Well I have d'l the Vegas Pro 8 to Win 7 64 bit OS otherwise known as "VISTA" by the Sony description.
"VISTA???" Vista ha ha ha...

Anyway on a quick run through everything seems okay. I even Imported that .XML file but now it wants to
upload the original media. The outline of the file is there on the timeline but everything is blank. I was hoping it would capture the original media also.

Did I do something wrong? I really don't want to dig out all my old tapes this machine doesn't have a Firewire port at present either.

I might have to resort to .VOB's to get this job done.

Adios,
Bill

Not sure what XML file you are referring to, but if it's something produced by Vegas then all it contains is project information, just like a .veg file does. It probably doesn't include any media at all. XML is a nearly useless format for media.

Have you tried fransferring the video files from your other computer to the new one? The xml will only contain project information.

You could have saved the project as a normal Vegas project with include media option.

Dave T2

Hi Cheinworks and Dave: After I had the new file on the timeline Vegas was asking to upload the media part of it and knew the file name as they were .AVI's.

I did try copying them to a fresh DVD-R but Windows cannot copy that kind of file. Even though the drive worked to get me a game install of Far Cry2.

I am going to find out if I can install my new Western Digital external hard drive with SmartWare to this newer PC and use it as a big flash drive. Not sure if they are supposed to be used from one PC to another.

I think this XML is a good option because all the surrounding features of your edits are carried over to the 2nd PC. Am trying to avoid multiple renders.

Thanks,
Bill

I am not sure I understand. windows can copy ANY kind of file as long as the media you are copying to has enough storage space. If you are having problems copying to a DVD disk, then either the file is too big for the disk or the burner is dying.

Windows does not care what kind of file you copy. Only that you have the space to copy to. AVIs can be big so a 4gig DVD disk may not hold much.

A dying burner can still read disks fine. It does not take the same type of tech to read as it does to write.

Dave T2

For the life of me I can not decipher what the OP is attempting to do.
Complaints about DVD+R/-R will have to be dealt with as OS issues, firmware of the installed drive, as well as the age of the drive, not to mention choice of media (remember Memorex?).

Choosing to save a VegasPro project as an .xml type is totally off the wall. That is nothing you want to do for transporting projects. That is the purpose of the .veg container (with the Vegas option to save media at time of .veg save).

Choosing a USB drive can get around large file limitations if you have formatted it as NTFS. And then again getting some drives to communicate well at USB2.0 spec can also be problematic depending on the source and destination motherboard as well as choice of source and destination OS.

I say the OP should slow down a whole lot - read our comment posts - then carefully phrase his intended purpose - do not play out a methodolgy- we will supply that part.

Personally i wouldn't bother mucking about with any sort of external media. I'd link the two computers together on a network, share a directory on the new one, and drag the files there from the old one. It'll be way faster, easier and more trouble free than any other method.

I wouldn't even use the "save media with" option on the project file. That causes more trouble than it's worth. Just copy the media files and the project file over and be done with it.

Subject: RE: Idea for a new feature
Reply by: videoITguy
Date: 10/17/2012 1:49:03 PM

Could be a surpise to everyone, but this feature already exists in recent versions of VegasPro... to go on ..this has been covered exhaustively in lengthy threads of the not so distant past.

Creating an edit and saving the EDL or XML export is the way to move from Vegas version to another. Forget the .veg file as it is merely a pointer file to the most recent version of software that the project is saved within. The .veg container is meaningless to any other version. The transportable version of a Vegas edit is the edl or exported xml edit.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The above is what I'm trying to do. These are about 38 half-done projects I need to get to the new PC ASAP without rendering or networking because the XP is dying. I was doing okay until the DVD burner stopped wanting to copy the media. I have not had to do this before so am still learning the best method.
(Do not want to network as the XP is infected with viruses, etc.)
I always use the copy media with option when doing a new save for what that's worth.

So this is the alternate option: " Just copy the media files and the project file over and be done with it."

My next main experiment is using the WD external to get those 2 .AVI's where they should be.

Thanks!!

You can almost always open a veg file in Vegas, even if it is an older version. You can't go backwards sometimes (like open a V12 in V8).

And yes that should be all you have to do, copy the veg and the media files.

Dave T2

Wish to dispute the OP's interpretation of what an EDL or XML file will actually do - yes, it can support instuction sets for projects, but it's implementation in VegasPro is very very poor in design, always has been. Hence the true undisputable project container (that is, holding virtually all instruction sets that can possibly be supported) is the (.veg file, certainly!) the, one you SHOULD be using - and of course, always move your media.

"Creating an edit and saving the EDL or XML export is the way to move from Vegas version to another. Forget the .veg file as it is merely a pointer file to the most recent version of software that the project is saved within. The .veg container is meaningless to any other version. The transportable version of a Vegas edit is the edl or exported xml edit."

I'm not sure where that came from, but it's really not very true at all. If moving to the same version or a newer version. the .veg file is the best and ONLY way to go. It contains everything about the project and is always forward compatible. Any other format risks losing various important parts of the project.

The only thing that the .veg file can't do is go backwards to previous versions.

Okay, I will work on the .veg method but it will be a few days before I get all the testing done. Will use the same project I started on.

Thanks guys!
Bill

I suppose i should clarify that the .veg file doesn't contain any media files, so those also have to be copied, just for completeness sake.

Update: My testing hit a pretty big snag right off the bat.
I set my fancy new WD My Passport External HD for a file backup, snagged the 2 AVI's in question and began the backup. For a minute or so the progress bar began to fill across then it seemed to stall including the tiny white burning data light on the WD.
That stopped blinking. A error message popped up:

Partial backup accomplished. Remaining files will be added later. View files for details.
"These files failed to backup - soandsoclip.AVI The system cannot find the file specified"

Though these are the first data files I have tried to add to the HD I think my OS/system is hanging on doing file transfers. It's unlikely both the Pioneer DVD writer and this new drive are bad.

My C drive has 17GB free out of 500GB.

Anyway I might be in a big jam now if there is no way to do this.
I wonder if a direct networking plan might work however dangerous.

Bill

Okay finally have some much better results.

I went out and bought for 20 something dollars a IDE drive reader.
This is from a Chinese Co. called Kingwin. Model no. is USI-2535 from
Micro Centre in St. Louis.

But just before that I sized up a older Celeron PC I had with a 14 GB hard drive.
I got that drive out along with a Creative Live Drive SB card and dumped the rest.

The 2 AVI's copied slowly but surely and are now on my Win 7 PC and in the original .veg file and they play back fine.

Next I plan to size up another .VEG project and will copy the .VEG file along with the media and try this transfer again.

I have been waiting many many years to view a drive like this and I had kinda forgot what was all on it.
There was MS Office and Photoshop 7 but I could not open/view any of the internal file structure.
I ended up DL'n a free program from Karen's Power Tools called "Karen's Directory Printer"
OR Directory Printer v5.3.2.

This cool program gave me a 1,047 page file at 9 point font of 7.39 GB of mixed data.

Using that and viewing hidden files I cannot find one .psd photo or a .doc from my theatre stuff. I must of stripped everything off it.

Anyway can someone clue me in on formatting?
If I format this old drive can I then copy to any files like a thumb drive?
I mean just set up a folder and add the files? Or does the OS still need to be on the drive?

Thanks for your help!

Bill

I'm not seeing any description of how you're adding this drive to your system. It seems it's no longer in the old Celeron PC, right? So what did you do with it after you took it out of that?

The OS only needs to be on the boot drive. If you've added this as an accessory drive then there's no need to keep the OS on it.

If you do format it, make sure you use NTFS instead of FAT32 so that you can store files larger than 4GB.

Hi thanks for your reply.

No, the 90's Celeron is off to the recycling folks.

I'm using the Kingwin drive reader - via a USB 2.0 connection, to offload the movies
from the dying XP to the Celeron to a 6 month old HP desktop Win 7 machine both to work on and to see them "saved."

Next year I plan for a new "Power" PC and will use Pro 12 on that with any new movies we film.

This XP machine boots 50% of the time to either a black screen or freezes on the Boot screen. Or I'll push the power button and for a second the light comes on and then nothing.
It's very scary.

I just want a clean start on the Celeron hard drive but want to know I can safely add files to it after formatting. The Kingwin process is "hot-swappable" and can do SATA also! It's very handy if you have a problem like mine and do not want to put money into it for fixing it up.

Thanks,
Bill

Update:

I copied a .VEG project file then when I tried to open it in Vegas 8 it could not find any of the project files not even the titles.
Why can't I find the original movie file that came off the camera without using a
rendered copy?
Is there a program that can do this?

At this point the .XML gave me more to work with than the .VEG file did.

So I am still confused about this process.

I cannot upload the original file that machine has no Firewire port.

-Bill

Bill,

I guess I am confused. Where is the original capture? When you open a project, it should give you a chance to find the original capture either by searching or you give it a replacement file.

If you have the original captured file, you should be able to browse to it and let Vegas find it.

Dave T2

Dave T2:

The original movie file is back on the "bad" XP and I am using the drive reader/writer to transport
said movie to a new "good" Win7 PC to work on with a same version of Vegas Pro.

From what I understand you cannot just "copy" to another PC the original movie file with first rendering it out. Is that still true?

I had another great brain fart to ask someone. Let's say the bad PC bites the dust. My idea is to take that drive out, hook it up to the drive reader/writer, take it to the Win7 machine and say you find and import/open my original movie clips. Will that work?

Appreciate your responses!

Bill

You should be able to copy the original transfer to your new computer and use if as if you captured it from tape.

Dave T2

"From what I understand you cannot just "copy" to another PC the original movie file with first rendering it out. Is that still true?"

That has never been true. The original movie file is just a data file. You can copy it as easily as any other data file.

If you've lost where on your drive you've stored the file, you can open up a Vegas project on the original computer that uses that file, right-mouse-button click on it on the timeline, choose Properties / Media, and you will be shown the full drive letter & path name to where the file lives.