Archive for April, 2014

Windows 7 & Mac: Move/Redirect “Documents” (eg to a non-system volume)

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014

Windows 7’s “My Documents” library folder is by default mapped to the system drive, e.g. as [C:\Users\<username>\Documents].  However it is also possible to map it elsewhere, e.g. to another volume.  A broadly equivalent situation exists in Mac OS.  One might for example use this option to move the Documents library/folder to a thumb/flash drive when using several computers (one at a time) or to put it on a non-system drive, e.g. to free up space on the system drive, exclude it from system backups (thus freeing up both space and time) or to put it on something like a server, possibly on “The Cloud”.

I found the following explanation by accident, while attempting to find a way to prevent Adobe Media Encoder (AME) from storing its own “preview files” (sic), which are huge, in a sub-folder of “My Documents”, which itself on typical Windows systems is to be found on the System Drive.  It seems that AME has no Preferences setting to store these preview files elsewhere, so a workaround is needed, e.g. to move the “My Documents” library folder itself to another volume.

  • http://forums.adobe.com/message/6045027
  • http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/redirect-folder-new-location#1TC=windows-7
    • Windows 7:
    • To redirect a folder to a new location
      • Click the Start button Picture of the Start button, and then click your user name.
      • Right-click the folder that you want to redirect, and then click Properties.
      • Click the Location tab, and then click Move.
      • Browse to the location where you want to redirect this folder. You can select another location on this computer, another drive attached to this computer, or another computer on the network. To find a network location, type two backslashes (\\) into the address bar followed by the name of the location where you want to redirect the folder (for example, \\mylaptop), and then press Enter.
      • Click the folder where you want to store the files, click Select Folder, and then click OK.
      • In the dialog that appears, click Yes to move all the files to the new location.
    • Mac OS (Mavericks & previous):
    • To restore a folder to its original location
      • Click the Start button Picture of the Start button, and then click your user name.
      • Right-click the folder that you previously redirected and want to restore to its original location, and then click Properties.
      • Click the Location tab, click Restore Default, and then click OK.
      • Click Yes to recreate the original folder, and then click Yes again to move all the files back to the original folder.
  • https://discussions.apple.com/message/23510349#23510349
    • (Ignore the initial links, which are merely about changing names, e.g. when migrating a laptop from one person to another)
    • John Galt, 25-Oct-2013
      • The procedure was unchanged in Mavericks from previous OS X versions.
      • What I did was create a new User in System Preferences, after which I logged out and logged in to that new User.
      • I performed basic configuration, created some documents, etc.
      • After that I logged out, logged in under my usual account, and dragged that User’s folder to another volume.
      • Then, I used Users & Groups “Advanced Options” to point to the new Home folder’s location.
      • After that, I restarted the Mac using OS X Recovery to reset that user’s Home Folder Permissions and ACLs since permissions problems with the copied Home folder would otherwise result.
      • After quitting OS X Recovery I was able to log in to the User account established on the USB flash drive, and was able to use it more or less the same way without any surprises. Safari, iTunes, iPhoto all worked, no problems.
      • The original User account (home folder) remained on the boot volume, so I dragged it to the Trash. I verified that I could still log in to the account on the flash drive, confirming the one created on the boot volume was no longer required.
      • Attempting to log in to the account with the flash drive disconnected resulted in an expected error (below) and obviously you wouldn’t want to do that while using the account.
      • Reconnecting the flash drive restored the ability to log in as expected.

Adobe Premiere CC Update & Roll-Back

Tuesday, April 15th, 2014

Today I received information from Adobe’s CC (Creative Cloud) control-panel that there was an update for Premiere (among other apps).  Accompanying information states that it fixes some issues with audio and sub (nested) sequences.  The latter is most reassuring.  On the other hand I am mid-project(s) and don’t want to impede my current projects.

A good solution would be to do a system backup prior to updating Premiere.  Could do that at end of the day, so as not to impede project.

On the other hand, it seems that Adobe supports (kind-of)  a way to roll-back to a previous versions:

I have not tried this yet…

 

DaVinci Resolve 11: Now also an NLE…

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014

http://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/277/29561

  • <<<
    • The update to DaVinci Resolve 11 will be available in June for download from the Blackmagic Design web site free of charge for all current DaVinci Resolve customers.
    • now it’s a fantastic full featured online editor
    • DaVinci Resolve 11 also features a unique and powerful automatic color chart color balancing tool that works on all types of footage including video, RAW and even film. The new color match tool automatically gives a primary base grade by analyzing shots containing standard color chip charts even if they were shot in different lighting conditions with different exposure and color temperatures.
  • >>>

How to Format as exFAT from Windows Command-Line

Friday, April 4th, 2014

Following on from my previous post entitled: “SSD Format Details for BlackMagic Cinema Camera”:

Here is how to (re)format a volume as exFAT , whether or not it is already in that format, from Windows 7, via Command-Line (cmd):

  • Windows Start:[cmd]
  • format E: /q /fs:exfat
    • The type of the file system is EXFAT. Enter current volume label for drive E: <your volume’s name>
    • WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE E: WILL BE LOST! Proceed with Format (Y/N)? y
    • QuickFormatting 457860M
    • Format cannot run because the volume is in use by another process.
    • Format may run if this volume is dismounted first. ALL OPENED HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE INVALID.
    • Would you like to force a dismount on this volume? (Y/N) y
    • Volume dismounted.  All opened handles to this volume are now invalid.
    • Volume label (15 characters, ENTER for none)? <your volume’s name>
    • Initializing the File Allocation Table (FAT)…
    • Creating file system structures.
    • Format complete.      447.1 GB total disk space.      447.1 GB are available.
    • 131,072 bytes in each allocation unit.     3,662,754 allocation units available on disk.
    • 32 bits in each FAT entry.
    • Volume Serial Number is <your volume’s serial number>