Hmm. I’m still very new to Cubase and this morning I decided to clean up my folders a bit as it seemed to me there was a lot of unused audio copied into my individual track folders.
I basically performed a “Back Up Track” of the ones I wanted to keep and then checked that all the relevant files were there in the folders. So far so good.
I then decided I wanted to completely get rid of the unused audio files - and it seems that somewhere along the way they have not only been deleted from the song folders but also from my main sample library as well. So some of my most favourite samples have gone.
Is it really possible for Cubase to access my sample library and delete the original files like this? I was under the assumption that only the copies made by Cubase would be deleted, not the originals as well. It’s a bit of a worry of course, and it seems I’m going to have to re-download the sample collections from Loopmasters to get them back again.
What operation was it that I did which did this? Was it “Remove Unused Media”? How can I make sure I don’t do this again when I next want to remove the unused copies of samples that Cubase has made?
Ta
Next time on import a dialog appears what to do with the imported file. Check “copy file to working directory”. Then it will make a copy so you can safely delete it without touching your main library files.
I use Recuva to get back files occasionally, on Win7 that is.
Apart from that, I check the file’s folder in the pool if I’m really deleting anything just to make sure its actually within the project, that way I know that I’m deleting a copy and not my original sample library.
Another way to keep shared samples separate is to use a Library (File menu). This is just like creating another pool (or more pools). For example, I use a Library for samples that I use across a whole album because I can then add things into the library in one project, save the library and they’re then available in other projects where I open the library up.
Mike.
I usually drag and drop from the MediaBay so that particular dialog box doesn’t appear… however, now that you’ve brought it to my attention I’ve found it in Preferences > Audio and checked it. Hopefully now Cubase will copy my samples to my project folders in a way that allows them to be deleted safely.
Meantime I’ve backed up all my samples and zipped the folder so Cubase can’t get at them.