Hello,
I am having difficulty using labels - the label shortcuts described in documentation do not work with my current version (latest, on pro evaluation).
So finally I discovered how to edit shortcuts (by chance) -- documentation is not friendly on where one can find how to edit shortcuts.
So now I have a shortcut for "Properties SETLABEL=Green" -- I can apply green label to a file, drag it in AfterEffects, scale it with the mouse - and that's when the label resets itself in Opus. Whaaaat?
Retested with other label colors and also with "Properties SETLABEL=Checked" -- same behavior.
Tested with changing the label with mouse via context menu -- once I mouse drag anything in after effects -- Opus resets label color.
Further experiments showed that mousedrag is not the factor -- this just happens anyway.
I don't know why that command would work if the default commands for it didn't. They basically do the same thing, and you shouldn't need to create custom buttons/commands for that action.
I can apply green label to a file, drag it in AfterEffects, scale it with the mouse - and that's when the label resets itself in Opus. Whaaaat?
Labels are stored in NTFS ADS metadata by default. If another program edits a file, it may actually delete the old file and create a completely new one with the new data. If it doesn't preserve the ADS metadata when it does so, then the label will be lost.
Windows has a ReplaceFile API for doing that kind of thing, which will preserve the data, so I would consider it a flaw in the other software for it to fail to keep it, but it's also a fairly common flaw.
Not much we can do about it, but you could ask the developers to use ReplaceFile (or manually copy the ADS over from old to new, but that's a lot more effort than just using the API).
Opus also gives you the option of storing labels in your configuration, rather than with the file itself. But then the label is stored against a specific path, and if you rename the file the label will not go with it; any new file you create with the old file's path + name will inherit the label instead. That can still be useful (or even preferable) in some situations, but it depends what you plan to do with the files and what the labels are being used for.
Okay, makes no sense to me considering that the file is not re-written, though it might place a lock temporarly while it is loaded up and prob. windows sux enough to rewrite the metadata/index without the Opus data.
Based on your input, I solved my workflow problem by doing the opposite. I labeled all files in the folder with Green and while I was adding them up in AfterEffects they were clearing themselves out of the label - hence i knew where I left off in case something was breaking my concentration.
Just for the record, the bug does not reproduce with Photoshop nor Libre Office Writer, but is consistent in AfterEffects and Premiere Pro: when a labeled file is dragged in AE or Premiere - label resets after aprox 2-3 seconds.
Presumably AfterEffects modifies the file at that point.
You could use Process Monitor to confirm this. But if doing something in AfterEffects removes the label, when nothing was done in Opus, it seems like the only explanation (at least if the label stays gone from that point on).
Good point. That's also possible. If AfterEffects is locking the file in a way which blocks Opus from being able to open it or the ADS metadata attached to it, then Opus won't know the label is on the file. But it should re-appear after closing AfterEffects in that case.
Nope, label does not comeback on program shutdown/nor windows restart.
-- Also the bug seems related to images only (png/jpg), no such problem with video or .ai files.
-- also - the affected file have indeed been modified/re-written, the modified timestamp changed.
Also, onlce the Adobe engine "loads up" the file in its database -- the bug does not repeat on same file.
I think you can add this one up to known bugs as "Adobe Premiere and AE break Opus labels on rendering images for the first time."
I'll try submitting this bug to Adobe when time allows it.
Below exemplified how the loaded files reset label back to default color (white).
