V5.3 allows 400 files open

[arminroesch]

I am using V5.2C.
From a customer I got 97 independent files to process. I a project the file list table only can hold 60 files.
My solution: file 1-50 in project A. Files 51-97 in Project B. After all editing on each file I did start a new Project C. From A and B I did write the whole as a SF file. In Project C add those two files and insert all PQ Codes for the CD.
Does somebody has a better idea?
Can V5.3 hold more than 60 segments in the file list table?
Thank you
Armin Rösch

[clawson]

Yes, 5.3 supports up to 400 files in a project. This has saved my life many times of late. It's definitely worthwhile to upgrade. Do it today for this and other reasons.

Chas.

--
Charles Lawson
Recording/Production Engineer
WETA Radio & Television

[David Pell]

Admin Note: Great Post here Dave!

I'm guesting you have 97 .wav files and you are using the Create Segment screen to bring these into your project. If this is true then activate the "Copy Samples To Default File" button. This will allow you to have a segment for each file but the software is only looking at one file. We have found this to make the computer operate more efficently.

Also be sure to "COMPACT" "NO", once you have all of the files in the project. This will cancel the .wav file association if it was already there.

Also look in the Create Segment Open Files dialog box to make sure you have not missed performing this task on each segment. If you forgot to do this on any segments then you will see the .wav files in the "Used Files" window that the project must open to play. Go to the segment that is still referencing the .wav file and save it to the default sound file. "Compact" "No" "Save"

On occassion the "Compact" "No" does not rid you of the file linkage. Just temporary rename the unwanted .sf file. Reopen the project and "Delete" "Yes" the unwanted file when the software requests you to locate it. "Save" Now you have a happy camper. Rename the unwanted file so it can be used at a later date.
ADMIN WARNING! Doing this will remove any segments from the project that come from that file, which you may not want to do. If the segments are desired, you will have to re-create them after renaming and approving deletion of the segments.

I maxed out V5.2 one time in files and segments and MTU was kind enough to act on my/all of us requesting to up the file and segment numbers. I also found the computer to be sluggest when trying to read that many files at once. The above work around is the best thing I've come up with so far. Just make sure you have the hard drive space before you start the process.

Admin Note: You do have a limit of 2GB in the default mono (.sf1) and 2GB in the default stereo (.sf2) files. Using the "Copy Samples To Default File" check box will increase the size of the mono/stereo default file, which cannot exceed 2GB. When doing very large projects, it is best to keep an eye on the size of your default files, using Windows Explorer. If you run out of space in these files, you will have great pain.

[clawson]

BE CAREFUL when copying to the default sound files. Don't forget that the EFX, "combine group" and "burn edits to segment" commands add material to these default files and you can eat them up VERY quickly--especially if you're doing extensive 24-bit work as I am. Once you hit that 2-gig limit unexpectedly, you have to do some footwork to get out of the jam.

One way to work around this Microsoft-imposed limit is to create a new project, append your old project(s) to the new one and continue working with the brand new default files created for the new (combined) project. You may do this ad infinitum it seems to me and it's pretty handy for post-production. Unfortunately, the technique is of no help when trying to record long, uninterrupted 24-bit material.

SEK'd Samplitude claims to have managed a seamless way around the 2-gig limit by spanning audio files. I'd love to see MTU do something similar. It would help me greatly when recording long-form hi-res concert material. I think it will be essential to implement this file-spanning workaround if MTU ever plans to support 96Ks/sec or higher...

Chas.

--
Charles Lawson
Recording & Production Engineer
WETA Radio/Television, Washington, DC

[admin]

We've found that having the MTU software on Drive "C" and the .mix /.sf files on Drive "D","E" etc.works best.

When working around the 2 gig challenges use a different drive for each 2 gig .sf. We've even found that having the .mix on a hard drive with lots of space availble(500MB and up)and the .sf on a different hard drive(s)works even better as far as the computer working smoothly.

When we are digitizing long programs, we'll stop at the 2gig intersection. Roll the program back 10 seconds or so, perform what Charles described above to be able to digitize the remaining program. This way we can edit the two transfers together to be able to play the entire program nonstop same as the original master. I agree with Charles that it's a beautiful thing.

Dave Pell

[admin]

Since V5.3 now checks and prevents running over 2GB, and with Partition Magic software creating a "valid" logical drive greater than 2Gb, some of these concerns may not be as important today.

When talking about solutions or use, it would help us all if everyone adds what version of Microeditor they have been running. That way we can know if this is "ancient" or "current" recommendations. We added the 400 file limit to overcome ancient problems, as Armin was asking about at the start of this thread.

It there are performance problems with V5.3, we would like to know this.