diff --git a/element_deeplabcut/model.py b/element_deeplabcut/model.py
index 8a6e47f..c06f617 100644
--- a/element_deeplabcut/model.py
+++ b/element_deeplabcut/model.py
@@ -706,7 +706,14 @@ def make(self, key):
         task_mode, output_dir = (PoseEstimationTask & key).fetch1(
             "task_mode", "pose_estimation_output_dir"
         )
-
+        if not output_dir:
+            output_dir = PoseEstimationTask.infer_output_dir(
+                key, relative=True, mkdir=True
+            )
+            # update pose_estimation_output_dir
+            PoseEstimationTask.update1(
+                {**key, "pose_estimation_output_dir": output_dir.as_posix()}
+            )
         output_dir = find_full_path(get_dlc_root_data_dir(), output_dir)
 
         # Triger PoseEstimation
diff --git a/element_deeplabcut/train.py b/element_deeplabcut/train.py
index b4f2765..750f3bd 100644
--- a/element_deeplabcut/train.py
+++ b/element_deeplabcut/train.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from element_interface.utils import find_full_path, dict_to_uuid
 from .readers import dlc_reader
+import yaml
 
 schema = dj.schema()
 _linking_module = None
@@ -241,8 +242,7 @@ class ModelTraining(dj.Computed):
     # https://github.com/DeepLabCut/DeepLabCut/issues/70
 
     def make(self, key):
-        from deeplabcut import train_network  # isort:skip
-
+        import deeplabcut
         try:
             from deeplabcut.utils.auxiliaryfunctions import (
                 get_model_folder,
@@ -288,13 +288,26 @@ def make(self, key):
         )
         model_train_folder = project_path / model_folder / "train"
 
+        # update init_weight
+        with open(model_train_folder / "pose_cfg.yaml", "r") as f:
+            pose_cfg = yaml.safe_load(f)
+        init_weights_path = Path(pose_cfg["init_weights"])
+
+        if "pose_estimation_tensorflow/models/pretrained" in init_weights_path.as_posix():
+            # this is the res_net models, construct new path here
+            init_weights_path = Path(deeplabcut.__path__[0]) / "pose_estimation_tensorflow/models/pretrained" / init_weights_path.name
+        else:
+            # this is existing snapshot weights, update path here
+            init_weights_path = model_train_folder / init_weights_path.name
+        
         edit_config(
             model_train_folder / "pose_cfg.yaml",
-            {"project_path": project_path.as_posix()},
+            {"project_path": project_path.as_posix(), 
+             "init_weights": init_weights_path.as_posix()},
         )
 
         # ---- Trigger DLC model training job ----
-        train_network_input_args = list(inspect.signature(train_network).parameters)
+        train_network_input_args = list(inspect.signature(deeplabcut.train_network).parameters)
         train_network_kwargs = {
             k: int(v) if k in ("shuffle", "trainingsetindex", "maxiters") else v
             for k, v in dlc_config.items()
@@ -304,27 +317,32 @@ def make(self, key):
             train_network_kwargs[k] = int(train_network_kwargs[k])
 
         try:
-            train_network(dlc_cfg_filepath, **train_network_kwargs)
+            deeplabcut.train_network(dlc_cfg_filepath, **train_network_kwargs)
         except KeyboardInterrupt:  # Instructions indicate to train until interrupt
             print("DLC training stopped via Keyboard Interrupt")
 
-        snapshots = list(model_train_folder.glob("*index*"))
+        snapshots = sorted(list(model_train_folder.glob("*index*")))
         max_modified_time = 0
         # DLC goes by snapshot magnitude when judging 'latest' for evaluation
         # Here, we mean most recently generated
         for snapshot in snapshots:
             modified_time = os.path.getmtime(snapshot)
             if modified_time > max_modified_time:
-                latest_snapshot = int(snapshot.stem[9:])
+                latest_snapshot_file = snapshot
+                latest_snapshot = int(latest_snapshot_file.stem[9:])
                 max_modified_time = modified_time
 
         # update snapshotindex in the config
-        dlc_config["snapshotindex"] = latest_snapshot
+        snapshotindex = snapshots.index(latest_snapshot_file)
+        
+        dlc_config["snapshotindex"] = snapshotindex
         edit_config(
             dlc_cfg_filepath,
-            {"snapshotindex": latest_snapshot},
+            {"snapshotindex": snapshotindex},
         )
 
         self.insert1(
             {**key, "latest_snapshot": latest_snapshot, "config_template": dlc_config}
         )
+
+