Are folders handy?

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by Cheesehead

We can only dream.....
I think at this point I would have a little weep.

[smurfyou]

Originally Posted by Cheesehead

We can only dream.....
I think at this point I would have a little weep.

We would all cry in disbelief.

Track folders just didn’t work the way I wanted them to.

[seanmccoy]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Now if we could get "track folders" in the Clips bin.....

I will quote and endorse this every single time it's mentioned.

[Led]

Originally Posted by Cheesehead

All I can see really is a cosmetic benefit of a tidier session?
Personally I have all my tracks and Aux's visible all the time and scroll to the relevant point in the session with shortcuts.
I can't see why I would want to be opening and closing things. Maybe I'm not understanding the benefits, happy to be converted.


For example I had a situation today with a mix where I heard a click in the run through and needed to locate the track/clip it was coming from. Fairly easy to do by scrolling up and down and seeing what is active at that point.
How would you do that if everything was closed down into folders?

I'm somewhere in the same camp, I can see it would make timeline tidier in post, but I know all my food groups and where they sit in my timeline so I can get to them quickly if I hear something I need to address, so feel like I'd be opening and closing folders all the time. I think if they could act as VCAs as well it might be handy. I was just wondering if there are some benefits to post workflow that I'm not grasping and missing out on.
doesn't seem like it at this point, but I'll keep watching where the folder function goes.

[K Roche]

Originally Posted by Cheesehead

All I can see really is a cosmetic benefit of a tidier session?
Personally I have all my tracks and Aux's visible all the time and scroll to the relevant point in the session with shortcuts.
I can't see why I would want to be opening and closing things. Maybe I'm not understanding the benefits, happy to be converted.


For example I had a situation today with a mix where I heard a click in the run through and needed to locate the track/clip it was coming from. Fairly easy to do by scrolling up and down and seeing what is active at that point.
How would you do that if everything was closed down into folders?

Not arguing here as everybody's work flow is different and preferences of doing things is totally subjective with no right or wrong .

That said:: Quick question, By "seeing what was active" do you mean signal in the meters ? because "Routing" folders do have signal and meter's


I had basically had the same issue going on the other day and I simply muted the active folders one at a time until I found the one with the odd buzz and then opened opened it and found the offending track . So in that specific situation I see no particular time or workflow advantage to Aux tracks over Routing folders , unless I am missing something (which is entirely possible) ??

Now to be certain my sessions are not that big maybe 20- 25 tracks , so for the big advantage for me folders is I can easily see the entire session on my 27 inch displays with no scrolling

This short video may be of some interest as it gets into signal and muting in folder tracks
https://youtu.be/Wa--TUpP-aM

[zmod]

I find them useful for post in a few ways.



I do a lot of VO, ADR, and dialog recording and almost always have someone on some combination of Source Connect, Zoom, Skype, or something else. I have a folder with an aux configured with Source Nexus for each of my possible sources. Before my session I make whichever connection I need active then hide the tracks I don't need. I also have a streaming folder containing auxes, again using Source Nexus, so I can check my mix through the computer speakers, tv, iPad, or iPhone.



I love using them to organize imported AAF tracks. It makes it easy to hide them after I've copied the clips onto the proper tracks in my template. They make organizing revised AAFs easier too. I rename the folder AAF and the date so I can quickly see which AAF tracks are the newest.


I also use them when finding and editing music options for commercials. Often I'm sending multiple music options to clients and if I use multiple tracks for one piece of music I will put them into a routing folder so I only have one track to mute and for volume automation.



I've decided to try using them instead of auxes in my template. I just modified it so all of my food groups are in routing folders instead of going through auxes. I've only used it on a simple VO and music only mix which didn't make much of a difference. I'll see if it's better when I get a bigger project in.

[Cheesehead]

Quick question, By "seeing what was active" do you mean signal in the meters ? because "Routing" folders do have signal and meter's

No, I couldn't see it in the meters, only hear it.
I scroll down looking for what tracks have active clips at that point, but I see now you get an overview a bit like the Universe view on a closed folder, so that may still work.


It's still an extra step to open the folders though.
My sessions have upwards of 100 tracks, but I don't find it a problem to keep them all at the top level, as you say everyone's workflows are different, it's good we have options.

I'll experiment with them, thanks for the link.

[Starcrash]

Basic Folders are extremely handy for organization. I use them in every session these days, at least one for guide tracks and video, one for AAF tracks, and then whatever other dividers make sense for what I'm doing. Shift-F to quickly open and close folders!


I enthusiastically tried using Routing Folders but was disappointed. I'm assuming at some point they will divide Routing Folders into two flavors, aux folders and vca folders, each using the logic and signal flow of its namesake, but in the meantime it seems like a "not ready for prime time" feature for several reasons. The first annoying thing is that the default view is waveform rather than volume. If I'm meant to use routing folders for mixing, I would like to always see the volume line, not the little color blocks. Waveform view is really only useful for Basic Folders so you can sort of see what's inside when it's closed. Another big one is that most of us have been using vcas as predub masters for the last decade or so, but Routing Folders are more akin to aux tracks in signal flow. It's basically an aux track with solo/mute buttons (handy) and foldability, so it may take folks who are used to vcas a little getting used to because it changes things, like the way tracks hit comp thresholds, the way verb sends/returns behave, etc. Lastly, and this is probably being fixed moving forward, it's not easy to quickly show/hide folders like it is with aux and vcas using menus, shortcuts, control surface layouts, etc.

[audiolex1]

I remember folder tracks in 2003. Nuendo and Cubase had them.

They have been around forever.

AVID just realized every other DAW has them. Use them. You will appreciate them.