98 lines
4.1 KiB
HTML
98 lines
4.1 KiB
HTML
|
|
<p>
|
|
An Ardour session is stored in a single folder on the computer's filesystem.
|
|
This makes <dfn>backup</dfn> very easy: any tool capable of backing up a
|
|
folder can be used to backup a session. The location of a session is picked when
|
|
it is created —by default it will be in the default session location,
|
|
which can be altered via <kbd class="menu">Edit > Preferences > General >
|
|
Session</kbd>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The single folder approach also makes sharing a project easy. Simply copy the
|
|
session folder (onto a storage device, or across a network) and another Ardour
|
|
user (on any platform) will be able to use it.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
There is one complication in both cases: a session may reference media files that are stored
|
|
outside of the session folder, if the user has opted not to select
|
|
<kbd class="optoff">Session > Import > Copy to Session</kbd> during import.
|
|
Backing up a session with embedded files will not create a copy of the session
|
|
containing those files. To bring those external files to the session folder,
|
|
the <a href="@@cleaning-up-sessions"><kbd class="menu">Session > Clean-up >
|
|
Bring all media into session folder</kbd> menu</a> can be used.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>Using the dedicated Zip/Archive Current Session tool</h2>
|
|
|
|
<figure>
|
|
<img src="/images/archive-session.png" alt="The Zip/Archive Current Session window">
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|
The Zip/Archive Current Session window
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The <kbd class="menu">Zip/Archive Current Session</kbd> tool is located in the
|
|
<kbd class="menu"> File > Archive…</kbd> menu.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
It allows to create a single file containing everything useful in the session,
|
|
to share it or back it up, conveniently compressed to a session-archive which
|
|
is a zip-file (tar.xz to be specific) containing all the audio, MIDI,
|
|
plugin-settings,... and the currently active session. Ardour can also extract
|
|
those bundles (<kbd class="menu">Session > Open…</kbd>).
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
As opposed to zipping the entire session-folder manually,
|
|
</p>
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>the session-archive only contains the current session-snapshot and only
|
|
files which are used</li>
|
|
<li>externally referenced files are included in the archive.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The window shows the following options:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<table class="dl">
|
|
<tr><th><dfn>Archive Name</dfn></th><td>The name of the archive file, defaulting to
|
|
the name of the session followed by the date and time</td></tr>
|
|
<tr><th>a dropdown extension selector</th><td>allowing to choose between different kind or
|
|
compressed archive file types</td></tr>
|
|
<tr><th><dfn>Target directory/folder</dfn></th><td>defining where in the filesystem
|
|
the archive file will be generated</td></tr>
|
|
<tr><th><dfn>Audio Compression</dfn></th><td>a dropdown menu allowing to compress
|
|
the audio files themselves by using an audio-tailored compression format, more
|
|
on that below</td></tr>
|
|
<tr><th><dfn>Exclude unused audio sources</dfn></th><td>a checkbox to drop every
|
|
audio that is in the session, but not actually used in the editor</td></tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The <kbd class="menu">Audio Compression</kbd> selection accepts any of:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>None</li>
|
|
<li>FLAC 16bit</li>
|
|
<li>FLAC 24bit</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Encoding the audio sources to <abbr title="Free Lossless Audio Codec">FLAC</abbr> allows for a good size reduction of the session.
|
|
It should be noted though that FLAC is a fixed-point format, meaning that if the
|
|
audio in the session is in a floating-point format, this conversion will lose
|
|
some information on the samples values that are rounded, though usually, this
|
|
lost information cannot be perceived. Choosing "<em>None</em>" for Audio
|
|
Compression does not compress the audio to FLAC, hence preserving the floating-point
|
|
data at the cost of a bigger file size. Notice also that converting to FLAC
|
|
automatically normalizes the audio.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Using the <kbd class="option">Exclude unused audio sources</kbd> option allows
|
|
to only keep the files actually used in the session, which can be useful to leave
|
|
any unused take or reference material out of the backup, reducing the archive's
|
|
global file size.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|