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What is the difference in saving a project with smart package and just saving the project with the .vsp (save as) choice?

Smart Package (on page 165 of the User Guide):
¡E Save/Save As: Allows you to save your work as a new or existing
project file (*.vsp). It opens the Save As dialog box where you can
assign a file name and location for saving the file.
¡E Smart Package: Allows you to back up all your media and project
files you used in a project and compile it in a specified folder.

So it gathers all clips used and places them in a folder along with the project file (VSP). So for example if you are using video clips stored in your My Videos folder, image clips stored in your My Picture folder, music stored in you My Music folder, VS will gather all those and place copies of them in a single folder...

So does that mean if I save the project (using the save or save as) menu choices, that if I move or delete a used video clip, it will not be saved with the vsp file??

Sort of...
When you chose Save, or Save as, VS is only saving the VSP file. The clips used in the project are not touched. Those clips are only linked through the VSP. VSP files are nothing but a bunch of instructions, like a glorified text file. It tells VS where those clips are located on your system. So if you move a video or image clip to another location, or if you delete them, VS will ask you to relink to them. If you want to see what I mean, locate a VSP file on your computer. Right-click on it, choose Open With.. and select Notepad. Caution Make sure that the box beside Always use the selected program to open this kind of file is not checked. You can see along with all the machine code gibberish, the locations of clips being used. If you do view it in Notepad, do not make any changes. Doing so will render the VSP file useless..

Smart Package places copies of everything used in a project, into the same folder, and generally the folder will have the name of your project. Now when you open the project file from within that Smart Package folder, all those clips will be already be linked up. I've used it to move a project from my desktop to my laptop to work on while I'm away from home.

But I noticed I had a project with menu music customized and menus..those items did not back up.

Think of VideoStudio as being in two parts.

Part 1. Editing.
You import video clips, photographs music and so on. cut it up and stick it all back together again moving things from the middle to the begging, things from the beginning to the end, adding titles, transitions and other effects.

Smart package gathers together all of the used material and puts a copy in one place plus it creates a new project file so that everything points to this new folder containing everything.

Part 2. Authoring.
Here you grab hold of your edited video created in part 1 and now you convert it into a "DVD"
Smart package does nothing with this stage of events.

I have been considering, perhaps, finding a commercial organisation that would, for a fee, burn a Blue Ray disc from my VS Project. If I can find such a company would I need to send them a smart package folder? I knew it would be useless just to send off a VSP file as I had copied a VSP file to a CD and then opened it on my laptop. Of course, all the clips and images were missing.
P.S. I am not touting here for someone to offer me the commercial service.

P.S. I am not touting here for someone to offer me the commercial service.

Why not?!

Black lab wrote:Why not?!

Didn't think it was appropriate for the Forum! Or am I too PC?

mitchell65 wrote:I have been considering, perhaps, finding a commercial organisation that would, for a fee, burn a Blue Ray disc from my VS Project. If I can find such a company would I need to send them a smart package folder? I knew it would be useless just to send off a VSP file as I had copied a VSP file to a CD and then opened it on my laptop. Of course, all the clips and images were missing.
P.S. I am not touting here for someone to offer me the commercial service.

Please view:
What is a project file?

Thanks for the response. I realise with hindsight that to use the woed "useless" was a bit misleading. What I meant to say was
"I appreciate that the VSP file is a container for all the components of a project and if I wished to send the project to a third party I would need to send all the various component files as well as the VSP file. Would the "Smart Save" folder fit the bill?"

Yes.