Updating Video Source Location

[Runenash]

Is it possible to have a feature where we can update the source location of a file while keeping the changes/annotations we've already made to the file? For example, if the file(or even the session) were to be moved to another folder, the session comes up with an error and theres no way to bring it back.

[ggarra13]

Can you clarify how the workflow would be (each step you want to do)? It is not clear to me why would you move the files to a different location. Also, if you are dealing with a session file (.mrv2s), it is just a text (.json) file which you can edit to your liking .

[Runenash]

Hi and thank you for getting back to me so quick on this! Sorry for the incredibly late response.

My issue was that if the source files or the session file were to be moved from where they were initially saved, the connection would be broken and a missing file not found error appears.

The reason why the files might be moved is because sometimes I may reorganize folders and shift files into new folders as things pile up.

What I was wondering if there was a way to relink and restore any annotations and changes made in a session if either the session or source file is moved. If editing the text (j.son) file achieves that, I would love to know how!

[ggarra13]

As I explained, the media files are stored in the .json file relative to the session file. So if you move them, you need to move them together relative to each other. This is needed also to use the session file you saved, say on Windows, and open it on macOS.
I'm going to place a won't fix to this one.

[Runenash]

I apologize if its something simple as I'm not very tech savvy, so if I were to restructure my source and session files and move them into completely separate locations, what do I need to do to make the session file usable again? How should I go about it?

I appreciate the time you've taken to guide me through things so far.

[ggarra13]

You should open your session file in a text editor and change the paths. I believe the entries you would need changing would be "path" and "audioPath".
If you have a lot of files, and are more tech savvy, you could use one of the Unix utilities like sed, ruby, perl or python to automate a search and replace.

[Runenash]

okay I've given it a try and I realize what was missing. I needed to add a double slash "//" instead of a slash to link the paths properly. Its all clear now. Cheers and thank you!

[ggarra13]

@Runenash Also, I should mention that .mrv2s session files store relative paths if possible, which should allow you to move the location of the files and the session file relatively easily.

For example, if you save your session file in "D:\pictures\test.mrv2s" and your images are in "D:\pictures\exr\test.1.exr", the files in the session file will be stored as "exr\test.1.exr", not as "D:\pictures\exr\test.1.exr".