Missing external audio files

[jonathan boose]

I recently opened a project from 2018 and all the audio files were missing.

The audio finding tool that CbB opens with doesn't help.

I went to a separate hard drive that I also saved the project on -- same thing. How does that even happen? The separate hard drive wasn't even connected. 

 

Win 10 Pro
Intel Core i7-3770 @ 3.40 GHz, 3.40 GHz
16 GB RAM
64 bit op sys
Lynx Aurora 16 ADC w/ AES16e card
 

[John Vere]

The time that I’ve seen this happens is you start from midi file and forget to change to a  CWP before recording and the audio can get put in the global audio folder.
There’s a few situations where this happens. So what you end up with is a project that seems fine but the audio is not in the project folder but is in the global folder. You would not notice until you move the project folder to a different computer. 
The problem is solved when you use Save as and check copy audio with project and back it up in a different location. Another big reason for backing up using “ Save As” 

If you still have the computer the project was started on look in the global audio folder 

Edited May 9, 2021 by John Vere

[jonathan boose]

 

Thanks, John Vere.

There is no MIDI file on this project -- it is all audio tracks.

I started the project on this computer a few years ago. The project is in a folder which also contains a folder which appears to have the audio tracks.

But when I open the project, it can't find the audio and opens the project without it after a couple of error messages telling me that it's missing. (Skip All)

The audio tracks have been relabeled such that you have to listen to them to hear what they are. I didn't do that. See attachment.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2021 by jonathan boose

[Roger Jeynes]

It should tell you the name of the audio file it's looking for when it can't find it in the project's own audio folder, and as John says, it's most likely to be found in an old Audio Data folder, which is where Sonar used to store audio files before the advent of project audio folders (and the change of the default location of audio files) 

[jonathan boose]

Thanks, Roger, but I don't think that's the problem. Here's the reply I just sent to Cakewalk Support:

"There are audio files in the folder associated with the project but they had all become mislabeled. 

 

CbB is looking for "bass guitar", "rack tom" and "Lead vocal" and the tracks have automatically been labeled "100 clone" or "104" or whatever. See attachment."

 

[Roger Jeynes]

Jonathan

Hope I'm not misunderstanding the problem.

When you try and open the project, you should see this dialog box identifying which files it can't find. Cakewalk constructs the audio file names based on track name etc. and adds a sequence number to make sure they are unique, so that list you gave looks like the set of files arising from multiple takes and possibly a bounce to clip or other edit.

From this dialog box you have to locate the first one, by clicking on Search... and navigating to the folder where they are. Once it's found one, it will find the rest.

I would always select 'Copy the file to the project audio folder' rather than move it, until you're confident they've all been recovered.

 

[Roger Jeynes]

Sorry - use the 'Look in' drop down box to navigate to the folder where the files are, before you try and search

[jonathan boose]

It looks like CbB is looking in the correct folder for a file whose name had gotten changed to something that neither the program nor I can recognize. If you look at the screen capture, even the numbers, which I had hoped might yield a reference, don't go high enough to be able to correspond to the tracks.

So if, for example, I wanted to listen to a lead vocal track, I'd have listen to every track until I stumbled across it.