I have a problem with opening different bins which share some files- they are saved as different names, have different content- they're different! But when I try to open them, they say "cannot open bin- a copy of that bin is already open" It's not convienient to have my app tell me it won't do what I tell it to- sure I can close the other bin and open the new one, but they are different bins with different content and I want to be able to use them as I want and this is a weird and cumbersome "feature" to tell me "no- you can't use your file methods as you want"- I don't have any other apps that do such a weird thing with two similar files.

Also, after a mini-meltdown, my user settings and keyboard shortcuts have somehow dissapeared. I saved my user settings in several places and those files are uncorrupted- but when I try to import my user settings, the Avid tells me "that user profile already exists... ok?" But I am freakin sure that it's NOT THE SAME PROFILE!!! None of my shortcuts are there, colors, etc... and certainly the screen arrangement has been mutated by Avid proto-matter. It's NOT at all the user settings that I saved and carefully exported to several safety backups. I had Avid lose all my user settings last upgrade so I really wanted to be able to keep my shortcuts, etc- but what's with this prompt- "that profile already exists"...????!!!! it's NOT the same profile and the bin copy is NOT the same name or content!

What's the deal? Does anyone find it frustrating when Avid insists that it knows better than you do about things when you know it's wrong?

thanks for the help in advance! and where the heck is Menno?

evansmalley:

when I try to open them, they say "cannot open bin- a copy of that bin is already open"

If you ever duplicate a BIn, no matter what the contents of that bin, you are using an exact copy of that .avb file. This is why you are getting the error.

evansmalley:

I had Avid lose all my user settings last upgrade

It is virtually impossible to lose your settings with an upgrade unless you physically removed them. The install process does not affect the folder in which the user settings are kept.

evansmalley:

What's the deal? Does anyone find it frustrating when Avid insists that it knows better than you do about things when you know it's wrong?

Well, if every piece of software worked the way I wanted, then I would be getting paid the developer cash and not the guy who actaully figured out all the 1's and 0s.

Instead of importing your user settings, just open the one that is on your system (The reason you are getting the dupicate message), then go the the settings tab and choose FILE>OPEN SETTINGS FILE. Now navigate to your saved settings and open the (Your User).avs file. When that opens, drag the settings you want into yout settings window and choose to Replace the settings already there.

hey Dog! Thanks for the quick and helpful reply as always!

And that's exactly my problem, though. I want to be able to duplicate a bin and then modify it while saving a copy of the bin as it was. If it then has a different name and different content, it seems inconvienient not to be able to open it like any other bin. Just because it was originally sourced from the same originating bin, it's now another version and I'd like to be able to easily have them available if I or my dinoputer do something dumb... or smart...

I like to save several versions of projects and project elements separately... saved by name so I can easily revert to an earlier version... and maybe also several copies on a different drive... or 2... I'm wildly paranoid. No easier way, huh?

But that workaround for user settings I'd have never guessed! Great! I'll try it!

Thanks for the help!- Does anyone else have a more simple way to save historic versions of a project?

thanks-

Ev

evansmalley:

I like to save several versions of projects and project elements separately... saved by name so I can easily revert to an earlier version...

You don't really need to do that. 

The Avid Project is just a facilitator that holds the Avid Bins (and the settings for that specific project).  If you want to create backups of Bins you can copy the .avb files to a "backup folder" and name it however you like. 

If later you need to revert, you can actually open a new project - choose Open Bin, point to the backup location and select the Bin you want.

Kenton.VanNatten:

I like to save several versions of projects and project elements separately... saved by name so I can easily revert to an earlier version...[/

That's what the Attic is for Evan. The Avid does it for you automatically.

thanks Kenton and Dog-

I appreciate your suggestions- you guys are great but that still doesn't really address my problem in the best way for me. Having "automatic" only still doesn't provide the basic option of precise control over work versions which are saved by name and to a specific drive- in a simple click to open... my other apps all let me save a project file and open a project file. No "create a new file, open different bin".

Sure, that IS a workaround... I knew I could do it that way... but the proprietary ways that Avid uses to save media, bins and project files in the way it does- I'm just saying that while you CAN "work around" it- it's from an old paradigm that's clunky and ineffecient.

Since the 1940's there have been all kinds of changes and updates in the way people can store media from "bins". You don't HAVE to use such antiquated (although charming) concepts to use and save media and project files. It's just so much more elegant, reliable, controllable, faster and simpler to just "save as" and "open".  By the name you choose- not automatically naming for example an important media file in a way you just can't figure out WHAT the heck it is on the windows level... eg, OMF 000000002345689X28787. And it auto saves only to an automatic PLACE- that's a real problem for simply backing up with redundancy which is absolutely crucial for me. And in the Avid way, you're pretty much locked into ONLY the automatically right file name at the right folder level or you're pretty much screwed.

I'm just saying that there are other inferior programs that allow you the option both of auto-save and designed save without jumping through these exclusive hoops. Also completely free of the BAR of opening a bin/file that happens to have originated from a common source- so what? It's not at all the same bin/file!

These inferior programs just make carefully CONTROLLED media management much much easier and more controllable. And tons faster.

Just click "open".

That's just much faster than the old fashioned hoops system of close project open new project name new project open bin... that's not really up for controversy, is it? it's kinda silly I think... heck- this IS the '90's, isn't it?

I guess I'm just stuck with an app that's stuck in a '40's mindset, eh? I'm just saying that this mindset, while charming- no doubt, keeps the Avid app unneccessarily convoluted and unintuitive to the modern old fart user. My Fodder for the forum. I do think that my suggestion here would improve the Avid way as an added option, and that's all I want to do. As a user, give feedback that would improve the program! New Thinking!

I got a million of 'em!-

Ev

www.evanandnature.net

Forgive me for not fully understanding your long winded and tangential diatribe....

So what exactly are you asking for? 

You have a sequence and clips in a Bin and you want to save a copy of that Bin so that you can retrieve it for later use or as a backup? 

A)  You can duplicate Sequences before making any changes - this would provide you with a "previous version"

B)  You can create a new Bin and name it with a "backup" name/date, then ALT+drag any sequences/clips you want to backup into that. 

C)  You can go to the Explorer/Finder level and then just create a new Folder anywhere you like and copy any .avb file you want to "backup" into it. 

There are likely many other options as well for creating back up/previous versions of projects etc. 

As I said above, the "project" doesn't really matter much in Avid as it's the Sequence where all of your work is represented.  Seq's live in Bins....  save and back up the Bins and you will be saving and backing up your Sequences, thereby saving and backing up your work - which is what you're after.

 Well, sorry Evan, that's the way Avid's bin management has been from the beginning and will continue to be for the forseeable future.

When I want to do what you are suggesting, I just hit "New Bin" name it the way I want and Option+Drag my clips into it.  It's pretty simple really.

BTW, Photoshop, AE and Premier won't let you open two copies of the same file at the same time either.

BLKDOG:

 just hit "New Bin" name it the way I want and Option+Drag my clips into it.  It's pretty simple really.

 

yeah Dog- I think that's the only way to do it in Avid. Agreed. Just a simple suggestion for an easier way.

And Kenton- the simplicity of duping sequences is exactly the kind of simple file versioning I'm wishing for... it's something I do and rely on all the time.

It's just easier to save the entire project with updates historically which includes everything involved in a project and also to save it redundantly in separate locations- in case you ever run into a corrupt bin or media file it's all there, easily.

thanks guys for trying to help-

Ev