How to manage projects, assets, and exports in AVE.

Know which files belong to a project.

Each saved AVE project is an .ainle folder. It contains the edit, imported media copies, generated graphics, analysis, caches, and project exports. The default location is Documents → AVE Projects; your configured location may differ.

Importing a file copies it into the project. AVE’s removal actions leave the original file in Downloads, on an external drive, or elsewhere outside the project untouched. Back up the whole project folder when you want to preserve the edit and its media together.

Move a project to Trash.

1. Go to Home and open Projects.
2. Find the project. Use Reveal first if you want to check its folder.
3. Choose its Trash button, review the confirmation, and choose Move to Trash.

The entire project folder moves to macOS Trash, including copied media, generated graphics, sequences, and exports. The project disappears from AVE’s list. Files outside that folder remain in place.

Moving files to Trash keeps them recoverable and does not immediately reclaim their disk space. macOS reclaims the space when you empty Trash.

Choose whether to keep an asset’s files.

On Home, open Assets, check the owning project, and choose the asset’s Trash button. In the editor, right-click an asset for two different actions:

• Remove from Project removes the asset and its timeline clips from the project. Its files stay on disk.
• Move to Trash removes the asset and its timeline clips, and moves its project-owned media and associated files to macOS Trash.

Check the confirmation’s clip and file counts before continuing. Imported originals outside the project are left alone. Removing an asset can affect every sequence in that project that uses it.

Delete a saved project export.

1. On Home, open Exports.
2. Find the output and check its project and filename.
3. Choose its Trash button, then confirm Move to Trash.

AVE moves the export file to Trash and removes it from export history. The project, source media, and timeline remain available, so you can export again.

This action applies to exports inside the project’s Renders folder, shown as Project Exports in AVE. Manage outputs saved to other locations, such as an external Batch Selects destination, in Finder.

Reuse footage without tying two projects together.

Adding a library asset to another project creates a media copy inside the destination project. For example, if you import a video into Test A, reuse it in Test B, and then move Test A to Trash, Test B keeps its own copy and continues working.

Two copies of the same video are different from two projects referencing the exact same file path. AVE protects a project-owned file if another registered project still directly references it.

Understand a blocked removal.

• Analysis, generation, or export is running: let the work finish, or cancel it and wait until it stops, then retry.
• Another asset, export, or registered project uses the exact file: if you are removing an asset, choose Remove from Project to keep its files. To move the files to Trash, first copy or relink the other use.
• The file is external or linked: AVE does not move outside files or symbolic links through project-owned file removal. Check the location in Finder.

Read the exact error before retrying. AVE checks references again after confirmation so a newly shared file is not removed accidentally.

Keep existing projects after updating.

AVE 1.2.8 does not require a manual migration and does not automatically delete old folders. The library now discovers saved projects beyond the recent-project limit, so a previously unlisted project in your configured Projects folder may appear again.

AVE also remembers saved external project locations. If an external project has no saved index entry, open its folder once in AVE. Check older folders with Reveal before deciding to move them to Trash.

Recover a removal before emptying Trash.

For a whole project, find its .ainle folder in macOS Trash, choose Put Back, then open the restored project in AVE.

Asset and export removals are stored in a bundle with their files and recovery metadata. Restore the whole removal bundle with Put Back while AVE is closed, then reopen the owning project. Keep the files together; restoring only a video does not restore its project entry.

If the project changed after removal, AVE refuses to replace newer edits with the bundle’s older snapshot. Follow the reported path to recover the files manually rather than overwriting the current project. Keep the bundle until recovery is complete.

Emptying Trash is permanent. Keep a backup if you may need a project or export later.