<p>After some STRUGGLE. I found this worked (strap in for a ride). Here's the step-by-step:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>(Since I was in a group) have your project open and go to <code>Edit&gt;Team Project&gt;Convert Team Project to Project</code>.</p>
</li>
<li><p>The Premiere Pro project file (.prproj) is actually a compressed XML file. Exit Premiere Pro and then rename your project file from <code>YourProject.prproj</code> to <code>YourProject.zip</code></p>
</li>
<li><p>unzip the file. It wouldn't work on my computer unless I used 7-zip to unzip it.</p>
</li>
<li><p>open the file titled <code>YourProject</code> in a text editor (I used VSCode)</p>
</li>
<li><p>Access the find and replace functionality (here's where it gets complicated)</p>
</li>
<li><p>Some text/code editors have an option like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>regular expression</code></a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>use regex</code></a>. You will need to enable this.</p>
</li>
<li><p>input <code>([a-zA-Z0-9\s_\\.-]+):([a-zA-Z0-9\s_\\.-]+)\.MP4</code> for the <code>find</code> field. this finds any <code>.MP4</code> file that contains <code>:</code></p>
</li>
<li><p>input <code>$1_$2.MP4</code> in the <code>replace</code> field. <code>$1</code> is all the text before <code>:</code> and <code>$2</code> is all the text after up until <code>.MP4</code>.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Hit replace all and save the file- make sure to add the <code>.prproj</code> extension to it.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Load it up!</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>remember to always make a backup of your project file as I've only tested this a little bit. It worked for me!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-01T05:17:20.587Z
2023-06-01T05:17:20.587Z
chriscrutt
<p>I was working on a video project with some classmates and after our class ended I asked our editor if I could have the footage. She everso-nicely renamed the files so they are human-readable, however, included <code>/</code> in many of the files. For example, <code>scene2_shot17_take1-OTS/chairs.MP4</code> is the name of a file. Mac, for some reason, is able to read the <code>/</code>. Windows, however, reads it as <code>scene2_shot17_take1-OTSchairs.MP4</code>.</p>
<p>For Premiere Pro, when I load up the project, it asks me to locate all of the files. It says the last path was <code>Path/to/file/scene2_shot17_take1-OTS:chairs.MP4</code>. So instead of replacing <code>/</code> with <code></code>, it replaces it with <code>:</code> which is also an illegal character to have in filenames!</p>
<p>I've used <a href="https://www.advancedrenamer.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Advanced Renamer</a> to rename all the files that contain <code></code> to <code>_</code>. My only question now is how to inform premier pro that I have made that change. I have almost 100 files that had <code>/</code> in them and I would not like to have to manually link them all. Thanks</p>

<premiere><video-editor><adobe><file-formats><premiere-pro>
Premiere Pro media linking with illegal filenames
chriscrutt
# Premiere Pro media linking with illegal filenames

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-06-01)

I was working on a video project with some classmates and after our class ended I asked our editor if I could have the footage. She everso-nicely renamed the files so they are human-readable, however, included `/` in many of the files. For example, `scene2_shot17_take1-OTS/chairs.MP4` is the name of a file. Mac, for some reason, is able to read the `/`. Windows, however, reads it as `scene2_shot17_take1-OTSchairs.MP4`.

For Premiere Pro, when I load up the project, it asks me to locate all of the files. It says the last path was `Path/to/file/scene2_shot17_take1-OTS:chairs.MP4`. So instead of replacing `/` with ``, it replaces it with `:` which is also an illegal character to have in filenames!

I've used [Advanced Renamer](https://www.advancedrenamer.com/) to rename all the files that contain `` to `_`. My only question now is how to inform premier pro that I have made that change. I have almost 100 files that had `/` in them and I would not like to have to manually link them all. Thanks

**Tags:** premiere, video-editor, adobe, file-formats, premiere-pro


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2023-06-01. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

After some STRUGGLE. I found this worked (strap in for a ride). Here's the step-by-step:

1. (Since I was in a group) have your project open and go to `Edit>Team Project>Convert Team Project to Project`.
2. The Premiere Pro project file (.prproj) is actually a compressed XML file. Exit Premiere Pro and then rename your project file from `YourProject.prproj` to `YourProject.zip`
3. unzip the file. It wouldn't work on my computer unless I used 7-zip to unzip it.
4. open the file titled `YourProject` in a text editor (I used VSCode)
5. Access the find and replace functionality (here's where it gets complicated)
6. Some text/code editors have an option like [`regular expression`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression) or [`use regex`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expression). You will need to enable this.
7. input `([a-zA-Z0-9\s_\\.-]+):([a-zA-Z0-9\s_\\.-]+)\.MP4` for the `find` field. this finds any `.MP4` file that contains `:`
8. input `$1_$2.MP4` in the `replace` field. `$1` is all the text before `:` and `$2` is all the text after up until `.MP4`.
9. Hit replace all and save the file- make sure to add the `.prproj` extension to it.
10. Load it up!

remember to always make a backup of your project file as I've only tested this a little bit. It worked for me!


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