Consolidate problems, any help?

[Red Union Films]

I am trying to consolidate a project to a fresh folder and am having problems, here is what is going on. I have a project with nine sequences, each sequence is of typical reel length for further post audio/video work. The first thing i do is to make nine copies of the project EZP file. Each one is then renamed as reel 1 to reel 9. I then open up each one and delete all but one of the reels in each EZP, so i am left with one EZP titled by the reel number and containing only one sequence, that being the one to match the EZP/reel/sequence name. This then gives me the nine seperate EZP's each containing only one reel/sequence. I then go to consolidate each EZP to a new location/folder on my drive. At this point i set the consolidation to copy and trim the media to the new destination. This all works fine with the exception of any media not using the HQ codec, these files do not get trimmed but are copied in whole. This is ok as the bulk of the media was recorded using the HQ codec. The problem is when i then open the new consolidated EZP from the new destination. All the edits, effects, etc. are fine but the bins do not show the HQ codec media even though the media is in the new consolidated folder. All of may other formats including the XD-CAM codec files, WAV's, and MP4's, etc. show up in the bins. This is quite a problem, as it is not very good to work without the visual and properties prompt of the bins. Could anyone help me who may have had this problem and found a work around or indeed point out if i am doing something wrong. I am using version 5.

Thanks.

David.

[Paranova Films]

hey David... there are a few other options to consolidate, did you try without triming?

[Red Union Films]

Hi.

I have to do the trim as my media folder is almost 6TB and i need to bring down the reel/sequences/media to managable sizes. Any of the options that would allow me to move the consolidated EZP do not allow me to move the HQ media and for it to be seen in the new bin structure even though the trimed consolidated new media is in the new project folder. Like i said before the other media formats are visible in the new consolidated bin just not the HQ media. Another reason for wanting to trim down the project is because Edius becomes slow and slightly unstable when it has got a few thousound objects and complex sequences in it. Other NLE's suffer from this problem when working on a large feature film project. That is why it is quite normal to trim down to managable reel sizes when you are close to picture lock. On other NLE's this would normaly be done through consolidation. At present the master EZP is reaching up to 12MB in size. When a project is that full things can easily become unstable due to many variations between the software and OS addressing the media, temp files, memory fragmentation, the list goes on. This would not be such a problem if i could find the solution through consolidation. It also does not help 14 hours into a session with dead lines hanging over your head and all you want is your bed.....

Thanks.

David.

[NakedEye]

Hi David

Just trying to imagine what your faced with, if I understand you correctly you have the HQ clips showing in the sequence timeline of the consolidated project but not in the bin.

Are you able to re-link to the media?

You could try to force the media offline by changing the store folder name, then open a copy of the project and see if it will force a media re-link to the missing files.

What happens when you try the search locate in bin from the right click menu on one of the HQ clips in your sequence timeline does it locate anything.

Not much help I am affraid, just clutching at straws really.

Best of luck.

Dave.

[Red Union Films]

Hi Dave.

I can't re-link media as the project does not think it has un-linked/offline media. Can't rebuild/re-link media manually into the bins as there is far to much off it, and even then the timeline media would not recognise the newly imported proper media even with the same name. I dont think you can even re-link/force the timeline media to see a file of the same name in the bin as it's counterpart.

The search function does not show any media.

Your idea of making the project media offline, just change name of media folder, and force a re-link, i have not tried. I appreciate you may think this is clutching straws, but it sounds like a very logical way of forcing Edius to remember where it's media is and where to put it. I will try this out and hope the results are as brilliant as your suggestion.

Cheers mate.

David.

[pjsssss]

Remember that if you move the media and put it all in one folder, you should be able to relink everything in one shot by relinking to the folder not the the file.

[Paranova Films]

ok... i think that we can't solve your problem of consolidating, maybe we could give to you a few topics... here is a new one: export your bin from the project you have before consolidating (it will have the info of the media you already use) and then import this Bin info nto the consolidated and check if there are the clips you're missing... maybe there will be a lot of clips that you are not longer using, just clean your bin and hopelly it helps you (and please excuse my latin english)

[Philip]

I've tried consolidate recently too and it was a disaster. I did a same day edit at a wedding a few weeks back and when I got home I wanted to use consolidate to archive the whole thing for when I do the full edit later but didn't want to archive all the footage I didn't need. My edit had m2t files, .mov files from a 7D, mp4 files from a little GoProHD. It basically just errored out and said it couldn't trim and consolidate many of my file types. I just gave up on consolidate till they get it all figured out. Thankfully my projects aren't as big as some. When I did it all in SD it was great and worked flawlessly but there are some quirks in the current iteration of the consolidate function. I keep hoping they will figure it out.

[Red Union Films]

Hi Dave.

Tried it but it does not work. The idea you suggested was great, you have obviously been in similar positions and had to think outside the box. Hope i can be of similar help to you in the future. Thanks mate.

Hi José.

Have tried something like what you say but the end result will take too much time for an end result that is not close enough to a consolidation. Eventhough an import of the same media from a sequence that would replicate the original bin structure would work, the media in the timeline would not reference the same named media in the new bin. Even if i could link the media, i would not have the time to do it as there is so much media. My main problem is that the film has to start being delivered for other post production such as grade, composoting, and dub. If the project was not so big and had more time, there may well be some work around solution to be had. (Your english is perfect) Gracias señor.

Philip.

Thanks for letting me know that you also had problems, it's good to know that i am not going mad or doing something wrong. I had the same problems as you did with some codecs like mp4 etc. not being able to be trimmed. I could live with that on this project as about 98% of my media is HQ codec media. But like you, if most of my media was not HQ and had to be copied in full with no trim funcionality, the consolidate would not save much space if any and it would be easier to do a direct copy of the whole project to another folder for backup. Cheers buddy.

Maybe someone from Canopus could let me know if at least i can or can't do what i want. The problem is easy for you to replicate, as the only issue is with your HQ codec media not being available in the new consolidated project bin. The media does trim and is present in the new location, but goes missing in the bin, even though the bin structure is all there, names, sub folders, seqence folders etc. are all there but no media. If i consolidate without trim and move the HQ files as was, then they do show up in the new consolidated sequence bin as expected???????


Thanks all.

[NakedEye]

Hi David

Sorry it did not work, just a thought (you may have already done this) the consolidate function creates new ezp files in the new location folder...you should still have the original ones from which you consolidated, if so what happens if you copy and rename one of these and drop it in the consolidate folder and then open, does it see your media? and/or offer relink options? Just an idea...I have not tested so tread carefully.

We currently have a 3TB project coming to a close a documentary with 2 years worth of work in it.....we have only used consolidate for backup purposes thus far.

Best Dave.

[Red Union Films]

Hi Dave.

You would not believe how many variations i have gone through.......... The one thing that is very clear is that if you trim the HQ media, there is no way that the new bin will see it. So any point after that such as importing a previous sequence, bin or media, will never work. Edius quite simply forgets the link from the timeline media to it's original place in the bin, and no matter what you try to do to force any form of re-links it just does not understand the relation of the timeline to the bin.

My only way forward now is to accept that my physical media folder on the raid can not be trimmed, and I will have to use only consolidated sequences that still refere to the un-consolidated media folder. At least this way allows for fast loading and manipulation of individual sequences inside individual EZP's i will just have to live with the bulked out media folder.

The real downer about this, is that our last feature was done using the DVC-PRO HD codec at 720. The total media usage for this was less than a third of the size of what i have now, and did not use consolidation. I just wish I had had more experience of the way Edius handles consolidation, instead of just accepting that it would do what it said on the box.

I can't bitch about the software as in my opinion it is still the best for me. You also have to be carefull when sharing views on forums, that most threads are about problems and people can get carried away with hyper focusing on them, and lose sight of the many great reasons why they bought it in the first place. I have a great relationship with two guys at Canopus UK, who have championed our film company and our productions in ways that allow us to compete at a greater level than the sum of our parts in the wider world of things. Infact, my next thread is going to be about the real cool **** that Edius can do, just to re-balance the axis of the planet.

On a funnier note before I think to hard about it and change my vocation, i have just had an epiphany. The truth is that NLE sould be changed to something more appropriate. LAL (live and learn).

Anyway Dave I should go now as my ramblings are now starting to show the classic tell tale signs off,,, Edius 5.12 consolidation nightmare induced sleep deprivation.

Cheers mate.

David.

[pjsssss]

David,

What version of Edius are you using? I am talking to Japan about this issue and they cannot reproduce it at the moment so we are looking for other information.

[Philip]

David,

What version of Edius are you using? I am talking to Japan about this issue and they cannot reproduce it at the moment so we are looking for other information.

Not sure about his problem exactly but they could easily import a bunch of m2t files, 5D/7D mov files, mp4 files and some mp3 audio files into a project and edit away and try to consolidate. They will then see all the error messages I get when trying to do that. Edius is supposed to play with mixed media better than any other app and for the most part it does but the consolidate doesn't work with this kind of mix. I have a project that can prove it.

[NakedEye]

Anyway Dave I should go now as my ramblings are now starting to show the classic tell tale signs off,,, Edius 5.12 consolidation nightmare induced sleep deprivation.

Cheers mate.

David.

Hi pjsss David mentions version 5.12 in one of his posts.

Regards

Dave.

[Red Union Films]

Hi Philip.

My problem like yours is replicatable every time. I think it would not be unfair at this point to suggest we have both come across a proper issue.


Dave & Philip.

I am going to post some test media and a guide to replicate this problem. If you both would not mind, I would be as happy as a pig in sh!t if you could download the media and do this quick test for me. It will take less than 5 minutes to do.

Cheers.

David.