Saving: should I include all assets? [SOLVED]

[Markisflippinsweet]

When I save a project, should I include all assets?

I'd like to conserve as much space as possible, and wish I could save in the manner GarageBand projects do (is that possible?).

 

Mark

[Eric Cardenas]

I would at least make sure that the Audio Files option is checked and no you can't save as Garageband.

[Markisflippinsweet]

I would at least make sure that the Audio Files option is checked and no you can't save as Garageband.

Okay, I guess I'll do that. I read somewhere that if you save a preset differently, it could mess the whole project up, then. Is this true?

I don't mean as a GarageBand file, but in the style it's saved in, where all assets are saved into the project itself. Is that possible?

 

Mark

[teedoff087]

Logic doesn't reload channel strip presets from a .cst file (channel strip preset file) when you open a project. The settings for each channel strip are saved within the Logic project file. So don't worry about saving over a preset affecting other projects.

[David Nahmani]

Okay, I guess I'll do that. I read somewhere that if you save a preset differently, it could mess the whole project up, then. Is this true?

Differently ... from what? Saving presets is something completely different from saving a project. There's no need to save presets when you save a project, you only save a preset when you want to have it become part of your library of presets so that you can recall it in the future, in this project or others.

 

I don't mean as a GarageBand file, but in the style it's saved in, where all assets are saved into the project itself. Is that possible?

Again here... I don't understand the question?

[ski]

When I save a project, should I include all assets?

I'd like to conserve as much space as possible, and wish I could save in the manner GarageBand projects do (is that possible?).

 

Mark

 

I'm not familiar with GB, so I don't know how that works. But my advice is to generally save projects without assets, save for two situations:

 

1) to make a project "portable" so that it can be worked on by a collaborator on their system (naturally they'll need all the same materials you're working with).

 

2) for archiving purposes on backup copies of projects stored on backup disks

 

Otherwise, saving projects with assets on your working system can potentially waste a lot of disk space, duplicate data, and IMO is generally unnecessary. If you think about it, copyable assets such as SDIR's, EXS and Ultrabeat samples, Apple Loops, EXS instruments, etc. all live on your system folder. If by some chance your system went belly up and you had to re-install Logic, all of those files will be reinstated. Of course, any of these file types which you've custom-installed (3rd party libraries, etc.) are fair game to back up with your projects. But while you're working with them on your system (as opposed to archiving them) I can't see a need to re-save them on the very same system you're working on.

 

With respect to EXS samples in particular, Logic kind of loses its mind when you have multiple copies of the same EXS samples living on your system. I've had nothing but trouble when trying to load up a song saved with copies of samples, because when I load up such a project, Logic wants to know which copy I want to use -- the original or the copy. And 99 times out of 100 I want to use the originals. So now I have two copies of every sample used in a project taking up space on my system, and dialog boxes to answer. There have even been times when Logic couldn't find the samples despite there being multiple copies on the system. Go figure.

 

Audio files... they're already saved in your project folder, so there's no reason to copy them.

 

Movie files... even when working on a film score I never save a copy of them with the project. There are always too many copies to begin with (revisions from the filmmaker, presentation copies that I send to the director) that I only want one of each LOL! But since I stream movies from a separate drive anyway, and that drive gets backed up separately from all of my other drives, I'll never deliberately make a copy via the Assets checkboxes.

 

Hope that perspective helps...

 

Ski

[David Nahmani]

I'm not familiar with GB, so I don't know how that works. But my advice is to generally save projects without assets, save for two situations:

 

1) to make a project "portable" so that it can be worked on by a collaborator on their system (naturally they'll need all the same materials you're working with).

 

2) for archiving purposes on backup copies of projects stored on backup disks

 

Ski and I discussed this in the past. IMO his choices make a whole lot of sense for his personal workflow, but not as advice to someone relatively new to Logic - and certainly not as advice to someone seeking a file saving behavior somewhat similar to GarageBand's.

 

I would rather recommend following Eric's advice, and always keeping the default assets settings ("Include Assets" and "Copy external audio files to project folder") selected. This creates a project folder that is self contained and contains all the media files used by your project. It also avoids the dreaded issues further down the line where you try to open the project and Logic cannot find one or several of the audio files that that project uses, since it forces any audio files used in the project to be copied into that project's folder.

 

I agree with ski's advice that "copyable assets such as SDIR's, EXS and Ultrabeat samples, Apple Loops, EXS instruments, etc. all live on your system folder" and therefore are not necessary to include inside your project folder. Only "Copy external audio files..." should be selected.

 

So my recommendation is to save with the default assets, and that creates a project folder containing the project file, and all the audio files used by it. The only difference between that and a GB file is that you cannot see what's inside a GB file, while you can see what's inside a Logic project folder. That's what makes Logic more professional, as it's thus more flexible for the user. Let's say someone asks you for the "vocal" file, you can easily access the vocal audio file from the Finder, inside the "Audio Files" folder which is inside the Logic project folder, whereas in GB you would have to open the file in GB before you could access anything.

[Markisflippinsweet]

So my recommendation is to save with the default assets, and that creates a project folder containing the project file, and all the audio files used by it. The only difference between that and a GB file is that you cannot see what's inside a GB file, while you can see what's inside a Logic project folder. That's what makes Logic more professional, as it's thus more flexible for the user. Let's say someone asks you for the "vocal" file, you can easily access the vocal audio file from the Finder, inside the "Audio Files" folder which is inside the Logic project folder, whereas in GB you would have to open the file in GB before you could access anything.

 

Perfect explanation on that, David! By "showing package contents," you can see the .aif tracks in GarageBand though, but the asset system in Logic is a lot more clean cut by far.

Thanks a ton for all the help, everyone.

 

Mark

[David Nahmani]

Happy to help. You're welcome!

[Julia Mosley]

I'm having a similar predicament. I'm wanting to backup all my projects and send them to a friend to store for safe keeping. I'm also worried about messing up the project by selecting things I don't understand. On most of my project packages I have all assets included in the project except for the apple sound library and the movie files (screenshot included). What would happen if I do check the bottom two boxes on the screenshot and what would happen if I don't? 

I also did a bit of a test run for future reference to see where audio files would be kept if I didn't check the 'copy audio files into project' option, what is confusing is that when I opened up the package the audio I had recorded was there inside the package in an audio folder, can anyone explain why this would be? I'm wondering is it perhaps audio that you drag and drop into the project that might not be saved in the project package whereas audio recorded directly in will be saved within the project?

[triplets]

2 hours ago, Julia Mosley said:

I also did a bit of a test run for future reference to see where audio files would be kept if I didn't check the 'copy audio files into project' option, what is confusing is that when I opened up the package the audio I had recorded was there inside the package in an audio folder, can anyone explain why this would be?

The most important step in any project creation is to first do a Save As and then check Include audio files before you record or drag in anything.

That way everything you drag in or record after that will get saved into the project correctly.

Consolidating a Project is an after-the-fact procedure that you can avoid if you just do the first one I mentioned.

And if you don't use any Ultrabeat, Sampler and Alchemy custom samples, I wouldn't check that either.

Edited September 28, 2022 by triplets

[Julia Mosley]

Thank you, yes I see that that is the best idea but I am trying to understand it more thoroughly and check that my logic does not have a glitch - why did the audio files that I recorded directly go into the project package even though I didn't select that option? I am wondering where the audio files are supposed go if they aren't saved into the package directly.

 

The problem is also that I have already created projects without all the boxes checked. Mainly the 'video' and 'apple library' options is what is missing from the assets from the outset in my projects.

Edited September 28, 2022 by Julia Mosley

[des99]

18 minutes ago, Julia Mosley said:

Thank you, yes I see that that is the best idea but I am trying to understand it more thoroughly and check that my logic does not have a glitch - why did the audio files that I recorded directly go into the project package even though I didn't select that option? I

Because that's the default behaviour in Logic (for good reason), unless you change it - to save your recordings into the project folder/package, rather than somewhere else on your system, completely divorced from your project.

See File -> Project Settings -> Recording -> Audio Record Path - it's set to "Project" by default.

The assets settings also make sure that any other audio files you import/drag in or create are also copied to the project folder/package, if they originally came from outside the project.

As an example of how it works, if you had your project record folder set to, say, your Desktop, and had include audio file assets checked, then when you made recordings in Logic, the audio files of those recordings would be saved to your desktop while recording. Then when you saved the project, those audio files (that are currently *outside* the project folder/package) would be copied *into* your project folder/package, and from then on, Logic would reference them from there.

That keeps the project, and the audio assets it requires together and ensures that somewhere down the line, when you open that project, the audio files it needs are right there.

Edited September 28, 2022 by des99

[Julia Mosley]

On 9/28/2022 at 11:42 AM, des99 said:

Because that's the default behaviour in Logic (for good reason), unless you change it - to save your recordings into the project folder/package, rather than somewhere else on your system, completely divorced from your project.

See File -> Project Settings -> Recording -> Audio Record Path - it's set to "Project" by default.

The assets settings also make sure that any other audio files you import/drag in or create are also copied to the project folder/package, if they originally came from outside the project.

As an example of how it works, if you had your project record folder set to, say, your Desktop, and had include audio file assets checked, then when you made recordings in Logic, the audio files of those recordings would be saved to your desktop while recording. Then when you saved the project, those audio files (that are currently *outside* the project folder/package) would be copied *into* your project folder/package, and from then on, Logic would reference them from there.

That keeps the project, and the audio assets it requires together and ensures that somewhere down the line, when you open that project, the audio files it needs are right there.

Great, thank you so much - that's a very detailed and clear explanation!