The fact that Pr always defaults to the last export location, regardless of which project is exported from, is completely illogical. Why would a user ever want to export Project B's sequence into the last used export folder if that folder belongs to Project A, for example? (see illustration 1)
There are already about a half dozen FRs that ask for this to be fixed, however since they only offer half baked solutions, I'm posting a new FR, offering a full fledged solution.
The solution is simple:
Provide a new 'Export' tab in the Preferences window that allows users to define the default location they want all of their projects to export to (both from Export Settings and Quick Export). (see illustration 2)
A 'Relative path' checkbox would allow users to make the export path relative to each project. In the illustration's example, the location is set to .\Exports. This means exports from Project A will automatically appear inside a folder named 'Exports' next to project 'Project A.prproj', and exports from Project B will appear in Project B's 'Export' folder, and so forth. If an export folder doesn't exist, Pr would automatically create it upon export.
Should a user wish to automatically export to the same location regardless of which project is exported from, setting this up would be as easy as browsing to one's preferred export location (for example, a "Pr Exports" folder on the Desktop), and unchecking 'Relative path'.
Note that these options would only set each project's DEFAULT export location. If a user chooses to export to a different location from a certain project, then that (and only that) project's default export location would be automatically set to this new location.
Example:
Project A: User exports to Desktop = New default export location for Project A set to Desktop
Project B: Default export location continues to be 'Export' folder (next to Project B.prproj)
This workflow would address the needs of all editors: those who want exports saved in locations relative to each individual project, as well as those who want exports from all projects to appear in the same place!
The current exporting behavior makes zero sense and is incredibly frustrating, especially for editors who work on more than one project at a time. Please fix this already! Thank you!