Deleting unused tracks

[jj2man]

This may sound like a silly question, but I'm new to cubase so I'll ask it anyway...


certain tracks in my song are playing out of sync. I suppose this is because in my audio folder of the project, there are almost 100 WAVs. About 90 of these I don't need in there. My quesiton is: Is there a feature to turn off automatically saving every single file? And if not, how do I selectively delete the files I don't need from my project?

Thank you so much!

-Confused in NY

[sparqee]

Having lots of clips in the pool should not cause tracks to play out of sync. Regardless, there are various functions for cleaning up unused audio files. What version of Cubase are you using?

[jj2man]

Thanks for helping. I'm using Cubase SX version 3.1.1. I'd like to clean up these unwanted tracks, regardless of whether it helps the sync problem.

...as for the out of sync-ness, that may just be an issue with the capabilities of my soundcard/processor. I'm using an SB audigy 2 on a 4 year old dell inspiron widows XP pentium IV 3 Ghz with 2GB RAM

...allthough when I use adobe audition, this problem never occurs even with many dozens of tracks. Perhaps cubase simply requires more power.


Thanks again!

[sparqee]

The fastest way to get rid of unused audio files in a project is to use the "Save project to a new folder" function under the File menu. After selecting a new location to save the project you'll get a dialog that gives you a couple of options. One is "Remove Unused Files. Check this option and then save the project. The copy of the project will have just those wav files which are actually used in a track. For a more manual approach you can open the pool, right click on the audio folder and select "Remove unused media". Select "Move it to the pool trash" and then empty the trash.

Your machine is plenty powerful enough to run Cubase with many tracks. You might to make sure that you have delay compensation activated. Without that tracks that have high latency processing can end up playing out of sync. There is typically a "Constrain delay compensation" button on the tool bar. Make sure that isn't activated. If you're using high latency processes you want delay compensation activated so that Cubase will keep everything playing in sync.

[thegide]

As sparqee suggests, your unused files shouldn't be causing latency issues. Check the setup for your Creative Audigy ASIO driver. I think I used to set mine around 20msec which was fine even with several VSTs loaded.

However, If you're not in the habit of saving every "project" in a separate folder, I suggest you begin doing so now or regret it later.

Every time you hit the record button, the project stores the audio files in the "audio" subfolder. For data management (and waste cleanup) purposes, removing the unused files in the "pool" is simple... unless you're storing multiple projects in the same folder, in which case its unclear which audio files are unused and which are simply used by another project.

Early in my cubase learning days, I learned this lesson the hard way and had to manually open and resave all of my projects to new [seaprate] directories before doing cleanup, or I risked deleting audio files used in other projects...

[brandondrury]

The fastest way to get rid of unused audio files in a project is to use the "Save project to a new folder" function under the File menu.

This is the only safe way to do it.

I'd strongly advice not worrying about it until your hard drive space is low. You may have a natural instinct to clean up your messes, but when you start deleting files you increase your chances of making a HUGE mess by about 6 trillion.

[jj2man]

Thanks for the tips on deleting the tracks.

sparqee: The "Restrain delay compensation" Button was not activated, so this problem must be due to some other issue. I'm also having the issue of MIDI percussion files I make on cubase hiccuping during playback and mixdown, as mentioned in another thread. Somehow, I believe these two to be connected.


thegide: I can't seem to find the setup for my Creative Audigy ASIO driver anywhere in device manager to adjust the settings. Any idea where this setting might be?

Thank you!

[thegide]

In Cubase LE, Devices menu -> Device setup.

"Creative ASIO" should be a subheading under "VST Audio System". Click on it.

Click on the button in this window called "Control Panel". This will bring up a separate window where you can manually set your latency. I used to set mine at 10-20ms.

[jj2man]

I have Cubase SX 3.1.1. Any idea how to perform this fuction in that?

[jj2man]

Okay, new problem:

I tried to update my audio driver, thinking that might help the situation. Now cubase outputs no audio during playback. I tried reverting back to the old driver, but there's still no audio. When I press F4 in Cubase SX to go into "outputs," it lists "SoundMax Digital Audio" Instead of my sound card, "SoundBlaster Audigy 2"

I tried changing the output back to the Audigy 2, but it's not on the list of options anymore. Any idea how to get my Audigy 2 back up on that list? I searched the forum and someone mentioned setting the Audigy 2 as my default soundcard in windows. I tried finding this function in device manager, but to no avail. can someone help??

Thanks!