Pro Tools File Management - Unused Files & Mixing.

[rich robinson]

Hello,

I record and mix in the using a PTLE (002rack) system.

I've only recorded a couple of big sessions with this system and have come across some file management problems... allow me to explain.

I created a new PT session and made a template the day before the we started recording to save the time of creating, naming and assigning inputs for tracks etc. I then did 'save as' versions of this template for the three different songs, which we intended to record.

At the end of the recording session, I pressed 'select all unused' and hit the delete option which deleted half the audio files from one of the other tracks in the pro tools session. Oops.

So I learned the hard way that this isn't how your supposed to manage your files.

Does everyone work on different tracks in separate PT sessions or do people like to work within one session further down the timeline?

Now I'm creating seperate PT sessions for each track I record.

How can I keep the sound of my software mixes consistent when all the songs are in seperate PT sessions?

I guess traditionally one would run each song from the recorder to an analog desk which would have the same settings on them.

Is there an easy way of importing session data or some kind of template session option for pan/plug-ins and such for multiple PT sessions.

Is there an easy way around all this that I have simply not realised?

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Cheers.

[Geert van den Berg]

Unfortunately PT LE is a bit limited in session data import.

On an HD system you can get consistency between mixed because it is very easy to import almost any settings from another session.

Still for backup and cleanup purposes having one song per session is a good thing to do. In LE you could always later on import these tracks in a mix session to get consistency between the songs.

The mistake you've made is that after you made the template, you should have done 'safe copy as' with the 'copy all audio' files tab selected. This creates a session with the correct 'disk allocation' immediately.

On the other, if the template is empty you can also open the copy and then set the disk allocation to the a new Audio Files folder. Just keep in mind how a Pro Tools session + additional folders is built up. Look at the structure on your harddrive. If you copy a sessionfile make sure it is in a folder with an Audio Files folder, along the session file Pro Tools will also create folders for fades (which are no disaster if those get lost, PT is able to re-create them) and folders for region groups, videofiles etc.

Remember to check the disk allocation for every recording! (also keep in mind if in your workspace the recording location is set to P --> playback, even when the disk allocation was set correctly it will look for another recording location).

[rich robinson]

Thanks for the info.

I have followed your advise and creted some 'save as copy' versions of a template for this weekends session.

I thought it was best to borrow a friend's PT tutorial DVDs to brush up on file management.

Thanks again.

[doorknocker]

Originally Posted by rich robinson

How can I keep the sound of my software mixes consistent when all the songs are in seperate PT sessions?

I wouldn't worry about it and only deal with the song/mix per se.

But you can 'Import Session Data' from other PT sessions, which is a great feature as it will let you import full 'channel strips'. So I might import say the drums bus stereo track from another session as a starting point and work with the plug-ins that I used there.

But in general I always start a mix from scratch and let the mastering engineer worry about 'consistency'. I just work hard to give him a great and well-balanced sounding mix of each song.

[Franco]

Also look into creating Window configurations for your sessions, which is another thing that can be imported with session data. This helps you be consistent in your workflow from mix to mix.