Lost video and audio files on a nearly complete project

[LindaColli]

Hi. When I creaated a project in Premiere Elements 14, i mistakenly saved it to the wrong drive on my computer. I continued with the project and much later noticed my error. I saved my project to the correct drive and later thought that I could just move the preview files to the same location as the project files. I see that that was a mistake. Now I cant render the video files, but more importantly, when I try to export the completed project there is no sound. Preview files are missing. I tried copying the preview files from the new location back to the original location but it said that the file names were too long to move. They may not have moved accurately the first time. I belatedly see that preview files cant be moved. Is there a way to recreate my lost audio and video preview files? I cant render the project. The video seems to export ok but with no sound. I also mistakenly went into: edit, project settings, and tried to change the location of the preview files to the new project location. Now I dont have the exact path for where they were originally located but could do some trial and error recreations if that is possible. At the beginning of the project the video and audio scratch discs wre set to "same as project" but then I moved the project and later moved the preview files. Is there a solution to this problem?

Many thanks. Linda

[LindaColli]

UPDATE ON MISSING PREVIEW FILES:

I went out of the project and when I tried to come back in there was an error message about the scratch discs. Premiere Elements said that they will recreate them in My Docs on the C drive. I was then able to export video and audio normally.

Thank you.

[Bill Sprague]

It looks like you sorted it out quickly. 

In case it is not obvious, you shouldn't move the source asset files used in a project.  If they are moved or missing, Premiere Elements will tell you and provide a tool for you to establish the new location.  Video editing software uses and depends on a lot of files.  In a way it is a database of sources and generated files that all have to work together.

For future projects consider putting everything for a given project into a single, unique folder for that project.  Use copies of the video, audio and photo files.   I can provide more detail if you would like.

Bill

[LindaColli]

Thanks Bill. More detail would be very useful.

Regards

Linda

[Bill Sprague · Accepted solution]

LindaColli  wrote

Thanks Bill. More detail would be very useful.

Regards

Linda

I started doing this a few years ago when I bought a computer with an SSD to make editing as fast as possible.  The problem with SSDs is that they are small. 

What I do:

1- Make a folder on the SSD with a name to reflect the project, such as "Vacation".

2- Make subfolders for Video Clips, Photos and Output

3- I copy the assets I want to use into those folders.  (I like to use copies, not originals.)

3- I start a new project titled to match the folder name ("Vacation") and verify that all the Edit > Preferences > Scratch Disks are "Same as Project"

4- I "Add Media" from the subfolders.

5- I select a primary clip and slide it to the timeline to (automatically) create the project setting.

At this point I can do the editing work and save various versions in the "Output" subfolder.

When done, I can move the entire "Vacation" folder to any storage media.  If I want to work on "Vacation" again, I can move it back to the SSD. 

For me, it keep everything I want in one "unit", makes backups easier and lets me take advantage of SSD speeds.  There may very well be other ways to achieve the same goals.

Hope that helps. 

Bill

[LindaColli]

Hi Bill,

Apologies for the delay in replying. I have been away.

I really appreciate your detailed workflow and will implement this for myself on my next project. It will save a lot of headaches when trying to revisit a project years later when file structures etc have changed.

Thank you so much.

Kind regards

Linda