Managing Projects and Media > Clip Libraries >

# Accessing Gateway Libraries

Using a Gateway library, you can access media files residing on local or remote storage. When you want to use media from a source external to an Autodesk Visual Effects, Finishing and Grading application, drag and drop it from a Gateway libray to a library belonging to the current project.

With a Gateway library, browse and import the media you need for your project. Access and view any media on any local or remote storage, from USB drives to SAN systems. All available volumes are listed in the Network panel, similar to how you view files in the operating system’s file browser.

Gateway libraries differ from Network libraries in that they display the entire filesystem on each workstation, whereas Network libraries display the content of attached framestores. See Copying Local and Remote Clip Libraries to Your Current Project.

To open a Gateway library:

1. In the EditDesk menu, click the Clip Library box.
2. In the Clip Library menu, click Network.

   The network panel appears.

   (a) Local system(b) Framestores available on the system(c) Available framestore and its projects(d) Gateway library(e) Remote system(f) Directories available through the Gateway library

   The local system is listed at the top of the network library. Remote systems follow in alphabetical order.

The network panel controls are described as follows.

Select All and Unselect All buttons
  Click Select All to select all entries in the network library. Click Unselect All to unselect all entries.
Expand and Collapse buttons
  Click Expand to expand selected entries. Click Collapse to collapse selected entries.

TipYou can also click the Expand and Collapse arrows at the left of an entry to expand and collapse it.

Refresh button
  Updates the list of systems by probing all systems in the list to see if they are still accessible, and selected systems only to check if the directory hierarchy changed.

NoteSystems are automatically refreshed when you expand an entry.

Reset Auto Connect button
  Disconnects all entries set for auto-connection.
Selection Sets
  Use selection sets to create and access network location bookmarks.

#### Topics in this section

- Gateway Library Structure
- Selecting Gateway Libraries in Local or Remote Workstations
- Using Selection Sets