File organisation

devil wrote on 1/21/2020, 4:01 AM

I'm trying to archive many old DV and VHS tapes onto a hard disc E:, using MEP Premium 2019 under Win 10 (no editing at this stage). Downloading in e.g. DV camera, with Save Movie File as and Save in the following folder; I've set it up so that the disc has directories for each subject. On download, the directory has filenames name.avi, name_avi.H0 and name_avi.HDP but no name.MVP or name.MV_. Instead, it creates date.MVP in C: .../Documents/Magix Projects. How can I get it to create name.MVP in the same directory as the avi file? Or can I?

Comments

emmrecs wrote on 1/21/2020, 4:49 AM

@devil

This is one of the easier questions to answer!

If all the project files are to be stored in one folder, go to File>Settings>Program (shortcut Y)>Folder. See my screenshot below. Simply change/edit the highlighted line to point to the folder where you want MEP to store the project files.

If you need to save each project to a different folder, you will need to use "Save project as..", shortcut Shift+s, and select the specific folder you want to use.

HTH

Jeff

devil wrote on 1/21/2020, 7:29 AM

Thanks for your help, Jeff

Guess I was being optimistic, hoping that the project file would go to the same folder as the AVI file, with the same name, so that the whole caboodle was in the one directory. This hope results from my wanting to archive the contents of many tens of tapes onto a separate hard disc, with backups, some dating >30 years, before they become unreadable, with a minimum of fiddle-faddle but without any editing. I chose to use MEP for this, so that I'll be able to edit the files seamlessly at a later date, as and when needed on the usual C: ... Project. Maybe my choice wasn't optimal but it is easy to load them into AVI but obviously without the MVP file which would ease the subsequent editing.

browj2 wrote on 1/21/2020, 8:46 AM

@devil

Hi,

When you use MEP to import, you are doing so in a project. MEP doesn't know what you want to call the project unless you tell it. By default, MEP proposes today's date.

When you import, you are actually making a digital version of the DV or VHS source, the AVI file, that is saved somewhere (determined by you) on a hard disk. What you see in the project, in MEP, is just a reference to the files. You have to also determine the file naming structure when you import.

Here you have a choice of workflow:

Keep a project file, MVP, of one or more digitized files. You have to give it a name. Usually, the name of the project and the name of the file are vastly different. Why keep a project file? If your source video clips, one or more imports, will be used in a single project (see point 3 as well), then you are off to a start, but you need to give the project a name that represents the contents, not just a date. "Vacation in Greece - 1972" for example.
Don't keep a project file (.MVP). Just delete the video clips from the timeline and keep on going. Don't bother saving at the end of the session. Your source AVI files will all be in their folders, as determined by you. Why not to keep a project file? The source AVI contains multiple subjects, unrelated to what you would do for a specific project. Example, Vacation 1972, X's Birthday 1972, Christmas 1972, etc. Of course, you will have to come back and view the source files when you create projects.
Alternatively, start projects using the contents of 2 above, but start splitting them up into their relevant subjects, creating a Movie for each. Name each Movie by subject. Export each Movie. The export file will have the extension MVD. This is just a single movie file that can be opened by MEP or imported into another project. For the MVP file, you can either keep it or scrap it. If you keep it, give it a representative name, but keep a spreadsheet with the project name and the contents. If you scrap it, do so only after having exported the Movies. Once I've imported an MVD file into a Project, I usually delete the MDV file.

The filenames name_avi.H0 and name_avi.HDP are temporary files created by MEP. It's always best to have saved the project with a name before importing anything. That way, the temporary files get the same name. These files are not need if you decide to not keep the files. In any event, they will be recreated by MEP if and when needed.

Me, I tend to go with option 3. When I import, I look at the contents and split it into separate movies, if such is the case. I keep an MVP file with a representative name, which could be the name of the saved AVI file or files, like tapes VHS001 to VHS003. I export the Movies to MVD files. I keep a spreadsheet of these and a database of Project files and Movie files.

Problems: if I don't know what the contents are of the source material, then it's hard to digitize similar material in one project file. VHS001 and VHS009 may have parts of the same subject, Vacation 1972, and other stuff. In that case, having a spreadsheet and remembering that I had started a Movie for this with VHS001, then I can create a Movie in the VHS009 project for Vacation 1972 part 2. Etc.

For backing up, I keep a copy of photos and videos on external media, with the same folder structure, on BR data disks. I keep a spreadsheet of the contents, that is, the filenames. I keep project files separate from source files. I use the normal MEP/VPX structures in my documents, Projects\subject_name. I backup the main folder occasionally to external media. I have an automatic backup of everything to a separate HD as well.

When a project is completed, you can do as Jeff indicated. Make a backup of the project and source files to a folder and save that to BR or some other external media.

Different users find the method that suits them best.

John CB