Hello, I posted last week about a multi-track music file I was trying to send through Dropbox and couldn’t retrieve it. (Thanks very much for your help, Gale) I got most of it back but gave up trying to recover the complete file and started working on a new version of the song. Now I have a new version I’m happy with, but am so concerned about losing it again, I haven’t closed the file or even turned off the computer for days.
I’ve checked for dependencies and it says it’s self contained, but part of the message worries me: If you then Save without copying those files in, you may lose Data.
When I imported the WAV files I am working with, it always gives me three options of how to save it, and I always pick the “safe” option. But the recent experience of losing a file I’d worked so hard on makes me wary.
How can I save this file to keep it intact? I know Audacity warns against keeping the same file and working on it for weeks, but it’s hard to keep up with that sometimes. Do I really have to save new versions every 20 minutes with an updated name to keep my work safe?
It should have been recoverable given you had the AUP file, assuming you copied all the _data folders in the first place.
The third sentence “If you then Save without copying those files in you may lose data” only applies if you choose not to copy in. If you choose to copy in (safer) there will never be any dependencies.
Note there are only two import methods (copy in or read directly). The checkbox is a choice to always use the option selected in the current radio button and not display the warning again:
If you check that box by accident then you can turn the warning back on in the Warnings Preferences .
Are you on the new computer now? I think your problem only came because you messed up moving the project to the new computer.
Do File > Save Project… now in case you have not yet done so and also do File > Export Multiple… then choose WAV or AIFF export format and the option to split based on tracks. You will then have a WAV file for each track. That is the safest backup you can make. If something goes wrong with the project, just import the WAV files.
If any of the tracks don’t start at time zero, generate a little silence starting at time zero to ensure the exported WAV’s keep their offset.
There is no need in my opinion to File > Save Project As… to a new project every 20 minutes. Saving a new project may be something you would do every at every big “milestone” in the project. Audacity does have project recovery, such that if the project closes unexpectedly, you shouldn’t lose more than the very last significant action you took in the project.
