[QLab] losing links to audio file target

[David Wilson]

I have a show file that lost all links to audio. I ejected a thumb
drive, finder displayed that it had been
removed, but about a minute later, I got the error - removed device
warning. All links to audio
targets read broken. I saved as a new show, quit qlab, started up the
show file and targets still read broken.
I have all the audio in one folder, but I didn't bundle it - I assume
if I had bundled it would have
relinked. That's the only way to globally relink, correct?

David Wilson
Brandeis Theater Company
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA

http://people.brandeis.edu/~wilson/DW-Design/Home.html

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[Matt Otto]

Sounds like all of your audio is on your thumb drive? I bet if you inserted the thumb drive again and re-opened QLab qLab would find all the audio. And to answer your question. Yes if you did bundle it you would not have run into this problem. 

Matt Otto
(609) 707-2978

Off List: motto...@gmail.com
http://www.mattottosound.com

[Christopher Ashworth]

On Jul 30, 2009, at 5:41 PM, David Wilson wrote:

> I have a show file that lost all links to audio. I ejected a thumb
> drive, finder displayed that it had been
> removed, but about a minute later, I got the error - removed device
> warning. All links to audio
> targets read broken. I saved as a new show, quit qlab, started up
> the show file and targets still read broken.
> I have all the audio in one folder, but I didn't bundle it - I
> assume if I had bundled it would have
> relinked. That's the only way to globally relink, correct?

No, bundling isn't strictly necessary. You can do all the file
management manually if you like, which means keeping them all in one
folder as you described.

I'm not sure I follow the specific sequence of steps you took:

- Did you save the workspace when the targets were in the broken state?

- When you opened up the show file again, was the thumb drive back in
and the files available from the original location?

- Were you transferring to a different computer, or just doing this
all on the same computer?

Best,
Chris

[David Wilson]

Hi Chris, first show with Qlab 2, it's been fabulous so far. I don't
seem to have any luck with this bundling thing, though.

> I'm not sure I follow the specific sequence of steps you took:
>
> - Did you save the workspace when the targets were in the broken
> state?

No, I immediately quit, then restarted qlab, did not save it in the
broken state.

>
> - When you opened up the show file again, was the thumb drive back in
> and the files available from the original location?

The files were available from the original location, thumb drive still
out when I restarted qlab.

>
> - Were you transferring to a different computer, or just doing this
> all on the same computer?

All on the same computer, I have a show folder containing the qlab
file, and within the same folder, a folder with all the audio files.
My method is to put the files in the folder, then insert them into
qlab. I've been very diligent in that, all audio is in this folder.
There is a
folder of preshow music within the audio files folder, but I assume
that's not a problem, since qlab will play files wherever they are.

I also had trouble today - I copied the show folder to my laptop, took
it home, had to relink all the files,
did some work on the show, bundled it, moved it back to the computer
that's running the show, and
files would not relink, had to do them one by one again. Is there
something simple I'm not getting? I know qlab v1
had a target drive as part of the workspace prefs, but I don't see
that in the new version.

[Christopher Ashworth]

Hi David,

On Jul 31, 2009, at 8:59 PM, David Wilson wrote:
>>
>> - When you opened up the show file again, was the thumb drive back in
>> and the files available from the original location?
>
> The files were available from the original location, thumb drive
> still out when I restarted qlab.

Ah, then I think I'm confused about how the thumb drive relates to all
this. I was under the impression that the broken targets were for
files stored on the thumb drive, and that removing the thumb drive is
what caused them to be broken. Is this incorrect?

>> - Were you transferring to a different computer, or just doing this
>> all on the same computer?
>
> All on the same computer, I have a show folder containing the qlab
> file, and within the same folder, a folder with all the audio files.
> My method is to put the files in the folder, then insert them into
> qlab. I've been very diligent in that, all audio is in this folder.
> There is a
> folder of preshow music within the audio files folder, but I assume
> that's not a problem, since qlab will play files wherever they are.

This all sounds good.

> I also had trouble today - I copied the show folder to my laptop,
> took it home, had to relink all the files,
> did some work on the show, bundled it, moved it back to the computer
> that's running the show, and
> files would not relink, had to do them one by one again. Is there
> something simple I'm not getting? I know qlab v1
> had a target drive as part of the workspace prefs, but I don't see
> that in the new version.

Here's a description of how QLab 2 looks for files, and maybe it will
shed some light:

- When you initially add a file to the cue list, QLab stores an alias
to the file. This means that while that same file exists on that same
computer, QLab should always be able to find it no matter where it
gets moved.

- In a case when the alias does not resolve to the file (e.g.
everything has been moved to a new computer, or the file has been
deleted), then QLab uses a backup mechanism to find the file. It's
very similar to the old working directory from v1. In this case, the
working directory is implicitly defined as whatever folder contains
the QLab workspace, and then QLab looks for the file relative to that
folder. i.e. It uses the last known valid path relative to the folder
containing the workspace file.

Thus, if the entire project is moved to a new computer, as long as all
the media files have the same location relative to the workspace file
as they did on the old computer, they should be found and re-linked.

That's the idea, anyway. Is there anything about that process that
would suggest a step that could have broken the links in your case?

Best,
(And sorry for all the relinking! That's a pain.)

[Jeremy Lee]

David,

I've never had these kinds of problems, but here's some things to check out.

- What audio card are you using?  Is it possible that when you ejected the thumb drive, the USB info (if it's a USB interface) changed?

- Are you SURE that the problem is with QLab losing touch with the audio files?  If you hover over the red X on a cue, does it say something to the effect of "Can't locate audio file" or does it say something else?  There are a lot of reasons that a cue can be broken, but only one red X to show them all until you hover over it.

If your file/ folder structure is the same on all computers, QLab will automatically find everything just fine.  What it won't do is assume it knows how you want to patch and route the audio.  When you move to a new machine, you have to make sure that the audio patch and matrix are the way you want them.  Otherwise, all red X's.

If it is indeed saying that the files cannot be found, then something is indeed strange there.

Best,

Jeremy

On Jul 31, 2009, at 8:59 PM, David Wilson wrote:

Hi Chris, first show with Qlab 2, it's been fabulous so far. I don't seem to have any luck with this bundling thing, though.

I'm not sure I follow the specific sequence of steps you took:

- Did you save the workspace when the targets were in the broken state?

No, I immediately quit, then restarted qlab, did not save it in the broken state.

- When you opened up the show file again, was the thumb drive back in

and the files available from the original location?

The files were available from the original location, thumb drive still out when I restarted qlab.

- Were you transferring to a different computer, or just doing this

all on the same computer?

All on the same computer, I have a show folder containing the qlab file, and within the same folder, a folder with all the audio files.
My method is to put the files in the folder, then insert them into qlab. I've been very diligent in that, all audio is in this folder. There is a
folder of preshow music within the audio files folder, but I assume that's not a problem, since qlab will play files wherever they are.

I also had trouble today - I copied the show folder to my laptop, took it home, had to relink all the files,
did some work on the show, bundled it, moved it back to the computer that's running the show, and
files would not relink, had to do them one by one again. Is there something simple I'm not getting? I know qlab v1
had a target drive as part of the workspace prefs, but I don't see that in the new version.

Best,

Chris

-- 

Jeremy Lee

    Sound Designer, NYC - USA 829

        http://www.jjlee.com