Importing Audio vs Session Data

[The Saxplayer]

Hi,
I could not figure out a proper title for this thread but here is my issue.
I have added audio from another drive to a session (without copying it unfortunately) that will obviously only show up if that drive is connected.

I have made a "copy to" of the entire session which copies all audio to a new session but I was wondering if there is a command to bring the audio from the other drive to the audio folder of the current session without the need to copy.

Furthermore I have started to work with a template and when I import session data to match tracks with my template tracks the audio is not copied but remains in the original session which brings me back to my initial question.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Georges

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by The Saxplayer

I have made a "copy to" of the entire session which copies all audio to a new session but I was wondering if there is a command to bring the audio from the other drive to the audio folder of the current session without the need to copy.

Copy without copying? Not that I know of.

But if you did copy the audio file(s) to your session folder and disconnected the original source drive, then next time you open session it says this and that file cannot be found and asks you to relink. Then you can tell PT to search your session folder and it should find the manually copied files from there, because all files have unique ID that does not change when you manually copy the file from external drive to your session folder.

Makes sense?

[priorytools]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Copy without copying? Not that I know of.

But if you did copy the audio file(s) to your session folder and disconnected the original source drive, then next time you open session it says this and that file cannot be found and asks you to relink. Then you can tell PT to search your session folder and it should find the manually copied files from there, because all files have unique ID that does not change when you manually copy the file from external drive to your session folder.

Makes sense?

If bringing in just a couple of "new" audio files, I quite often just check that all audio has the current session location selected in the disk allocation window, then just select the new audio in the edit window & press "Option+Shift+3".
Of course this will only consolidate the clip not the entire parent audio file.

[The Saxplayer]

Thanks. I have manually copied audio files into a session now and Protools did find them.

However I have a large project where I fear that I might miss some, so I was hoping there was an option to consolidate everything together.

Consolidating the track using option+shift+3 is a neat workaround since it creates a new file in the folder of the audio session.

That is at least one good solution, and you only keep what you need. Which may be an issue if you need to go back to select different audio ...

Cheers

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by priorytools

If bringing in just a couple of "new" audio files, I quite often just check that all audio has the current session location selected in the disk allocation window, then just select the new audio in the edit window & press "Option+Shift+3".
Of course this will only consolidate the clip not the entire parent audio file.

Sure, that's a quick and dirty way of doing that. Of course, a new file is created with a new ID but who cares, gets the job done. What I suggested brings in the whole original audio with few clicks.

[priorytools]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Sure, that's a quick and dirty way of doing that. Of course, a new file is created with a new ID but who cares, gets the job done. What I suggested brings in the whole original audio with few clicks.

I agree JF.
Maybe the op should just save copy in to consolidate his situation . . ?

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by priorytools

I agree JF.
Maybe the op should just save copy in to consolidate his situation . . ?

Maybe. Depends how many files are out there. If just a few, fixing the session is faster. IF most of the files are on externals however, Save Copy In is very straightforward

[gwhatley]

I like to open the Workspace Browser Window (option+semicolon),

click on the session icon on the left pane, then click on the "Audio Files" folder;

from the columns generated in the right pane, click on "Path" to sort by Path.

From here it is easy to see audio files that are outside of your main session folder. You can select them all, them right-click on one of them and choose "copy and relink". Choose where you want the new copies to be (presumably within your main session folder), and... There they go.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

[gwhatley]

Originally Posted by gwhatley

I like to open the Workspace Browser Window (option+semicolon),

click on the session icon on the left pane, then click on the "Audio Files" folder;

from the columns generated in the right pane, click on "Path" to sort by Path.

From here it is easy to see audio files that are outside of your main session folder. You can select them all, them right-click on one of them and choose "copy and relink". Choose where you want the new copies to be (presumably within your main session folder), and... There they go.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

What I like about this workflow:

(1) it is immediately evident, without any hunting/pecking, what files are from outside your session folder.

(2) you can choose to copy and relink these files to an organized folder (e.g., "cues from composer") if that's important for you.

(3) you get the full file, so no loss of heads and tails that would result from consolidating

(4) you can keep your original session with all of your previous versions and session file backups, which may go by the wayside if you were to instead do a "Save Copy As..."

It's easy, flexible, and built-in to pro tools.

G.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

[priorytools]

Originally Posted by gwhatley

What I like about this workflow:

(1) it is immediately evident, without any hunting/pecking, what files are from outside your session folder.

(2) you can choose to copy and relink these files to an organized folder (e.g., "cues from composer") if that's important for you.

(3) you get the full file, so no loss of heads and tails that would result from consolidating

(4) you can keep your original session with all of your previous versions and session file backups, which may go by the wayside if you were to instead do a "Save Copy As..."

It's easy, flexible, and built-in to pro tools.

G.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

I fully concur.