Missing Audio Files in Pro Tools HELP!!!

[jjboogie]

I pulled up a Pro Tools session today and my bass and one electric guitar track and a percussion track were just gone!!!

Why does this happen? I tried searching for them and could not find them. What is the deal?

Any input would be great!

Thanks
jason

[BluesForDan]

did you get the pop up screen telling you the files were missing?

If so, click on the 'automatically find and relink' option.

the vast majority of the time, it will find them.

I just read about this last night in my "Pro Tools for Dummies" book.

[rob2001]

I don't use pro tools, nor do I have any advice... just thinkin that stuff like that is my greatest fear... to have a killer performance just go poof into cyberland. Hope you find your missing files.

[loudboy]

Originally Posted by rob2001

I don't use pro tools, nor do I have any advice... just thinkin that stuff like that is my greatest fear... to have a killer performance just go poof into cyberland. Hope you find your missing files.

That's why you backup, after EVERY session.

If you don't sooner or later, you'll get caught, and it's NOT fun.

Take all the files, and archive them to a CD or DVD. Then open them up, to make sure it was a valid burn. Then pack it away somewhere safe.

If you do this diligently, it will never be a problem.

[rob2001]

Originally Posted by loudboy

That's why you backup, after EVERY session.

If you don't sooner or later, you'll get caught, and it's NOT fun.

Take all the files, and archive them to a CD or DVD. Then open them up, to make sure it was a valid burn. Then pack it away somewhere safe.

If you do this diligently, it will never be a problem.

This is really good advice I should heed right now! I have my bands 11 song demo just about finished and I haven't backed up yet!

[thesedaze]

Most studios will have redundant file storage systems....onsite & offsite...can never be too safe!

[Jan Folkson]

JJ, can you be more specific as to the problem? Did you get the warning dialog when you opened the session?

[Jan Folkson]

General rule of thumb. "If it doesn't exist in two places.... It doesn't exist!"

[johnnyguitar]

Seems to happen more in PT 7.3 than 7.4 they just evaporate..if you ever upgrade to a higher version make sure you back up to disc even if you store them on a external hard drive and auto link doesn't always find them..I've been told that they still exist somewhere but PT just can't find them..also do not do any housecleaning of past sessions unless you are sure ALL your audio files are accounted for

[jjboogie]

Originally Posted by Jan Folkson

JJ, can you be more specific as to the problem? Did you get the warning dialog when you opened the session?

Not sure if it was a "warning" but it basically asked me if I wanted to find and relink files and then the session opened up and the wave files were blank and in the session bin were blank as well.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by johnnyguitar

Seems to happen more in PT 7.3 than 7.4 they just evaporate..

They don't just evaporate I know this can be frustrating but like any problem in a software application the culprit is almost ALWAYS the pilot in command.

The problem of file allocation and most likely in this case "file mis-allocation" is an old one. Once in a blue moon while opening a session Pro Tools gets confused and simply re-directs where it thinks the files should be stored. Let's say once in every ten thousand sessions. It's (Pro Tools) doing what it thinks its been told to do. Getting into the habit of checking your disk allocation before recording will solve that problem forever.

On a related note disk allocation can also be confused by Pro Tools when someone moves a session from one drive to another or worse from one computer to another.

The whole "backup" issues brought here are certainly valid but not in context with mis managed audio files. Backing up in this case will only duplicate the mis-management.

It's simply a case of knowing your enemy.

Further, as a real solution to this problem Pro Tools offers a "save copy in" function. This will force Pro Tools to re-write all the files audio/midi/fades to a new nest. A completely new, re-written session with corrected file addresses. Be careful of course as to where you allocate this new session as again Pro Tools is gonna do what it thinks is right and not always what you think is right. A word of caution here however as it will not rewrite omfi files and more importantly session backup files. I usually back up the older file to DVD and forge ahead with the new file on the hard drive.

[onemind]

Is it possible you had them saving to a networked drive that is no longer connected...just a thought.

[meterman]

I don't know anything about PT but you might try looking at the date that the project and/or other audio files were last saved and searching your entire system for any audio files modified on or near that date...good luck

[Jan Folkson]

Often times what happens is the disc allocation gets funky because a session has been copied or the disc that the session was created on was not authorized to write audio files to so the files get written to another drive. Occasionally a session file or audio file will get corrupt and become unreadable which is why we back up. If you use a template to create your sessions, you need to check the disc allocation before you start recording.

Another reason that this happens is when using audiosuite plug ins, files can sometimes get written to incorrect places. Auto tune used to be famous for this. Did you use noise reduction or time stretching audiosuite plugs on the affected files?

Pro Tools uses 'unique ID's' for all of their audio files and the files that are missing have become unlinked to the ID that the session is looking for. You can manually relink the files or have pro tools try to automatically do it.

I've been beta testing Pro Tools for about 10 years and have used it every day since 1995 and I've never seen an audio file evaporate. And upgrading your version of pro tools really doesn't have anything to do with the topic at hand.

I hope that helps.

[elambo]

Originally Posted by jjboogie

Not sure if it was a "warning" but it basically asked me if I wanted to find and relink files and then the session opened up and the wave files were blank and in the session bin were blank as well.

You should have ProTools find and relink the files. Make sure all of your drives are checked for the search.

If it recorded these files, they're on one of your drives somewhere. ProTools doesn't just randomly delete files. Maybe you had an external drive connected when the files were created and that drive is now offline? If so, reconnect and run the search again.