Workflow with a laptop and a PC at DVinfo.net

David Jasany · December 15th, 2009, 06:38 PM

I'm considering doing some Vegas work on a laptop while away from my main PC. What suggestions do you have for working on both a laptop and a PC for syncing files, media, etc? I am thinking of just copying project media and veg between both when needed but I was wondering if there's a more elegant solution. Thanks.

Mike Calla · December 15th, 2009, 07:33 PM

Let’s see, it’s been awhile, …but…yes, it’s simple enough to move between machines, make sure you have identical files on both systems…

If I remember, when I opened Vegas for the first time on the other machine, it would ask me where the files were… I’d select a folder, it’d ask if all the files were there, I’d say yes, and that’s it.

No major problems. Make sure any plugins you use are installed on both systems. Vegas’ directories will be different, no biggie, but any preendered files…won’t be there on the new machine. It might have to build .sfk and .slk files (files Vegas creates and uses, and stored in the same folder as your media), so it might take some time to build them again, but only the first time you start Vegas on the other machine (every first time), again no biggie, unless your working on a feature length veg file.

I didn’t/don’t really use generated media much… but I must have had titles! And I think those would be part of the Veg file, and I don’t remember any problems with generated media.
Nothing else I can think of.

I haven’t done this in maybe a year and half (seems like ages ago) but I use to do it quite a lot! I use to sit outside at a Starbucks because they had free wifi and ac power. It was right beside a park in the daytime. It was one of the more quiet places in Shanghai. Vegas is so flexible! I was using DV files back then and my laptop was a 1.5ghz ibm and it was adequate!

Give it a try now if you have two machines – its pretty easy!

David Jasany · December 16th, 2009, 06:34 AM

Thanks Mike, I'm going to give it a try and see how it works out.

Sean Seah · December 21st, 2009, 08:52 AM

its easy.. just need to point the paths to the files. I do have problems lately with a macbook pro running 64BIT VISTA and a dell xps running win 7 64bit. Somehow the files would crash and fail to render on 8c. I heard that 9c is fine.

Rochelle Morris · December 21st, 2009, 03:07 PM

Hi David,

we use external hard drives and often move them from PC to laptop. It works well for us as we captur all footage from either tap or card from laptop to the drive and then edit on the PC or use the laptop depending on workflow.
It does however mean that we need to point footage of a project to the hard drive if titled differently (ie J or H etc), but it's not an issue.

Just a thought.

David Jasany · December 21st, 2009, 04:56 PM

Thanks all. To sync the veg and media files between the laptop and PC I'm using Microsoft's Synctoy. I've used it for a few years for other backup reasons so I thought I would try it for this application as well. Works great. Now I can edit on either my PC or laptop and be assured I'm always working on the latest veg file (assuming I remember to run Synctoy on my PC before beginning an editing session).

I don't expect to do much editing on the laptop, but for those down moments I should be able to make some rough edits and get those out of the way before returning to my PC.

December 15th, 2009, 06:38 PM	#1
David Jasany Major Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: North Carolina Posts: 313	Workflow with a laptop and a PC I'm considering doing some Vegas work on a laptop while away from my main PC. What suggestions do you have for working on both a laptop and a PC for syncing files, media, etc? I am thinking of just copying project media and veg between both when needed but I was wondering if there's a more elegant solution. Thanks.

December 15th, 2009, 07:33 PM	#2
Mike Calla Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Shanghai Posts: 344	Let’s see, it’s been awhile, …but…yes, it’s simple enough to move between machines, make sure you have identical files on both systems… If I remember, when I opened Vegas for the first time on the other machine, it would ask me where the files were… I’d select a folder, it’d ask if all the files were there, I’d say yes, and that’s it. No major problems. Make sure any plugins you use are installed on both systems. Vegas’ directories will be different, no biggie, but any preendered files…won’t be there on the new machine. It might have to build .sfk and .slk files (files Vegas creates and uses, and stored in the same folder as your media), so it might take some time to build them again, but only the first time you start Vegas on the other machine (every first time), again no biggie, unless your working on a feature length veg file. I didn’t/don’t really use generated media much… but I must have had titles! And I think those would be part of the Veg file, and I don’t remember any problems with generated media. Nothing else I can think of. I haven’t done this in maybe a year and half (seems like ages ago) but I use to do it quite a lot! I use to sit outside at a Starbucks because they had free wifi and ac power. It was right beside a park in the daytime. It was one of the more quiet places in Shanghai. Vegas is so flexible! I was using DV files back then and my laptop was a 1.5ghz ibm and it was adequate! Give it a try now if you have two machines – its pretty easy! __________________ boxoutsidemedia.com

December 21st, 2009, 03:07 PM	#5
Rochelle Morris AVPA Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 373	Hi David, we use external hard drives and often move them from PC to laptop. It works well for us as we captur all footage from either tap or card from laptop to the drive and then edit on the PC or use the laptop depending on workflow. It does however mean that we need to point footage of a project to the hard drive if titled differently (ie J or H etc), but it's not an issue. Just a thought. __________________ Preface Films - The Boss www.prefacefilms.com.au EDU www.exposeddownunder.com.au

December 16th, 2009, 06:34 AM	#3
David Jasany Major Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: North Carolina Posts: 313	Thanks Mike, I'm going to give it a try and see how it works out.

December 21st, 2009, 08:52 AM	#4
Sean Seah Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,498	its easy.. just need to point the paths to the files. I do have problems lately with a macbook pro running 64BIT VISTA and a dell xps running win 7 64bit. Somehow the files would crash and fail to render on 8c. I heard that 9c is fine.

December 21st, 2009, 04:56 PM	#6
David Jasany Major Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: North Carolina Posts: 313	Thanks all. To sync the veg and media files between the laptop and PC I'm using Microsoft's Synctoy. I've used it for a few years for other backup reasons so I thought I would try it for this application as well. Works great. Now I can edit on either my PC or laptop and be assured I'm always working on the latest veg file (assuming I remember to run Synctoy on my PC before beginning an editing session). I don't expect to do much editing on the laptop, but for those down moments I should be able to make some rough edits and get those out of the way before returning to my PC.