Using Sonar 7 Studio, each project has it's own audio folder, which I like. I've deleted audio on some tracks and recorded audio over the same tracks- I don't want those old audio tracks that I deleted in Sonar. However when I look in the audio folder of the project the old audio tracks are still there. How do I know which audio files in the audio folder are no longer used in my project that I can delete? thanks

Right, and Sonar doesn't delete anything without instructions, like from the Audio Finder tool, or the Clean Audio folder tool, which you can use to do what you want.

What I do is a quick and easy way to purge unwanted files, those that aren't referenced in the project. Just save the file to a brand new audio folder, delete the original folder and CWP, then resave back to its original folder with original file name.

Of course, it only works if you've decided on a single CWP to use as your project keeper. That means any versioning files from AutoSave, or ones saved manually (MyProject1.cwp, MyProject2.cwp, etc.) have to be deemed unwanted and then deleted.

Anyway, just some food for thought.

ORIGINAL: Laserich

Right, and Sonar doesn't delete anything without instructions, like from the Audio Finder tool, or the Clean Audio folder tool, which you can use to do what you want.

What I do is a quick and easy way to purge unwanted files, those that aren't referenced in the project. Just save the file to a brand new audio folder, delete the original folder and CWP, then resave back to its original folder with original file name.

Of course, it only works if you've decided on a single CWP to use as your project keeper. That means any versioning files from AutoSave, or ones saved manually (MyProject1.cwp, MyProject2.cwp, etc.) have to be deemed unwanted and then deleted.

Anyway, just some food for thought.

I have a bunch of mixes I'm going to archive over the next few weeks. I think I'm going to try this method first, and see how much space I reclaim. Thansk for the suggestion!

Corey

thanks Laserich, exactly what I was looking for

I think that the CWAF_Tool (Cakewalk Audio Finder Tool) works great for this even if you save different versions of the project (like I do). It is also very easy to use:


1- Save any projects you are currently working on. Just have Sonar open and select the CAWF Tool from the Tools menu.

2- Click "OK" on the warning message that appears. Then configure the CWAF as needed by selecting the File Extensions (CWP for project files) and Drives that you want to search. Click "OK" when you're done.

3- Next, hit the "Find" button and wait until it shows you the Status of the .wav files on the bottom half of the window (Referenced, Orphan, or Missing).

4- Click on "Status" to group similar files together. This will make it easy to select a bunch of Orphaned files in one go by draging with the mouse while holding the Ctrl key (alternatively, select the first orphaned file, scroll down and click on the last orphaned file while holding down the SHIFT key).

5- Once all orphaned files are selected (make sure you've only selected orphaned files by looking at the bold writting found at the bottom right corner of the window), click the "Move Wave" button. "Move to" should already be set to "Recycle Bin" so just click "OK". Confirm the file delete by clicking "OK" once more.

6- Another window will appear asking you to re-search drives, so go ahead and do that to make sure there are no missing files.


Don't worry about deleting these files since they will remain inside the Recycle Bin until you permanently delete them, so you can go back and restore them if needed. In case the CWAF Tool finds any missing files after re-scanning, make a note of the project files they belong to and open them. You will see a message telling you that some files that belong to the project are missing and you'll be given different search options. Before you continue, select the option to reference files from their present location, then go to the Audio folder and search for the file it's asking you. Once you select this file all other missing files from this project should automatically be found (but sometimes you have to find a couple of them). Repeat as needed.

If no missing files were found then you're good to go. The CWAF Tool might seem hard to use but it's actually really easy and a blessing if you know how to use it. For more info, read the manual or hit F1 while having the CWAF Tool open.


HTH

Save the project as a bundle (CWB), burn the original folder on a DVD as a backup, unpack the bundle.

Wilko

Thanks jose

ORIGINAL: Laserich

What I do is a quick and easy way to purge unwanted files, those that aren't referenced in the project. Just save the file to a brand new audio folder, delete the original folder and CWP, then resave back to its original folder with original file name.

Of course, it only works if you've decided on a single CWP to use as your project keeper. That means any versioning files from AutoSave, or ones saved manually (MyProject1.cwp, MyProject2.cwp, etc.) have to be deemed unwanted and then deleted.

Anyway, just some food for thought.

I use more or less the same method. But it seems to me that deleting unneeded wav files could be much more straightforward and should definitely be more project specific that what the CWAF tool or the Clean Audio Folder too provide.

If you store all you audio files in the project's Audio folder, then cleaning it out should be as simple as a tool that you can point to the main project folder, select all the CWP files you want to maintain (whether or not these are autosaves or backups that you've undependably made) and having the tool read those CWPs for referenced files, then have it look only in that one folder, and present a list of files in that folder but NOT referenced by the selected CWPs. If for some reason any of the CWPs reference audio that is outside the project Audio folder, then it should be simple enough to provide a list of those as well, including that that are referenced but missing. But at least the search would be limited to that one project.

The way it works now is way too broad and requires dealing with CWPs that you might not have touched in years, as well as those whose audio folders have already been cleaned out.

Maybe it's just something peculiar with my system, but when I run the CWAF tool it never seems to complete the process.

It finds a bunch of CWPs and associated wav files. But The "Find" button changes to "Stop," but it never reverts back to Find. In the Status column, all the wav files are indicated as of "Unknown" status. The CWAF appears to be hung up. Maybe I just don't wait long enough, but it's really taking quite forever -- longer than it would take to search all of my drives, and not just the two that I've indicated should be searched. When I click the Stop button, I get a message that says:

You STOPPED the Search.
If any existing project files were not searched,
you may get erroneous ORPHAN data indicators.

Use EXTREME care when moving any Wave files.

When I click OK on the dialog, it at first indicates it is "not responding" and then some moments later the Status of the found files indicates either Referenced, Orphan, or Missing. But I don't have confidence that the search was actually completed. So -- having been duly warned to use EXTREME care -- I don't have confidence in actually doing much of anything beyond that point.

Still, even without the apparent glitch, the process itself should be simpler.

Hi Mike-

I recommend using Tools > Consolidate Project Audio. See the documentation for details, but I find this very helpful for cleaning things up.

-Susan

HotCoollMusicGirl,

The CWAF Tool does exactly what you described, except you exclude folders instead. For example, if all my Project Files (.cwp) are on drive F:, I can tell the tool to only search that drive and exclude as many folders found in that drive as I want. I admit that it would be very useful to also have it work the other way around where you could tell it to search only one folder instead of excluding a bunch of them. But, if you have everything well organized then this shouldn't be a problem. So far it only searches what I tell it to search, and it keeps my preferences until I decide to change 'em the next time.

By the way, when clicking on "Find" you have to wait until it shows you the status of all the files or else the search is incomplete as you've noticed (it could actually be causing problems for you though). Give it another shot and let it sit there until it finishes. I couldn't tell you how long it should take 'cause it all depends on how many projects you have and how big each one of them are. But what I can tell you is that, in my case, it takes the CWAF Tool about 3 minutes to search my entire Audio hard drive currently containing about 40 to 50 projects (some of them are MIDI only though).

The cool thing about using the CWAF Tool is that you only use this process once and then you're done, until the next time you record a bunch of new material of course. I don't have to go about moving files/folders around or consolidating all my audio projects one by one. This one tool cleans everything in one go. In case some files were wrongly deleted, just go into the trash can and restore them. It even restores files that have been permanently deleted as long as they haven't been overwritten. I think it's a wonderful tool but I do agree that it could be even better (there's always room for improvement).


Take care!