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My video intro and outro are created in after effects. I want to use them in my Premiere Pro videos but I also want to archive these Premiere Pro projects after I'm done. I don't know yet how to do that, but I basically want to gather (and probably zip) every single file used in that PP project so that I can not break it later by removing, renaming, or deleting files that this project depends on.

As far as I know, there are 2 ways in which I can get an AE composition into PP: Either by rendering that clip and using it like a normal video, or by using the "Dynamic Link" functionality.

The former option would be the easiest way to get my intro and outro into PP, and then later gather and archive the files. The problem is the huge file size of the generated clips. I get several GB for that 11-second intro clip. Remember that I wanna archive each video separately, meaning that each project will have its own copy of that intro and outro clip.

Dynamic links don't generate large files but I don't know if my "gather and archive" process will even work with dynamic links. I have a feeling that it will not work.

What do you recommend to fix my problem? Should I just render a smaller file from AE? But then I am afraid to lose too much quality. What file type do you recommend?

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Working with video inevitably involves large file sizes. Buy two large external spinning disks for backup, and a large fast SSD for active projects.

I work on fast SSDs when I'm actively working on a project, making sure all my media, After Effects projects and premiere files are contained within a single folder (and then organised into subfolders).

When it comes to backing up, I don't bother with any of the built in Premiere archiving processes. They're slow and unreliable in my experience.

I copy the entire project folder to a slower cheaper spinning hard disk using Chronosync. This is useful because it can do incremental backups, so if you make small changes on your source disk, Chronosync only needs to scan for the changes, and then backs those up on to the backup disk.

So long as you religiously keep all your work in your project folder, this is a very quick and easy way to back up.

When it's all finished, I check the size of my multiple backups agains the SSD project, then delete off the SSD.

The ease of backing up this way is much simpler than trying to keep master copies of an intro and outro on another disk and referencing them across into different projects.

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  • I decided to not use Dynamic Links (they seem clunky and hard to archive) and export to ProRes instead. ProRes is much smaller than lossless avi but still has virtually no decrease in quality. I actually handle the rest of my process the same way you described. I edit on the SSD and archive the finished project on an HDD.
    – Florian Walther
    Nov 8, 2021 at 8:43
  • I think that's a good plan. I sometimes export a master prores, then separate versions of graphics only with ProRes with Alpha, and the under tracks with no gfx as a solid prores file. (and music, sfx and speech audio mixes).
    – tomh
    Nov 8, 2021 at 8:45

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