"some files in the show are missing" WHY?

[JohnForrester]

Another mystery for the experts!

I made my first show and made a test burn to dvd with no problems. I then left this show and worked on another couple of shows, and burnt them - again no probs. I then decided to burn all 3 shows to one dvd. When opening up the first show, which had previously worked fine, I then got:

"]Some files in this show are missing"

The show loaded up on the time line correctly, but nearly all the slides were blank with "FILE NOT FOUND" shown on each one. Yet the original images were still where they always were and I could easily load them individually onto the time line. So what's going on? Have I a bug? Anyone else had this?

John F

[briancbb Profile Private message]

John

I suspect that somehow you have inadvertently moved the image files.

If you open the show.psh file in Notepad and scan down this to the 'images', this will tell you where Proshow expected to find them (along with alot of other details about keyframes, zooms etc.

Brian

[JohnForrester]

Brian

The files are definitely in the original folder. I've just read another one of your posts where you refer to a couple of Proshow files which seem to "save" file locations? Is this still relevant? (I have the latest version 2047)

Anyway I've sent off my first query to Photodex, I await their response!

John F

[briancbb Profile Private message]

John
Those two files are still relevant, but when you reload a show it is the .psh file that is telling Proshow where to find the images.

As the show loaded to the timeline it was obviously reading data from the .psh file, and I assume therefore that transitions and slide times were correct. Are you absolutely certain you did not change your image file structure when you made the additional shows? It is so easy to do, and I can't think of another reason.

Brian

[JohnForrester]

Positive

I cropped the images in Photoshop to suit my widescreen tv, then created a special folder for them. I haven't changed them I'm certain.

John F

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

They're not on a network mapped drive ( \\server\some_path ) are they ??
Seems to me I remember people reporting that as a problem. You can also
view the showname.psh file with a text editor (notepad etc) and see what path
it shows in there for the files in question - I suspect if you figure out what
changed with one of them, the rest will also make sense.

mikey

[JohnForrester]

Bonjour Mikey

I'll do as you suggest. This is getting a bit involved for my simple brain though! As there have been many updates to this programme, it's a shame Photodex haven't picked up on it if, as you suggest, it's not the first time?

John F

[JohnForrester]

Bonjour Mikey

I'll do as you suggest. This is getting a bit involved for my simple brain though! As there have been many updates to this programme, it's a shame Photodex haven't picked up on it if, as you suggest, it's not the first time?

John F

[briancbb Profile Private message]

John

It is not so much a Photodex problem Mikey is referring to, but where files are placed, server paths can get complicated.

By the way, if you have now corrected the show and saved it, the .psh file will point to, and when viewed in Notepad, where the files are now.

Brian

[JohnForrester]

Brian

I'm confused. Are you saying, that although my missing images are in the correct folder (i.e. as confirmed fy checking the 'Folders List' on the left side of PSG) that they are actually in some other
location? I'll check your suggestion anyway.

I've started to load back the missing images from said file, unfortunately all this does is load to the timeline the basic image, so I have to start all over again with transitions etc.

John F

[briancbb Profile Private message]

John

Sorry I thought you had now fully corrected the show and resaved it, therefore all would now be showing OK.

If you have not resaved the show, find a slide number that you have not replaced the image (ie one that is still missing in the timeline). Open the .psh file in Notepad. Scroll down to you see the words cell[n], where n=slide number+1 (because slide 1 is cell[0]). The second line of all those that start cell[n] will tell you where Proshow expects to find the image, relative to where the .psh file is located.

This should tell you if you have or have not moved the pictures, perhaps when you cropped them.

Brian

[briancbb Profile Private message]

John

Just thought of another reason for the .psh file not finding the loaction of the images. Depending on what you have been doing sometimes the full path name of the image file is in the .psh file. Sometimes, I know if you have done a 'collect files' but there could be others, the file location is relative to the .psh location.

Have you by any chance moved the .psh file rather than the images?

Brian

[JohnForrester]

This is the Photodex response to my problem of 'missing files' It seems a little involved at first glance?...Anyone any comment?

"Where are your show elements, including images, audio, and video? If
they are on an external drive, over a network, or on a disc, you need to
"Collect show files". You need to make sure you keep all images, video,
and audio used in the show. ProShow does not add those elements to a
show file, but rather points the show file to where they are located on
your drive. This means that if you move or delete any of these files and
try to open the show file, ProShow will need to locate them. ProShow has
a Find Missing Files feature that helps you quickly locate content that
has been moved or is missing from your show. To Find Missing Files:

1) When you open a show with missing files, you will see a prompt that
asks you if you would like to search for them. Click < Yes >.

2) This will launch the Find Missing Files dialog., where you will see a
list of the files that Gold was unable to locate and their previous
location in your slide show. Each file will have a red X next to it.

3) Select a file from the list of missing files and click < Locate >.
The name of the missing file will automatically appear in the File Name
field to assist you in locating the correct file.

Collecting your show files will create a backup copy of your show which
is made up of three folders for your images, audio, and videos. It will
also create a copy of your show file that points to these new folders.
You can choose to create this file collection in a new folder on your
hard drive or onto a CD/DVD for transportation. As long as these show
elements are sitting next to each other, they will open successfully.
Please make sure you copy these elements to the hard drive rather than
using them from the disc, should you want to work with them later. This
will solve the problem of having to keep your images in the same
location for the show file to be able to find the show media in the future.

Next, go to "File" > "Collect Show Files." Now click "Browse" on the
right, highlight the "Desktop" or any other folder that you're
comfortable with, then hit "Make New Folder" and name it the same name
as your show. Click on "OK." Now hit "Collect" at the bottom. When it is
finished, you will see a message saying "ProShow is done copying files."
If the files are over a network, you may have to copy them over to your
local drive manually before you import them into a show. The creation
and operation of shows over a network, external, or on a flash drive is
not recommended"

JohnF

[briancbb Profile Private message]

John

Let's take it slowly. The reply is really in three parts.

The first paragraph up to 1). This is telling you that Proshow does not work well if the images are on an external drive (like a USB drive), over a network (the files are on another computer networked to the Proshow program computer) or on a disc (DVD or CD). The second part of the paragraph is what I have said, the files have been moved from where Proshow expects to find them from the first time the show was constructed.

The reply then goes on in Para 1) to 3) to tell you how to locate easily missing files (usually once one missing file has been found if the others are in the same location these will be found also).

The last two paragraphs are recommending that once a show has been constructed the 'File>Collect Show Files' option is used to place all your files in one folder and the .psh file is also placed in the same folder. All 'file pointing' references then become 'relative' (eg images/image1), that is they are not specific full path names such as C:/my pics/holiday/image1. As the file references are 'relative' the folder can be moved anywhere, and the .psh file can be opened and the links work.

The last paragraph is telling you how to correctly do a 'Collect Show Files'.

I hope this helps you interprete the email. Basically what they are saying is the image files have been moved from where Proshow last made the show and the path names to the images are specific. Then how to locate the files, and finally how to make the path to the files 'relative' with the show contents collected.

Brian

[JohnForrester]

Brain

Thanks for your summary.

I am still not clear as to whether you and/or Photodex are saying that I have inadvertently moved the files to were they should not be? I claim that I haven't. If it isn't me it must be the programme?! Therefore my assertion that it is buggy remains!

Interestingly, after repairing the missing file show with all the correct images manually inserted, I seem to now have all my 6 shows, all able to be loaded up with no missing files anywhere. Thus the problem seems to have at cured itself for the moment.

However., I must concede to not yet doing this 'collect show file' business I'll check this out. Has this omission contributed to my problem?

Pleased with the quick response from Photodex though.

John F