Why Can't I Compact Audio for EA Files?

[Kenny Gioia]

It says that this not allowed. I can't seem to find a workaround.

I cut 10 drum takes (12 tracks each) and edited the takes together.

Then I used EA to quantize the parts. All perfect.

I don't want to commit though. I like having the option of tweaking in the future.

I just don't need 10 full takes of data. Some of the pieces are less than a bar. I just want to compact the files (with buffer on both sides) and have it remain tweakable.

Is it possible?

If I consolidate each piece, will that use the fixed timing or keep the original intact?

[Capta¡nHook]

Hey Kenny, i finally signed up here. After 10 years. LOL.

What i do is before using EA, i consolidate on a new playlist.

Then EA the drums.

By tweaking i assume you mean rather than tweak EA (in which case
you want rendered processing right?) you mean change which take
is in the main playlist?

I just grab it.. consolidate with some room either side of the section
on a NEW playlist, EA it, commit (or rendered processing) and copy
back to my "working" playlist.

Does that make sense?

Or did i not understand the question? (again. Hehe)

[Kenny Gioia]

It makes sense but it doesn't work for me.

The edits I make before using EA are not good edits. So I don't want to commit to them and try to fix them with EA without having enough info on either side. I make the edits work by using EA.

But you have lead me down a good road. What I could have done was make all my edits on a new playlist. Now drag out each edit an extra bar or two. Consolidate that piece. Then drag it back to the original edit and use EA. Now each piece is shorter and I can delete all the original tracks if I want.

But that doesn't solve the problem of compacting songs that I already completed. I'll play around today but if anyone has anymore suggestions.

[Keybeeetsss]

Hey Captain..Good to see ya outside of GS

As far as the edits, & I know this doesn't help any Kenny as u may be stuck on ur prior work, but I do as Captain pretty much; I usually do between 5-10 takes, punching in spots/feels I want on the last one, edit all the pieces I need, then duplicate a new playlist of the edited 1, consolidate & go to work on that if need be...

[Kenny Gioia]

The way I do it is I concentrate on finding the best takes as keepers.

I don't care if they flow from one to the other because I can fix that in EA.

I really don't like the idea of consolidating bad edits to fix in EA.

Don't quite understand why you can't compact EA tracks.

BTW - Consolidate does render the audio so that doesn't help.

The solution seems to be consolidating before doing EA.

Too late for that.

[Keybeeetsss]

Originally Posted by Kenny Gioia

The solution seems to be consolidating before doing EA.

Too late for that.

Yeahppp... Actually thanks to having great Gospel "feel" playing drummers I don't have to use EA but I do as u; even if flows/feels are different I can edit to make it work & to be honest I don't consolidate unless I send the session out which is very rare... But I do make a dummy playlist to edit of course...

[Capta¡nHook]

Originally Posted by Kenny Gioia

Don't quite understand why you can't compact EA tracks.

I better understand your situation now after you posted more but
truth be told i don't know anything about "compacting" audio.

How do you do it?

My workflow has always been to just consolidate what i'm happy
with so i can chuck the rest. (but to be honest, i don't delete
anything - hard drives are too cheap, every album gets it's own
plus a backup for the duration)

Consolidating before EA was the only thing that made sense
to me because i don't know of the 'compacting' option. Haha.

[Kenny Gioia]

You select files in the region list (usually all of them) and select compact files.

It automatically trims each used file (and deletes the unused ones) to the exact size you're currently using plus a chosen buffer size in case you need to crossfade or trim longer.

[Capta¡nHook]

Oh right. I barely use the region list. I know the shortcut for exporting a file/region
and that's about all i sometimes use.

I wish i had the enthusiasm to push myself into exploring the program like you do!

[Kenny Gioia]

You don't delete unused files?

Hard drives are cheap but Pro Tools takes longer to open if you have 4 gigs of files that you're not even using.

At least remove them from the session.

I never hit undo after a bad take, because I loathe that dialogue so I have a ton of bad takes in the session.