User Manual
Consolidating Media
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Consolidating Media
When you consolidate media files, your Avid editing application finds the media files or portions
of media files associated with selected clips, subclips, or sequences. It then makes copies of
them, and saves the copies on a target drive that you specify.
There are three basic reasons to use the Consolidate feature:
• To copy media onto one drive for storage or transfer to another system.
• To keep only the media required to play back a sequence, and delete the rest to use less
storage space.
• To create backup files.
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Because the Media tool displays only master clips, you cannot consolidate subclips or sequences
with the Media tool. You can consolidate master clips, subclips, and sequences in a bin.
The Consolidate feature operates differently, and provides different advantages, depending upon
whether you are consolidating master clips, subclips, or sequences.
Master Clips
When you consolidate a master clip, your Avid editing application creates exact copies of the
media files. If you link the original master clip to the new files, your Avid editing application
creates a master clip with the file name extension .old that remains linked to the old files. If you
maintain the link between the original master clip and the old media files, your Avid editing
application creates a new master clip with the file name extension .new that is linked to the new
media files.
The new master clips are also numbered incrementally beginning with .01. Consolidating master
clips does not save storage space because your Avid editing application copies the same amount
of media for each clip.
Consolidating a master clip (original clips and media files in red, new clips and media files in black). Top: in this
scenario, the original master clip remains linked to the original media file (for example, on drive A), and the new
master clip (which receives a .new.01 file name extension) is linked to a new copy of the original media file (on drive
B). Bottom: in this scenario, the original master clip is linked to a new copy of the original media file (on drive B), and
the new master clip (which receives a .old.01 file name extension) is linked to the original media file.