Multiple Projects Open, Dragging files from one to another creating problems

[barretb98046326]

Hello,

We are currently working on a feature documentary and with the recent update to 2018 allowing you to open multiple projects, this created a lot of excitement for us as we don't use the team projects and this feature seemed promising to speed up our process moving sequences/media from one project to another.

We're having a lot of issues with this.

We have two projects open, then drag a sequence from one project to the other, both with matching file paths linked to the same footage, and it brings in more folders than I've ever seen before. It's duplicating footage and folders.

We then tried Media Browser, which defeats the purpose of having multiple projects open but hey, whatever works. Though, now with this strategy, nothing happens. We drag the sequence into our new project, it loads, then nothing. No new sequence.

Suddenly, we have taken steps backwards and transferring sequences from one project to another has become more complicated.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Let me know if there is more information needed.

I'll repeat, all media has been imported into both projects and have the same file paths to where they are linked.

We're working on Windows 10 (10.0.15063)

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz, 4200 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)

32 GB RAM

[Daniel_Hoover]

I'm seeing the exact same issue - even if the media exists in both projects in the same folder hierarchy, Premiere will still bring over most of the the media referenced in the sequence(s) we're importing/dragging over to the first project.  But not only does it fail to check for already present media, when it does decide to bring in the media, the folder hierarchy gets all split out resulting in many, many duplicate folders just like in the picture in the original post.

For example, if I have a folder structure like so:

Footage

    Day 1

    Day 2

    Day 3

....each with media being referenced by the sequence I'm importing, and that same folder structure and media is already in the destination project, I'll wind up with something like this:

Footage

   Day 1

Footage

   Day 2

Footage

   Day 3

So not only is the importing of these files/folders unnecessary since they are already in the destination project, but the imported duplicates get split out into random extra folders.

[BrianDavison]

I just started experiencing that one after updating to CC2018. Because my media browser importing no longer works 3/4ths of the time, when I open a second project and drag a sequence over, it re-creates every existing bin and creates a copy of the root bin for every sub-bin within it, so pretty much exactly as you described. What fun!

[Daniel_Hoover]

Exactly, it's only been a problem since we moved to CC2018.

We're on Mac Pro (late 2013 model), OSX El Capitan, v.10.11.6

[barretb98046326]

Right. We've reverted back to CC2017 and have been working that way.

Too afraid to go back to cc2018 yet, unfortunately.

If this could work correctly, it'd be a dream.

[Daniel_Hoover]

Digging into this more, we started testing various methods of bringing sequences from one project to another.  It seems like there are currently three main ways of approaching it:

1) Open Source project and Destination project at the same time.  Copy the sequence(s) from the Source project to the Destination project's Project panel.  This results in the duplicate folder mess pretty much every time.

2) Use the Media Browser to "browse" the project, opening the folders and bins to navigate to the sequence(s) needed, and drag-and-drop those sequences into the project panel.  This seems to do what we'd expect and keeps everything organized much better (recognizing the existing media, folder hierarchy, etc. and only importing what's needed).

3) I guess the third way would be to actually Import a full project, but I did not try this as it's too much to import an entire project in our workflow.

So it looks like using the Media Browser via option #2 might work, but I haven't tested it in all situations yet, it maybe something worth trying for those who are struggling with this issue.

Another piece of the puzzle is that CC2018 seems to come with the Preferences > Media > "Write XMP ID to files on import" unchecked, which seems like a no-no according to this thread:

Workflow to avoid duplicate clips after switching from FCP 7?

However, I'm not sure exactly what the effect that could be having on this issue because I've since enabled that option, and copying-and-pasting sequences from project to project still brings in all those duplicate folders.  I'm beginning to think this issue is related to how Premiere is handling the multiple open projects, perhaps it treats media as new instances in order to avoid conflicts with two projects that are open referencing the same files, but then doesn't reconcile them when brought from one to another.  Or perhaps there's an issue in the assignment of the XMP ID with two projects open.

Anyway, Media Browser seems to be working better so far....I'll keep updating as we go.

[BrianDavison]

If only #2 worked for me properly. Since the update, I can't even consistently get it to import sequences. I'll get a status bar saying it's importing, then when it finishes, no sequence. And, if I DO get it to import, it creates new bins where bins already exist. Though, differently from the #1 version, it  will append a number to the bin and keep the internal bin structure the same rather than a new root bin for every sub-bin.

I feel like even in 2017 Write XMP ID was default off, since I've had to crusade at my company to get everyone to make sure it's checked. But that as far as I figure would only affect pieces of media and not really have much to do with bins. But I do think you're right the root cause is probably something to do with dealing with two projects at once. Here's hoping there's a quick update put out to get this back on track, as it's a nice idea if it works. (and it it'd stop opening the new project window in bizarre locations on my monitor.)

[Daniel_Hoover]

Update: Now method #2 is not working for us either, even though it had been early on in our testing.  But as we've moved to more complicated sequences, it's doing exactly what you said, briand68581562 - when we try to drag-and-drop a sequence from a Media Browser panel project, it shows a progress bar, but then nothing happens, nothing imports, no failed message, it just doesn't do anything.

So we've had to resort to double-clicking the sequence in the Media Browser to open the sequence in the Timeline-Source Monitor mode, and then copy-and-paste the clips in the timeline into a sequence in the destination project.  Which of course brings all the messy duplicate folders and footage.

This is a huge part of workflow, and it's turned into a total disaster.  😕

[mayacraig]

We are having the same issue. Have tried all of these approaches and others  and can't come up with way to import / cut and paste sequences between projects without duplicating media. This sucks and has totally stifled our work flow. if anyone figures out a work around please let me know!

[jbkilty]

Working on a large project with multiple editors/assistants.  Same damn issue as is being described in this thread.  This is a huge, huge problem.  Dare I say nearly crippling since it ruins any ability to keep things organized without constant, constant maintenance which is a fantastic waste of time.  How this got released into the wild without being adequately figured out by Adobe, is not confidence instilling.  This is a shame because there's so much to like about working in the app and the project sharing would be so great if only it actually worked.  Adobe, please, please address this as soon as possible.  I think we are all pulling our hair out.  Thanks.

[FGAmatt]

Same situation here. HUGE PROBLEM. MacOS High Sierra. Brand new iMac. Brand new install of Adobe CC 2018. On my last attempt, I got five copies of everything. And the importing process also wipes out any color labelling, which is also a terrible thing to do. Please help, Adobe.

[USMPCo]

We have just begun editing a feature film and we are running into this. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!  How the hell does Premiere expect motion pictures to use their program with a bug this big?!?

We just brought on a second editor to edit the feature. We are going nuts trying to consolidate their edits.  We need to have the second editor be able to add their scenes to the first editors project. THERE IS NO WAY TO DO THIS WITHOUT PREMIERE BRINGING IN MORE BINS AND CLIPS EVEN THOUGH BOTH EDITORS ARE WORKING OFF DUPLICATE DRIVES WITH THE SAME FILE STRUCTURE.

We have to decide if we're going to kick Premiere to the curb and go to Avid (shudder) just because Premiere isn't ready for prime time. I hate Avid -- it's so '90s. But at least you can edit a damned movie on it with more than one editor.

I looked into team projects but there are a zillion posts about how crappy it is, so that's not an option....

Has anyone successfully edited longform with more than one editor?

Help!

[tjesharp]

Hi All,

Just thought I would update this thread. It has been driving me nuts also HOWEVER, I have found a bit of a workaround, based on the way I work. It isn't perfect... but it helps my sanity somewhat...!

I tend to create subsequences of all of my material. So Day 1 Card 1 will have a sequence of all of the material from top to tail, Day 1 Card 2 and so on and so forth. It's a hangover from Avid editing where it was so easy to pop the sequence in the Source monitor and spool through it. After a while I end up with a Bin of "Card Compiles" that might have a significant amount of sequences in there, depending on the job. I just find it a really easy way to navigate compared to constantly opening and closing bins.

Anyhow! The point is that when you copy a sequence across from Project 2 to Project 1, rather than lots of little clips all of the time, it only creates ONE duplicate folder for the media. And if you copy across 10 sequences it STILL only creates one folder. So then you use the comp sequences in Project 1 instead of Project 2.

As I say, I know this isn't perfect, and you are saying "well I may as well copy across the entire rushes" etc, but not really...... imagine that you are on a large job and have an editor working with you who is pulling selects into sequences for you - they have cut down your rushes from 10 hours to 10 minutes and you pull in only those 'selects' rather than all of the rushes, just the comp sequences from the second editor...... and it will only create one duplicate folder, keeping the project manageable and not driving you nuts copying across clips.

You may find other uses for this or other ways to make it fit into your workflow. I find it works for me as the project sizes don't get out of control and the media management isn't really compromised that badly..........

I hope this works for you!

Tom.

PS: (Please note that if you have multiple sources / folders at top level, ie music / rushes / GFX, it will create a folder for each, which I then put into a "Project Import" folder to keep it all organised. Still only need to do it once though, so not bad).

[Daniel_Hoover]

Premiere 12.1.2 should have fixed part of this issue.  There are two methods of bringing sequences/footage from one project to another, and depending on which you choose, you'll get different results:

1) Open two projects simultaneously, copy from one to the other.  RESULT: duplicate bin(s) with duplicate footage inside.

vs.

2) Open one project, then use Media Browser to "browse" into the second project, drag/drop from Media Browser to Project Panel any sequences/bins.  RESULT: assuming the bin structures between the two projects are the same, imported media will be correctly placed with no duplicates.

At first I thought these should act the same way and figured #1 was a bug.  But later I realized sometimes it's useful to control whether the imported media is collected into the bin you're importing to or is dispersed to the bin structure in place already.

I haven't tested this in CC 2019 yet, but I would assume it works the same, still.