I need to know how to do this, so that I can delete them from the main computer, freeing up space, and be able to upload them onto another computer for later use or editing.  I've tried doing this blindly, and I could not get them to play after transferring to the external hard drive. Perhaps i am not transferring the correct files?

Are you talking about moving your projects from your computer ? If so, then there is no completely safe way to do this. Read THIS, is explains how some of us have been sucessful doing so. Make sure you click the links in the thread, as well as clicking the "view complete thread" button at the bottom.

If you are talking about a file such as .avi  or  .mpg not playing,  then we've got a problem Houston.

While I take the time to look over everything you suggested, I want to go ahead and leave another question.  I don't think I've tried to move just the .avi or .wmp, etc. So I can try that in the meantime, BUT, if I do get that to work, can those be uploaded into pinnacle for editing? IF this is the case, then I may just be interested in doing that.  Actually, I may not even need to edit those anymore, but only be able to make more DVDs from them...

Yes, if you open your project and create a file from that, you can technically open that file from any version of Studio. As a matter of fact, you can open that file from any other editing program that you have. The project files are specific and supported only in Studio, but a .mpg or .avi are more universal and can be opened separately from the program they were created in.

If I were you, and were planning on moving my projects, I would open each project, and created a file directly from that. Even though I couldn't "continue" my editing with that file, I could start some "new" editing if I wanted to do so. Afterwards when I've monkeyed around with moving my projects, and found out that they won't open up again, I would simply continue with the created file, and simply accept the minor slap on my hand for doing so. I have been sucessful with moving projects, but I still create files just as a safety net.  

One of the drawbacks to using the file is that transitions sometimes cut into the lead in and lead out points on a clip. If you try to cut and reuse the clips, you might not be happy with the shortness of the first and last part of the clip.

If you have created a video_ts folder ( image ) of your project, you could try something quick and easy. You could import your DVD image into studio, and create a .mpg file from that. Since you have not done any editing, the program will create a file very quickly.

 

I'm really a "low-techy" but when I am in the make movie mode, I save the video as a wmv file to my external drive.  This works great for my needs.  To save hard drive space, I moved about 40 wmv files to the external drive and reteieved about half of my total hard drive memory.  This probably isn't the best format to save video, but it works great for me and I often use these wmv files in creating new projects.

Well I managed to get an mpeg-4 movie transferred that did play in quicktime on my other computer just fine.  I tried to "send to" a .avi movie that is 11.something GB but it said it is too large! I have like 430 some GB left on my external hard drive.  What's it mean when it says this? Is there any way around it so I can transfer these movies that says they're too large?

I don't use Vista, so I might not be of help.

Could you open two windows, one showing the location of your file, and one showing your external, and simply drag the file to your external? Or, you could try a copy/paste.

I never use the right click, and "sent to" for a file, if that's what you are talking about.  

I don't know if this is still the case, but external hard drives used to come with FAT32 formatting.  You might check to see if this is pertinent to your problem.

patndave:

I don't know if this is still the case, but external hard drives used to come with FAT32 formatting.  You might check to see if this is pertinent to your problem.

That sounds like the problem to me.  Right-click on the drive in My Computer and choose Properties.  If the file system is shown as FAT32, then the maximum file size is 4GB (minus 1 byte). 

*UGH* it isFAT32, wtf does that mean? Why can't things just be SIMPLE???

 

nevermind on what that means, I tried to look it up and still doesn't make sense to me. I don't know all of that type of stuff. A better question is "what does it mean for ME?"  Am a screwed, or is there another way to move it there? Can I somehow convert or compress the video so it will tranfer?

krccpht:

*UGH* it isFAT32, wtf does that mean? Why can't things just be SIMPLE???

 

nevermind on what that means, I tried to look it up and still doesn't make sense to me. I don't know all of that type of stuff. A better question is "what does it mean for ME?"  Am a screwed, or is there another way to move it there? Can I somehow convert or compress the video so it will tranfer?

Without getting technical, there are different ways of managing files on a disk.  When our files used to fit on floppy drives, a 4GB file was unthinkable.  Now we can make a 13GB file when capturing 1-hour of AVI footage in Studio.

I don't know why hard drives are still formatted using the "old" method.  But the good news is you can change it.

You can "convert" a FAT32 disk to an NTFS format.  It shouldn't lose any data, but anytime you do something like this you must be prepared - either make a backup copy of the data or be prepared to like without it.  It always seems like the more valuable your data, and the less protected it is, the greater the odds of something going horribly wrong.

Click here to get instructions from Microsoft on how to do the conversion.

I was able to convert the drive to NTFS, but now, I am getting the message "windows can't stop your 'generic volume' device because it is in use. close any programs or windows that might be using the device, and then try again later", over and over again.  I had no windows open, nothing using it as far as I can tell.  Would this be because of the conversion I just did, or just coincidence? How can I safely remove my drive if I can't do it this way?

I eventually had to just shut down my computer then unplug it from my notebook.  I had no problem with removing it from my desktop.

but, anyways,

 since the conversion I've been transferring my videos just fine! Thanks everyone for all of your help!