It's time for Clean Audio Folder and CWAF to mature, please

Version after version, SONAR's "Clean Audio Folder" is still useless. It insists on searching your entire computer, even though it asks for the audio path you want searched. I, like so many others, use separate folders for each project, under the simple Projects folder. Selecting that does me no good. It goes on and does what it wanted to do in the first place, like a disobedient child. :)
 
Before you suggest I use CWAF, that's equally backwards, or worse. Why waste my time selecting every drive and folder other than the single one I want to clean? Isn't that sort of... silly?
 
Two tools, neither of which is truly 21st century like the DAW is. Please bring them up to par before the next iteration of SONAR.

I also added a feature request for this last week.
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3163725

pencilartist
Before you suggest I use CWAF, that's equally backwards, or worse. Why waste my time selecting every drive and folder other than the single one I want to clean? Isn't that sort of... silly?

I don't disagree that CWAF could use some updating, but just to clarify: You aren't selecting what to clean, you're telling it where not to look for projects that might use the audio, and you only have to do it for the drive(s) you want to "clean". Unlike Clean Audio, it doesn't search outside the chosen drive(s).
 
If you only store projects on one drive, and have that drive halfway decently organized, it takes a couple minutes to tell SONAR what root folders to ignore, and then you never have to do it again unless you're constantly adding new paths off the root of your project drive, which would not generally be the case in a well-organized DAW.
 
I keep projects on two local drives (not including the external backup that is always "clean"). One of them has three directories excluded, and the other has four, including the "CWAF Excluded WAVs" folders (one on each drive) that I use to temporarily store discarded audio files after each "cleaning". I took very little time set that up, and I haven't had to touch the setup it for over a year. CWAF may look clunky, but I find very simple and effective to use.
 
Sure a checkbox to "Only search this directory and subdirectories" would simplify the setup even more, but it would have to come with a very stern warning that this they could break projects stored elsewhere. And based on the number of posts over the years indicating that users don't understand that Clean Audio is looking for projects, not audio, I would say that warning needs to be in bright red 24-point caps with at least three exclamation points and a disclaimer that Cakewalk is not responsible for lost audio.
 
 

pencilartist
I still see no reason why I should tell SONAR where NOT to look, when it only needs to look at one folder. This isn't logical.
 
BobF, nothing is being ignored. That isn't what I have said.

OK, my bad ... I misunderstood this:
"Version after version, SONAR's "Clean Audio Folder" is still useless. It insists on searching your entire computer, even though it asks for the audio path you want searched."
 
 

I always SAVE-AS to a new name.  Great Project 0215 a.cwp   b.cwp,...
 
Regularly I review and delete old project files.
 
Every time I have attempted to clean files that are not connected to a project, I delete the identified files, and LOTS of needed files have to be retrieved from the backups.
 
And I should be able to select the folder to search.

Certainly Clean Audio Folder needs an overhaul. People have been complaining about it for years.

But CWAF? I'd never heard of this feature before until now. I'm not even sure that I would need it.

Kev999
But CWAF? I'd never heard of this feature before until now. I'm not even sure that I would need it.

It's in the Utilities menu. It'll search your whole Projects path, including all per-project audio folders plus the Global audio folder, categorize audio files as Referenced, Orphaned or Missing, and let you see which projects reference which audio files and vice versa. Much more powerful and flexible than Clean Audio Folder. See the usage "cheat sheet" I posted here:
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3023681
 
 

yes please. It's just me but I'm slightly OCD when it comes to cleaning the sessions for archiving, etc.
Not being able to have an audio pool window bothers me more than it should :)

+1 for saving to a new project with "save audio with project" checked. I just create a new project folder and save a new version to it. All the audio referenced in the project is copied to the new audio folder, and you can just go ahead and delete the old folder. Works perfectly, although I see no reason why Clean Audio Folder couldn't be revamped. Seems like the kind of thing they could fix very easily...

Agree.     Audio file creep is a big problem, but that tool is a bigger problem.    It's an awful piece of software.    

theheliosequence
I agree... I don't need cakewalk to protect me from poor file management. If I'm going to do some cleaning I have to leave a large window of time aside to wait for Sonar to search EVERY file for EVERY query. It ridiculous really... I know where my Project files are and I know where my audio files are. That's the benefit of per project folder management.

Agreed. For "per project folder" usage it should be easier.

I'd just like to run a tool in batch mode to go through all my projects and make a list of what is not being used anywhere. Maybe that's what (one of the tools) does. I haven't checked them in along time because of previous issues many moons ago