Downgrade Project Version - This project could not be loaded, it may be damaged or contain outdated

[joshs]

Are you kidding?! It is EXACTLY relevent to this thread. When I try to downgrade my project, I ALSO end up with an adobe error reading "this project could not be loaded, it may be damagedd or contain outdated elements" 

Maybe as an Adobe rep, what you could do is explain why you charge nearly $700 a year, but do not give us simple solutions to your upgrade FAILURES. Why are we paying so much and then on top of that have to buy $4 apps from randos in the appstore in order to work around your engineer's failures.

This section edited for content and some pretty awful comments were removed: Please do not make threatening remarks to Adobe employees or fellow Adobe users on this forum. Please be a kind human being in these forums. That is all we ask.

[MyerPj]

Alright boys and girls, no fighting here. joshs, we're just other users like you... well, we've made more than 2 posts, but similar to you. Things change, newer projects may not work in earlier versions. YMMV, do your best. As M said, this is a thread about a way you can get projects once opened in a newer version, back into a previous version.

[Michael Grenadier]

Josh, if you want to send me the project, I'll see if it opens on my system.  You can send me a direct message by clicking on my user name at the top of my post.   And as MyerPj said, most of us here are NOT adobe employees, just other users trying to help...(although sometimes I wonder why) but I understand your frustration.  We've all been there at one time or other.     Also, if I remember correctly, there is a thread here from someone who was able to solve this problem.    If I can't open the project, I'll do some digging and hopefully find the thread.  

[Ann Bens]

This guy can fix projects: Mohsen_Aghaei 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro/fix-quot-an-unknown-error-occurred-while-opening-the-pro...

[Michael Grenadier]

thanks Ann, that's the guy I was thinking of.  

[joshs]

My bad. I assumed someone called "Adobe Community Professional" on the "Adobe Support Community" was actually affiliated with Adobe. The fact that Adobe doesn't actually have support staff working on these boards is even more infuriating. 

Mod note: Your awful comment was removed. 

I stand by my statement that the original comment about the project could not be loaded error is in the right place. 🙂

[Kevin-Monahan]

Josh,

Welcome to Adobe forums. These are largely user to user forums. Sorry you didn't know that. We as staff try to pitch in where we can here, but we also have dedicated call and chat for you standing by. See below.

When you've got a damaged project, you need to look back into your Auto Save folder and restore the last working version of your project before it got damaged. This happens no matter which NLE you're working on. 

Project files do get damaged over time, especially if you save and save over them over new versions. You can prepare for this by keeping a folder of back up project files you can make manually. Many pro editors do this multiple times per day, as the project file is the sum total of all your work. Another rule of thumb is to try to finish the edit on the same version of the software the project was started in. Backwards compatibility is not a strength of any NLE and is not exactly supported except for workarounds.

I had to edit some of your posts as mod here. That kind of language and treatment of fellow editors and staff is at a level that is uncalled for. We are all people here and doing our best. Be kind, if you can.

I understand your frustration but Adobe support is available M-F 7AM to 7PM PST. Please use this service if you are ever in need: https://helpx.adobe.com/support.html

Thank You,

Kevin

[R Neil Haugen]

Understand, we all get utterly frustrated at times by this app. And any other complex, complicated app also. I've posted a few epic rants 'here' over the years myself. So ... do feel free to rant, but ... also give us the data to be able to try & help. Which is why so many of us are "here".

We've been through the grinder, figured out some things, and like to help others going through crud. It's really needed with something like this that so many of us depend on to get projects out the door.

Neil

[eka nekko]

Years pass and I'm here with the same problem! 

I updated premiere to 2024 version and my project started to collapse completely.  Adobe support says, it's my hardware properties. "they are minimal, just enough but not good enough to run smoothly with the 2024 version".

Well, who needs to run a project un-smoothly?!

It's a huge project of a documentary film, 5 years of footage, 2 months into arranging and editing.  So you can imagine what kind of discomfort it is for us to start over new. If I even would, I wouldn't do this with Adobe anymore anyways.

I found a way to downgrade the project [adobe couldn't help, it's a pirate way] and it seems to open in 2023 version now. I don't know if it runs smoothly, It's still loading. I also see maaaany clips, randomly unlinked.

But here comes my question to the dear community: What's your best experience with rolling back if you ever had to?

Any further bugs I should anticipate? Maybe it is really better to start anew 😞
XML is not an option for me. The project is too big and too miniculously organized to be moved this way.

[R Neil Haugen]

Migration to a new major version is simple, really.

1. Install the new version, but make sure to uncheck "remove prior versions".
2. In the new version, create a new project.
3. In the MediaBrowser panel, navigate to and import the assets of the older version project.
4. See how well it works.

Your previous version and project file are still there ready to use if you need. But if the new one works fine, great.