I realize I'm living in the past, but I have Sonar Producer v 8.5, and also have a VERY early version of Sonar, v 2.2, and despite its age, I don't want to find clips missing from old projects should I import them. So I'm paranoid about the Clean Audio Folders option. When I'm in Sonar 8.5 and select this option, even though I browse to a specific directory, it searches my whole hard drive. There is an option to allow it to scan folders BELOW the directory you select, but why is it scanning  ABOVE the current directory, all the way back to the root?
 
First of all, is there a way to actually confine the search and make Sonar know you really really really only want it scan the directory you chose and BELOW? It makes a task that should take a few minutes take all day.
 
Second, if there is no way to stop Sonar from checking the whole drive, can I at least be certain my "clean" list in v.8.5 won't include files actively used by the older version?
 
Thanks for any help!
 
 

Sonar is searching ABOVE this folder because it searches for any projects on your harddrive using the files BELOW the folder. Sonar wants to make sure that no project on your harddrive is using files BELOW this point.

this tool needs an update bad. as does the CWAF tool.
to be honest, if I were you, I bounce all my tracks using the "Bounce to clips" feature.
this loosens up the load of little stragglers.
once your tracks are all one (not little pieces of clips) use the audio clean folder tool.
it works, sometimes its slow as pie, but it works.
then delete everything listed. I typically don't even read the list anymore because I've gotten to the point where I know exactly what is going to be on that list. (my clip portions that I've already "bounced to clips".)
 
get in the habit of good house cleaning techniques. this will help in the end.
good house cleaning: label all your tracks/clips so they are in order and listed with definition so you know exactly what IS what.
im so Anel, I number my tracks so they will order in my audio folder:
01.Kick
02.Snare
03.Hi Hat
and so on, and so on, exc, exc.

Well thanks for clearing that up guys. Its sad that the tool is doing the exact opposite of what I'd hoped. Truth is, a lot of times the way I leave a project last is the way i want it to stay. If I have a lot of pieces I haven't bounced, its usually because I see value in being able to use those pieces for other mix situations. But I'm guessing there are dozens of bad takes on punch-ins that might still be there even if I've deleted them. So all i really wanted to do was delete unused clips in a current folder before I button it up.
 
From what you guys are saying (and it looks to be true), the tool will search my whole HD, and show me tons of "unused" files, which in fact might actually BE in use by projects in OTHER folders. This is completely ridiculous. I use per-project folders so if I'm cleaning up a project, everything that could be discarded is going to be right there, and everything that shouldn't be discarded is elsewhere.
 
So the truth is, not only doers the tool do the opposite of what is desirable, but its also true that the advice Sonar gives, about the tool being the ONLY 'safe" way to delete files, is also a complete LIE! The ONLY safe way to pick files seems to be to pick them yourself from your project AUDIO folder.
 
From what you guys are saying though, its probably best to save the whole project into a fresh folder, use the option to copy ALL audio files used by the project, and then just delete the whole original folder. Does that make sense?
 
It would be nice if the authors would create a "Clean Audio Folder"  tool that makes more sense, but sadly it happens quite often that Cakewalk just ignores what people want. Grrrr!

Yes, it makes perfect sense.
Do a save as to a new folder, copy all audio across and delete the original in Windows
 
It's a great way to tidy up

Peter Pan
but sadly it happens quite often that Cakewalk just ignores what people want. Grrrr!

now that's not true. I know I said the tool needs an update but the tool works.
they cant please everyone all the time but they do a pretty good job trying.
 
I believe the future in DAWing, will be an open type script, where the end user can customize every detail he wants about his working environment/space.
I mean after all..thats the only way to please everyone correct ? so why not give everyone the ability to create their own space ?
i'll tell you why.. once you give a user a proram that will allow them to create their own DAW,
your pretty much putting yourself out of business. but that's not all true.
there is a way to stay relevant, keep the customer happy and still make a lot of money
and I think cakewalk is doing it right now...doing it very well too.
 
 

chuckebaby, don't get me wrong... I LOVE Sonar. It has opened up worlds of creativity for me and is the best music tool I've ever owned. But I have had less then stellar experiences with cakewalk support. Example: Once upon a time I informed cakewalk of a synchronization flaw in my Sonar 8.5. I showed them a clear simple case with a short example project. I setup a session-drummer track with snare, kick, and mix of all other drums routed to 3 separate tracks, along with a simple guitar chord progression on a 4th. using the loop tool to continually play a 2 bar sequence, you could hear that over the course of only a minute you'd hear the various drum tracks slowly drifting apart in time, and soon it was an unusable mess. This was a serious problem that happens in more important circumstances, but the short loop was a simple way to illustrate the issue. I even offered programming suggestions for how they might fix the problem.
 
So over the course of several years and a dozen complaints reporting this issue, all I got was the typical "customer is doing something wrong" responses. Then there was no reasonable way to continue the same conversation with the same rep for followup. Finally after about 6 years I got one rep to actually load my example into an 8.5 setup, and finally they confirmed that i was right... there was a sync problem. They also confirmed it did not happen with the more recent version, and told that unfortunately mine was now several years beyond the time frame of making corrections or bug fixes. Sorry, that's not what I call good support. This software was a major investment for me, and had they just taken the time to try my example when first reported, it might have been corrected as a bug fix.

There are other examples, and this is "clean audio folder" is one. A tool to clean up a specific audio folder with an option to focus on the folder(s) selected is not only reasonable, but an option I think would in fact please everyone, and hurt no one