I recently received a fairly simple question about how best to collaborate with another user with EnVision running on two different computers. The answer is complex enough that I thought I should make a post about it.
TL;DR: Yes you can share files between computers, even between Windows and Macs. To do it properly you should Export the production first and import it on the other computer.
Question:
Hello! I just purchased your product today for myself and my choreographer. We have two licenses (one for each computer) but will be working on this from different geographic areas. Is there a way to easily share files while working on the same show? Thanks for your help!
Answer:
The files that EnVision creates are sharable via email and other normal file sharing methods and you should have no problems loading them on both computers. That being said, with the addition of music, custom uniforms, custom flags, custom floor etc. managing those different files (images etc.) can become difficult so we do recommend a set of best practices to follow when sharing between computers.
- The initial setup should be done on one computer before sharing happens. This will generally include creating the Canvas (floor/field) that you want, adding the performers in your production, adding and syncing music, making the first save (which includes the .drl (drill) file and the .EnV (EnVision Show) files). Custom uniforms, flags and drum designs can be included here too for convenience but they can also be added later.
- Exporting the production from the File menu. This will group all the extra files together into a single file. This includes the music file and any image files you may have used for uniforms or floor etc.. It also generalizes certain file paths so it can more easily locate the additional files.
- Share the exported file (.EnVision) with the other computer who will be working on the production. They should import this file simply by opening it from the file menu. From then on, the main drill file will have been imported into their Documents/EnVision/Drills directory and they should continue to open it from that file, not the exported file.
- Once the export/import is completed, you should be okay simply sharing the .drl file, but we also recommend sharing the .EnV file.
- Lastly, I also recommend saving your drill files in a progressive manner, regardless of whether you are sharing with someone or not, though it brings additional benefits if you are sharing files. For example I name files with a date followed by a version number for that date: '2020.01.11-1 Blue Devils - Beginning.drl', '2020.01.11-2 Blue Devils - First Hold.drl' etc. This allows you to easily keep track of who updated what and in which order, and to always be working on the correct version of a file. It also makes it easy to go back to a previous version if something doesn't work out in the drill the way you expect it to.
Unfortunately there is no easy way for multiple people to work on the same file at the same time, as EnVision has no good way to merge these changes together back into a single file. So you will either have to work on different segments of the show in different files, or only one person can update the drill at a time.