Created attachment 181361 [details] 'cachefiles' folder and numeric-named subfolder Recently I've experimented a bit with the different options available for defining the Project Folder, in the Project Settings dialog. That left me with some concerns: 1. Not the best option name? The option name "Parent folder of the project file" seems somewhat confusing (and the explanation in the manual adds a lot to it). What the option does is storing a "cachefiles" folder inside the same folder where the current project file is saved. a) To me this is not the parent folder of the project file, it's the folder of the project file. So the name of the option could be clearer, I think. b) The manual explains about this option: "Uses the parent folder of the folder the .kdenlive project file is located in" This is wrong, and certainly not what happens when using this option. 2. Choosing the "Parent folder of the project file" option for a project. a) When creating an new project, and choosing this option in the Project Settings dialog, I think it'd be useful to immediately prompt the user to save the project, and avoid exposing him/her to the warning dialog it's currently displayed the first time the project is saved to disk. Later on, when the user decides to save the project, this warning can easily caught the user by surprise, giving the impression that "something has happened". b) When an unsaved project is already in use (some clips loaded, perhaps some editing done) and the user decides to change the Project Folder to this same option, a warning dialog appears, it says: "The current project has not been saved. This will first save the project, then move all temporary files from C:/Users/<user_name>/AppData/Local/kdenlive/cache to /cachefiles, and the project file will be reloaded" The problem with that is that it effectively does what it says: No matter where the new project is saved, Kdenlive moves the cache folder to C:/cachefiles (instead of the folder where the project was saved), and the Project Folder setting gets set to Custom folder, instead of the chosen folder "Parent folder...". (I don't know if this is happening in all platforms or only on Windows). c) If the project has already been saved when changing the option, all happens as expected (i.e. a "cachefiles" folder is created in the same folder the project file is saved in). 3. "cachefiles" folder contents. This is more of an internal thing, but I wonder why it happens, and if it could have any impact when moving projects from one place to another, or when archiving projects. For some reason, inside the "cachefiles" folder there is always a folder with a numeric name (like: 1747371107491, 1747370902201, etc.) This folder also contains "audiothumbs", "masks", "preview", "sequences", "videothumbs", and "workfiles" subfolders. The strange thing is that, for example, the "preview" folder inside the cachefiles folder does not contain the rendered timeline previews of the project, but instead they are saved inside this "preview" subfolder of this other folder with a numeric name. Also, "audiothumbs" and "videothumbs" folders content seem to be duplicated (or at least most of it) in both of the same-named folders. (An attached image shows the folder tree created when selecting the "Parent folder..." option). Thanks!!
(In reply to Gabriel Gazzán from comment #0) > The manual explains about this option: > "Uses the parent folder of the folder the .kdenlive project file is located > in" > This is wrong, and certainly not what happens when using this option. Yep, that is one *parent* too many in the sentence. Will correct it in the documentation. Thanks for pointing this out.
Recently I've tried using the "Parent folder of the project file" project folder setting, and the issue with the multiple unused sub-folders is still happening. Maybe it's worth taking a look at it. It's not something broken, from a functionality perspective, but it's still something that looks to me as unnecessarily complex to manage, if the user decides to use that option... For a project in a folder named "my_project", when selecting the said option, a new "cachefiles" folder is created. Inside it there are many sub-folders, most of them remain always empty, at least as far as I could test it. Then, for each sequence created inside the project file, a new subfolder is created with a numerical ID name. Inside those folders new sub-folders are created, where previews, and other cache files used in that sequence are kept. Perhaps, there's something I'm missing about the unused folders at the root of the "cachefiles" folder. But, to me, most of them seem to be redundant. 🤔