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Relative Export Paths PLEASE!

The fact that Pr always defaults to the last export location, regardless of which project is exported from, is completely illogical. Why would a user ever want to export Project B's sequence into the last used export folder if that folder belongs to Project A, for example? (see illustration 1)

There are already about a half dozen FRs that ask for this to be fixed, however since they only offer half baked solutions, I'm posting a new FR, offering a full fledged solution.

The solution is simple:
Provide a new 'Export' tab in the Preferences window that allows users to define the default location they want all of their projects to export to (both from Export Settings and Quick Export). (see illustration 2)

A 'Relative path' checkbox would allow users to make the export path relative to each project. In the illustration's example, the location is set to .\Exports. This means exports from Project A will automatically appear inside a folder named 'Exports' next to project 'Project A.prproj', and exports from Project B will appear in Project B's 'Export' folder, and so forth. If an export folder doesn't exist, Pr would automatically create it upon export.

Should a user wish to automatically export to the same location regardless of which project is exported from, setting this up would be as easy as browsing to one's preferred export location (for example, a "Pr Exports" folder on the Desktop), and unchecking 'Relative path'.

Note that these options would only set each project's DEFAULT export location. If a user chooses to export to a different location from a certain project, then that (and only that) project's default export location would be automatically set to this new location.

Example:
Project A: User exports to Desktop = New default export location for Project A set to Desktop

Project B: Default export location continues to be 'Export' folder (next to Project B.prproj)

This workflow would address the needs of all editors: those who want exports saved in locations relative to each individual project, as well as those who want exports from all projects to appear in the same place!

The current exporting behavior makes zero sense and is incredibly frustrating, especially for editors who work on more than one project at a time. Please fix this already! Thank you!

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Pierre Louis Beranek shared this idea  ·   ·  Report…  ·  Admin →
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  • KDX FILMS rowland commented  ·   ·  Report

    i need this its such a pain!! just export to current project location in a subfolder or whatever. this needs to be a thing/

  • Kristopher Wilkins commented  ·   ·  Report

    I can't begin to estimate how many work hours per year I waste tracking down files I accidentally exported to the wrong folder. I don't understand how After Effects can have this feature (at least when exporting using Media Encoder) but Premiere does not. I work on hundreds of projects per year, and at least having the OPTION of saving exports adjacent to your project folder would be a drastic QOL improvement.

  • Kyle Fossé commented  ·   ·  Report

    I can't tell you how many times I've exported to the wrong folder, then had to go hunting through my projects folders to find the right one. It's incredibly frustrating.

  • Paul Hjellming commented  ·   ·  Report

    Lmao I just love that they totally rebuilt the export module in whatever recent release that was and did not address this at all. What a mess.

  • Joachim Wiese commented  ·   ·  Report

    Great presentation of the problem, like the solution. We often think about grand improvements, but I'd like a version to come out whose only feature is "It has 378 less clicks than before". This feature suggestion is exactly this. And I love it.

    Right now, there's a plug in call Compass that does this, kinda. It's better than what this is right now. https://knightsoftheeditingtable.com/compass

    Thanks to this person to set this up so nice for Premiere. Great stuff.

  • Ben commented  ·   ·  Report

    Agreed, there should be a pref to use the location of the project file as the relative starting point for all import/export.

  • Peter Wu commented  ·   ·  Report

    There is no need to have a "relative path" checkbox because, at least in windows, the user can specify either absolution path (e.g. E:\video\projectA) or specify a relative path (e.g. .\export)

  • William Morton commented  ·   ·  Report

    PLEASE! I keep finding exports in a folder under other (past) projects, which is highly annoying!

  • John Knowles commented  ·   ·  Report

    I second the COMPASS extension. Simple and free.

  • Jeff Pierce commented  ·   ·  Report

    Adobe,

    If you do this, please make it a preference the user can set. I prefer my exports to always go to the same output folder -- so the way it works now is perfect for me. Please don't take away the current functionality.

  • Lucas Triebl commented  ·   ·  Report

    Totally agree on that - pain in the A**. Even a simple generall setting to choose wheter export path should be recent folder/location or projects folder / location would be better than what we have now.

    This should be implemented for ALL Adobe CS apps like PS, AI, ID.

  • Alexandre Verreault commented  ·   ·  Report

    Just remember the path of the last exportation of each project and same thing for file importation could save a lot of time!

  • Richard Osborne commented  ·   ·  Report

    It is a DAILY issue for me over years!!! As I start a new project most days....

  • Gammel Sami commented  ·   ·  Report

    Or a much simpler solution: If the last used path of any path-picker was within the project directory, remember it as relative. And a checkbox in the settings to disable relative paths.

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