in the midest of big media reorg that is going well thanks to MDV and some tuorial from Douglas.

the only issue is some media, from a big project, is there but the associated project file cannot be found.

Any suggestions for recovery?  The project is not in any AVID attics anywhere for sure.

Create a new project with the exact same name and then drag the .mdb file in to an empty Avid bin?

i will try that, sir...the good news...the project file was found on a deep archive hard drive on a shelf....

I'm in the process of repacking some Hi8 and HDV legacy items myself.

With a bit of attention, it is easy to get organized if an editor is willing to put in the time.  I finally did and AVID's media mgt works well.  

Download and install MDV.  Learn to use it.

MDV identifies the media.

Put it in folders you name with just a number for now.

Create a spreadsheet or simple note with the numbers/project names that will come back on to those folders later.

Then, after a MC drive scan and index at launch to recreate databases, add the project names to the folders to lock them down (AVID will not write to a folder with text but reads from any folders starting with a number followed by a space).

It is possible to get a good number of projects and their media set up well this way.

In future imports, AVID will create a new "1" folder the next time you create media.  Now that you know the process, just keep on top of media mgt from this point using the number/name procedure. 

Media can be moved to a single folder if you delete the databases, remove the folder names so its only a number and let AVID rebuild the databases.  Then rename the folder back, etc.

NOTE: MDV has been a WIN only free app for years.  There are tutorials on running MDV on Macs out there.  And a Mac version now but that was not tested.

MDV link   http://djfio.com/mdv/

send our mate some money....you will feel better and so will he.

HERE IS A OLD TRICK JUST LEARNED FROM THIS FORUM (THANK YOU!)

If you have a group pf media clips and have no idea what they are, put them all in a folder with a number for a name and let AVID build a database of these clips at launch.

Then drag the MDB file from the folder into an AVID MC bin and you can see what that media is instantly.

Robert Martindale:

AVID will not write to a folder with text but reads from any folders starting with a number followed by a space

I believe that Avid will read a folder with just text only name.  No need for the number and space at the head.  And this info is really aimed at Direct Attached Drive media.  In a shared storage environment, the rules are different.

Robert Martindale:

NOTE: MDV has been a WIN only free app for years.  There are tutorials on running MDV on Macs out there.  And a Mac version now but that was not tested.

The Mac version is actually much more full featured than the much older WIN version.  I use it all the time.

Jef

Thank you for that.  I may have been using old information.  The numbers have to be there and nothing else for write, though, yes?

1. Avid always tries to write to the folder labeled "1".  At least until it reachs a certain number files then it goes to "2".

2. Numbered only folders will have the .mdb files (media data base) updated if files are added or removed, keeping them current.

3. Folders with text in them become read only.  If you add or remove content, Avid will not rescan and will not update the .mdb file.  So leave them alone!  (Unless you change the folder name to a number only!)

Jef