SourceCollect Support

What SourceCollect does

SourceCollect is a desktop app that finds your creative projects and every file they use: footage, images, audio, fonts and the other projects they bring in. It collects them into a self-contained folder that opens correctly on any machine, without opening After Effects, Premiere Pro or any other creative app.

Beyond collecting, it can find and reconnect missing files, bring scattered files in beside a project, and keep a live Library of every project on your drives.

• Batch: collect many projects at once, from different apps.
• Nested projects: an After Effects project inside a Premiere project, an Illustrator file inside that. Every level is followed and collected.
• Fonts: fonts used in After Effects comps travel with the project.
• Previews: real thumbnails of every asset before anything is copied.

Install

SourceCollect for Windows is available from the Microsoft Store. Install it from there and it keeps itself up to date. The macOS version is coming soon; you can sign up for launch updates on the home page.

On first launch, SourceCollect starts building its Library in the background. You can collect right away, and the Library fills in as it goes.

Four ways to start

Every collection starts with picking the projects. Use whichever is closest to where you are.

Right-click in Explorer

Right-click one or more project files and choose a SourceCollect item: Collect … here collects straight away into a folder beside each project, and Collect … options opens the preview first. On Windows 11 the items may be under Show more options.

Hotkey

Select project files in Explorer and press Ctrl + Alt + C. You can change the shortcut in Settings → Hotkey.

Drag and drop

Drag project files from Explorer into the SourceCollect window, or onto the drop overlay that appears while you drag.

From the Library

Select one or more projects in the Library and start the next job from there.

Home

Home is where you drop projects and choose what happens to them. Pick a mode, then drop files or use Collect a project… or Collect to a folder….

• InstaCollect collects immediately, into a folder beside each project. Use it when you just need a portable copy.
• Inspect then collect opens the preview so you can review, reduce and resolve missing files first.
• Consolidate brings loose files in beside the project. See Consolidate.

Below that, Recent collections lists what you have collected. Each entry can open the folder, collect again, copy the folder path, or be removed from the list. Removing an entry never deletes the collection.

Inspect then collect

The preview reads every queued project and shows every file it references, with thumbnails, before anything is copied.

1. Add projects. Everything they reference, including nested projects, is listed.
2. Check the list. Missing files are marked. Choose Resolve missing files… to fix them, or Proceed with available assets only to collect without them.
3. Choose where it goes: Collect puts each collection beside its project, and Collect to a folder… lets you pick one destination.

While a batch runs, the queue shows each project moving through its steps: reading the project, verifying media, gathering assets, relinking paths and verifying the result. The collected project points at its copied files, and a report is saved beside each collection.

If two queued projects share a name but can't be compared, SourceCollect asks before going on: Collect without them, or Find them first.

Combine and collect

Choose Combine and collect in the preview to merge several projects into one package. Assets they share are copied once and kept together, so a delivery of related projects stays small and organised.

Fix links (resolve missing files)

When a project points at files that have moved or been renamed, SourceCollect finds candidates and lets you reconnect them, before collecting or in place, without opening the creative app.

1. Open Resolve missing files… from the preview, or from a project's card in the Library.
2. Pick a missing file. SourceCollect searches the folders most likely to have it first, then the rest of your drives. Use Search all drives to widen the search.
3. Compare the results. Name, size, picture size and length are compared with what the project remembers. Labels like Name match only or Different version tell you how close each one is. Nothing is linked automatically.
4. Choose Use this file. To point at a folder yourself, use Locate manually…. Other missing files from that same folder resolve with it.

If a file can't be found, Skip it: it won't be collected, and the project keeps its original path. Unlink undoes a choice so you can pick again.

Fonts

For After Effects projects, SourceCollect collects the fonts your comps use so text renders the same on the next machine. If a font isn't installed, it shows a preview and suggests a substitute. You can choose a different font family and save the choice as an alias, so future collections skip the question.

Consolidate

Consolidate tidies a project where it is. It brings scattered working files in beside the project and repairs the links, instead of making a copy elsewhere. Start it from Home, or from a project's card in the Library.

• Before anything moves, it shows what would be copied in, what is already there, and what will be left where it is. Files that other projects also use are flagged, so you don't break those projects.
• It edits project files, so it asks for permission first. A hidden restore point of the original project is saved beside it before any change is written.
• To leave every file where it is, cancel and use Combine and collect to make a copy instead.

For accurate shared-file warnings, let the Library finish scanning your folders first.

Library

The Library is a live, always-current view of the projects on your drives. It mirrors your folders, and it updates automatically when files are added, moved or changed. There is nothing to rescan.

• Hover a project to preview what's inside. Open its card to see its media, which other projects share it, and its actions.
• From the card: Open project, Reveal it in Explorer, collect a portable copy, consolidate it, or fix its missing files.
• Projects stored online only (for example, in OneDrive) are marked as cloud files. They download when you open or collect them.

Settings

General

Appearance, and what the close button does: normal behaviour, or keep SourceCollect running in the tray. Minimize always goes to the taskbar. This tab also has the option that allows SourceCollect to edit After Effects project files directly, which is needed to fix links in place and to consolidate. A restore point is always made first.

Programs & Formats

Turn programs on or off. When a program is off, SourceCollect ignores its files completely. See Supported formats.

Hotkey

Set the shortcut that collects the files selected in Explorer. It must include Ctrl, Alt or Shift.

Library

• Folders to scan and Folders to ignore control what the Library covers. Leave the scan list empty to cover every drive.
• Export Library saves your project list as a CSV.
• Maintenance resets the Library's generated data. It never touches your projects or your collection history.
• Share debug info saves a zip to attach to a support email.

Supported formats

SourceCollect reads projects from After Effects (.aep, .aet, .aepx), Premiere Pro (.prproj), Illustrator (.ai), Photoshop (.psd, .psb), Audition (.sesx), Nuke (.nk), Blender (.blend), DaVinci Resolve (.drp, .dra) and Cinema 4D (.c4d).

Some formats are listed as Beta in Settings → Programs & Formats and are off until you turn them on. They work, but have had less testing. Check what they collect before you rely on it.

Troubleshooting

A project I know about isn't in the Library

Check that its folder isn't under Folders to ignore and, if you set Folders to scan, that it's inside one of them. Also check that its program is switched on in Programs & Formats.

A missing file wasn't found

The file index may still be building after a fresh install. Try Search all drives, or use Locate manually… and point at the folder the files moved to.

The right-click items don't appear

On Windows 11, open Show more options. If they still aren't there, restart Explorer or sign out and back in, then try again.

Something else

Email support@fazstudio.net with what happened and the debug zip from Settings → Library → Share debug info.

Privacy

SourceCollect works on your computer. It has no accounts, analytics or tracking, and never uploads your projects or media. Read the full privacy policy.