Location of original files ...

Hi,
I've a question about the file location of imported media in a Premiere Elements Project:
Do I still need the original files at their original location to build the final video in Premiere Elements?
Or can I delete them without any risk?
Thanks :-)

As Paul_LS states, the original "Captured" files are NOT edited by PE. This is true for most NLE programs. Only a reference is made in the Project file, as to what is being done to that/those file(s). PE is a non-destructive editor.
Those media files are "referenced" and MUST be available to PE. If their location has been moved, you can re-direct PE to where they are. This might be an easy task, depending on the folder/sub-folder structure, or might be a real headache. If deleted, an unrecoverable, one must re-Capture from the tape. If these Captured files differ, in any way, PE will not be able to use them, and a lot of work lies ahead. Even where I have the original tapes, I always work from a copy or have an archived version, of my Captured files. This might be as simple as just doing a copy of these to an external HDD, until the Project is finished. I want exact dupes of the Captured files, so I will NOT have to re-Capture and run the risk of having any discrepencies between what I get, and what I have used in PE. Even with this redundancy, when I finish a Project, I use the Archvier (Project Manager in PrPro) to copy over every Asset, plus the Project file, to an external HDD. As Project Manager will often miss Assets, like SmartSound files, I make sure to check. Do not know if Archiver is more perfect in this regard.
To restate: until you KNOW that you are done with the Project, do not Delete, Move or Rename your media files.
Good luck,
Hunt

Similar Messages

  • Cannot Locate the Original File ? ?- Help Please

    Hi ,
    I have Consolidated my Library to New folder on my External Hard-Drive. so i Know that all my music is in One palce..
    I have a Problem, If i try and play a Track, It Now get a message saying Cannot Locate the Original File..& has this ! against the track..???
    What has gone wrong ?
    Many thanks

    Unfortunately I'm in the same boat. Somehow I cannot locate over 30 GB of music that just disappeared?!
    Moved the iTunes folder from my Music folder from the HD to my 250 GB external drive. I did not rename it. Kept it the same name. Went into the Advanced folder in iTunes Preferences and chose to use the external drive as my source for music. However, I noted that an iTunes folder always reappeared in my Music folder on the HD. Didn't realize that I had to Consolidate libraries until later on, but did so the next day as I attempted to figured out why it wasn't working ("cannot locate original file"). When I open iTunes, all of my songs and playlists are listed (I assume this is cache), but none will play except for a few random artists (most have "!"). When I go back and look at the actual iTunes Music folder, it has only these random artists listed (I assume these are the (only?) original files?).
    Not sure where everything else went when I haven't deleted any iTunes files? I've read quite a few threads with this same problem without any real answers. When I use Spotlight to locate the original songs, I get zero found.
    Is there any easy answer as to where my songs went or am I looking at taking this Mac in for some file retrieval.
    Many thanks to anyone that can help.

  • Diappearing photos replaced by an exclamation point within a triangle.  Prior to loading Lion I could put the image number in finder and locate the original file for that photo.  How do I restore photos now?

    I had problems with photos disappearing and being replaced by an exclamation point within a triangle.  I can see the photo in the thumbnail summary but when you click on it, the screen goes black and the exclamation point within a triangle appears along with the info on the original image number (i.e., img_1120.jpg). Prior to loading Lion, I could go to Finder, enter the image number and locate the original file for that photo.  I could then restore it for editing, copying into Print Shop directly, etc.   That no longer works after installing Lion.   How do I restore photos now?  I have 100s of photos that I have been going back to the original files and restoring and I am frantic that I will no longer be able to get to the original files.  Please help!  Thanks

    The ! turns up when iPhoto loses the connection between the thumbnail in the iPhoto Window and the file it represents.
    What version of iPhoto? Assuming 09 or later:
    Option 1
    Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
    If that fails:
    Option 2
    Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.
    Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one. .
    Regards
    TD

  • Moving location of original file

    I have a referenced library as I am sharing photos on a server between multiple computers (Mac and PC's). I need to change how a couple of folders are organized on that server. However, I don't want to break the reference to those files in iPhoto. How would I go about doing that? I don't want to lose the keywords, faces, descriptions, etc. that are with the photo in iPhoto.
    Thanks!

    hmmm....when I move a complete folder, I can't even tell iPhoto how to locate the new folder. Here's what my specific scenario is.
    I have scanned a bunch of my Grandmother's slides. I put a roll of slides in a folder called "January 1982 D3" which is the label on the slides. However, I realized that I needed to change this a little to make it match with the physical box they were in. So, I created a new folder called "KN Slide 5" and put a physical label on that box. I now need to move the folder, "January 1982 D3" into the folder "KN Slide 5". I have tried moving it in Finder and then going into iPhoto to try and pull up each picture and point it to the new file location. However, when I click on the picture, I just get the big gray box with the ! in it. It doesn't ask if I want to locate the original file.
    I just tried creating the new folder "January 1982 D3" in the "KN Slide 5" folder. Then, I moved the original files from one folder to the other without deleting the original folder. Then, in iPhoto, I clicked on the picture and it asked me to find the original file which I did. I clicked on a couple more photos to try and confirm that every photo in the album was fixed. I didn't try them all, though. Then I deleted the original file. When I went back into iPhoto, any picture I had clicked on before deleting the old folder worked fine, but I had the same problem as originally said with the others (just the !).
    So, I tried it the same steps as above, but before deleting the original folder, I selected all the photos in iPhoto, did a "Rescan for location". Then, when I deleted the original folder, all the photos were fine.
    So, it seems that if the original folder still exists, you can remap the location of the original photo. But, once you delete that original folder, you can't update the location. And, you need to do something with each photo to point it to the new location like I did with the rescan.
    It's tricky. I wish iPhoto was better with referenced libraries. For me, I don't have another option and I really like the features of iPhoto, but am getting frustrated with some of the limitations. I am used to using Adobe Photoshop Elements Organizer on the PC which does these things better.

  • Locating lost original files, I lost purchased songs

    Locating lost original files. I can no longer listen to several songs I purchased. I get a message that the "original file cannot be located." What to do?
    Thank you,
    Hunter

    If the upgrade to Vista somehow erased the files, you'll need to restore them from your backup or, if a feature of the country you're in, download the content again from the iTunes Store. See:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2519
    Note that movies can be re-downloaded only in the US as of right now, and then not all movie studios have granted that license.
    Regards.

  • Foto don't find location of original file raw

    Hello,
    for error after i have traslate my library from aperture to Foto i have delete the aperture library.So after that the app foto don't find the original file location of any Foto. The file location of any foto is remain the same and before i delete the aperture library everything function correct.
    If i try to modificate any Foto the system want know the location of original file, but is very hard job if i have to show for any foto the location. there is some procedure for show at entire library the location?
    Thanks
    Fabrizio

    Hello,
    for error after i have traslate my library from aperture to Foto i have delete the aperture library.So after that the app foto don't find the original file location of any Foto. The file location of any foto is remain the same and before i delete the aperture library everything function correct.
    If i try to modificate any Foto the system want know the location of original file, but is very hard job if i have to show for any foto the location. there is some procedure for show at entire library the location?
    Thanks
    Fabrizio

  • Locating iTunes "original files" folders

    I upgraded to iTunes 10.6 (40), and opened iTunes, only to notice that all of media files were missing.  It was like I had initiated iTunes for the very first time. I restarted iTunes opening it with an iTunes Library file.  My music and associated files reappeared.  However, the next day when I opened iTunes, all of my files had the dreaded exclamation point in front of each track/file and when I selected a track, the "original files cannot be found" pops up.
    I have searched through what appeared to be several iTunes libraries on my MacBook Air, but to no avail.  Additionally I've done ''Finder'' searches for individual songs, movies, etc. and all I return is an older iTunes Library EPS/Equation Document from the before I downloaded the 10.6 (40) version of iTunes.  I still have album art visable as well as the lists of songs in iTunes but I can't seem to locate the original files.  Is there any way to find them, or are my media files lost?
    Appreciate any help - thanks

    Where does iTunes think your media is? 
    Look in PREFERENCES > ADVANCED to check.  This is assuming you are having iTunes manage the location of your media.  If you are not, and your media is scattered all over your HD then it will be a little harder to track down.  You can see where iTunes thinks individual tracks should be my clicking on a track and clicking FILE > GET INFO and chooing the SUMMARY tab and looking at the "Where" information listed there.  If you then go there in the FINDER and they aren't there then they likely got moved and or deleted accidently.
    SCR

  • HT1349 I am trying to burn music to a CD - message says:  unable to locate the original file and will not burn the playlist.  Is there a setting that I must change.  ?

    I am trying to burn music to a CD-R-  message says:  unable to locate the original file.   Music is on the iTunes program but will not play or burn.  Is there something I should change to be able to burn to CD? 

    If they were songs you purchased from itunes, try redownloading them from your purchases...
    if that doednt work, make sure the optuon to copy files to itunes media folder is checked in settings, then find and download from the net. and re-add them to your library

  • Itunes cannot locate the original file

    The majority of my itunes library has little exclamation marks next to the songs, and whenever I click to play the song, a pop-up states "The song "name of song" could not be used because the original file cannot be found. Would you like to locate it?" and if I press yes, then I have to go into my music and then search for it. I was wondering why it says that after years of having itunes and most importantly if there was an easier/less time consuming way to locate the original files to play my songs.

    Hi, shopper2472.
    The exclamation marks (and the accompanying note) inidicate the files aren't located where iTunes expects them to be. This is most often happens when the files have either been deleted or moved to a different location.
    If they have been moved, the best solution is to get them back where they were in the first place. iTunes will be able to find them again - happy ending.
    Sometimes though, it seems iTunes loses track of files for no apparent reason. In this case, your only alternative - other than finding them one by one and letting iTunes know - would be to start a new iTunes library all over again.
    Regrettably, this method loses playlists and related information (Ratings, Play Counts, Dates Last Played, etc.) If that's not a deal-breaker for you, delete the current entries in your Library by highlighting them - iTunes File menu > Select All - and then right-clicking > Delete . You remove the entries from your Library but keep the files themselves in your iTunes Music folder, assuming that's where they are in the first place.
    You can then add them back into your Library by selecting the iTunes Music folder in Windows Explorer and dragging it into the Library entry in the iTunes Source List (left-hand column).

  • My iTunes account says that it cannot locate the original file for all of my songs.  My iPhone still has all the music and is able to play the songs, if I sync and backup my iphone will the songs be replaced with the empty copies from my itunes library?

    So basically I tried to back up my itunes library to my external hard drive and when I followed the instructions and then went to play a song it said Orginal file cannot be found. It said that for all of the songs. I'm not sure how to fix what I did, I already tried consolidating and all of that stuff and it didn't locate the files.  I'm guessing that I somehow deleted the original songs along the way.  I synced my iPhone without knowing what I did and surprisingly all of the music is still on my phone.  So now that I've completely screwed up my iTunes account, I need to know how to get all my music back onto my iTunes account and have that library only on my external hard drive, not my computer. Everything looks fine on my iTunes besides the fact that it cannot locate the files but what I'm afraid of is me syncing and backing up my iPhone and then being left with no music because it syncs to the empty songs.  How can I fix this? and if I can't fix my iTunes library is there anyway for me to still be able to backup my iphone and all the music on it, without erasing my music?

    Well I'm not sure if I correctly backed up my itunes library because when trying to open itunes from that back up it keeps saying original file not found. Okay this is going to sound confusing but bear with me.  I "backed up" my itunes, meaning I just dragged and dropped the iTunes folder into my external hardrive, and then I changed the destination on iTunes to open from my external hardrive.  It was working fine when I did that, however I did that just on my own, I didn't know about consolidating the files or any of that so I hadn't done that before copying the folder to my external hard drive. I can't remember but I'm pretty sure I deleted the iTunes folder after I had copied it to my external hardrive. So I did that and it was working fine, I was able to open my itunes with my external hardrive.  BUT yesterday I thought that I hadn't done it correctly because I didn't consolidate the files and all that, so I wanted to be more thorough and do that, I followed the steps to do that but when I did that I think it got all the files from my computer and not from my external hard drive so it basically didn't find anything on my computer because I had deleted them. And like an idiot, I replaced the iTunes folder on my external hard drive (the one I did correctly the first time), with the one I did wrong. So I believe I pretty much deleted all the music files from both my external hard drive and my computer. Please correct me if I'm wrong?
    I believe getting all my music back on my itunes is a lost cause. BUT I still have all my songs and stuff on my iPhone. My question is, if I plug my phone into my computer and sync it, will it erase all my songs from my phone? A little more info, my iTunes still has the names and stuff of all my songs, they just can't be played because the files are missing, my iPhone doesn't need to erase and sync when I plug in my phone because it's already synced to my computer. What I'm afraid of is when I plug in my phone to backup and sync, will it erase my music because it can't find the files on my computer or external hard drive anymore? Or will it just leave the songs because they're already there (on my phone) and only sync the new songs that I've downloaded? I just need to know is my iTunes still going to be functional as far as me being able to backup my phone?
    I have a lot of songs purchased from iTunes but a lot (like 60%) are from CDs that I no longer have. So re-downloading my music would only account for 40% of my library.

  • (!) How to locate the original file for missing songs?

    song could not be used because original file could not be found. Would you like to locate?
    I got this message when I last tried to synch my ipod.  The message said there were 100 files which could not be found.   Actually more than 100 songs show the exclamation mark that says the file can not be found. 
    Previous posts on this issue suggest the underlying file has been changed or moved out from the ITunes organisation.  Well the last time I synched my ipod on Lion a few days ago it was fine.  On Sunday I wiped my hard drive, carried out the upgrade to Mountain Lion as a clean install, and used Migration Assistant to bring my user data over.  After that I ran cclean and disk utility permissions and disk verification.  Then this happened.
    I migrated my  iTunes Library to an external hard drive six months ago. That was disconnected during the upgrade so I am not sure why the files can’t be found now.    Anyway, I want to recover the missing files .  I could not find them by name, album or artist on the external drive.  So I thought I would find them in Time Machine backup #1.  I couldn’t!.  Nor could I find missing songs on my alternate Time Machine backup #2.  Both Time Machine backups are set to include the external drive.  Songs recognised in iTunes are visible in the backups, but not the ones that are missing.
    I have a third backup volume which was a clone of the Lion setup before I did the upgrade, but I can’t access this or Mac for a few days.
    I did have some permissions failures after the 10.7.4 upgrade which resulted in creating 2 new standard user accounts.  Maybe I’v e got some files across these users?  But in that case I’d have seen problems before the upgrade?   I notice a fair number of these are compilations imported from CD about 4 years ago.  Bu tnot all. 
    (1).  Is there a smart way to list all the files that are missing?
    I can scroll through all of  ITunes Music to see where there are exclamation marks.  I’d like to only list these missing songs.
    (2).  How can I locate the missing media files?
    -  a search on Name / Album / Artist hasn’t found them in live drives or on TM backups.  I’ve still got the missing songs on my iPod, however.
    Once I can answer these questions with your help I’ll know what would be the best way to try to recover, and to work out what went wrong.  I’m shocked that I can’t find them in backup.   Eventually I can restore audio from original source.  If they were photos that went missing from library and backups then I would have no way to get back!
    (3) could this happen in iPhoto?  (shiver)

    Thanks for taking the time to look at my problem.  Shared is empty and I didn't back it up - I only transferred the standard and Admin users to the clean install of Mountain Lion.
    But I got some valuable insight into how the iTunes library is set up from your article on split Libraries. I'd like to see it in the Tips for iTunes for Mac.   My Itunes library was set up in pre-Itunes 8 structure, and as I'd moved it to an external drive it didn't get migrated to the new structure in recent upgrades, perhaps?
    I found your article extremely useful : https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3991.  That gave me the means to restore the missing files more quickly than getting the original CDs out and re-importing them to iTunes.
    So I've now restored the missing files and started the backups rolling ....
    I still don't understand how they went missing.  However the best backup was the Ipod itself.

  • I had to uninstall my itunes off of my computer for technical reasons.....now that it is installed once again most of my music will not play.  It has an error message that states can't locate the original file.  How do I fix this?

    I had to uninstall my itunes off my computer for technical reasons.  Now that I have installed back most of my music won't play....the error says cannot locate original file.  How can I fix this? 

    If you didnt cut and paste your music from the original location, it should still be there!
    Go to the original Location of your music, Hope this helps.

  • Pictures in iWeb albums disappeared after change location of original files

    I created many albums in iWeb by dragging albums from iPhoto. But then I noticed some pictures from my iWeb albums disappeared after the original pictures got removed to another location (or deleted). How can I tell iWeb to make a copy of the pictures in iWeb itself so my iWeb albums can stay the same even when i need to reorganize the original files on the hard drive?
    Any suggestions on how to restoring my albums in iWeb? I am having a bit headache now. Thank you very much!

    That is not normal behavior. The photos should stay in iWeb even if you delete them from iPhoto. Are you running a "referenced" library or a "managed" one?
    Click to view full size
    Managed is the default option. If you're running a reference library that may be the reason. If so contact Apple via http://www.apple.com/feedback/iweb.html and http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphoto.html.
    Unless you have a backup of your domain file predating the loss of the photos I don't know how you will recover the photos.
    OT

  • Itunes purchased song could not be located because original file missing

    I got a new Air and downloaded several songs from the Itunes store, but after I imported my library from my old G4 it no longer can play the new songs. The error message says, "The song 'blank' could not be located because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" When I select yes, it sends me to a window with the documents folder selected. Of course the song is not there.
    I have the new songs on my ipod nano, is there any way to get them back from there? Or perhaps another way? Help.

    Hey there!
    Thanks also by replying... It seems that my library is back to normal now... But as soon as it starts asking for original file locations, I'll try that what you told me!
    Merci and have a good day!
    Vincent

  • Asking if I want to locate the original file I just clicked on. I did move my music from one computer to another and am now getting this error on about 50% of my music. HELP! Suggestions?

    ERROR when I click on newly moved music files.
    "The song ______ can not be used because the original file can not be found. Do you want to locate it?"
    Help!
    I moved my itunes files from one computer to the other and now I'm getting this error on about 50% of my songs when I click on them.

    Moving a library from machine to another can require some preparation if it is to go smoothly.
    As long as the files are organized within a media folder in a way that is vaguley consistent with iTunes, i.e. folders for artists, with subfolders for albums, then my FindTracks script might be able to relink the files.
    tt2

Maybe you are looking for