Premiere Pro Project Manager not working

[efratkas]

Hi - I need some help here. I can't collect files for my sequences to move to an external drive to deliver to my clients. I don't want to give them media that is not in the final sequences so I need to consolidate. I've tried unchecking all the options, deleting the media cache, creating a new project with only the final sequences - but no matter what I've tried the operation stalls right at the beginning on "Analyzing Project" and then freezes with the old "serious error" dialogue box. My sequences contain numerous dynamic links to After Effects. Is there an issue with that?

I am running Premiere Pro 14.5 on macOS Catalina

[Carlos Ziade]

I think the culprit is inside After Effects since you are dynamically linking 

assets there. I was also trying to collect files inside after effects today and

it was freezing on the first one. I even deleted all unused assets and purged 

disk cache and memory inside AE, but the issue persists... try collecting

a few files from premiere pro without those ones dynamically linked to AE,

what happens? if the project manager collects them successfully, then I guess

we are in trouble with After Effects.

[efratkas]

Thank you for your suggestion Carlos. 

I tried that - and I can't collect the files and copy from a sequence that has no dynamic links either. Again it just freezes on "analyzing project".

I checked all the disk permissions, made sure there were no offline files, but still no solution.

[Carlos Ziade]

did you try to collect the files to a local drive or straight to the external drive?

consider deleting the preview files (render files from sequence) before collecting.

if it doesn't work, can you try with a fresh new project and a few assets just to check?

[efratkas]

If I create a new project on my desktop, add a bunch of random files to it, make a sequence and collect files it works.

As for the project I need to actually consolidate - it doesn't make any difference if it copies on to the local drive or on to the desktop of my computer. It's the same error. 

I've already consolidated my big project in to a new project with only the final edited sequences - no luck. 

I was hoping I wouldn't have to go back and duplicate all my linked comps in After Effects and render them out as quicktimes but I'm pretty much resolved that I'll have to do that next and create a new project with no dynamic links and try that. Unfortunately, in my case, it will be a lot of editing if I have to do that with my project... Frustrating. Appreciate the help Carlos.

[Phillip Harvey]

This is an area where dynamic linking starts to not be so convenient, and a reason in favor for actually exporting self-contained files directly out of AE.

An alternative to Project Management would be something like this:

- Simply your project (which it sounds like you've already done)

- Render and Replace all the media inside the sequence, including your dynamically linked comps, add handles if you wish. Save these rendered files to a separate folder (These are essentially the exact same options you get with Project Management).

- When you are done, make sure your drive for sending the client has the Project File containing the simplified sequence, all the rendered and replaced clips, and any other assets that were not rendered like photos, audio, etc.

Basically, it's the same folder structure you have already but instead of all the raw media, the only video media going over is what's in the sequence.

Overall it's a simplified project that still maintains much of your original, organized (hopefully) folder structure, which to me is honestly better than the mess you get after Project Management.

[Carlos Ziade]

Philip's reply helps, but it is important to know if you tried to delete the render files?

and if your dynamically linked stuff to AE are only text, overlays and graphics without placeholders,

you can export them as mogrts (motion graphics templates) which is a lot better then dynamic link...

[efratkas]

Yes I appreciate the suggestion Philip but it's not a sufficient workaround for me. I want it to trim the original media.

Deleted all the render files, to no avail. 

[Nicolas from Autokroma]

Hello,

Are you working with BRAW files ? OR any specific codec ? I know that the Project Manager can't work with the Blackmagic Plugin which imports BRAW Files. However it works with BRAW Studio (an other importer for BRAW files).

Also, we are developing at Autokroma a new plugin called PlumePack, which will improve the Project Manager. Our first goal is to be able with our tool to trim files losslessly (without re-encoding : files stay with the same codec !). There will be in the first version an improved way to "Collect & Copy". 
We are also investigating some solutions to deal with AE comps automatically (it should not be part of the first version though).

The Beta will be ready soon and we are looking for people who would want to try it. Here is a link if some people here want to join : Link to PlumePack Beta

[Nicolas from Autokroma]

PlumePack is out from 1 year now ! 

The "Collect & Copy" feature is FREE ! with media structure following PrPro project bins,  nested sequences taken into account, no "Unknown Error" and real report/analysis on what happens to your files. 

The Premium license unlocks the Lossless Trim ability (without re-encoding). So you can save disk space (removing unused frames) but keep the exact same quality (no encoding), same codec and metadata !

We continue to improve it and it becomes more and more useful for Premiere Pro users ! More infos and download : https://www.autokroma.com/PlumePack