deleting files

joejon wrote on 11/22/2003, 12:00 PM

With just starting out I have not had to delete any of my video files, but I need to start doing that. I'm not exactly sure how Vegas link files, media, etc. I installed a new version of another program I use and when I try to pull up the project most of if is okay except some images are missing (image not found). Somehow the program uses links and something is screwed up with the link or the location of the pictures. What's baffling is that some scanned images come into the project perfectly fine and others do not. Anyway, the problems I've experienced with that program, I don't want to happen with Vegas. I'm wondering which files I can delete safely. First I have the original captured video file, then after editing I may have a file or two saved in between and then my final .veg file. Then there is the rendered file. So, which ones can I delete and still use my final project, possibly for more edits or for burning to another DVD? I don't want to delete something I will regret. I hope this makes sense. Thanks for your knowledge about this.

Comments

kameronj wrote on 11/22/2003, 1:36 PM

You don't actually edit any of the 'original' files when you are editing in Vegas.

If / when you render your project to a new file...you have your new file, original file and the veg file.

That's it.

If you delete the original file the veg won't know what to point to. So...don't delete it if you want to use the veg file again.

There ya go. Simple as pie.

joejon wrote on 11/24/2003, 7:57 AM

Okay, so I need to keep my original captured video file and my final edited file and my rendered file, correct? But I'm guessing I can delete all the other files inbetween that I've added edits to, but are not my final project. There are so many saved versions -
.sfk
.veg
.veg.bak
.mpg
.mpg.skf
.wav
.wav.sfk
What do all these mean?
Also, I extracted several tracks of music from a CD to add to my project. Can I delete the .wav files (are they saved in the .veg file or are they pointed to from the .veg file)? Thanks for an explanation of all these file extensions. I guess I need another hard drive, even though mine is pretty big. What and how big do you recommend? Are the external USB ones okay or do I need an internal one?

Chienworks wrote on 11/24/2003, 8:24 AM

The .veg file doesn't contain any media except titles and colors that you produced in Vegas. If you delete a media file that you used inside a project then that project will be missing that media.

.veg is the project file (colloquially called a "veggie")
.veg.bak is the previous version of the project, created automatically when you save from the previous .veg file
.sfk is a "peak" file. This contains the graphic image of the audio waveform that you see on the timeline. You may delete this file, but the next time you use the media it came from it will automatically be regenerated.
.mpg is an MPEG file, basically a compressed video file.
.wav is a Microsoft WAV file, usually uncompressed audio
.avi is an Audio/Video Interleave file, a video file that may or may not use various compression schemes
Any of these extensions with a .sfk at the is the audio peak image file for the associated media file.

So, if you still want to work on your project, don't delete any of the .mpg, .avi, .wav, or other media files that you used in the project.

Lots of folks have different definitions of a "big" drive. Some folks think of 120GB as rather small where video is concerned. I just added 160GB and 180GB drives to my computer so that i can work on more than one project at a time. Internal drives are probably the easiest and most reliable, as well as the cheapest. However, external drives have the advantage in that it's easy to add more space by plugging in another drive. External drives also let you carry your data with you to another location. If you go with USB then make sure the drive and your computer's ports are USB 2.0; don't even bother if either is only USB 1.0 because it's too slow. An alternative to USB drives are firewire drives. Both have their advantages and both have their problems, but overall the functions are pretty similar.