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How to import audio into project without copying, but linking to that original audio file?

There's a setting somewhere in the Preferences to change this. It reads something like> Never Copy Audio Files.

Be careful, though. Changing that can be dangerous....

FMiguelez wrote:There's a setting somewhere in the Preferences to change this. It reads something like> Never Copy Audio Files.

Be careful, though. Changing that can be dangerous....

Got it ,yes it's dangerous... Is there another way so that I will remember to switch it back after importing?

rockman413 wrote:How to import audio into project without copying, but linking to that original audio file?

Why in the world would you want to do that?

I’m guessing “linking” is perhaps a way to save space. DP writes new sound files on import. The only thing I can think of to “link” them is a shared audio folder. Also a dangerous option. If you drive space is limited get bigger drives. You can’t really do audio intensive work on the cheap and hdrives are pretty cheap - relatively speaking.

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:I’m guessing “linking” is perhaps a way to save space. DP writes new sound files on import. The only thing I can think of to “link” them is a shared audio folder. Also a dangerous option. If you drive space is limited get bigger drives. You can’t really do audio intensive work on the cheap and hdrives are pretty cheap - relatively speaking.

Hell yes–and getting cheaper all the time.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=65377

The only times I do this (not copying the audio files into a DP project but only linking them) is when I master a collection of music done in many DP projects, i.e., a music library.
This includes the final mixes and final stems (which their sum is IDENTICAL -not "similar"- to the final mix with the faders set to 0).

What I usually do, is import by linking all these files into the new DP mastering project (7-8 stems + final mix per piece, usually 20-30 pieces) because it wouldn't make much sense to duplicate all that (which comes at 32bFP/48 KHz).
This way, I always know I only have ONE set of stems and final mixes in the respective folders of the pieces. The separate project for the mastering session just sees all these files from multiple locations, and I've never had any issues.

Other than that, messing with that setting can be a quick recipe to losing files and scream in despair. One must be REALLY REALLY CAREFUL when linking files and have a VERY good reason to do it!!

Oh, and it's really easy to forget to reset the preference to the normal default "Always copy audio files into the DP project"...

Now I don't remember if that particular preference is project-specific, or if it's global for any project ----> Dangerous to forget and reset!

Yeah, for those on a single drive and for whom they don't have the time or money right now, I can see that such limitations might still inform a different way of importing projects that doesn't immediately incur a disc space issue, but it's just way too dangerous, for all the reasons mentioned earlier.

Many years ago, either that was the default setting or I somehow accidentally got into that setting. I lost a LOT of data, but luckily I didn't "really" lose ANY, because I had backups and hadn't worked on the lost audio files since they were last backed up.

I will sometimes create a new project and import chunks from other projects, just to tidy up and SAVE DISC SPACE at the same time. Digital Performer sometimes misses a file that isn't used anymore, based on various workflows, and it can be hard to identify on disc or even widening the sound bites overview to full screen width -- particularly when the project has multiple chunks.

What I'm getting at, is that you can get closer to a goal of maximizing disc use efficiency, without adding risk. Just import with the copied audio data, verify for sure, and delete the chunk from the other project, then do a cleanup. Even better if you migrate everything from a stale old project and then delete it entirely. Newer versions of DP are smarter about marking files not-in-use, but a lot of us have unfinished legacy projects that may have accumulated a lot of noise over the years.

I'm fairly extreme on "safety first", and thus each track in my project corresponds to one continuous audio track, even though that uses more disc space than leaving gaps where there's no audio. It's more future-proof and makes for easier compatibility with other apps and DAW's. But as this is how I work, I can't say with certainty that the approach I outlined above, works as well if you have very tightly-edited sound bites or even retain a lot of takes per track when copying to a new project. Others can chime in.

Just learned the other day- If I drag an audio file into the project, it doesn't seem to copy the file- I delete the soundbite from the DP project and it deletes the original, which is NOT in the DP project folder. If, however, I IMPORT the audio, it copies it to the project folder. Good to know.

SMS wrote:Just learned the other day- If I drag an audio file into the project, it doesn't seem to copy the file- I delete the soundbite from the DP project and it deletes the original, which is NOT in the DP project folder. If, however, I IMPORT the audio, it copies it to the project folder. Good to know.

That's a good example as to why it's safer and better to leave the preference to copying instead of linking.
It's always quite easy to get rid of any unused audio and even portions of unused audio at the end of the project, if needed.

What you describe happens because you must have the relevant preference set to off. If you set it to Copy, DP will obediently do so regardless of the importing method used (dragging or via the dialog box).

Well, it better do that! I'm 99% sure it does so.

As others have already stated, missing files is a nightmare you may not like...
That's what copying is all about. Yes, I mean duplicating.