diff --git a/oxdbarchive/model.py b/oxdbarchive/model.py
index 0e1522c..a5ec579 100644
--- a/oxdbarchive/model.py
+++ b/oxdbarchive/model.py
@@ -488,16 +488,19 @@ class ArchiveFile(SQLObject):
     if self.height <= 0:
       return
     
+    if not exists(self.mini_movie_file):
+      print "mini movie missing, skipping", self.path
+      return 
+
     t = self.timelineFile
-    if exists(self.mini_movie_file):
-      if not exists(os.path.dirname(t)):
-        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(t))
-    #lets only extract the timeline if it does not exist yet
     if exists(t):
       print "skipping, ", self.path
       return
+    if not exists(dirname(t)):
+      os.makedirs(dirname(t))
     #this fails in tg-admin shell
-    extractTimelineScript = abspath(join(dirname(__file__), "tools/extract_timeline.py"))
+    #extractTimelineScript = abspath(join(dirname(__file__), "tools/extract_timeline.py"))
+    extractTimelineScript = abspath(join(dirname(cache.cache_root), "tools/extract_timeline.py"))
     #this fails is called inside server
     #extractTimelineScript = "oxdbarchive/tools/extract_timeline.py"
     cmd = "python %s %s %s" %(extractTimelineScript, t, self.mini_movie_file)
diff --git a/oxdbarchive/tools/extract_timeline.py b/oxdbarchive/tools/extract_timeline.py
index f585829..1dd0c63 100644
--- a/oxdbarchive/tools/extract_timeline.py
+++ b/oxdbarchive/tools/extract_timeline.py
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
   if len(sys.argv) < 2:
     usage()
   if not os.path.exists(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[1])):
-    print "target does not exist"
+    print "target does not exist", sys.argv[1]
     sys.exit(1)
   
   g = GstTimeline(sys.argv[1])