File Management and Archiving

If you have ever opened a Pro Tools session and discovered missing audio files and they are nowhere to be found then you have probably come to the immediate realization of the value of “file management” and “archives.”

There is an excellent blog article entitled “Scatter Brain” which speaks to the subject of proper file management, and should be mandatory reading, about which I would like to add a few of my own points before addressing the issue of archives. I think we can all agree that at this point in time with the current state of cpu speeds, drive speeds, et al., that the need for scattering audio across multiple drives is much less of a necessity, if even needed at all, than it used to be.

Now if you are working in a large multi-room post facility, all networked up to the max with everyone sharing files and such, then that’s a different story. This article, however, is more directed towards the independent, individual user (like myself). Whether I’m doing the post on a film or working on one song, I like to have every audio file associated with a particular Pro Tools session located in the single Audio Files folder within that session folder. That’s one reason I normally keep the “Automatically Copy Files on Import” box “checked.”

This is located in the “processing” section of the “Pro Tools Preferences” menu and ensures that any imported audio files are “copied” as opposed to being “referenced.” I’ll admit that I’ve been burned a few times in the past by assuming I had all the audio files within my session. And we all know what happens when we . . . . So first, before I archive the session, I use this easy way to see if all the files are actually in that Audio Files folder. I go to the Regions list and in the “show” drop-down menu select “full path” and then in the “Sort by” drop-down” menu select “disk name.”

When I scroll to the top of the list I can see that the first audio file is located on “PT DRIVE 36A,” in a session folder called “MANNY-So Cold,” and it’s in the “Audio Files” folder. Cool. I then scroll to the bottom of the list and see if the last audio file is found in the same location. And it is (must be my lucky day).

Since I am viewing the list in alphabetical order based on “disk name” then I know that all the audio files between the first and last that I looked at in the Regions list are all in this same location. So I’m golden and know that when I archive this project that every audio file will be there. Hopefully I have been archiving periodically through the course of the project, so let’s say at this point the project is complete and I am doing my last set of archives.

I used to do the 4mm tape drive thing back in the days, but now have been relying on dvd’s for quite some time. Nobody really knows how long these will last, but it has to be better than a magnetic medium, and we all have heard the horror stories of archiving to firewire drives and putting those on the shelf for later retrieval, or rather non-retrieval when that drive doesn’t boot as a result of sitting idle for too many years. So for me, for now, it’s dvd’s, and single sided, at that (just from a “compatibility with others” standpoint).

Now even if I have “removed” unused audio files from my regions list I know those files on still on my drive and so, consequently, archives can get to be rather large, easily exceeding the 4.5 gig dvd limit. (And yes, I know a dvd is 4.7 but that does not mean we can put 4.7 worth of data on it, so I tend to think of dvd’s in the 4.5 range) For archiving large sessions what I used to do was to make an “Audio Files 2” folder, an “Audio Files 3” folder, etc and then would spread out the audio files to separate folders until they were all under 4.5 gigs. Next, I would archive (with redundant copies) all of those Audio Files folders, plus the additional stuff (fades folder, session back-ups, session files, etc).

This works fine, although it is a little cumbersome, but it's necessary if you are cross-platforming between mac and pc. If you are staying within the mac environment then I recommend Toast 8 for its capability of automatically spanning large archives across multiple disks, which is extremely convenient for back-ups that exceed the dvd limit. Once I have finished those multi-disk archives I like to make what I call a “consolidated” archive. I will get rid of all of my unused playlists and then remove all of the unused regions. Next, I make a “Save Copy In...” of my session on that same drive, or any drive with available space, making certain that I have the “All Audio Files” box “checked.”

Now I have a copy of my session that size-wise is probably pretty manageable and contains only the files I deemed as “the ones” in the completed project. Now I make two more archives of this session. If I ever need to resurrect this project than I would probably want to use this smaller “consolidated” version, or I could go back to the larger archives if I thought I needed some of the files that I did not actually use in the “final”.

Just remember these three things:

1. dvd’s are cheap
2. you can’t have “too many” archives
3. tell your Mom you love her

Happy Projects!