Reaper Backup Question

Mickster

Mickster

Well-known member
I've tried to look up this question but, to be honest, I get more confused by the answers. It's me.........I know.

I understand that the Reaper Media file in my documents folder............and the Reaper file in the Windows Programs File folder contain most of the backup data I need should my laptop or Reaper fail. However...........neither one seems to contain any Media Item I might have used as part of a Reaper project. Am I missing it?

When I pull a media item into a track, for instance, and then move that media file from where it was when I pulled it into the track...........re-opening the Reaper project prompts Reaper to ask where that file went. So that tells me that I need to back up any media item files used as well. I don't keep them in one place. They could be anywhere in my laptop. For instance........when I transfer my Tascam DP-24 wav files to Reaper, they come from a Tascam backup file I keep. So..........how do I insure that any media item files T use in a Reaper project get saved? When I save a Reaper project I'd like everything used to go into one place for backup purposes.

Sorry if this question is confusing. I'm 100% sure there's a SIMPLE answer that I've got a mental block over.............and I know you guys will clear it up for me.
 
Thanks Jiff........just watched the video and I'm still confused. I do understand that if I actually record in Reaper the recorded wav file (once saved) does go into a directory for backup and reuse. Sometimes I'm just importing a media item (not recorded in Reaper) into Reaper so I can edit it etc......and create a project file. It seems that Reaper does not back that media item up but just looks for it in the place I pulled it from originally when I open that project again. I need to be able to save a project in Reaper and have any imported media item saved as well as part of the project.

Does that make any sense to you?
 
You might try doing a "save as..." and check the boxes to both create a new folder for the project, and to copy all media into the new directory. At least that way, all audio related to the project will be in a single folder along with the project file itself.

I'm not 100% sure that it'll copy media from other directories into the new location, but it'd be worth a try.

Honestly, what I'd do is just copy the external tracks into my project directory in the first place. I found myself in "file hell" a while back, and since then I've made a point to keep things more organized. All of the audio tracks for each project live in the appropriate location so i don't run into this "reaper cannot find the file..." errors.
 
Tadpui said:
You might try doing a "save as..." and check the boxes to both create a new folder for the project, and to copy all media into the new directory. At least that way, all audio related to the project will be in a single folder along with the project file itself.

I'm not 100% sure that it'll copy media from other directories into the new location, but it'd be worth a try.

Honestly, what I'd do is just copy the external tracks into my project directory in the first place. I found myself in "file hell" a while back, and since then I've made a point to keep things more organized. All of the audio tracks for each project live in the appropriate location so i don't run into this "reaper cannot find the file..." errors.
Click to expand...

I'll try that out and see. And your suggestion to copy the and imported items into the project directory (once it's created) makes sense. Much appreciated.
 
What Tadpui says ^^^

There are some tricks . . . and some traps.

When you start a new project, give it a name, then do a 'save as' with the name, and tick the 'create project subdirectory' button. That way, all the files belonging to that project will go into one directory.

If you have already started a project, but didn't do the above, then open the project, do a 'save as', tick the 'create project subdirectory' button, and tick the 'move all media into the project subdirectory'. This will gather up all the files you've used or created and put them all in the one convenient place.

But . . . if you are using files in a project that are used in another project, if you use 'move', the other project will lose the reference to the file. In this case, tick the 'copy . . .' button.
 
gecko zzed said:
What Tadpui says ^^^

There are some tricks . . . and some traps.

When you start a new project, give it a name, then do a 'save as' with the name, and tick the 'create project subdirectory' button. That way, all the files belonging to that project will go into one directory.

If you have already started a project, but didn't do the above, then open the project, do a 'save as', tick the 'create project subdirectory' button, and tick the 'move all media into the project subdirectory'. This will gather up all the files you've used or created and put them all in the one convenient place.

But . . . if you are using files in a project that are used in another project, if you use 'move', the other project will lose the reference to the file. In this case, tick the 'copy . . .' button.
Click to expand...

gecko.......thanks a lot. I'll do that to all my projects. When you know the answer has to be simple but you just can't figure it out......drives me crazy.
 
I just do the 'save as' when I open a new project, and create a new folder (name of song) and save everything to it. If I'm importing WAV files to go into the project, I move them into that folder first. I found out that if I create a new sub-folder (creating a different mix version, for example, with some tracks rendered including FX or VSTi's), that it moves all original files into that folder, too, so that if I go to open the original mix - from the original folder - it wants to know where the files went.
 
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