Strange behavior when attempting to move/synch aud files

[dawgbite]

I am experiencing strange behavior when I attempt to synch/copy an audacity project from my notebook to my home computer.

I copy the project file, june apple acoustic AABB.aup, and the associated data folder, june apple acoustic AABB_data from my notebook to my workstation via a mapped network drive.

This is a two track recording with a rhythm acoustic part on one track and a flatpicking acoustic part on the other. I open the project file and, at first, things look fine - both tracks' waveforms look normal.

However, when I go to play them back on my workstation, the 2nd track doesn't start playing until about 3/4ths of the way into the song. When I attempt to process the track using amplify, the waveform changes to a flatline until the track starts playing.

The directory structure is the same from the project file down on both machines, but the root folders do have a different, absolute path, ie. c:documents and settingsdfawleymy documentsaudacity projects vs. c:documents and settingsdfawleymy documentsrecording projectsaudacity projects.

What is also very weird is that when I play the project on my notebook using the files stored on my workstation, it plays fine.

Is there something I've missed about copying audacity projects from one computer to another? Do the absolute paths need to be the same?

Thanks in advance for your help!

- Doug

[steve]

Moving Audacity projects is possible, but it can be problematic (particularly with Audacity 1.2) and is not generally recommended.

The issue of part of the track not playing, and then going "flat line" after processing is because some of the required audio data is missing.
Depending on how the project was made, there may be audio data that is used in the project that is not included in the "_data" folder. Audio data outside of the project data folder are referred to as "dependencies". The path to the Audacity data folder is a relative path, but the paths to dependencies are absolute paths.

There is a good article here that explains how Audacity manages files and audio data (highly recommended reading, and I would say essential if you are wanting to move projects around) http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/File_Management_Tips

It is often easier to export the tracks as WAV files, then transfer the files and recreate the project on the other computer by importing the WAV files into a new project. However if that is not practical for your needs, I'd recommend that you upgrade to Audacity 1.3.12 as that has an option in the"File" menu to "Check Dependencies", which can greatly simplify moving projects. (there are also lots of other benefits to using Audacity 1.3.12).

Creating a folder for the project and putting all files and folders that relate to the project in that one folder can also help to simplify moving the project. Making a ZIP archive of the entire folder will usually give you a transportable project.

[dawgbite]

Other than wanting to use the notebook as a recording station and use my workstation for post production, I also want to do this for backup purposes and this difficulty had stopped me cold.

I do not have time to try this tonight, but this is a wealth of helpful information - thank you so much. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[dawgbite]

I just wanted to thank you for your help - the information was indeed useful and I'm able to synchronize folders with no hiccups. Thanks again!

[steve]

You're welcome. Thanks for letting us know that the issue is resolved.