A logistical puzzle: sorting takes/stems

[MikeShapiro]

I have thirty takes of an instrumentalist, with five mono mic tracks per take. Right now they're listed in the audio browser like this:

 

Mic 1: Take 1

Mic 1: Take 2

... (etc)

Mic 1: Take 30

Mic 2: Take 1

Mic 2: Take 2

.... (etc)

 

What I'd like is to have them in the arrange window, on successive tracks like this:

 

Mic 1: Take 1

Mic 2: Take 1

Mic 3: Take 1

Mic 4: Take 1

Mic 5: Take 1

 

Mic 1: Take 2

Mic 2: Take 2 (etc)

 

Other than dragging all the files into the Arrange window and then manually sorting the tracks (ugh), does there exist any clever method of getting my data arranged in the desired order?

 

Thanks!

 

Mike

[audioant]

Unfortunately I don't think there's a quick way to do this. To get those results, I would do the following.

 

1. Open the File Browser in Logic

2. Navigate to your Audio Files folder.

3. Search the folder for "Take 1"

4. Drag all files labeled "Take 1" into the arrange.

5. Rinse repeat for all other takes.

 

That's how I'd do it at least.

[MikeShapiro]

Unfortunately I don't think there's a quick way to do this. To get those results, I would do the following.

 

1. Open the File Browser in Logic

2. Navigate to your Audio Files folder.

3. Search the folder for "Take 1"

4. Drag all files labeled "Take 1" into the arrange.

5. Rinse repeat for all other takes.

 

That's how I'd do it at least.

 

Thanks! That idea is definitely better than manually dragging the tracks. But given that there are 30 takes, it'll still take a while. (No pun intended.) I'm still hoping for a magic Super EZ solution.

[nosebagger]

Just an idea: why not create a Take Folder for each mic? That is, drag all Mic 1 takes to the Arrange Page, put them in a Take Folder, repeat the process for all the other mics, and then group all the folders into a phase locked edit group. This will be relatively quick and also allow you to assemble your comps using the quick swipe feature ... if that's what you're after.

 

There are also some new options available for sorting track in the arrange window, which can be found in the track menu. I don't know if these will help or not.

 

Tom

[nosebagger]

Another idea: try going to the View menu in the Bin and setting Files Sorted By to None and see if you get lucky.

 

Tom

[David Nahmani]

Just another idea: rather than dragging, double-click the file (File Browser only) or press Command-; ("Add to Arrange" key command in the US preset).

 

So: select a track, select the file, command-;

Press Down arrow, select the other file, command-;

 

... and so on.

[redlogic]

Just another idea: rather than dragging, double-click the file (File Browser only) or press Command-; ("Add to Arrange" key command in the US preset).

 

So: select a track, select the file, command-;

Press Down arrow, select the other file, command-;

 

... and so on.

 

Excellent advice, but I think the key command for "Add to Arrange" from the Bin is control ;

[David Nahmani]

press Command-; ("Add to Arrange" key command in the US preset).

 

Excellent advice, but I think the key command for "Add to Arrange" from the Bin is control ;

 

US Preset = Command + ;

US with Numeric Keypad Preset = Control + ;

 

[redlogic]

Gotcha Boss!

[David Nahmani]

[MikeShapiro]

Thanks for the tips, everyone!

 

I came up with a very simple solution, which I thought I'd share: I batch-renamed the audiofiles so that the first thing in each file's name was the take number. (I did this using a handy tool named NameMangler, though it could be done in perl, applescript, or any number of means.)

 

Then, when I loaded them into the audio window, they were already in the desired groupings: all the files of the same take next to each other.