"Replace footage..." for multiple clips

[braydon]

I've got an enormous project with a huge amount of footage in it (all very nicely ordered in bins by card name, luckily), and at some point in the past it's been necessary to relink the footage to cards (via the Locate Footage prompt). Unfortunately I'm just discovering that the automatic relinking has made some terrible decisions and dozens - if not hundreds - of clips have been linked to the incorrect source. I'm able to rectify this one clip at a time by right-clicking on the clip in the Project panel and selecting "Replace Footage...", and directing Premiere to the right file.

However, try as I might, I cannot find a way to do this for multiple clips at once. Please tell me this is possible - the one-at-a-time method is going to take me days to complete.

[ApexAV · Accepted solution]

In project windows: Select all the clips > Right Click > Make Offline... > "Media Files Remain on Disk" > OK

Now all the offline clips could be reconnected > Right Click > Link Media... > Locate the right folder.

Watch out with relinking as these actions cannot be undone. It's quite the hassle if you reconnect to wrong media to fix it. I'd recommend to backup your project before taking these actions.

Good luck!

[Mathias Moehl]

Automation Blocks for Premiere Pro  has the ability to automate all kinds of tasks, and it can also modify the media path of project items. The question is what exactly is wrong with the file path and what kinds of tools you hence need to assist you in the best way possible.

Automation Blocks has a search & replace tool , for example, which does search & replace in the names of project items. Since Automation Blocks tools can be customized, I could change that tool easily, such that it does th search & replace in the media path instead of the name of the selected project items.

Would that be helpful for your task?

[braydon]

Hey Mathias, thanks for your offer. In this instance I think the simplest solution to my problem was what Apex suggested.

[Mathias Moehl]

Hi Braydon,

very good to hear that you could solve the issue so easily! Yes, I think the workflow with Automation Blocks would only have made sense, if your folder structure or file naming changed in a way that makes the  autotomatic "link media" go wrong. In that case, with Automation Blocks you have more control.

[braydon]

Thanks @ApexAV! This is the solution I was hoping for. Achievable in just a few clicks. You've saved me hours.

Hadn't thought to make the media offline before reconnecting it. Very clever trick.