations for the other media files. This automation can dramatically speed up the process of relinking missing media files. In most cases, you will find that you need to locate only one clip, and the rest of the missing media will be relinked automatically.