Live 6 complaint !!! File management system is messed up

[Tone Deft]

IMO... There should be 2 hard set directory shortcuts, one for the active project, one for the library. Then a BUNCH of shortcuts to whatever we want, more than we'd need. It could also be handy let us label each directory shortcut. As it is the directory structure doesn't cover all my sample sources, it's constricting.

Hi,

Can you explain me that a bit better? What is your goal? What do you call a 'shortcut', and what do you mean exactly by 'the directory structure doesn't cover all my sample sources'?

shortcut - the buttons along the left side of the Live screen that point to the root of a directory. They can be set to anything, but as directory presets (shortcuts) there aren't enough. To monitor what Live does you always play with them, leaving 2 that might be set where you want them.

"doesn't cover all my samples" - I have more than 2 sample sources (mp3 directory, sample dir, desktop, download dir, mpc dir, browsing shortcut, all that...). The browsing tools are limited, give us more of those shortcuts than we need, it's a broader palette.


I'm confused that when you import a .alp a white folder shows up indicating the current presets, then you import them. I don't catch what's going on there, where do, did and will the files exist?

Of all thing in Live i know file management the least, it's also Friday night 2am and I'd rather be playing my new bass. Many thanks for any tips.

[Amaury]

Have good fun with the bass!

Are you aware you can save a bookmark for a directory by right-clicking on it, and then it is available on the top part of the Browser, where you see the name of the current directory?

If you still feel the need for more custom buttons, feel free to post a wish. But that is how it works at the moment.

I'm not aware of 'a white folder shows up indicating the current presets'. If it is Ableton .alp that you import, all that opens is a progress window, and everything imports where it should be (the Library), and when it is a custom .alp, a dialog window opens to let you choose the destination of the unpacking.

Regards,
Amaury

[rikhyray]

Thanks Amaury, it is really appreciated, if I got an answer like that from Steinberg support ( I mean after few hours and so elaborated) i would immediately go to see a psychiatrist since obviously it would mean my mental delusion or hallucination.
The fact is I really dislike ver.6 for number of reasons the new file management is the worst but as practical person I will try my best to like it, can fight them join them, there is no other choice.
I understood already most of what you wrote on my own yet there are at least 3 important points
1.
the gone option/ question while closing- "delete unused files" which is the most simple and sensible way of not keeping trash files.
The fact that everything is thrown into same bag- you cant really expect anybody to keep changing the track names before recording to assure proper labeling. Search for unused files is not effective because even if you audition them you might still delete something relevant.
2.
The search does not show a path, you have to manually click "show in explorer" which is really time consuming.

3.
Is it not possible to include option for collecting- I am sure that 99% of user would like to exclude the"external" category not to be collected since these are normally files from our permanent, well organized archives.

I would really appreciate some suggestion about the point 1, how not to collect useless takes/clips/samples whatever you call them.
The nature of our work is such that even few hours later, not to mention days or months, nobody can remember exactly what was what. I cannot think of better way then reminder "do you want to delete unused" while closing/saving. So just because of the danger of deleting one little file we may be stuck with Gigs of trash on the HD.

P.S Regarding swinging cables in version 7, they will give sales boost in Sweden for sure.

[Amaury]

1.
the gone option/ question while closing- "delete unused files" which is the most simple and sensible way of not keeping trash files.
The fact that everything is thrown into same bag- you cant really expect anybody to keep changing the track names before recording to assure proper labeling. Search for unused files is not effective because even if you audition them you might still delete something relevant.

Well, yes, you have to use the project manager for that. It is a habit to take to run it from time to time. At the same time, if there are files you know you want to keep there and that are not currently used in the Project, you won't have the annoying window each time you close the project.

If you want the Live 5 behaviour, inspect your Project, click 'show' to see all unused files, and select all and press DEL without thinking. But somehow, you have a chance to:
-see the whole list
-not erase a file that is important, if you are lucky and pay enough attention

You don't even have to open a project to do so: you can right click on any Project in the Live Browser and choose 'manage Project'.
If you have a folder with many projects in, you can right click on that folder and choose 'Manage all Projects'. so you can do your cleaning on many projects at once.

2.
The search does not show a path, you have to manually click "show in explorer" which is really time consuming.

Right click on the column header in the browser, and choose 'path'

3.
Is it not possible to include option for collecting- I am sure that 99% of user would like to exclude the"external" category not to be collected since these are normally files from our permanent, well organized archives.

True if you are using 'collect and save' from the file menu, which does the same as Live 5, means collecting ALL files regardless of there origin.
But if you use 'manage files' from the file menu and then 'manage Project', you get the choice include or not:
-samples from the Library
-samples from other projects
-samples from elsewhere.
All you have to do is clicking the 'save' button in the category you want to include, and click 'collect and save' at the bottom of the Project Manager when you're done.
You don't even have to open a project to do so: you can right click on any Project in the Live Browser and choose 'manage Project'.

P.S Regarding swinging cables in version 7, they will give sales boost in Sweden for sure.

Yes, and I think the silver finished 3D knobs will be another good selling point

Regards,
Amaury

[rikhyray]

Thanks a million. I should do some serious cleaning "ordnung" anyway. So will get chance to check all these new functions.
My organization is simple. System partition- actually 2 , one mega lean for performance and one general, D- named Live where Library-, projects, songs for DJing etc are and E :\. Samples. The idea behind is that Samples are static, just keeping adding from time to time so no need for defrag etc. Naturally the D-Live is the biggest. There are many finished project I never touch anymore and dont even want to mess with. So I should simply pack them and do double archiving on DVD and ext HD.
This way keeping more free space on HD, which HDs like. Doing that I am sure will come to like the new system. As I said I am practical, instead of hating it , I better learn to love it.
I never felt that message before closing annoying in any way. If it is 4:30 am and my brain operates at speedstep don't mind friendly reminder from Live.
Danke, Shukriya, Dhanyavad !

[phoenix]

Hi,

I am very satisfied with the new project management, but the preset library management may be improved.
Currently, i find my library is pretty much unmanageable after installing preset libraries from third parties.

For example; just out of curiosity, i installed all the preset packs from the Computer Music Live 6 special and now i am left with a few thousand presets which are stored in more than a hundred different directories. Some third parties have better ways of categorizing their presets than others, which makes finding a nice preset not a very intuitive process.

It would be more end user friendly if there is a way for preset creators to:

-add a comment with their preset (so you know what pack it belongs to)
-create Live Packs
-a search function which can show you all presets in the same LivePack

So, these suggestions add up to a Live Pack Tool. I'd suggest to call it 'Live Packer' and release it before Live 7 comes out.

With such functionality added it simplifies the task to quickly browse through the newly installed presets, delete the ones one does not like, or delete the Live Pack all together.

[nebulae]

Thanks Amaury, it is really appreciated, if I got an answer like that from Steinberg support ( I mean after few hours and so elaborated) i would immediately go to see a psychiatrist since obviously it would mean my mental delusion or hallucination.

I have to say that it is soooooooooooo nice to have an insider be part of our questions and answers. Thanks from me as well. Hope to continue this dialog and others, Amaury. It's good for us and good for Ableton. Kudos.

[rasputin]

I'm not by any means a power user like others here, but still with its faults and problems if for some reason I couldn't use Live anymore and had to go back to other tools it would be devastating.

I really appreciate Amaury's patient and helpful responses in this thread; particularly his exegesis about the FM system; I will print that out and meditate over it at length.

Some people have been suggesting that Ableton is no longer listening to its userbase as it did before; this may or may not be true but let's hope it's not.

r.

[nebulae]

I really appreciate Amaury's patient and helpful responses in this thread; particularly his exegesis about the FM system; I will print that out and meditate over it at length.

What exactly are you talking about? Link please?

[Amaury]

I really appreciate Amaury's patient and helpful responses in this thread; particularly his exegesis about the FM system; I will print that out and meditate over it at length.

What exactly are you talking about? Link please?

Since i'm here:
FM = File Manager, not Frequency Modulation
Or did I get you wrong?

best,
Amaury

[nebulae]

Since I'm a frequent hijacker of threads, I thought somehow this had turned into an Operator thread

Thanks for clarifying. I shall have to bring you a pastry in July as well.

*planning ahead for pastry budget*

[sweetjesus]

Amaury,

I tried everything you said.

Technically it works fine but this is still stupid and obfuscated. I'm sorry to say it's one of the worst file management interfaces I have ever used in 12 years of computing.

For now I'll go back to looking at referenced file names and digging them up one by one, at least I'm in control over my file and folder structure.

[Amaury]

Amaury,

I tried everything you said.

Technically it works fine but this is still stupid and obfuscated. I'm sorry to say it's one of the worst file management interfaces I have ever used in 12 years of computing.

For now I'll go back to looking at referenced file names and digging them up one by one, at least I'm in control over my file and folder structure.

Hi Sweetjesus,

Do you need help? If so, I'm here.

Tip: for people wanting all their samples in one and only folder after having collecting and saving the project.

-Browse to the Project in the Live Browser, expand it and create a sub folder of your liking if you want one to put all of your samples, like 'ThisProjectSamples', or none if you want the samples at the root of the Project.
-right click on the Project root folder, choose 'manage project'
-make sure there are no samples missing, and that all the samples you want to include are indeed collected.
-in the 'Project contents' section, click on 'yes' in front of 'xxx' samples, so you will see the list of samples in the Browser
-select them all, grab them with the mouse pointer, and drag over the Browser location you expanded the project in.
-drop the samples in the 'ThisProjectSamples' folder or whatever is convenient for you

-Now right-click again on the Project root folder in the Browser and choose 'manage project
-Samples are reported missing, click on 'locate'
-in the search section, enable 'search Project' and only that (enable 'require exact matches if you have many samples with the same name)
-click the 'GO' button
-samples will be replaced automatically, you just have to click the 'collect and save' button at the bottom of the File Manager.

If you want to avoid the 'missing samples' and search thing, create, before doing all of this, a set where you put all the Live clips, save it into that Project, and perform the first part of these instructions while the set is opened: you'll only have to save the set once you've moved the samples, and won't have to inspect the Project a second time, nor search for missing samples.

That could seem complicated, but maybe it is only my way of writing it. In practice it is quite quick, and I would advice to try it with a test Project to understand well the routine.

There may be better ways we could dream of, but that is a solution with what we have right now. Hope some of you find it useful.

Regards,
Amaury

[Tone Deft]

Are you aware you can save a bookmark for a directory by right-clicking on it, and then it is available on the top part of the Browser, where you see the name of the current directory?

I wasn't, thank you, I set a bunch of them. It's so much more casual to browse now.

I'm not aware of 'a white folder shows up indicating the current presets'.

I imported a Covert Ops .alp, while that .alp was open a white folder was in the explorer (called 'Current Set' I think, something generic) I did the import and started a new set and that folder was gone. I could reintsall a .alp and give a better description, but I'd rather not mess with a working setup. Anyway, one of the great mysteries to me.


Amo - Thanks for your great descriptions, I'll try them out, droppin' science!!

[Josh Von]

Maybe (probably) I'm being stupid here, but when I drag a clip or set of clips to the browser, I DON'T want a Project Folder created! I just want the Live clip to be saved into an existing normal folder.

No, not stupid at all imo (are you being sarcastic?)

Default behavior of clips being buried in a project folder / track structure in the browser this defeats the purpose of the clips for me for the most part .... its probably the #1 reason I hardly use the Liveclips feature other than specialty home production

Its not practical live to drill down thru all that to bring back your clips

.