I am tearing my hair out trying to save Wavelab 10 Project files (.wpr).
I open a bunch of audio files. They are all lined up in Wavelab. Then I go to “File…Save as…Project…”. I name the file and click "Save at the bottom right of the window. I look via file explorer and see that the .wpr file is indeed saved with the name I gave it. It is 17kb…small file as it is only REFERENCING audio files. So then, I click the red X on the File Group 1 tab…Close Tab. I look again via file explorer only to see that the .wpr file I have saved is now only 4kb. I click “Open file…Project…” in Wavelab and my project does not open…of course because the file has magically reduced from 17kb to 4kb. I cannot save a .wpr file and re-open it. Even after I have closed the File Group 1, the header in Wavelab still displays the name of the saved (or at least I thought it was saved) .wpr file. So, I have discovered that if I then open the collection of audio files as I did initially and “save as” under a different name then my project will open under the previous name. I’m not sure if I have described this very clearly but I just don’t get it. If I save a .wpr file and can see it is 17kb via file explorer BEFORE I close it, why does it reduce to 4kb or in some cases 1kb after I close it and therefore for all intents and purposes not exist at all as a usable .wpr file? I suspect I am doing something stupidly wrong or I am totally failing to understand how project files work. I read in the Wavelab manual that the project is AUTOMATICALLY saved. Where, how and why? And even if it is automatically saved why is my saved file reduced to uselessness each time after I close the file group? If anyone has the time to address this in any way I will be most grateful. I just don’t get it.
Hi
There are a number of different approaches to Project use.
FWIW, I have found (since WL 9.5 Project through to 12) that the most efficient way of managing Projects is to have a template for your ‘standard’ empty Project.
Then, in your session folder, rename that template wpr file as your session.
When you start on a fresh session, do so by opening the renamed template.
When you need to go back to it again, open the Project and it should be as you left it.
In WaveLab 12, the Project management has been much revamped. I recommend switching to this version.
Try to switch the files in the Project Manager Window from Temporarily to Permanently.
Thank you Paul but no cigar. Still, every time I save a wpr file, when I go to open it, it has reduced to 1 or 2 kb and of course does not open. What is happening Steinberg? Is Wavelab corrupting the file every time I close it? My system is state of the art built personally by Vin Curigliano of AAVMT only 3 months ago so there can be no issue with my system malfunctioning. This is crazy. Please address my concerns Steinberg. What is happening?
Surely I must be able to save a .wpr file and then open it again. I suspect there is something weird and sinister going on with this aspect that “The active project is automatically saved and can be reloaded the next time you start”. No, it can not!
Thank you.
The answer was given by @ASM
switch the files in the Project Manager Window from Temporarily to Permanently .
When you do that, and the files are closed, they are not removed from the project.
OK thank you. I will try this tomorrow when I wake up. I will let you know the result.
Thank you all for your help but none of this works. This is crazy. I have made the files permanent. Then I close all files and open a new bunch of files, make them permanent then save as a new project file with a new name. When I go to open it I find it is saved but also the previous project is now populated with the NEW bunch of files and my previous saved (permanent files) project now has completely new content…I end up with 2 projects with different names each one containing the same files. I just don’t understand what these project files are for if you cannot just save them and then open them as you left them. That’s all I want to do. I want to be able to save a project (which in my case will be a collection of audio files) and then re-open that project any time and see the same bunch of files. It just doesn’t work. And there is still this crazy issue of the actual .wpr file being maybe 12 or 17 or 11 kb when I save it then the next time I open wavelab that file has reduced to 1kb…i.e. it has no data at all and my project doesn’t exist. As I said, I have switched the files to permanent.
Am I trying to do something which a project is not designed to do???
Is it that I do not understand the concept of a “Project” at all? ( I am open to this being the case) but meanwhile, I give up.
Again, if you have the chance to use WaveLab 12, the approach is much more intuitive.
OK …
‘I have made the files permanent. Then I close all files and open a new bunch of files, make them permanent then save as a new project file with a new name. When I go to open it I find it is saved but also the previous project is now populated with the NEW bunch of files and my previous saved (permanent files) project now has completely new content…I end up with 2 projects with different names each one containing the same files.’
A couple of things.
Firstly, I would not close all files and then start on something else when the first wpr is open. Rather, when you are done working on the first project, close that Project by opening the new project.
With the two wpr files with the same information but maybe different names, I came across this in previous WL versions.
The fix is to have a blank wpr template … call it ‘Default’ or ‘Standard’ or something that’s obvious. . Every time you finish with one project, open that blank template. Then, open the next project from that blank template ‘open project’ menu.
Sure it adds a couple of extra clicks, but this pretty much avoids the ‘overwrite’ issue.
I have been a Project user every day on every new job since WL 9.5. It is, in my humble opinion, worth persevering to sort this out.
As PG has said, in WL 12, all these idiosyncrasies have been addressed and the Project concept is much more advanced. With other improvements it’s arguably a no brainer to upgrade.
Completely understandable. If you only close the files marked as permanent in the editor and do not remove them from the project list, they will of course be back in the project list the next time you open this project. That’s the point of making them permanent. And if you add files to the project list and make them permanent too, they will also be in the list again. And if you save the project under a new name, its content corresponds to the old one. No mystery, everything is logical and comprehensible.
And finally, if you want to avoid confusion, always start with an empty (template) project, as @Paul_Rat_Blakey advises.
Whew, ok. Thank you Paul, ASM and PG1 again! The more I read your replies I realise that in fact I really don’t understand the “Project” concept at all. I will download the 60 day trial of W/Lab12 tomorrow and hope upon hope that as you all say, it is much more intuitive and that the idiosyncrasies etc have been addressed to the degree that I can understand them! I think I am not fully recognising that the “Project” is automatically created and updated whenever I open W/Lab and work with it and I think this is connected with the suggestions to use a blank template each time I start some new work…and also to open the blank template when I finish with a project as this action will close the existing project and it should then remain saved as I left it…er…I think…haha! Anyway, I will keep trying and thank you all again for making such an effort to help me!!
Here is what it looks like in explorer:
The ‘blank standard’ that you open before and then between going from session to session
The blank standard in your session folder that you rename as your session to work in and return to
Thank you very much! I think I’ve finally got it. Sheesh!! Still seems highly unintuitive but your suggestion of the ‘blank standard’ works so once again, thank you all very much for your efforts in helping me out with this. Greatly appreciated!!!
I am happy that it has worked out for you.
Project can be super useful. In your Standard Template (that you rename for the sesssion) … you can populate that with different tab groups that you might use every session. So for example, I have one tab group with Batch Processors. Another with References that I like to check against. Another is Montages Another Masters … and so on.
It’s a really powerful tool to help keep your sessions nice and organized. And always recalls.
Happy Project-ing