If using Per Proj Aud Fldrs will changing Proj Files path in prefs affect old projects?

Beeps, I believe each project maintains the file locations for that project. Changing preferences will apply to new projects. I have changed prefs and Old projects were not affected.
 

Beep I quite often access old projects from my backup drive with no issue whatsoever.
But I have been using PPF's since the dawn of time (or sonar 6 as I called it)
 
Obviously, the audio from the project must be in the relevant Audio Folder or Sonar won't find it.
 
If you want to make doubly sure, open up your old projects, do a "Save As" to your new location and make sure "Copy audio with Project" is ticked.
You'll have to do this one at a time.

No need to do that one-x-one process.  Project folders can be copy/pasted via file explorer.  Entire folder trees can be pruned, grafted, flattened, etc.
 
The key is that each project's files all stay in the same place relative to each other.
 
The only caution is that if a project is in the MRU list when it gets moved, opening via the recent list won't work until a regular open is done in the new location.
 
Specific to Beep's question though, everything will continue to work fine with older projects left in their original locations.
 
 

Here too...

I move my folders many times fir backup and the likes. Sonar doesn't care where the folder is as long as the audio files are in their proper daughter folder. I can open songs moved to different drives with no adverse effects...

The only thing that is an issue at all is that trying to load from the recent files list will generate an error as that path has been changed. Simply navigating to the folder's location and opening the song file solves the issue.

BTW Beepster... Having your doing/audio files on a separate drive will radically improve your system's performance! You're gonna be very happy you decided to do this!

Keni

Hi, scook. Ah... that is one question I forgot to ask. Since I won't be using the Global Audio Folder (because I'm using PPAF) I figured I'd leave it. In the Prefs Audio Data window it is showing that the Picture folder is in the default C drive location.
 
So if I am understanding you correctly, if I leave the Picture folder on the C drive after changing my Project File path that would garner the "best" result?
 
And if I ever decided to move/use the Global Audio Folder (unlikely) then I do NOT want to move the Picture folder as well?
 
Essentially, Projects and Audio on E drive. Picture folder on C. Roight?
 
Thanks.

Beepster
 
Essentially, Projects and Audio on E drive. Picture folder on C. Roight?
 

Yes. I don't think you will notice a difference unless you are working with very large files. IIRC, there are still some occasions when the global folder is used as a temp directory and having to copy large temp files takes much more time than moving files on the same drive.

Actually I don't mess with the Preference for the "Global Audio Folder", this is a case where I create a directory junction. Either way will work.

Alright... after sleeping on it and reading a little more I wanted to ask another question about another scenario.
 
So my current project is getting a little sluggish as usual due to the massive amount of data involved. Obviously my whole resoning behind wanting to shuffle my data around so it's dispersed across both of my available drives (as opposed to just the C drive which is the current setup) is to get a performance boost.
 
This should be a good, albeit non scientific, test of how much improvement can be had by having/moving my project and audio data onto the second drive. I have been working with this project on and off for... well a very long time, so the lags, quirks etc are apparent and I have some standard tasks that usually cause the lags and general quirks lined up (low latency recording into heavily take lane laden tracks, speed comping, etc).
 
So the idea is to keep working as is for a bit from the C drive so I can really pay attention to the lags and issues.
 
THEN I'll change the default Project Files folder in Preferences so that all new projects and their audio end up on the E drive.
 
Now this is where I would like confirmation of the behavior I sould expect...
 
After changing the default Project Files path in Preferences to the new drive I would do a Save As of the project in question. I would make sure that in the Save As dialog that the Project and Audio paths lead to the new project folder on my second drive.
 
Question 1: By doing a Save As after changing the default Project Files path in Prefs will the project now save to that new location or would that have to be changed manually?
 
Question 2: I am assuming, based on the documentation, that to successfully migrate the entire project using Save As with PPAF selected that I would also have to select the Copy All Audio With Project checkbox selected.
 
Am I on the right path here?
 
Originally I said I didn't care about old projects but this is an "important" and ongoing project that I am very intimate with so if there is indeed a significant boost in performance I will notice it almost immediately. I just don't want to screw it up and waste time (so I'm wasting yours... sorry).
 
Might be useful for others in a similar predicament because honestly this file shuffling is actually confusing and intimidating as frack. I've been at it for over three years with Sonar and the only reason I'm really getting this PPAF procedure now is from digging into the page 1400s section of the manual on a random stab.
 
Cheers, thanks and sorry for being stoopid. :-p

Hi, Mike. Indeed it does but I forgot to add something further to the question (sorry).
 
When I do these types of PPAF Save As backups/migrations using the Copy All Audio feature... are Archived Tracks included in the Copy or ignored? I have a lot of Archived Tracks/Clips in this project that I may or may not want to move with it.
 
Thanks.

Thanks, Jonesey. I am EVER so pleased about all of this. It is going to save me an extraordinary amoutn of time and effort.
 
I was actually considering completely backing everything up and wipe the system to start from scratch to acheive the same end result. This all seems like a much easier solution... lolzity.
 
Seriously, thanks guys. One of the massive weights on my mind has been lifted by this thread/discovery.
 
Cheers.

I just found a section talking about "Defragmenting a Project". In it it says you can make sure a project's data is all in one place (for quick read times) by saving it as a bundle, unbundling it and then saving it again normally. Most of the system performance improvements section (as well as other parts of the manual) seem to be very old so the Per Project Folders thing may not have been added at the time of writing.
 
I am wondering if perhaps using the Save As/PPAF/Copy All Audio function and saving it to a new place will have the same affect (as in gathering up all the scattered bits of the project on the drive and then saving them in a nice tidy hunk of disk space). Seems like it might but I'm wondering if anyone knows for sure. I find Bundles are a sure fire way to get a project to start acting quirky so I try to avoid them and if the goal is to make a project work BETTER seems like a "1 step forward 2 steps back" type of "fix".
 
The entry appears on page 1462 of the Reference Guide:
 
"Your project file may be excessively fragmented
Audio data can be processed most efficiently if it is arranged in consecutive physical locations on your hard drive.
During normal SONAR usage, a project's audio data can become fragmented into chunks stored at discontiguous locations on your disk. Accessing these discontiguous chunks can consume extra processing time, which can leadto dropouts.
Try defragmenting your project file:
1. Open the project file that has audio problems.
2. Save it as a Cakewalk Bundle (.cwb) file by selecting Save As from the File menu and selecting Cakewalk
Bundle from the Save As Type drop-down list and clicking the Save button.
3. Close the project.
4. Open the Cakewalk Bundle you just closedSaving then re-opening the bundle file automatically defragments the audio data used by the project, reducing the chances of a dropout or other audio problem.
When you are ready to save the file again, you may want to save it as a normal (.cwp) file. Saving and opening .cwp files takes less time than saving and opening bundle files."
 
Cheers.

All that hooey about bundle/unbundle/resave is from the Old Days when scribes had to have the data all together to be able read and write more quickly.
 
A regular defrag of your audio/project drives once in a while should be plenty.

When it's time for a drive defrag, I start it before I quit for the day.  I always leave my machine on so it's not like I have to wait for a defrag to finish before I can go to bed :)
 
It might help too if you periodically archive away projects that aren't being actively worked to another drive or partition.
 
As to advice in manuals, I'm not sure how often that stuff gets updated.  The rare times I've had a project start groaning, I've bounced tracks with lots of clips and/or edits.  This has helped a fair amount.
 
YMMV ...

Beep, given where you are now and where you want to go, I would be inclined to set aside a chunk of disk space on an external drive and methodically do a "save as" for each project, in it's own folder, using PPF and Copying all Audio across.
Once you're done you can delete everything off your old drive and then move it all back