I'm backing up some Blender projects. In one project, it's an assortment of renders in the video editor. If I download the file to check how it's working, half the media in the video editor is missing. The Find External Files option doesn't seem to find any of them. If I did want to download this for some reason later, is the media lost? Is there a better way to store it?
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asked Dec 21, 2021 at 5:54
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1 Answer
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Usually the way to go would be packing external files into the blend file, which is achieved through File > External Data > Pack Resources. However, especially since you mention media in the Video Editor, you have to know that not all media files can or will be packed into the blend, like this warning in the Blender Manual explains:
Typically single image textures that are used in materials etc. will be packed into the file.
When you say the Find Missing Files option (I guess that's what you refer to with "Find External Files") doesn't seem to find any of them, it might also depend on where you search.
If you don't specify the exact folder, Blender might find other files with the same name instead of the correct files (for example image sequences simply named 0001.png, 0002.png etc.) because they are maybe found earlier. Also just giving the top level drive letter to search when the files are buried somewhere deep in subfolders might take quite a while.
The helpful thing about Find Missing Files is not that it helps you find files wherever they might be even if you have no idea, but if you have them all in one folder (or subfolders) you don't have to find each material's texture etc. on its own, just specify the folder and Blender will automatically link all textures to this new location.
answered Dec 21, 2021 at 8:00
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$\begingroup$ This was a good idea, but it didn't work. Tried packing and auto packing. After upload and download, a lot of media was still missing. I also tried Find External Files where the media was located in conjunction with this. I'd give a sample file, but not sure if I want to share this project right now. I might try recreating the scenario in a new project and sharing later. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 22, 2021 at 7:32
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$\begingroup$ @MartinMarino What kind of media was missing? As I said in the answer, some media files cannot be packed. Oh, and for image sequences it can sometimes happen that you specify the folder where to find them and they still don't show up in the editor - but they will be rendered. And to show them in the editor the media data maybe needs to be refreshed with Alt + R. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 22, 2021 at 7:36
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$\begingroup$ They are mkv video files. Previously rendered through Blender. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 22, 2021 at 19:05
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1$\begingroup$ @MartinMarino Well, there you have it... the warning I quoted from the Blender Manual clearly says, movie clips cannot be packed in a blend file. If they are not found afterwards by Find Missing Files, the solution lies in the information where the files are and how you use the tool, which is sonething I don't know from your question. $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 22, 2021 at 21:58
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$\begingroup$ Oh ok I see. So I would need to render in a different format if I wanted it to work? $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 26, 2021 at 6:43