Subject: Re: [Usher Talk] Moving a clip

From: Rob Griffiths <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 2014 06:29:51 -0800

Scott:

I took some time before replying as I wanted to confirm with Peter that my thoughts were correct … and they are. So here are some answers and explanations for your questions.

You asked:

> I want to move a movie from one folder into another. This section of the Help:
> http://manytricks.com/blog/?p=2025 <http://manytricks.com/blog/?p=2025>
> says "Do not use Finder to move your movies! Let Usher do the work, so that all file references can be properly updated. If you use Finder, Bad Things™ may result."

With your current setup, you can (more than likely) use Finder to move the file—that’s because you have “keep library folder organized” and “auto-detect” checked. It shouldn’t matter if Usher is running or not; just move the file in Finder, and Usher should be able to see that the structure has changed. It may take a minute or so, depending on how many movies you have in the database, but it should work. (Usher keeps aliases to the files’ locations, and watches for any changes.)

> Perhaps I was mistaken about their use, but I didn't designate that folder on the external drive as a supplementary library folder because the external drive is often not mounted, and I thought that might cause problems if I designated a supplementary folder that often simply wasn't there when I launched Usher (I'd still want to see the index of clips there, even without that drive mounted).

This is actually exactly what supplementary library folders are for—keeping media on other volumes that may or may not be there at all times. What controls whether you see the entries when the library isn’t there is in the Library folder section of the Library prefs. There’s a pop-up there that lets you choose between flagging and hiding unavailable movies; set it to flag:

With that set to flag, it won’t matter if your drive is there or not, as Usher will still know about the movies. So the long term best solution is to set that external drive’s top level folder as a supplementary library. You could then move the files around within Usher, and they’d be moved in Finder (as you have “organize library” enabled) to match.

Make sense?

regards,
-rob.

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From: Scott R <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2014 07:21:37 -0800 (PST)

What happens when the main Library folder is available but supplementary 
ones are not?

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From: Scott R <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2014 07:18:35 -0800 (PST)

Keep library folder organized is checked
Movie/copy files to library folder is *not* checked.
Auto-detect is checked and set to report new files

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From: Rob Griffiths <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2014 07:05:14 -0800

On Nov 2, 2014, at 6:56 AM, Scott R <[email-masked]> wrote:

> A particular folder on the external drive is the sole location of the movies I have in Usher, but it is not designated as a supplementary folder. That is, the only Usher Library folder is the one on the internal drive, and the only data source is the external drive.

> Perhaps I was mistaken about their use, but I didn't designate that folder on the external drive as a supplementary library folder because the external drive is often not mounted, and I thought tha…

As long as the main Library folder is always available, you should still see the index of the clips from the external, even if it’s not mounted. But let me confirm that with Peter (our founder/programmer) before you do anything brash :).

thanks;
-rob.

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From: Scott R <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2014 06:56:22 -0800 (PST)

A particular folder on the external drive is the sole location of the 
movies I have in Usher, but it is not designated as a supplementary folder. 
That is, the only Usher Library folder is the one on the internal drive, 
and the only data source is the external drive.

Perhaps I was mistaken about their use, but I didn't designate that folder 
on the external drive as a supplementary library folder because the 
external drive is often not mounted, and I thought that might cause 
problems if I designated a supplementary folder that often simply wasn't 
there when I launched Usher (I'd still want to see the index of clips 
there, even without that drive mounted).

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From: Rob Griffiths <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2014 06:46:03 -0800

On Nov 2, 2014, at 6:23 AM, Scott R <[email-masked]> wrote:

> I have a lot of movies on an external drive, more or less organized into folders; I have the Usher Library file on my internal drive

Before I answer the question, can you tell me if the external drive is a supplemental library folder in Usher? Or is it just a place you store movies, and some of those get dragged into Usher?

thanks;
-rob.

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From: Scott R <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2014 06:23:29 -0800 (PST)

I have a lot of movies on an external drive, more or less organized into 
folders; I have the Usher Library file on my internal drive

I want to move a movie from one folder into another. This section of the 
Help:
http://manytricks.com/blog/?p=2025
says "Do not use Finder to move your movies! Let Usher do the work, so that 
all file references can be properly updated. If you use Finder, Bad Things™ 
may result."

However, I'm not trying to move my entire library, nor am I trying to move 
the movie file into my Library Folder (on the internal drive). If I 
manually copy the movie file (i.e., not using Usher) will the file 
references break, or will Usher find the file's new location? The file is 
being moved within the folder structure initially added to User. That is, 
it's basically like this:

*Movie Folder*
*      clip1.mov*

*      clip2.mov*
*      folder1*

*            clip3.mov*

*            clip4.mov*

*      clip5.mov*

*      clip6.mov*

*      folder2*

*            clip7.mov*
*            clip8.mov*
where *Movie Folder* and all of its contents were added to Usher, and I'm 
now trying to move *clip8.mov* from *folder2* to *folder1*.

thanks