Knowledge Base

Problem

A user wants to free up disk space used by EthoVision experiment files and needs to know which files are safe to delete without losing experiment data or tracking results.

Details

Applies to all versions of EthoVision XT. EthoVision experiment folders contain an 'Intermediate' subfolder that holds precalculated analysis results (cached computations). This folder can grow large over time but is safe to delete because EthoVision will recalculate its contents the next time analysis is run. Raw tracking data and video files are stored separately and are not affected.

Solution

1. Before making any changes, create a full backup of the experiment using EthoVision's built-in backup function (File > Backup Experiment). Store the backup in a separate location.
2. Close EthoVision completely before deleting any files.
3. In Windows File Explorer, navigate to the experiment folder (by default under Documents\EthoVision XT Data\ or the location you specified during setup).
4. Open the experiment folder and locate the subfolder named 'Intermediate'.
5. Delete the contents of the Intermediate folder (you can delete the individual files inside it; the folder itself can also be deleted as EthoVision will recreate it).
6. Do NOT delete the following, as they contain irreplaceable data: the .evxt experiment file, the Trials subfolder (contains raw tracking data), and any video files (.avi, .mp4, etc.).
7. Reopen EthoVision. The next time you run an analysis, EthoVision will recalculate and repopulate the Intermediate folder automatically.
8. Note that experiment backup files can also be very large when video files are included. If storage is the primary concern, consider excluding media files from backups and storing raw videos separately.