sonar project savings time..

[jmorris]

for lack of a better way to ask. I have to record a project tonight in a club. I'll use my laptop instead of my HD24 as is the norm. I want to test how long it will take to save an entire set, about 1 hour and twenty minutes with 12 tracks recorded. The band is playing 2 sets and I need to make sure I can have the first set saved before the second set begins, so.... If at home i arm 12 tracks on the laptop and let it record nothing( no mics connected) for 1 hour twenty minutes and then save the project, that should be no different than if I did have mics connected right? I tried this and it does show data stored in its folder its just you( of course) dont see a wave.But, time should be the same am I correct? I cant save after each song tonight as the band moves along to quickly from song to song.
Thanks

 

[jmorris]

no time to save???

So, I did a test save to see how long a set would take to save. My normal procedure is to open up templete.Just basic 24 track audio templete. I did this for set 1 , 1.25 hour set. Saved it in project folder, took 18 minutes to save. Now, for second set I opened up templete, armed all needed tracked,labled it set 2 and saved it. When band was ready to play, I opened up that project and recorded band. A little over and hour set 2 was done. I went to close project, it asked me if I wante to save it, I of course clicked yes, then it just saved it. It just saved and closed out! I mean no time to save project. Why did this happen? I mean it's good for me but I don't know why it took no time to save all those audio files when before if I just used a raw templete, then went to save project it takes 18-20 minutes to save file?
Anyone have a clue?
Thanks

 

[deshead]

Sonar effectively streams the audio data directly to your hard drive. The underlying WAV files are written "on the fly" as audio is recorded.

So in practice, saving doesn't take any time at all. As soon as you stop recording, the WAV files are there, ready to use.

However: Depending on your settings, when you use the File|Save menu option, you might cause Sonar to create a *copy* of the project's audio files, and this can take time.

What happened in your case is that, in the first example, you recorded using the default template, which stores the audio (on the fly) in the default audio folder. When you saved this project, in a folder of its own, Sonar created a copy of all the WAV files. 75 mins of 24-track audio is at least 18Gb, and that takes a while to copy.

In the second example, you saved the project before you started, in effect telling Sonar "don't use the default folder.. I want to put the audio here instead." So when you recorded, the audio was streamed directly to its final location. No copy step was required.

Next time you're on the File|Save dialog, hit the "help" button, and read the "Copy all audio with project" option. Should make things a bit clearer.

 

[jmorris]

Thanks for that info. That makes perfect sense to me. I often wondered why as the files seem to be written when being recorded it then takes so long to save them. Now I know. I almost had a heat attack in the second set when having set up the templete prior, and labled it "set 2" it took no time at all to "save" when I'm used to anywhere from 10-20 minutes to save a multitrack file of that size. I opened up the file( set 2) after it closed, without visuale saving, expecting to see a bunch of nothing but to my suprise and glee it was all there. Ya learn something new everyday! Thanks!

PS, I supposed if I was the type to read the darn manual I would not be suprised at these things!

 

[mixsit]

Thanks for that info. That makes perfect sense to me. I often wondered why as the files seem to be written when being recorded it then takes so long to save them. Now I know. I almost had a heat attack in the second set when having set up the templete prior, and labled it "set 2" it took no time at all to "save" when I'm used to anywhere from 10-20 minutes to save a multitrack file of that size. I opened up the file( set 2) after it closed, without visuale saving, expecting to see a bunch of nothing but to my suprise and glee it was all there. Ya learn something new everyday! Thanks!

PS, I supposed if I was the type to read the darn manual I would not be suprised at these things!

Did it happened like the first time, where you found there were copies of the data in two locations? That would tend explain the time difference and likely indicate you recorded' before setting the final data folder.
A good method I've come to use is to set up all of these prior to a gig- Make all the project data folders first, one per song (or 'set perhaps), set 'global to point to the 1st' folder, then open the template and save as' cwp-1, close and re-point global' and repeat until they're all covered.
The worst that can happen at gig time then is if you forget to switch global' on the 'next set is you have to drag those files back to their proper homes. (Oh, and a trip around the 'audio missing', 'refrence files from this location?' or whatever it is.

... Don't forget the back-up's too.