 This is one of the most aggravating things you can see when reopening a project. It means your edit software does not know where your files are and it can't make you be magic like you want it to. As a video editor, you're going to end up with a lot of files, and if you don't have a system to keep your files together, you might end up with heartbreak. This video is designed to help beginning video editors understand how editing software works and see how to prep files to keep your s*** together. Video editing software works something like a chef assembling a recipe that you create with media ingredients that you provide. Your video clips, graphics, and audio clips are your raw ingredients. Your timeline is where you build your recipe instructions. But here's the common misconception. Most people think the project panel is like the pantry where the clips are saved, but it's not because the files aren't actually stored here. The project panel acts more like a shopping or ingredients list. So when you get the dreaded media offline message, it's because your ingredients have been moved either by your volition or somebody else's, and the video edit chef can't s*** complete the recipe or export your media. It looks something like this. This is why it's up to you to build your own media storage folder system or pantry where all of your ingredients are in one easy to find place. Here's what we recommend you do for each project. Create a new file and name it New Project File. I like to add the star because I like to use this as a template, and when you do that, it always floats to the top. Within that file, create five more files and name them Audio, Exports, Footage, Graphics, and Project Files. Audio is where you save your sound media for your project, like soundbites, music, and sound effects. Exports is where you save your finished exported edits. Footage is where you save all of your video clips. Graphics is where you keep your still images, and Project Files is where you save your software project files, like Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, and Word. To be even more organized, you can add subfolders. For example, in your footage folder, let's say you had a two-day shoot, so you create a file for day one and day two. You can even make files for B-roll, interviews, takes, or whatever you like to help you remember what's where. Together, all of these files create a solid organization unit to keep your video clips together and prevent the loss of assets from ever happening again. So keep this file structure as a template, and whenever you're ready to start a new project, just duplicate it and rename it as needed. Be sure to look out for part two of this video for tips on how to rename files if you're a Mac user, so you can be even more organized.