Media Manager: Offline Media - eh . . Not?

Grazie wrote on 4/12/2006, 10:48 PM


OK, I DO have media, that I have used and have used it previously in projects.

I have selected these events/clips and placed them in a TAG Folder and named the tag. All I had to do, the next time, was check the box next to the TAG, and all THAT Media would pop up - WITHOUT the OFFLINE red line - so it worked. GOOD!

But now, when I click on the same TAG, the very same media comes up showing with a RED line through it indicating it is offline. Why?

Please note the following:

#1: I do NOT get the "Resolve Offline Media" menu ( I have seen this before, so I do know what it is) to make any adjustments.

#2: I can see the greyed-out path to the "offline" media in properties

#3: I can even scrub the media using "Choose Thumbnail"

#4: I can open a Project which contains the red-lined media AND it still remains with a Red Line through it.

So, what am I doing wrong?

I have also used the "Advanced" Window to do various searches including the option for extracting OR ignoring/suppressing the "Offline" variable.

I have read the ON-line Help files where it refers me back to using the "Resolve Offline Media" menu. This does not pop-up on these files.

I'm left with red lined media which indicates it is OFFline but is most certainly isn't and there is no way, I can tell, of bringing it back showing ONline when I know and can see it and scrub it within "Choose Thumbnail".

I would truly appreciate assistance with this.

TIA,

Grazie

Comments

Serena wrote on 4/12/2006, 11:22 PM
Grazie, my sympathy -- best I can do -- at least you're not being ignored. Presumably the path to the clip shown in grid view is correct? Are the clips on external drives or your network (this question is inconsistent with being able to scrub the red-lined clip, unless MM stores a thumbnail sequence (which seems unlikely). Have you refreshed the media library? You can see I'm grasping at straws.
Grazie wrote on 4/13/2006, 12:00 AM
Serena, your wish to assist is greatly appreciated and just may give the start of a "check-off" list to get to the bottom of this one. I still adore MM.

Presumably the path to the clip shown in grid view is correct?

Yes. I can go via MS Explorer. Pick out the Media Manager "Offline" Media and have it play within Windows Media Player!


Are the clips on external drives or your network (this question is inconsistent with being able to scrub the red-lined clip, unless MM stores a thumbnail sequence (which seems unlikely).

Yes they are, and have been since I placed them within the TAG folders AND then reused them. I can even GRAB and DRAG the red-lined Media onto a Veg and have it play!!!

Have you refreshed the media library?

Yes, yes I have and on your further prompting have just repeated this too.

So:

* I can scrub in Thumbnail

* I can Drag n Plop OFFline media into a VEG and have it play

* I can locate the OFFline media and have this PLAY within Windows Media Player.

Hey ho . . . .

G
JohnnyRoy wrote on 4/13/2006, 12:02 AM
> ...it refers me back to using the "Resolve Offline Media" menu. This does not pop-up on these files.

You will never get a Resolve Off-line Media dialog when you click on a grayed out media because the Media Manager already knows that it’s off-line (no need to prompt you). You will only get the Resolve Off-line Media dialog for black media that is missing.

Go to the VASST page for the new Media Manager Demystified training DVD and watch the video clip on Dealing with off-line media. It’s just a subset of the whole chapter that I dedicate to this topic, but it will show you how to go into the Options > Media Library > Update to have the Media Manager rescan for all media and mark them as online or offline appropriately.

> unless MM stores a thumbnail sequence (which seems unlikely)

Yes it does. And you can control how they get stored or clean out the cache in the Options dialog of the Media Manager.

[EDIT] I see you were posting the same time I was and you already update the MM library. That is very strange.

~jr
Grazie wrote on 4/13/2006, 12:27 AM
John, just as you were writing this I did the UPDATE process. Of course that did it.

Tell me, if the PATH, content and position were not altered, why would an UPDATE now need to do the fix?

I appreciate you "spelling-out" the difference between OFFline, missing and needing to Update. However, when I see and get referred to having a Red line as being offline my next thought is that it IS offline. That's why I thought so.

As to the VASST vid, I only saw text chapter headings. Is there an actual stream going on too? Excellent!

So, Red Lines through Media might not necessarily mean it is Offline it might also mean it needs to be Updated - go it! I can't tell within the Vegas Online Help for MM this UPDATE option. It HAS to be there - I must be missing it.

As the "rogue" media IS on 2 f/w drives the UPDATE is going to be a saver for me. It would be also neat if THIS IS the case that a paragraph was entered into the Vegas Online Help that underlined this - yes?

John, thank you for your input.

G
Grazie wrote on 4/13/2006, 12:37 AM
John! Got it - the MP4 Vid. Needed to click on the link top right.

G
JohnnyRoy wrote on 4/13/2006, 5:42 AM
Glad you found the link on the page. I did not show the red-lined media on the training DVD. That would have been a good idea (too late now) :(. I do talk about the fact that thumbnails are cached but it would have been nice to see it. Pretty spooky to see the thumbnail but not be able to get to the media.

Here is the key: Once media is flagged as being off-line (gray), it will NEVER be on-line again until you press the Update button in the Options. Conversely, when the media is off-line and not grayed out, you will continue to get the Resolve Off-line Media dialog until you tell the MM that it’s off-line one-by-one, or use the Update button in the Options to flag all the media as off-line.

Bottom line: Always run Update when any media changes status from on-line to off-line (or back) to keep the Media Manager in sync with the media’s on-line status.

~jr