Hi,
We just updated to 2020.12.
I have sucessfully been using a custom project creator designed in Django/Python for the last 5 years, which I use to make multiple projects at once with sensible settings, correct naming, paths to Interplay etc. etc. This is instead of having to log in, start Media Composer and create every single project by hand, enter the same data again and again, change all settings and check them all, then copy the windows project files created in the machine folders and overwrite the project and settings files at the root of the project folder so that we can use the project in a broadcast environment with multiple editors working on the same project.
Besides wasting a lot of time, doing this for every single project to be created in a brodacast environment is tedious and also prone to errors - it is generally much better to automate project creation for ease of use and to eliminate variation and error. I do this eg. with Premiere and GV Edius without problem.
With the 2018 version of MC, the project avp files were not really unique in any way except for a date stamp (which you could change without too many problems), and most other settings could be changed within the xml file. XML is humanly readable and easy to edit. The avp file is not, and only held the basic format and framerate hardcoded into the file. So I could get away with using 2 templates for project creation (25 Progressive and 50 Interlaced) and renaming / copying the avp files together with a custom edited XML for unique Interplay path/media creation settings etc.
Unfortunately - the 2020 software now also hardcodes the path and name of the project into the avp file for bin indexing puposes it seems. This is pretty silly, as this info is easily available to MC or indexer by just checking where the project file is residing. Harcoding stuff into files is not really very wise IMHO - because you have to change and update it. MC has never been very good at this kind of thing.
Hardcoding the projectname and path into the binary, also makes it impossible now to rename or move projects once created. In earlier versions you could simply rename the projectfolder, avp file and settings.xml. If you do this with 2020, then MC bin indexing service will generate a project folder with the original path that it reads from the hardcoded avp file, and start to fill this new folder with search and machine folders. Pretty pointless and strange behaviour if you ask me.
The AVP file is impossible to hack, because the length of characters in filenames for projects changes, and so do the jump code hexes in the avp file. If you change the path that is inside it, then MC can't navigate it properly. It is now almost IMPOSSIBLE to automate project creation with MC 2020.
I suppose I could create one project template for each concievable number of chars in a projectname, change the path inside the template and then copy the corresponding project template to storage and rename it. WOW how uncool.
If I knew exactly what was changing in the avp, I might just be able to keep my 5 year project up and running, but as it is, it looks as if I might just as well scrap 5 years worth of work.
What IS the point of hardcoding a simple path and filename into the project file? Why not asking the OS where stuff is?
Stop making things difficult, and please give us the possibility to automate.
Maybe this thread can sort ur problem
https://community.avid.com/forums/t/120451.aspx
Anyone that copies *.avp files will have problems now. That's the whole issue. Just try renaming your project.
All the 3rd party template managers out there will fail unless they re-write the project file with a path attribute, and then of course you have to edit all the jump codes to take the path into account.
You can use an old project shell - as it doesn't contain the path, and 2020 will open it because it is backwards compatible - but that's no way to proceed, it's just a dirty fix.
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