Bulk replacement of missing media - How?

Leigh wrote on 2/3/2009, 5:44 PM

A couple of years ago, I created a DVD of my family trip to Florida. It was all recorded in HD (a Sony HDR-HC1E) but, at the time, I captured it all as DV. I kept the project file, but deleted the captured DV (.avi) files (disk space was tight back then, and I kept the masters).

Now I want to create a HD version of the project (I use a PS3 as a media server). I've re-captured the video in HD (.m2t files), for use with the original project. The trouble is, the project is looking in the wrong location, for the wrong file names with the wrong extension (.avi).

The old files were named "USA2007 000.avi" thru "USA2007 214.avi", and they were located in a folder named "USA2007". The new .m2t files are named "HDV8 001.m2t" thru "HDV8 214.m2t", and they are located in a "HDV8" folder.

Is there an easy way for me to bulk replace the media, rather than selecting each replacement file manually?

I expected to be able to simply search and replace in the project file (in NotePad++), but the project file isn't a simple flat ASCII file.

Will I have to look into scripting to achieve this?

Thanks in advance for any help/pointers.

Comments

FrigidNDEditing wrote on 2/3/2009, 6:04 PM

open Vegas 8, and then when it can't find the right files, you can point it to the .m2t files name for name (more or less), you should be able to find one, and then tell it to auto find the rest in the folder.

Other option would be to go to VASST.com and download the trail version of Ultimate S Pro so and use the media swapper tool.

Dave

Leigh wrote on 2/4/2009, 6:55 AM

Thanks Dave.

I couldn't find the "auto find" option, so I'll take a look at "Ultimate S Pro".

kentwolf wrote on 2/4/2009, 7:20 AM

>>...I couldn't find the "auto find" option..

It is not really an option.

When Vegas opens, if it cannot locate the needed files, it will allow you to search or specify a replacement file.

It is a normal function of Vegas.

Leigh wrote on 2/4/2009, 9:19 AM

Thanks.

That's was I was doing originally, but I don't really want to have to manually replace > 200 media files. I was hoping it would be possible to automate this, with a script or something similar.

srode wrote on 2/4/2009, 3:46 PM

Resave the files in a folder with the same path / name and same file names and it will open them fine.

rmack350 wrote on 2/4/2009, 6:37 PM

That seems like it'd be just about the same amount of work since all the names and extensions are different.

There are probably some cut and paste ways to automate this a little. My first thought was to cut and paste in an edit details list but if that's possible I'm not figuring it out.

Option two might be to export an EDL or XML file and then edit it. You could at least automate replacing .avi with .mts.

Option 3 might be to use Veggie toolkit. It's "Media Logger" tool can get the whole media pool into a text file where you can then alter it and reimport it to a new Vegas project. Then you can use that to reimport...

Ah, wait, you don't need to do that. You've got a timeline and you want to replace the media in it. The EDL/XML/AAF methods might work well but I don't know if it'd preserve everything about your timeline.

Seems like you still want to change the file names and paths in an edit details-like view. It may be that one of the other big script tools might help you here...

Rob