Is it possible to replace all assets in a project?

Question

Hi
I have just finished the first DVD of a series consisting of 26 menus (18 buttons each, except for the main menu which has 25 buttons), 75 playlists, 323 video files, 24 audio files, 33 timelines (up to 45 chapters each). In every case a video file corresponds to just one chapter. Total 3,4 Gb more or less.
I had a lot of problems (general error, out of memory, sorry an abnormal condition has occurred...) during the DVD build process, and I finally had to start from scratch and create new versions every few steps to get this thing to build. Took a long time as I had to save as, then build to see if it worked, then close the file, then reopen and start a new version, ended up with 27 versions.
I have to prepare the rest of the DVDs, which will have exactly the same structure, although some of the videos may be slightly different in length (just a few seconds difference).
Is it possible at all just to rename all the assets to avoid re authoring the whole thing, and then review only the timelines including the different lenghted videos?
Thanks a lot

Answer 1

Graciela Caro,
When faced with a similar Project (ended up being a set of 18 DVD-5's with the same structure), I built a test Project to work out the details and finally got everything as I wanted, then burned a DVD RW.
I took the "test" and built a "template" with all of my Bins/Folders, Menus (knowing that I'd change these, as each DVD would be similar, but unique) and Imported just the Assets that would be common, like the First Play and a lead-in to the Main Menu. This I Saved to a master folder. For each individual DVD, I opened that "template" Project and did a Save_As into the appropriate folder for that piece of the Project, i.e. Barry_DVDs_01. For each of these, I Imported the Assets unique to that phase of the overall Project. Then, it was just a matter of creating the individual Playlists, etc., and linking. I helped myself by doing a Flowchart in Illustrator. For each phase, I swapped out the Menus, and altered the Links to suit. This gave me the full schematic of each sub-Project. I used these for myself in the Linking process, and also used them for the client to sign off on. He knew exactly what was going to be on each DVD in the set, and how the navigation would work. In Illustrator, I kept things in their Layers, so it was easy to make changes for each sub-Project. Any changes after the Flowchart had been approved cost more $. The client knew this and could see exactly what was happening at every step.
Though it's some additional work, if you have the Project (your "test") finialized, and know that you'll be duplicating it many times, just with different Assets, I'd urge you to adopt something similar. It should not take long to re-create a blank Project with all of the common aspects in it. Use this as a "template," and do a Save_As of it, to begin each phase. It keeps the XML Links that have to be re-done to a minimum, 'cause you're starting with a semi-clean slate for each one.
As Jbowden points out, just replacing the Assets can lead to problems. I did not even want to go the Replace Assets command route, to keep the Project file from possibly getting corrupted by overwriting the Links, even using the correct, approved process.
Just make sure to place a copy of your "template" Project well away from the area that your working in on your I/O system. Make it Read Only, for safe-keeping, in case you forget to do the Save_As. I actually made two copies - one onto a DVD just for safety.
Good luck,
Hunt