Project archive

Editors run a consolidate or collect files command, which copies the clips the timeline references, leaves the unused footage behind, and writes the project file alongside them. What survives is a folder that opens and plays years later without hunting for missing media across four drives.

Archive after delivery, while you still remember what the project was. Keep the master export in the same folder, name it so a search finds it, and store a second copy somewhere that is not the first copy. The common regret is archiving the project and deleting the camera originals, since a client returning for a reframe needs the footage the consolidate step left out.