Projects, events and recovery

A project file stores your work: overlay layout, sources, timing and analysis decisions. Your video and telemetry files stay where they are; the project only refers to them.

The project file

• Projects use the extension .fetproject. Open them with File › Open Project…. Double-clicking a project in Finder does not open it.
• File › Save Project and Save Project As… write the file in one step, so an interrupted save never leaves a half-written project.
• The last project you opened or saved is reopened automatically the next time you start the application. If it no longer exists, a new project starts.
• A project file can be at most 4 MiB.

Saved with a project:

• the overlay scene (widgets, settings, cues, groups);
• references to the video and telemetry files;
• synchronization offset and time scale;
• for events: runs, run names and notes, lap exclusions, grouping corrections, approved track segments, the selected comparison and channel choices.

FlappedEar Overlays and FlappedEar Telemetry use the same project file. Overlays keeps everything Telemetry saved, including what it does not use, and changes only its own parts: the scene, each run's video and synchronization, and the chart channels. A project saved by a newer Telemetry still opens; analysis decisions in a format this version does not know are kept unchanged but not applied. For example, a source fusion from a newer Telemetry is kept, and the run's laps come from its primary recording alone.

Laps are not stored; they are derived from the recordings each time. Export choices (size, frame rate, quality, range, output file) are not saved either: the Export dialog starts from the source format each time it opens.

Events, runs and laps

A track day is organised as Event → Run → Lap:

• An event is the day. It holds up to 64 runs.
• A run is one session on track. It has a name, notes, one primary telemetry recording, up to seven alternative recordings, an optional video and its own synchronization.
• A lap is a section of a run's recording between two crossings of the start/finish line. The parts before the first and after the last crossing are the OUT and IN sections.

The overlay layout is shared by all runs of a project.

Moved or missing media

A project opens even when its video or telemetry cannot be found. The layout and settings stay intact, and the header shows Video missing · Locate… or Telemetry missing · Locate…. Click the button and pick the file in its new location.

• Keep media in the project's folder, or in a folder up to two levels above it. The project then stores relative paths, and you can move or copy the whole folder to another place or another Mac.
• Each source is identified by its content, not only by its name. Telemetry is checked byte for byte when it loads. A video is checked by its size, media details and samples of its content, so it opens without reading the whole file.
• If a file at the expected place differs from the original, the header shows … mismatch · Locate….
• If you pick a different file in a Locate dialog, you are asked Source does not match project. Choose Yes only if you intend to replace the source.

Unsaved changes

Before New Project, Open Project… or Quit would discard changes, the application asks whether to save. Choose Save project, Discard changes or Cancel. If the project was never saved, Save project opens Save As; cancelling that also cancels the action.

While a project is opening, Save Project and Save Project As… are unavailable. If the file cannot be opened, the current project stays open and its video and telemetry keep loading.

Quitting while an export is running asks Cancel export and quit? first.

Recovery after a crash

While you work, unsaved changes are written to a separate recovery file shortly after each edit. The project file itself is changed only when you save.

If the application did not close normally and the recovery data is newer than the saved project, the next start asks Recover unsaved changes?:

• Recover restores the changes as an unsaved document. Save to keep them.
• Discard deletes the recovery data and opens the saved project (or a new one).

The question is also asked when FlappedEar Telemetry saved the same project after your last save here: your recovered changes are not in its copy, so recovering them and saving replaces what Telemetry saved, and discarding keeps Telemetry's version.

Until you choose, New, Open and Save are not available. Quitting while the question is open keeps the recovery data, and it is offered again at the next start.

If recovery data cannot be written (for example the disk is full), the status bar shows Automatic recovery could not be saved. Save the project manually to protect your changes. with a SAVE button. Writing is retried every few seconds. The message goes away once the project is saved, or after New or Open.

One editor at a time

Only one copy of the application can run per user. A second start shows FlappedEar Overlays is already running. Use the existing window, or close it before opening another. This protects recovery data and templates. Exports already running are not affected.

Where files are stored

Paths below are for macOS and follow the standard Qt locations for this application. They are given for troubleshooting; you do not normally need to open them.

Replacing the application with a newer version keeps all of these. Remove only the application bundle, never these folders, when upgrading. Builds named FlappedEar Telemetry kept the same items under FlappedEar Telemetry folders; the first start of FlappedEar Overlays moves them to the folders above and copies the preferences. Anything that could not be moved stays in the old folder, and the app tells you where.