Pictures mysteriously going "off-line"...

marco cholo wrote on 9/25/2011, 2:36 PM
From time to time, I go to open up a .vf file that was working fine the last time I used it. But when I try to open it, it says it cannot find certain files because they have gone "off-line" even though they were in the timeline and media box area when I saved and closed it last. (It won't let you close unless you save or ignore new changes, so I can't be closing without saving, right?)

So I have to open the file and leave those items off line to get back into the project. Then I have to go find all the missing photos and reinstall them into place. What is causing this to happen. What am I doing to make it lose pictures like this?

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 9/25/2011, 4:08 PM
Where are those media files located?

Have you copied them from your camcorder to your hard drive? If not, you'll lose the link as soon as you disconnect the camcorder from your computer.

Or are they on an external drive? If so, Windows may be randomly assigning drive letters to it whenever you restart the computer or plug in the drive -- and then Vegas can't find the files.

Or are these media files all on your C drive?
marco cholo wrote on 9/25/2011, 6:56 PM
No, the pictures are usually in a file on an outboard drive. I am not even using video yet. I collect all the pictures I need first, then move them from the file above to the media box on the top left of Vegas. I think the problem is that while I am into the project (putting pictures with a song) I sometimes think of another picture that is residing elsewhere in another folder on another outboard drive. I think the break down is occurring somewhere in this step, but I can't pinpoint it.
Steve Grisetti wrote on 9/25/2011, 8:40 PM
Isn't an outboard drive the same thing as an external drive?

As I said in my post, if your connection to your external drive is unmapped, Windows can sometimes mistakenly believe it is a new drive and re-assign a drive letter to it. This makes Vegas think that the files have been moved and it then asks you to re-link to them.

The solution is to map your system manually so that your computer thinks your external drive is a permanent part of it.

You do this by right-clicking on My Computer and selecting Map Network Drive.