Workspaces and storage

#The workspace model

• A workspace is your account's area inside a folder on your Mac. The first one is created for you in Movies › Formats Studio.
• Everything Formats generates lives there: project files, media metadata, thumbnails, waveforms, transcripts, scene data, generated media, caches and exports.
• Imported source media is not copied into the workspace. Formats records a link to each file where it already sits.
• Different accounts can use the same parent folder; their projects, media and caches stay separate. Signing out does not delete your files.

#Add and switch workspaces

• Open Workspaces and choose Add workspace... to use another folder, such as an external drive for a big shoot.
• Choose Switch to change which folder Formats uses. Switching never moves your source media.
• Show in Finder opens the workspace folder.
• Remove only takes a workspace off the list. Its projects and media stay on disk.

#Missing media

Missing Media means Formats cannot currently read one or more linked source files, usually because they were moved, renamed or are on a drive that is not connected.

• Use Locate or Locate Folder when a file or its folder moved.
• Use Browse Another Folder to point Formats at a new copy of the media.
• Use Work Offline only when you plan to relink later; clips stay as broken references until then.

#Move projects and clear caches

• Use Export Project to package a project and its media into a portable bundle that another workspace can import.
• Project cache actions clear regenerated data such as waveforms, filmstrips and decoded audio.
• Storage settings also regenerate thumbnails, generate missing proxies and delete proxies.
• Clearing caches never deletes your source media; previews are rebuilt when the project needs them.