Having to relink footage every time is switch from home pc to work pc

Question

Good day community!

So here's my issue. I have two diferent pc's on wich is work. 1 at home and 1 at work. I work with a lot libraries. So when I create a video using an item from one of those libraries, after effects seems to be placing this item on my local hard drive. Because of this every time I switch from pc I have to relink every single item from the library's. Is there a way to prevent After Effects to store this copy on my hdd and directly link to the library?

Rick Gerard · Answer

The only real option is to make sure that you use the same folder hierarchy on both machines. I always use this folder Structure:

Project Date, Name Main Folder/

/Editing Master Files

/Assets

/Additional Footage

/Alias to Footage on other drives - network or external storage

When a library item is added, I make sure it goes into the Additional Footage folder. I also always use an Alias to point to the Master folder for Project assets on large projects. Many of the movies I produce have several hours of 4K 10-bit footage, and using an Alias to point to my network storage keeps the file size down on the working drive for my machines. This is the same basic file/folder structure I was taught when I first started editing movies on Film in the 1970s when we had file cabinets and a room full of film bins. It's the same basic filing system major studios use to keep things organized. If you set up a standard file naming and structure system, you'll always be able to find your footage and keep track of the projects and the billing.

I hope this helps.

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