What imports keep and what they lose

Learn what an import keeps and what it drops, so you know what to check after it finishes.

Before you start

• Read Import a project from the old GRAPE or Import from ELAN first.
• Keep your old folder. An import copies it; it does not move it.

Steps

1. Open the import from the Projects page (old GRAPE) or the annotator toolbar (ELAN). A result panel appears when it finishes.
2. Wait for the panel. It names what came in and what it skipped.

Compare the panel against the lists below.

What an import from the old GRAPE keeps

• Your whole library: every category, every annotation type, every sub-type, and their colors.
• Types with no bars. They become empty tracks you can fill in.
• Every .mp4 file inside the data folder.
• Every annotation: its start time, its end time, and its sub-type name.
• The transcript, split into the same segments.
• The length of each video.
• The name of your folder, which becomes the project name.

GRAPE MARS records each of these annotations as imported, and puts your name on it as the coder.

What it loses

• The note you typed on an old annotation. Only the sub-type name comes across.
• Video files that are not .mp4. The preview marks that row "no video file".
• Your saved analysis settings. The preview counts the files in the analysis folder, but you build a workspace again in the new site.
• The sound wave picture, after you close the tab. Reload the page and it is gone.

What an ELAN import keeps

• One annotation for each aligned ELAN annotation, with its start time and its end time.
• The text of the annotation.
• One annotation type for each mapped tier that has at least 1 aligned annotation, named after the tier.

An ELAN import brings no video and no transcript. Upload the video first.

What an ELAN import loses

• Reference annotations, the kind that point at another annotation instead of a time on the timeline. GRAPE MARS reads only aligned annotations, and it skips a reference annotation with no message.
• A tier with no aligned annotations. It creates no annotation type, even if you leave the box ticked.

Speakers

Both imports put every annotation on the default speaker of the video. Old GRAPE MARS had no speakers, and tier names are not speaker names. Move the annotations yourself if your study needs 2 speakers.

Check it worked

Open the video in the annotator. Count your tracks against the old app. Then play a short part and check that 2 or 3 bars sit at the right times.

If something goes wrong

• My old annotations or empty tracks are missing
• Everything came in except one video
• The preview says "2 analysis configurations found"

Related

• Import a project from the old GRAPE
• Import from ELAN
• Import (GRAPE and ELAN)