Using Automation Blocks to Mirror Premiere Bins to Disk and Copy/Relink Media Automatically

[ABU33479934h3qn]

Hey everyone, hope you're doing well.

I’ve been trying to build a custom automation inside Automation Blocks for Premiere Pro, and I wasn’t able to get a full working solution yet. I even tried using ChatGPT as a tutorial, but I still couldn’t make it work — so I’m hoping someone here can help or point me in the right direction.

Here’s the full concept I’m trying to achieve:

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1. The workflow I’m imagining

I want to build a one-click media organizer that works directly from the Premiere Project panel.
The idea is to:

• Read the bin structure of the selected items

• Create the same folder structure on disk under the project folder

• Work only on selected items, not the whole project

• Copy media only if it doesn’t already exist

• If the file already exists, relink to it without creating duplicates

The expected workflow is:

1. Select clips in the Project panel

2. Run the Automation Block

3. It automatically:

   • Mirrors the bin hierarchy as folders

   • Copies missing media

   • Relinks everything to the new structure

The final result should be a clean, organized media folder that matches the bin layout inside Premiere.

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2. Expected behavior step-by-step

• The script reads the selected items

• Builds the full bin path (TopBin / SubBin / SubSubBin)

• Uses the location of the .prproj file as the root folder

• Creates the folder tree if it doesn't exist

• Checks whether the media file is already in that folder

• If yes: relink only

• If no: copy and then relink

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3. What I have tried so far

• I’m using Automation Blocks for Premiere Pro

• I created a block using “Run ExtendScript / JSX”

• I wrote a script that tries to:

  • Detect the project path

  • Detect the selected items

  • Get their parent bins

  • Build the folder structure

  • Copy media only when needed

  • Relink using changeMediaPath()

  • Wrap everything inside beginUndoGroup()

Right now, the idea is working conceptually, but the script does not run correctly inside Automation Blocks. That’s why I’m asking for help here.

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If anyone has done something similar or knows the correct approach for Automation Blocks, I would really appreciate any guidance.
Thank you!

[Mathias Moehl · Accepted solution]

Thanks for sharing the idea - I think this could be useful for many people!

I just added this tool to the Community Library of Automation Blocks for Premiere Pro for you:

Project Management/Project Items/Change Items/Copy Selected Project Items to Project Folder and Rel...

Here is what the script does in detail:

Note that CEP for Premiere Pro (which Automation Blocks is based on) does not support undo groups.