[BUG] Merge mono to multi-channel

"Error: The event structure on the selected tracks is too complex.

Merge is not possible."

I’m getting this so many times now on my most recently delivered .aaf that I probably won’t be able to use the delivered files as stereo on stereo tracks at all. I zoomed in on a couple of files. I made sure they lined up at the same spot and had no fades at all. Still won’t work. What the hell???

I haven’t seen a single comment as far as I can recall.

Would it not be prudent of Steinberg to at least comment on this?

Does anyone have a solution to it?

If you can’t merge two mono files into a stereo track, then it is because the files are not “identical”.
Identical is not the correct word, since they can’t be.
But they can differ in length, have different fades, different handles, can be placed slightly off-sync, etc …
So, unless this is indeed a bug (which I can’t believe 'cause I do this almost every day), the problem is to be found in the person who has split and manipulated the files in the first place. So there is a problem within that project to start with.
If you can’t fix it, then simply pan your tracks left and right, and lock them together. That at least will save you the hours of troubleshooting. :slight_smile:


Fredo

Tried everything and lastly copied all of it over to new mono tracks and then it converted. Clearly if what you say is correct, that the files aren’t “identical”, Nuendo changes events by copying/pasting them, OR, this is a bug.

There is likely an almost invisible sliver of audio on one of the imported tracks which is causing the merge issue.

I said I copied all of the events onto new tracks and then it worked. I know for a fact that part of the events that didn’t convert that were copied were enclosed, i.e. there were events to the left and right of them, then worked.

Then the problem is to be found in the events to the left and right of them.
These are clearly not “identical”.
Remember that the complete tracks are merged, not the individual events.

Fredo

I said I copied ALL events to new tracks. I used the range tool and selected everything and copied it over to new tracks and then it worked. Are you saying I did not copy ALL events to new tracks?

It sounds to me like you copied a visible range and not ALL events which existed on the track. It might be that there was audio which was outside the view of your current session time line (either before or after session end). I have had this happen numerous times from PT sessions.

I have on several occasions run in to the exact problem Lydiot describes and solved it the same way. But, after reading Likelystory’s comment about selecting a range I wonder if I just missed an errant 2 pop or other detritus that the editor left on the track. Happens a lot with new editors straight out of film school; they’ve got creativity but no one ever showed them the proper way to prepare tracks. John.

Well, I’m sorry that you take this the wrong way.
I just understood your sentence: “I know for a fact that part of the events that didn’t convert that were copied were enclosed, i.e. there were events to the left and right of them, then worked.” differently.

And I apologise very strongly that I can not confirm this being an obvious bug.
Not saying that it’ can’t be a bug, just saying that I can not confirm your findings.
And sorry for trying to point you in the direction of possible causes.

Fredo

Now imagine if I had said that and you read it…

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I can confirm that there either is a bug or too strict rules regarding this feature.

I often have this problem. And I solve it the same way as Lydiot. I copy everything on the tracks I want to merge to new mono tracks. Then it works

Sometimes mono events are on a stereo track after a aaf import. That also must be a bug, but if this happens, merge doesn’t work.

I’ve even had this bug up when testing first a split from multichannel, then trying to merge back the recent split tracks and it throws the error.

IMHO there is two issues here. Some kind of very weird timing issue bug and also a feature request. Nuendo should treat us like profeesionals. Nuendo should just merge our tracks when we tell it to.
Don’t boss over me! If I want to merge two tracks where the one track only have a short event, it should just merge them. Even if I’m wrong, I want it to do the task.

My 2 small coins.

/Pål

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Still present in Nuendo 13. Workaround still works.