Backup Catalog Metadata

[Tubby]

Hi All, I just discovered this forum - looks like a great community!
I'm new to Premiere Elements 10 so I'm just getting familiar with it. I had used PowerDirector in previous years.
Quick question in regards to the PRE 10 catalog: is it possible to backup only the database index and metadata (i.e. tags, detected scenes, thumbnails, etc)?
I backup my computer files (including my 50Gb of videos) via an alternate backup solution, so I'm just looking for a way to backup all my PRE 10 stuff without having to do the 50Gb of videos over again that would be included in 'Catalog Backup' feature.
Thanks!

[Steve Grisetti]

Welcome to Muvipix, Tubby!

Unfortunately, I don't know a way to back up the metadata without backing up the media files too. The metadata is part of the files, isn't it? Not a separate catalog of information.

BTW, 50 gigs is not a lot of material to store. Not with 1 terrabyte external drives selling for well under $100. It might be worth picking one up and just letting the Organizer back up all of your media files and catalog regularly.

[Barb O]

Steve,
There is a separate file that is the Organizer Catalog and there are other supporting files in that same folder.

Tubby,
I know that people have done separate backups of the Elements Organizer Catalog (and its supporting files) for exactly the reason that you stated -- they already had a working process for backup of their photos and videos (plus their other files). I have done this with earlier versions of Elements, but not recently, so I need to do some research before giving you specifics. Do you run Windows or a Mac OS and what version ?

Barb

[Steve Grisetti]

Barb's here! You can be sure you'll get your answer now, Tubby!

[Barb O]

Tubby,

The following info from the Adobe support site will assist you in locating the v10 Elements Catalog on your system --

When you are in the Elements Organizer workspace,
you can find the catalog folder by going to Help > System Info and checking Catalog Location under Current Catalog.

Then please post
-- the name of the folder shown as the location for your Catalog
-- a list of all the files contained in that folder
-- what operating system you are running (as requested in my previous post)

[Tubby]

Thanks guys.
Steve - good point about cheap local storage, but for online storage (to protect against fire/flood/theft) I still need to be mindful of efficient storage size for costs and for uploading bandwidth considerations.
Barb - I have Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit (more details in my signature).
I know that Picasa has a couple of folders in AppData that stores all of its metadata for face recognition/etc as well.
Thanks

[Barb O]

Tubby,

Sorry, I did not think to look in your signature for the operating system: I see it now.

Yes the adobe Elements Organizer Catalog may also be under Appdata also. I expect that you will find a folder structure there for Elements Organizer.

Using the Help command that I mentioned will verify the location of this Catalog. When you have the opportunity, please do post the info that you learn from the Help and also post the other files residing in the same folder.

[Tubby]

Perfect!
Under Help, then System Info it gives this info on the Catalog:
Current Catalog:
Catalog Name: My Catalog
Catalog Location: C:\ProgramData\Adobe\Elements Organizer\Catalogs\My Catalog\
Catalog Size: 2.3MB
Catalog Cache Size: 102.8MB

Here is a breakdown of what is in the folder:


The actual catalog file is: catalog.pse10db
But I just backed up the whole folder. (230 files)... easy for only 102 MB. Quickly compressed to .rar archive @ 22 MB.

Thanks for your help!

[Barb O]

The actual catalog file is: catalog.pse10db
Much of the most significant info (like tag assignments) is in that file. However, I definitely agree with backing the entire folder.

Tubby,
The dilemma is that there might be a few files (which are not within that folder) that it would also be desirable to back up. This is the area where I can't give you an immediate answer. Therefore, I recommend that you stay subscribed to this thread so I can give you any additional info that I find.