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Saving XML files is useful to save the current state of CINELERRA-GG before quitting an editing session. CINELERRA-GG saves projects as XML files. There are a few options you can use to save your work via the File pulldown menu: Save, Save as..., Export project, Save backup. You can either overwrite an existing file or enter a new filename. CINELERRA-GG automatically concatenates .xml to the filename if no .xml extension is given.
When CINELERRA-GG saves a file, it saves the EDL of the current project but does not save any media, instead just pointers to the original media files. For each media file, the XML file stores either an absolute path or just the relative path . If the media is in the same directory as the XML file, a relative path is saved. If it is in a different directory, an absolute path is saved.
You have to be careful when moving files around to avoid breaking the media linkages. You can keep the media and the XML file in the same directory forever and freely move the whole directory, since relative paths are saved. Alternatively you can save the XML file in a different directory than the media but then you can't move the media. In this case you can freely move your XML file around, since absolute paths are saved. If you saved your XML file in the same directory as your media but you would like to move location, you can change the paths from relative to absolute by going to File → Save as... and entering the new location. Similarly if you saved your project outside your media directory but you would like to move your media to another location, you can change the paths from absolute to relative by going to File → Save as...and saving your XML file in the same directory as the media.
You can also repair broken media linkage by editing the XML file in a text editor. For every media you moved, search for the old path and replace it with the new one. You should make a backup copy of your XML file before editing. You can also replace the path of every asset whose source file you moved also within the program, by entering the new location in the Asset info window. To open this window, right click on the asset in the Resources window and choose Info...in the popup menu. Directly type the path in the first field of the dialog or click on the magnifier on the right to browse your files. Operating from the GUI is convenient only when a very small number of changes is needed.
Real-time effects in an XML file have to be re-created every time you play it back. The XML file also contains copies of all the source assets on disk, which takes up space. Render your projects to a final format for more persistent storage of the output.
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