Relinking the same media every time?

[spinachworld]

Hi folks,

I recently had to move some media for an ongoing project to a different location.  I know it's not optimal to move things mid-project but my client requested it because they manage the media drives.   I made sure I had the exact new path and was able to relink it easily the next time I opened the project.

Problem is, now every time I reopen the project, it shows as missing media and makes me relink it again.  I've relinked media many times on other projects, and usually once I've relinked it, it stays relinked and the project finds the media.  For some reason, this project is requiring me to relink every single time I open it.
Since I know the path it's more of an annoyance than anything else, but I'd prefer it didn't happen.
Am I missing something obvious?

[Jeff Bellune]

Quick test:

Relink everything and immediately save the project. Close and reopen Pr and load the project. Are the links still intact?

[spinachworld]

No, this is the issue I'm having.  The duration between times I open the project doesn't matter.  It could be immediate or it could be a day.  Every time I open the project it asks me to relink.

[Jeff Bellune]

Is the path that you know the exact same path that Premiere shows as the last known location? 

Any differences may provide a clue. 

[spinachworld]

No.

My client moved the media from its original location, which is the path that shows in the missing media window each time I open the project.
The first time I opened the project and it showed as missing, I relinked to the new location.  I have the exact path and Pr found the media and relinked just fine.   In the past when I've had this happen, once I relink it Pr always finds it again on subsequent visits, and it stays relinked at the new location.  For some reason, in this situation it doesn't hold between visits.

[Jeff Bellune]

So if I understand you correctly the path never updates when you relink the files; Pr still remembers the path before your client moved the footage?

There may still be a clue, since this project behaves differently than any of your others. External drives, network drives, drive permissions, file and folder names, etc. may all affect this. 

[spinachworld]

Yes, you understand correctly.   The new location is on the same drive as the original, but the media is now in a different subfolder.  I have full read/write access to everything on the drive.

[Peru Bob]

Does the location have a fixed drive letter?

[spinachworld]

The location is an external drive, and that hasn't changed.  The media is just moved to a different subfolder on the same drive. I have full permissions for everything on the drive.

[Peru Bob]

The media is just moved to a different subfolder on the same drive.

By @spinachworld

It needs to stay in exactly the same location or you will a need to relink it each time you open the project.

[Jeff Bellune]

Is the new subfolder in the same path as the original location? If so, that may be confusing Pr. 

If you have room, create a subfolder *not* in the original path (maybe even on a different drive). Copy the source media to the new location. When Pr asks you to relink, point it to the new copies and Save. If it sticks, either delete the copies and relink to the location that's been giving you trouble when prompted, or leave the new copies in place and make all the media offline. Then relink to the files in the troublesome location. 

[spinachworld]

I created a new subfolder with a different path in a different location on the same drive.  Unfortunately, I can't put it on a different drive because the client wants all the media on the same drive for this project.

When Pr asked me to relink, I pointed it to the new location.  It linked up fine and I saved the project and closed it.   Then I quit Pr and reopened it.  When I opened the project, the media again showed as missing, and the path in the window was the old path, not the new one I had just relinked to.
I don't know why it wouldn't update the path after I saved it.

[Jeff Bellune]

That is just odd. 

If you want to troubleshoot this any more, try copying  just a few files to another disk. When Pr asks to relink, point it to the copies on the other disk and relink *only* those copies. You can safely leave the others offline for now. Save, Close and reopen the project. If there is no change from before, where all the files are offline and show the original path, then I am out of ideas. But if they retain the new links upon reopening, then try deleting the copies and relinking to the files in the client's new preferred location. 

[spinachworld]

I tried your test.  I moved some of the media to a different drive, opened the project and pointed to the new location.  It found the media, I saved the project and quit.  When I reopened the project, same issue - media not found and the path showing was the old one.

I don't know if it matters but this started happening since I updated to Pr 2022.  It's honestly been buggy as hell for me, and there have been quite a few instances where it just freezes and I have to force quit.  I had to revert to 2021 in order to salvage another project I was working on because it simply wouldn't load in 2022.
I notice today that there's an update and I'm hoping it includes bug fixes.  I'll wait and see.

[Jeff Bellune]

Thanks for hanging with this as long as you have. Even though you haven't found a solution yet, the things you found that *didn't* work will surely help future users.

And I lied: I do have one more idea. Create a new blank project and import the old one into it.

*Now* I'm out of ideas. 😀

[tomfra$er]

Hi

Not sure if anyone is still having issues with this, but I had the same problem and tried some of the above troubleshooting. I found  'saving as' and renaming the project worked for me. 

[flipdesign]

I have the same problem with PremierePro 23.2.0. I'm pretty sure I've had this problem for a while, probably since v22, but have just relinked and not looked for a solution, as it only happens occasionally when collaborating with offsite editers. Bummer that there doesn't appear to be a solution, as the recommended save as with a different name doesn't fix it for me - the original path from when the files were imported remains what it looks for, so the relinking doesn't update the path, which is clearly an oversight of adobe developers.

[flipdesign]

Hi Jeff, that idea for creating a blank project and import the old one was good thinking, but sadly it doesn't fix the problem - premiere still keeps looking in the original path location, so relinking missing clips doesn't update the path, even after a "save as" with a new name. Sad that 18 months after this issue was noted here it's still a problem with v23.2.0. 

[Charlie30196324pqs3]

having this issue as well. i renamed some folders after creating proxies and Pr won't remember the new file path, have to relink every time. is the solution just to delete the proxies and create them again? that would be a pain but may ultimately save the time it takes to relink (i have about 10 shoot days' worth of footage)

[Adam McClelland]

Having the same issue as well. 

[HannahGS]

Having this issue as well

[amasters]

Also having this issue all of a sudden.

[kirstyc1092575]

Someone suggested to click "Cancel" (2023 now) and all the footage is re-linked. I did it, it worked! No idea! Premiere, you buggy thing you

[jonathans6578089]

After months of having this same issue of relinking, simply hitting "Cancel" is the answer.  All the footage is linked in the project.  It's still annoying that it continues to ask to relink whenever I open it, but at least now I don't actually have to actually do the relinking.  Hopefully a future update will fix this issue.

[Kaibolt]

I am also having this same issue, super frustrating. File path just keeps showing path from another harddrive no matter how many times I relink to files with exact same folder structure on a new drive. None of the troubleshooting mentionned worked for me.