How NOT to lose a project

[Shepdog1]

Project loss is painful. Can anyone suggest a good tutorial source about SAFELY SAVING a project so that I can bring it back several times in full for edit and, ultimately, Share? I have Pro X8. The tutorial might be called "The complete guide to using Smart Package."
Thank You!

[canuck]

Don't be so lazy! Do a google search on "corel videostudio smart package" and you will get a lot tutorials and even youTube videos.

[BrianCee]

In nearly 20 years of using Videostudio I have NEVER lost a project - how did you do that ???

Are you one of those people that just randomly delete items from your hard drive "to save space" - get in the habit of putting all items in a project into one 'working folder' and backing that up onto an external hard drive - you can get very large external HDD's these days for very little money - I have just re-created a project filmed and first edited in 1999

it's really down to your management technique - the guide to using smart package is simply - open your project in Videostudio - click on "file >> Smart Package" - follow the prompts - - job done - save the smart package somewhere safely


.....

[Scubbie]

Hello Shepdog1.

There are many things to do to help reduce the chances of losing a project. The number one thing is to backup your files regularly. By this I don't mean the .vsp file which you create when you save your project, I am referring to all the video clips, images and anything else that you wish to and are using in the project.

You can use an external drive or a NAS to backup your content. So long as you use at least one, that's fine.

As for the .vsp files that you create, yes these too should be backed up frequently. I also use a 'version' number in the file names. At the end of each save I add the '#' symbol and a 2 digit number. For a really large project, I'd probably use a 3 digit number. I just increase the number with each save and purposefully save when I make any significant changes.

Example:
First save: Project not lost #01
Second save: Project not lost #02

The 'Smart Package' option is great when you want to make a complete copy of a project so that you can use it elsewhere. It is also a simple way to ensure that you've copied everything that you are using, but it eats storage memory.

As for what products to use to backup your files, there are too many options available to list. There are many software packages out there to automate things. There are also many external drive options available too. To list them would be nice, but they'll change tomorrow and your budget may limit your choices. Whatever you do choose, test it. Test it periodically and ensure that the test works.

I'd also recommend more than one backup if this is within your means. A good system is the "Grandfather, father, son" method. Please look it up.

[Shepdog1]

Don't be so lazy! Do a google search on "corel videostudio smart package" and you will get a lot tutorials and even youTube videos.

canuck: I'm 78 years old and you are the first person who has ever accused me of being lazy. A better response from you would have been, "What were the circumstances leading to your project loss?" That way, you would have shown yourself to be helpful.

[canuck]

Don't be so lazy! Do a google search on "corel videostudio smart package" and you will get a lot tutorials and even youTube videos.

canuck: I'm 78 years old and you are the first person who has ever accused me of being lazy. A better response from you would have been, "What were the circumstances leading to your project loss?" That way, you would have shown yourself to be helpful.

Well, I am 77 years old and had no problem doing the google search to find dozens of tutorials.

So "What were the circumstances leading to your project loss?"

[Shepdog1]

Thank you BrianCee and Scubbie!

I asked the question about Smart Pkg because I had saved the project with Smart Package on a flash drive, but couldn't get it to work on another computer with VS installed. The project would play, but it wouldn't divide itself in Storyboard. I thought that there might be something in my Smart Pkg process that I was doing wrong.

Update: I got my original computer running by changing out the power supply so the original project is on it and Storyboard is working, but when I try to save it to an external drive, after I click "Yes" to the "Save?" prompt, I get a box that says, "The Timeline contains one or more VideoStudio project file clips. Smart Package cannot proceed."

Any ideas on this new wrinkle?

[sclgwhite2]

... and backing that up onto an external hard drive - you can get very large external HDD's these days for very little money

.....

Brian, for those who may not have bought HDD's in a while, I have a new 1TB, 7200RPM, 64MB buffer, 3-1/2" drive coming tomorrow from NewEgg for $39.99 delivered, using a "promo code" supplied in an email. All one has to do is signup for their promotional emails, and if I remember correctly, levels of bombardment can be selected. I have a "plugable" (brand) USB 3.1 Gen2 single disk dock using 3.1 Gen2 connector and motherboard, and transfer speeds are amazing - actually achieving what we have been told was theoretical maximum for these drives.

[canuck]

Thank you BrianCee and Scubbie!

I asked the question about Smart Pkg because I had saved the project with Smart Package on a flash drive, but couldn't get it to work on another computer with VS installed. The project would play, but it wouldn't divide itself in Storyboard. I thought that there might be something in my Smart Pkg process that I was doing wrong.

Update: I got my original computer running by changing out the power supply so the original project is on it and Storyboard is working, but when I try to save it to an external drive, after I click "Yes" to the "Save?" prompt, I get a box that says, "The Timeline contains one or more VideoStudio project file clips. Smart Package cannot proceed."

Any ideas on this new wrinkle?

As the message says if your main VSP contains other VSPs, SmartPackage will not work. Why not do a simple test without "nesting" VSP projects?

[lata]

Hi
As canuck says you have added a VSP, a project file to the timeline
This could be done by mistake as VSP’s can be added to the library which then look like any other video clip.
However Video Studio has started using VSP’s nested as part of some editing features.
Time Remapping for instance does replace the video clip with a VSP, effectively nesting.
Anyway however that has happened we cannot create a Smart Package when VSP’s in our project i.e.. nesting…..

In some cercumstances we can replace the VSP, that may require rendering the VSP to a video file
Before we can comment further we need to know the details of that VSP.

[Shepdog1]

"Before we can comment further we need to know the details of that VSP."

What sort of details?

I just created a project, saved it with Smart Package, and expected it to let me come back later and edit it, like all of those tutorials said I could.

[canuck]

"Before we can comment further we need to know the details of that VSP."

What sort of details?

I just created a project, saved it with Smart Package, and expected it to let me come back later and edit it, like all of those tutorials said I could.

Do you have nesting of VSPs in your project? If yes then that may be your problem.