How to Modify/Replace Templates Without Creating New Ones?

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Mark Alias
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Joined: Wed May 24, 2023 10:34 pm

How to Modify/Replace Templates Without Creating New Ones?

Post by Mark Alias » Wed May 24, 2023 10:38 pm

I'm new to Ableton, very old to sequencers and the like, so please forgive me if this is obvious, but if I save a template and then modify it, can I save the modified version to the same template or does it always create a new one?

Rivanni
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Re: How to Modify/Replace Templates Without Creating New Ones?

Post by Rivanni » Thu May 25, 2023 8:41 am

Yes, you can. Select 'Save as Template' from the File menu and give it the same name. You'll get the question if you want to overwrite the existing one.

Mark Alias
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Re: How to Modify/Replace Templates Without Creating New Ones?

Post by Mark Alias » Thu May 25, 2023 3:47 pm

Thank you. I don't get that behavior, or any ability to Save as... It just creates a new template with "-1" appended to the original name. Then, when I try to delete the new template, it doesn't get deleted in the Ableton browser, even after I confirm "Move to Trash." Yet, if I look in the Templates folder via Windows Explorer, the new one isn't there. If I then close and re-open Ableton, the deleted one no longer shows up in the browser.

Seems like something isn't working as intended, at least for me.

Windows 11, Ableton Version 11.3.2, Build 23-05-10.

Mark Alias
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Re: How to Modify/Replace Templates Without Creating New Ones?

Post by Mark Alias » Thu May 25, 2023 11:36 pm

I confirmed that after loading a template, "Save Live Set as Template..." doesn't ask for a name but simply adds a new template by appending "-1" to the original's name. (All I wanted to do was modify an existing template.)

If you then try to delete the newly created template in the Ableton browser, you can do that multiple times yet it appears to still be there, but if you check the Documents/Ableton/Templates folder (at least on Windows), the file does actually get deleted. There's just no indication of that in the browser until you restart Ableton.

I hate to say it, but this is fairly disconcerting for a new user who just shelled out for the Standard version. Are there other such bugs?

Rivanni
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Re: How to Modify/Replace Templates Without Creating New Ones?

Post by Rivanni » Fri May 26, 2023 1:12 am

When you save as a template, Live asks for a new name in the Template section in the browser. (So no popup window.) Is this where you look and adjust the name?

Make sure the template file is not locked in Windows Explorer.

Templates are saved inside \User Library\Templates, so not inside the folder you mentioned.

Make sure you don't have any other version of Live open.

Tarekith
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Re: How to Modify/Replace Templates Without Creating New Ones?

Post by Tarekith » Fri May 26, 2023 1:32 am

Edit: I was testing the wrong version of Live, NM.
Last edited by Tarekith on Fri May 26, 2023 4:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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The Rabbits
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Re: How to Modify/Replace Templates Without Creating New Ones?

Post by The Rabbits » Fri May 26, 2023 3:12 am

I'm not seeing that behaviour when saving a template using File Save Live Set As Template. It prompts for a name and you can enter whatever you want. If you enter a name that's already there, it asks if you want to replace.

Mark Alias
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Re: How to Modify/Replace Templates Without Creating New Ones?

Post by Mark Alias » Fri May 26, 2023 12:59 pm

Ok, I see what it's doing.

If loading and modifying an existing template, the new file gets saved in C:\...\My Documents\Ableton\User Library\Templates with the "-1" appended to the original name, but in the Ableton browser you can over-write the original name and the "-1" file disappears in the windows folder, and stays in the browser until reloading Ableton. (At least that's what it does for me.)

Thanks for the help!

Rivanni
Posts: 409
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Re: How to Modify/Replace Templates Without Creating New Ones?

Post by Rivanni » Fri May 26, 2023 10:30 pm

When I open a template and save it, it is displayed twice in Live's browser. The new one is above the existing one.
The new one is highlighted in blue, and the text is highlighted in black.
In Windows Explorer, the new template gets an '-1' added. This is not the case in Live, where the names are still identical.
When I press enter, I get the question if I want to replace the existing template. I click OK.
For a fraction of a second, I see in Live a '-1' is added to the new template's name.
In Windows Explorer, the old template is deleted, and the '-1' is removed from the new template's name.
Live still shows the '-1' but then does the same thing as what happened a second ago in Windows Explorer.
The old template is deleted, and the '-1' is removed from the new template's name.

If I understand correctly, the adding and removal of the '-1' is visible in Windows Explorer. Am I right?
So it's only Live that is not updating the browser for some reason.

Does changing folders inside the browser help solve the problem? If so, you wouldn't have to restart Live.


The best thing you can do is contact Tech Support. They can assist you further with this.

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