cliffr
Ahh right, I didn't install it. But Sonar still creates the .assets files - so you can't disable that file creation can you ?
 
Cheers - Cliff

 

dke

Well not completely or there wouldn't be 10 .asset files in my current project. :)
 
Dan

 
The Assets file, while currently only used for Gobbler, will most likely be used for other features in the future. It's a SONAR feature. It's creation cannot be turned off at this time. You may delete the file and move your projects as normal. It will be re-created on save.

Thanks Seth.
 
As someone else mentioned, it would be nice if they were saved in their own folder.
 
Cheers - Cliff

They save in the same directory that the project file is located. If you were to collaborate with someone and send them your project file, they might not have the same directory as you, so having these files all save to a unique location on your computer would break functionality. It's designed this way intentionally with future enhancements in mind.
 
If you place the project in it's own folder (like I was mentioning above), then your project file, assets file, and audio files will always be in one easy to locate place.
 
Project Folder\
Project Folder\SONAR Project File.cwp
Project Folder\SONAR Project File.cwp.assets (hidden by default)
Project Folder\Audio Files\*
 
That's my recommendation at least. Even if you keep hidden files shown, with the above project management the assets file will still be organized in the same folder as your project file.
 
This really isn't much different from picture cache and assets folders that other DAWs create when saving project files.
 
The nice thing about the assets files though, is that even if you delete them, you won't break your project, so there's no need to really manage them with any fear that you're going to ruin the project (like you might do if you're not careful with your audio files).
 

...gotta say this again...
 
It is very cool to see all the CW folks here actively involved in a good topic.
I just learned about things I probably would have been mystified seeing for the first time.
All of it makes sense and the architecture of "going forward" is very sound logic.
 
...Thanks to ALL of You

I get the feeling some folks tend to create all of their projects in the root cakewalk projects folder, then wonder why everything is a mess....

SuperG
I get the feeling some folks tend to create all of their projects in the root cakewalk projects folder, then wonder why everything is a mess....

Certainly not the case here, and I can't really imagine too many people don't use "Per-Project Folders".
 
The line I'm thinking along is more like ... putting the 'assets' files into their own folder - so instead of;
 
Project Folder\
Project Folder\SONAR Project File.cwp
Project Folder\SONAR Project File.cwp.assets (hidden by default)
Project Folder\Audio Files\*
 
We would have ...
 
Project Folder\
Project Folder\SONAR Project File.cwp
Project Folder\Assets\SONAR Project File.cwp.assets (hidden by default)
Project Folder\Audio Files\*
 
IMHO it would certainly be tidier.
 
Cheers - Cliff

I guess I'm surprised this thread keeps popping up again, nice to see the varied comments and opinions regarding this.
 
As stated early in this thread . . . if you don't like the .assets files . . . switch view Windows hidden files to off position, I did, and I know how to turn it back on again if I need to see my hidden files. If we delete them, as stated earlier, they will come back as soon as you save your project again.
 
Also, Cakewalk has stated here that there will be future use for these .assets files in future software enhancements, I'm okay with that, there is an apparent plan.
So . . . If we uninstall Gobbler in Control Panel, for now, will that affect future X series software features from functioning properly ?
 
Not sure what the connection about all this is to "per project folders" ?
. . . because when you save your project, it places the .assets file in the per project folder right there with the .cwp file.
It's mostly when I go to do my backup, look at different saved versions, or copy a wavefile mix somewhere else, that the "clutter" factor of .assets files arises.
I've turned off Windows viewing of hidden files, I'm good, for now.
 
 

My last 2 cents on this before moving on from this thread.

• When I save a song or even a version of a song - I save it to a new folder.
  When I need to back up or archive that version I back up the whole folder, never bother messing with the contents.
  Don't have to worry about extra files, missing files or screwing up another take/version if I remove a project from my system.
• The file sizes of the .assetts file are small - the ones found on a big project of mine are like 32KB in size. Not like their huge sizes are ruining my backup strategy.
• If we need to move the asset file to a subfolder then shouldn't the autobackups be in a subfolder too?
  MHO is that they're both fine where they are at. I think the layout structure is pretty enough as is.

This discussion was interesting but now I've got more important things to obsess over like did I overdo the panning of the delay at the end of that synth lead or my kids Halloween custom.
 
Peace out / best regards
 
...Steven

If you have lots of them within a single folder you can still choose to sort by type and you won't even really need to look at them.

I would venture to say there are many more people who are NOT sharing projects than are. So putting them in the main Project folder because of a few that might share their project, while many people have absolutely no need to see them... but DO need to see the various main Project files... still makes no sense. If you know you want to share your file... then you either know or don't know that you also need to send the 'assets' file with it (along with all the audio files, which BTW are not in the same folder as the project, but have to sent). If you're sending someone your Project to work on... your already know you have to send your audio folder file. Why wouldn't it be just as easy to send an 'assets' folder with it?
 
Yes, it's not a huge deal... it's just a very inefficient waste of screen space, and extra files that have to be dealt with at some point... when they are, in fact, pointless to many , if not most, users. However, the Project files themselves are a main function of Sonar.
 
You don't have to do the right thing by giving them their own 'assets' folder. But it's damn sure not efficient, and is ugly and annoying to look at a new, additional, useless, 'assets' file for every single Project Save I do. Why not just stick all the audio and wave picture files in there to? That way they'll all be 'in one, easy to locate place'.
 
And on top of that... you're even saying that the files don't matter... a new one is created again every time you hit Save. If they don't matter, and we only need them for info, why even create them in the first place. If at some point they're needed by someone to share a project... just put an extra menu function to 'Save w/ Assets'.
 
Whomever thought this was a good design idea was... wrong.