All my project lost!

[atanganel]

Hi! I'm very upset!

My PTF was open and I lost internet connection for a while. When returning to the PTF screen I found a message like "the owner has deleted the files from the cloud and all local cache will be deleted too" or something similar.

When restarting PTF all my projects have vanished and I've lost all my jobs! I regularly backed up the "project cache" directory and I've just replaced all projects but when starting PTF they don't appear.

I often had problem with projects sync and by the way all latest projects where not synced (only local copy), so I really don't understand what happens.

Highly disappointed by the application, it just wiped out hours and hours of work!!!!!

HELP PLEASE
Thanks

[JoelG]

It would be best to open a support case with Avid - https://www.avid.com/learn-and-support/contact-support

Joel

[xsj]

Hi,
I have recently become a user of PTF and I have experienced similar issues. My story may offer you a solution. By the way, I have decent hardware (Intel i7 with Win10) and a good internet connection.

I gained a licence for PTF through a recent purchase of a Focusrite Scarlett interface. The Focusrite welcome documents suggested that PTF would be a good DAW to use and I installed it (a somewhat messy process by modern standards with iLok etc.). I spent considerable effort watching training videos and getting to understand the software.

After my first serious project was suddenly deleted I was not happy, but I assumed I made an error. It seemed due to the automatic cloud synchronization. I decided to save future projects only in the Project Cache and back up the whole folder to a safe location.

I started my project again and invested several days work. Two days ago it too became corrupted and could not be opened from my project list. I was very annoyed, but did not panic since I had a fairly recent backup. However, when I copied my backup into the Project Cache folder PTF refused to recognise it and it would not appear in the Open Project list.

When I looked for a solution to this problem (including this forum) I discovered that it was a known bug that had been fixed by Avid in June 2019 when they released version 2019.6. When I received my welcome email from Avid on April 1st 2020 they provided a link to version 2019.5! I cannot contain my disappointment that they explicitly pointed me to software with a known serious flaw.

I have since downloaded version 2019.6 which I hope will solve your problem. However, I did some tests to see what would happen if I made backups to my projects. I found that even if I restored the entire folders under Project Cache, PTF would not recognise them and they could not be retrieved. I find this the worst bug of all. The files are a mixture of XML and proprietary binary files which seem designed to hide the working of the application (OK, a common tactic) and allow people to recover their files.

So, I decided to try a rival product. So far it has worked flawlessly and the recordings I have created are saved in well-labelled folders that seem easy to backup and restore.

I'm afraid that my experience of PTF has been painful and I will avoid it where possible. I hope version 2019.6 prevents future issues for you.