What files are safe to delete?

[flahagan]

I'm trying to clean up "My documents" and save only what's necessary to a portable hard drive extension. However, I'm confused about which files I need to save in order to burn future copies of finished video projects if the need arises.

I have three files of each project - one is a upd file, one is a mpeg video format and one is Corel video studio 2.0 document. I afraid to delete any until I know exactly what each one is.

I'm sure this is a very stupid question, but it's the only way I'm gonna learn!
Thanks

[skier-hughes]

Make an iso file of the dvd and then all you need is in one file, so you can then delete all of those files.

[flahagan]

I've already burned all of my existing projects to DVD's, so too late to make ISO's. Also, I don't have a separate burner, just what's in the VideoStudio program.

[flahagan]

Sorry for the typo - I meant to say "Video studio 12.0 document."

[skier-hughes]

If you don't want to make an iso, then just keep the mpeg2 file.

[Ken Berry]

My own suggestion would have been to keep the VS 12.0 'document' as long as it ended in .vsp (Video Studio Project). If you have actually burned a DVD, then when you finished and closed VS, it should have asked if you wanted to save. If you clicked OK, then the VSP file would include any menu you built as well as all the instructions for creating the mpeg-2 file. In other words, if you are after an exact copy of the first DVD, that would be the way to go. Otherwise, if you just save the mpeg-2 file, you would need to reconstruct manually any menu you might have made.

[flahagan]

Well, none of them ends with ".vsp", therein lies part of my confusion. Is the 12.0 document the vsp file?

[sjj1805]

If you still have any projects on your computer you can use the smart package option to place all the material and a fresh copy of the project file all in one convenient folder. You could save this directly onto your new portable drive or you can preserve it on one (or more) DVD discs.

[skier-hughes]

Maybe to decide what is neccessary for you to keep we need to ascertain what it is you want to keep them for.

I believe the upd file is a database file containing information about the mpeg scenes etc.
The mpeg is the file that you made
We need to find out what the document file is, if it is the vsp file then this will be the project.

As Ken says, if you want to rebuild a dvd then you need all of them, the vsp file will open in VS and you can burn a new dvd. If you did this now, you could make an iso file of the dvd which contains all the info and can be burned to a dvd to maeka fresh copy whenever you want.

If you only want to keep the movie file safe then the mpeg is all you need and you can edit it again or make a new dvd with it.

[Black Lab]

What I do is, after my editing is complete I create a video file of the entire project - a MPEG2 file, as I intend to burn to DVD. I then use that file to burn to a DVD Folder. I then use Nero to burn the DVD Folder files to DVD.

I then keep the DVD Folder and the MPEG2 on my HD, and of course keep an extra copy of the DVD. All the video clips, audio clips, photos, etc. that went into the project are deleted, unless needed for historical or sentimental purposes.

[Trevor Andrew]

Well, none of them ends with ".vsp", therein lies part of my confusion. Is the 12.0 document the vsp file?

Hi
Yes the 12 document should be the VSP file

What operating system are you using?
It would help if you were to fill in the details within your profile.

For Video Studio Project files….
I have Vista and it shows the type as being a VSP File
Using XP it shows the *.VSP as being Corel Video Studio 12 Document.
I assume you are using Corel Video Studio X2.

The Name of the file as viewed using windows explorer should show in this format

*********.vsp

If you do not see the extension as .VSP then you need to change this in the folders View under the Tools option.

Tools-Folder Options-View tab, uncheck Hide Extensions for Known File Types.

You should now be able to see the extension .VSP

[flahagan]

Thanks for the great info, Trevor.
Yes, I have Windows XP, thought I had all of that in my profile at one time. Did everything change with the new forum format?
I unclicked the "hide hidden extensions" option and there was the .vsp following the Corel 12 document.
Thanks to all for the help. I'm slowly learning my way around this "techie" stuff - note the word "SLOWLY".
Anyway, my project was a success - a 32-minute mini-movie of a wonderful trip with a grandson - and that's the important thing!

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi
Glad you have completed the movie successfully.

One word of warning, now that you can view the file extensions on your pc, take care if renaming files as it is now possible to change the extensions effectively corrupting the files, although windows should warn you if you attempt this.

Profile, if you have updated with your pc spec’ it would show to the right of your posts.
The new forum format was created a few months ago, your profile would need re-inputting
It does help as your next post will probably be asked for these details again.