Help editing and saving track after crash

[TDubs]

Current Audacity Version: 2.3.0
OS: Windows 10 64bit

Issue: My computer crashed due to a power issue while recording commentary. I accepted the prompt to recover the file. The audio track opens as it should (waves, sound, etc.). My problem occurs when trying to apply effects to the track, specifically Equalization (Bass boost and Treble boost) and Normalize. The effect starts to process and gets about halfway before Audacity completely crashes and I have to reopen. After several attempts at editing I decided to try saving the track as well as exporting the track. Neither were successful, even though the process completed, no files were saved in the designated destination folder. Apologies if this is a simple fix, I'm new to audacity and audio recording software as a whole.

[steve]

How big is the recording?
Is it just one track?
Where are you trying to save to?
How much free space is there in the location where you are trying to save?

[TDubs]

The file is 92.6 KB
It is a single track
The file is on a 500 GB Samsung 860 Evo SSD with ~360GB free
I am trying to save the file on the same SSD

The file is saved as a .aup file and I am saving it as a MP3 file for use in Vegas Pro 13

Apologies for the delayed reply. I created this account to ask this single question so my ignorant self missed the notification button on the forum.

Thanks for the reply!

[steve]

The file is saved as a .aup file

An "AUP" file is only one part of an Audacity project. It is called the "Audacity Project" file, and it contains instructions for Audacity, but does NOT hold any audio data. The audio data is stored separately in a folder that has "_data" at the end of the name.

Example: If you save a project as "my-project", then Audacity creates

• a file called "my-project.aup" (containing instructions),
• and a folder called "my-project_data" (containing the audio).

While USB sticks can be very handy for storing files, they are much less reliable than internal drives when it comes to on-demand file access. This is likely to be the problem.

Try copying the "aup" file AND the associated "_data" folder to your hard drive, and see if you can open it from there.

IMPORTANT
The AUP file and _DATA folder must NOT be renamed, and MUST be kept together.

Audacity-project.png (14.78 KiB) Viewed 245 times

[kozikowski]

My problem occurs when trying to apply effects to the track

Your problem occurred before that. When Audacity recovered the show after the crash, it's a terrifically good idea to save the Project and Export a WAV protection copy. That's when you may have discovered that the show is still damaged and some of the tools are no longer available to you.

The file is 92.6 KB

That's probably the Audacity Project management text file, not the bulk of the show.

This is an Audacity Project. The AUP file tells Audacity what to do with all those fragments and files in the _DATA folder.

My computer crashed due to a power issue while recording commentary.

Did you restart the computer anywhere in there? I mean after it came back up when you resolved the power issue? It's my guess you still have a limping operating system trying to stay alive and trying to keep your show from going under. I think the show may lose. If you can't File > Export a WAV sound file, then I think it's all over.

I am saving it as a MP3 file for use in Vegas Pro 13

Does Vegas Pro demand you do work in MP3? MP3 is not a good format for production. Use WAV (Microsoft) 16-bit instead (if Vegas supports it). MP3 is an end-product format such as posting on the internet or listening on a portable music device. There is no "open my MP3 in a video program." That will increase the compression sound damage such as bubbling, honking or talking into a wine glass. WAV doesn't increase damage as you work.

Koz

[kozikowski]

If Vegas is most comfortable with MP3 sound files, then Export the work in very high quality such as 256 or 320. That will minimize the damage. WAV stereo quality, to compare, is roughly 1400.

Koz

[TDubs]

Appreciate the assistance! I’m currently at work right now but I will try to save as a WAV file when I get home. Also I am not saving the files on a USB, rather an internal solid state drive. The PC crashed during recording because I somehow managed to partially unplug the power cable from the back of the PC. It would still run but obviously not for very long until I realized that it was unplugged.

Again I appreciate the support and will donate to the team!

[kozikowski]

I am not saving the files on a USB, rather an internal solid state drive.

I got that. If you were on a USB external drive, you'd likely have more problems than this one.

It would still run but obviously not for very long until I realized that it was unplugged.

By the time you realized there was something wrong, the computer was already missing some of its jobs. There are no times when that's good news. There is no soft power fail.

There are such things, but not on a home machine.

Post back if you get a rescue to work.

Koz