What is the difference between linking to media and importing media?

What is the difference between linking to media and importing media?

• A. The media is copied into a new project file.
• B. Importing ingests a copy of the original media that's been converted to Avid-native media.
• C. Linking connects an original media file to the project; Importing ingests a copy of the original media that's been converted to Avid-native media.
• D. Both linking and importing work the same way.

Answer: (C)

The difference hinges on how the media is handled: linking creates a reference to the original file on disk, while importing makes a separate, Avid-managed copy of the media that is often transcoded to an Avid-native format. When you link, the project points to where the media already sits; no new media is created. This keeps disk usage down and lets you work with files you already have, but if the original file moves, renames, or is deleted, the link can break and the clip goes offline. When you import, Avid copies the media into its own managed storage and typically converts it to an Avid-native format. The project then contains its own independent media, so it doesn’t rely on the original file remaining in its original location. This improves reliability and performance consistency, at the cost of additional disk space. So the best description of the difference is that linking connects the original media file to the project, while importing ingests a copy of the original media that's been converted to Avid-native media.

The difference hinges on how the media is handled: linking creates a reference to the original file on disk, while importing makes a separate, Avid-managed copy of the media that is often transcoded to an Avid-native format.

When you link, the project points to where the media already sits; no new media is created. This keeps disk usage down and lets you work with files you already have, but if the original file moves, renames, or is deleted, the link can break and the clip goes offline.

When you import, Avid copies the media into its own managed storage and typically converts it to an Avid-native format. The project then contains its own independent media, so it doesn’t rely on the original file remaining in its original location. This improves reliability and performance consistency, at the cost of additional disk space.

So the best description of the difference is that linking connects the original media file to the project, while importing ingests a copy of the original media that's been converted to Avid-native media.