Assertion Error line 140, Elastic Audio, Workaround, Questions

[phasephucked]

I've got a session that won't launch. It gives me this error:

Could not complete the Open Session... command because Assertion in "/Volumes/Development/vb_blues/AlturaPorts/PT4_App/MacBuild/../../NewFileLibs/Time/Time_TypedBase.h", line 140.

It is NOT Databases/Volumes related. I've been through all the troubleshooting steps, trashed everything, removed plugins, tried different PT LE machines and drives, new user account, etc.

If I dig back through session backups, the latest one which will launch appears to be just before I: Grouped Regions, switched to Tick-Based, and started some really involved Elastic Audio-Rhythmic tweaking on my drum tracks. I rendered the EA but did not commit. When I returned to the session the next day, I was unable to open it.

If I import the drum tracks into a new session, it gives the Assertion error but imports them anyway. It analyzes the audio files (progress in the Task Manager) but the EA-quantized regions don't play back. When I save and close, it creates .aan files in the Rendered Files folder. But when I try to re-open this session PT crashes.

If however, I "Save Copy In" and include "All Audio Files", I can open the copy. It gives me the option to "Regenerate missing render files without searching", creates a ton more .aan files and a boatload of .aif files, and now I'm good to go. I can play everything and I can Import/Copy Audio these tracks into my original session.


So I seem to have a workaround... except that I don't trust anything.
Was it the analysis files that became corrupt? The rendered .aif files?
(What are these btw, and why is PT creating .aif files in the Rendered Files folder if I'm not yet committing EA?) Something else? Am I in the clear, or should I just ditch the Rendered Files folder and start my EA process over again? I did a lot of detail work on the EA analysis track--this drummer's got a lot of ghost notes and grace notes that EA couldn't figure out on autopilot.

Anyone? Digi? I've only found one other thread with this error and that's in post #3 here .

[DigiTechSupt]

It sounds like at least one render file got corrupted. Corruption can occur for many reasons - drive read/write errors are typically the most common, but there are many other possibilities.

This is why it's always good to backup regularly.

As for your questions - Pro Tools creates AIF files in the rendered files folder because these are the currently calculated versions of the audio on the track. They're temporary files - they get deleted if you close the session without committing. No application currently keeps the audio in RAM and actually does all the real-time calculation on the fly. They all work from an audio file that's generated from the original audio plus any EA manipulations that are done - and includes meta-data that determines the parameters for EA playback of that audio file.

You *should* be in the clear, as a 'Save Copy In' regenerates all audio, fade and render files, but it depends on where the corruption is occurring. I'd test things with the current session and see what happens.