71 lines
3.9 KiB
HTML
71 lines
3.9 KiB
HTML
---
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layout: default
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title: Cleaning up Sessions
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---
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<p>Recording and editing any serious session might leave the session with some
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unused or misplaced files here and there. Ardour can help deal with this clutter thanks
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to the tools located in the <kbd class="menu">Session > Clean-up</kbd> menu.
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</p>
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<h2 id="bring_all_media_into_session_folder">Bring all media into session folder</h2>
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<p>When <a href="/adding-pre-existing-material/">importing media files</a>, if
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the <kbd class="option">Copy files to session</kbd> hasn't been checked, Ardour uses
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the source file from its original destination, which can help avoiding file duplication.
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Nevertheless, when the session needs to be archived or transfered to another computer, moving
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the session folder won't move those <em>external</em> files as they are not in the folder, as seen
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in <a href="/working-with-sessions/backup-and-sharing-of-sessions/">Backup and sharing of sessions</a>.
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</p>
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<p>Using the <kbd class="menu">Bring all media into session folder</kbd> menu ensures
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that all media files used in the session are located inside the session's folder, hence avoiding
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any missing files when copied.
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</p>
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<h2 id="reset_peak_files">Reset Peak Files</h2>
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<p>Ardour represents audio waveforms with peak files, that are graphical images generated from the
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sound files. This generation can be time and CPU consuming, so it uses a cache of the generated
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images to speed up the display process. To watch for files modification, Ardour relies on the file-modification
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time. If an external file is embedded in the session and that file changes, but the system-clock is skewed
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or it is stored on an external USB disk (VFAT), Ardour can't know the change happend, and will still use its
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deprecated peak files.
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</p>
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<p>Using the <kbd class="menu">Reset Peak Files</kbd> menu allows to reset this cache, which frees up disk space,
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and forces the re-creation of the peak files used in the session. It can prove useful if some waveforms
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are not used anymore, or if a graphical or time glitch happens.
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</p>
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<h2 id="clean_up_unused_sources">Clean-up Unused Sources...</h2>
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<p>Recording usually lefts a lot of unused takes behind, be it in midi or audio form, that can clutter
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the Region List, and eat up a lot of hard drive space. While its generally a good practice to keep as
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many things as possible while recording, when transferring or archiving the session, some clean up can
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help a lot in reducing the sessions clutter and size.
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<p>
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<p>Selecting <kbd class="menu">Clean-up Unused Sources...</kbd> will force Ardour to detect those unused waveforms
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by looking for unused regions, and (through a prompt) for unused playlists. The media files won't be destroyed, though.
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At this stage, they are just copied in a particular place of the session path (namely, in the <code>dead sounds/</code>
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sub-folder).
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</p>
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<h2 id="flush_wastebasket">Flush Wastebasket</h2>
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<p>Although Ardour is a <em>non-destructive</em> audio-editor, it allows for a very careful destruction of unused media materials.
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This function is closely linked to the previous one. When the unused sources have been cleaned up and quarantined, the
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<kbd class="menu">Flush Wastebasket</kbd> menu will allow for their physical destruction.
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</p>
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<p>As a safeguarding mechanism though, Flushing the wastebasket in impossible in the same working session as the Cleaning up of unused sources :
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the user needs to close the session and reload it before flushing. It allows to test the playback of the session and ensure both that Ardour didn't commit
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any mistake (unlikely, but better safe than sorry), and that the user is absolutely sure of what he does.
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</p>
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<p class="warning">Notice that all media destroyed this way is not sent to the system's <em>trash can</em> but permanently deleted.
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If a file is mistakenly destroyed this way, the user will have to rely on data recovery techniques to try getting it back.
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</p>
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