Session Files Management... help an obsessive/compulsive mess please!

cbc459 · 18th November 2008

I've been trying to find a good way to keep my sessions organized, and every system I seem to try displeases me in some way. I have a couple questions about general audio files organization I'm wondering if anyone can help me with:

First of all, I assume it is good practice not to work on the master copy of any tracking session, but rather on a copy of that? So should that master be kept on the main Audio drive or is that waste of space, as every song on the project ends up in double (plus all the unused takes that are on the original master). Is a DVD a better place for this?

Also, assuming you are doing all the work from beginning to end on a lower-budget project, do you keep a separate session for editing, mixing, and mastering, or just one all-encompassing session? Or is that again a waste of space? Working with Elastic Audio and fades/crossfades has brought me disastrous results when rendering files sometimes, when PT renders fades of Elastic Audio tracks, it seems to do so destructively, as in once done, if you try to open a previous session containing those fades, PT won't be able to find them, as if they had been consumed by PT itself in the process of rendering them. Anyways, that and other various lost files disasters have made me very wary of keeping one big session.

So what's the method here. Duplicating tracks to keep the edited ones available? Making alternate playlists to work on? Never consolidating your tracks? What methods have you used that worked well for you?

Daft · 18th November 2008

The method I prefer is one called common sense.

Your question is just like asking "How should I arrange my record collection?" - Alphabetically of favourites first?
"Where should I store the ketchup?" In the fridge or on the shelf?
"Do I put my socks in the same drawer as the pants?"

Only you can decide the best way for you to organise your files. Its just another of life's challenges that you must take on yourself now that you are a big boy.

psycho_monkey · 18th November 2008

one master drive - backup at the end of each session to safety drive.

Every time I'm going to make a significant change, say rendering ea tracks, save as a new file name. For example, when tracking I go through 1.0, 1.1 etc then day 2 is 2.0, 2.1 and so on. When mixing, its the same except when I print a mix, I then go to the next session number (eg print mix "my song mix 1.7", then if that's a mix for client approval, if they want changes I'll immediately save as 2.0 and carry on. That way, if they prefer something from an earlier mix, its easy to find and import or reference. Hope that's clear!

Cookie · 18th November 2008

yeah, I basically save a new file name as. .

hitsongbass.ptf
hitsongbassedit.ptf
hitsongguitar.ptf

etc etc

I keep the sessions organized by band or project name.

5down1up · 18th November 2008

everytime i enter a new work stage, the pt session gets a new name.
all the audio and fades contain in the same folder till the final step is reached.
the original sessions & files stay till the end in the same folder and can get imported again using the import from session option.

before mixing i have everything arranged and named properly as audio tracks, those get imported to a mix template change the output busses of the individual tracks and thats it.

takes a while to get organized, the import menus and the workspace browser are very important to me.

the final session gets copied to a new destination for the final backup.

TLS · 18th November 2008

I follow these guidelines and encourage everyone else to do the same:

GRAMMY.com

theblue1 · 18th November 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by TLS

I follow these guidelines and encourage everyone else to do the same:

GRAMMY.com

I'm pretty sure I've never said anything positive about NARAS* before in the 3DW or on the internets -- but, hey, that's pretty cool. I haven't looked at the particulars but just having an attempt at some sensible standards and best practices is a great idea. There are so many people breaching professional gaps today that having some kind of standards is a solid idea.

* or whatever the heck they call themselves these days

Erik Lutkins · 19th November 2008

I "try" to follow one main frame of mind...Always make sure you give yourself a path to back out. And make sure the path to go backwards is clear for more than just yourself. The grammy guidelines are good. It depends on the way you work too. Are you all in the box or do you work on a console?

For major alignment jobs, make sure you're on a separate edit drive from the master, duplicate the playlists, rename accordingly, edit, dupe the playlists again, consolidate, then reimport the consolidated playlists back into the original session. Just make sure you always have the original playlists underneath, then you can just re-edit spots if you don't like them by pasting in from the original playlists if something bugs you. Or go back to the edit drive and fix it. Playlist grouping can get a bit wacky, but can be resolved. Trying to keep major edit stuff on the master is just begging for problems. I've been there, believe me.

Did that make sense?

18th November 2008	#1
cbc459 Gear maniac Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 166 Thread Starter	Session Files Management... help an obsessive/compulsive mess please! I've been trying to find a good way to keep my sessions organized, and every system I seem to try displeases me in some way. I have a couple questions about general audio files organization I'm wondering if anyone can help me with: First of all, I assume it is good practice not to work on the master copy of any tracking session, but rather on a copy of that? So should that master be kept on the main Audio drive or is that waste of space, as every song on the project ends up in double (plus all the unused takes that are on the original master). Is a DVD a better place for this? Also, assuming you are doing all the work from beginning to end on a lower-budget project, do you keep a separate session for editing, mixing, and mastering, or just one all-encompassing session? Or is that again a waste of space? Working with Elastic Audio and fades/crossfades has brought me disastrous results when rendering files sometimes, when PT renders fades of Elastic Audio tracks, it seems to do so destructively, as in once done, if you try to open a previous session containing those fades, PT won't be able to find them, as if they had been consumed by PT itself in the process of rendering them. Anyways, that and other various lost files disasters have made me very wary of keeping one big session. So what's the method here. Duplicating tracks to keep the edited ones available? Making alternate playlists to work on? Never consolidating your tracks? What methods have you used that worked well for you?

18th November 2008	#5
5down1up Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 1,989	everytime i enter a new work stage, the pt session gets a new name. all the audio and fades contain in the same folder till the final step is reached. the original sessions & files stay till the end in the same folder and can get imported again using the import from session option. before mixing i have everything arranged and named properly as audio tracks, those get imported to a mix template change the output busses of the individual tracks and thats it. takes a while to get organized, the import menus and the workspace browser are very important to me. the final session gets copied to a new destination for the final backup. __________________ http://www.kaiportolano.com http://www.myspace.com/kaiportolano

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18th November 2008	#2
Daft Gear maniac Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 166	The method I prefer is one called common sense. Your question is just like asking "How should I arrange my record collection?" - Alphabetically of favourites first? "Where should I store the ketchup?" In the fridge or on the shelf? "Do I put my socks in the same drawer as the pants?" Only you can decide the best way for you to organise your files. Its just another of life's challenges that you must take on yourself now that you are a big boy.

18th November 2008	#3
psycho_monkey Gear Guru Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: London Posts: 13,459	one master drive - backup at the end of each session to safety drive. Every time I'm going to make a significant change, say rendering ea tracks, save as a new file name. For example, when tracking I go through 1.0, 1.1 etc then day 2 is 2.0, 2.1 and so on. When mixing, its the same except when I print a mix, I then go to the next session number (eg print mix "my song mix 1.7", then if that's a mix for client approval, if they want changes I'll immediately save as 2.0 and carry on. That way, if they prefer something from an earlier mix, its easy to find and import or reference. Hope that's clear!

18th November 2008	#4
Cookie Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Dayton, OH Posts: 513	yeah, I basically save a new file name as. . hitsongbass.ptf hitsongbassedit.ptf hitsongguitar.ptf etc etc I keep the sessions organized by band or project name.

18th November 2008	#6
TLS Gear nut Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 117	I follow these guidelines and encourage everyone else to do the same: GRAMMY.com

19th November 2008	#8
Erik Lutkins Gear nut Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Franklin, TN Posts: 82	I "try" to follow one main frame of mind...Always make sure you give yourself a path to back out. And make sure the path to go backwards is clear for more than just yourself. The grammy guidelines are good. It depends on the way you work too. Are you all in the box or do you work on a console? For major alignment jobs, make sure you're on a separate edit drive from the master, duplicate the playlists, rename accordingly, edit, dupe the playlists again, consolidate, then reimport the consolidated playlists back into the original session. Just make sure you always have the original playlists underneath, then you can just re-edit spots if you don't like them by pasting in from the original playlists if something bugs you. Or go back to the edit drive and fix it. Playlist grouping can get a bit wacky, but can be resolved. Trying to keep major edit stuff on the master is just begging for problems. I've been there, believe me. Did that make sense?