Project Page update mastering file

[soundofdrums]

Hi guys, I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong here, but I’ve been mastering an album in the project page. There were a few revisions I needed to do to some tracks so today I open the respective songs, made the changes and then clicked update mastering file from the song page. It bounced the new file as expected, however, when opening up the project it says these files need updating and would I like to update mastering files. If I click yes it bounces them all again. If I click cancel it just shows them with the red wrench suggesting they’re not updated. If I look in the pool in the project page it appears that it’s referencing the newest files, so why does it still think they need updating. Is there a way to refresh the mastering files rather than bouncing them again? Should I not update mastering files in the song page, only in the project page? Am I confusing it by not having the project page open when doing the changes? I’m finding this quite confusing. Any help?

 

[SwitchBack]

No issues here so yeah, maybe something in the way you set it up?

The way it works for me is that my projects link to songs, not to (bounced) mastering files. That way the project can update the mastering files or, my preference, I can update a mastering file in the song and then the project will automatically use that. No red wrenches that way. The mastering files/subdirectories remain inside the respective song folders, and the project's media folder is empty.

 

[soundofdrums]

No issues here so yeah, maybe something in the way you set it up?

The way it works for me is that my projects link to songs, not to (bounced) mastering files. That way the project can update the mastering files or, my preference, I can update a mastering file in the song and then the project will automatically use that. No red wrenches that way. The mastering files/subdirectories remain inside the respective song folders, and the project's media folder is empty.

That’s the weird thing though, the songs are linked to the project and the pool suggests this to be true, but yet the project seems to think the files still need updating

 

[SwitchBack]

Well, I think the project looks at the 'edited' flag in the linked songs. You can as little as touch a fader or a mute button and it will trigger a 'needs to update' in the project. Did you check if your project's media folder is empty?

 

[soundofdrums]

Well, I think the project looks at the 'edited' flag in the linked songs. You can as little as touch a fader or a mute button and it will trigger a 'needs to update' in the project. Did you check if your project's media folder is empty?

Yes project media folder is empty and the master folder in the song folder only has the latest version. Perhaps if I save the song after I’ve updated mastering file, the project thinks something new has happened…I’ll keep experimenting.

 

[Craig Anderton]

I think the following may be what's happening. If a song incorporates randomized or changeable processes (e.g., randomized LFO waveforms), after updating the mastering file, Studio One's state changes and the little asterisk in the song name indicates that it's unsaved. So, when the project page looks at the Song, it sees something unsaved. To avoid the "double rendering" issue you're having, after making your changes in the song, don't update the mastering file. Just go over to the project page, and update from there.

If this isn't right I'm sure someone like Lukas will correct me.

 

[soundofdrums]

I think the following may be what's happening. If a song incorporates randomized or changeable processes (e.g., randomized LFO waveforms), after updating the mastering file, Studio One's state changes and the little asterisk in the song name indicates that it's unsaved. So, when the project page looks at the Song, it sees something unsaved. To avoid the "double rendering" issue you're having, after making your changes in the song, don't update the mastering file. Just go over to the project page, and update from there.

If this isn't right I'm sure someone like Lukas will correct me.

Thanks Craig. I’ll try updating from the project page instead next time, and I’ll look into whether I have any changeable processes going on in the mix

 

[AAV]

+1 This happens to me all the time. Agree though it's not a big deal to just update the mastering file in the Project view.

 

[Davey]

In the past I've managed to confuse the project page by recalling different versions of a song. Not quite sure what was going on but it was fortunate that I noticed quickly before I spent too much time on the wrong version. These days I tend to export finished songs as separate audio tracks then load them into a new song for final mixing - it helps me focus and does away with any version confusion. It also gives me "clean" songs to archive (although I do keep all the previous versions).

 

[soundofdrums]

In the past I've managed to confuse the project page by recalling different versions of a song. Not quite sure what was going on but it was fortunate that I noticed quickly before I spent too much time on the wrong version. These days I tend to export finished songs as separate audio tracks then load them into a new song for final mixing - it helps me focus and does away with any version confusion. It also gives me "clean" songs to archive (although I do keep all the previous versions).

Yeah that’s another confusion for me too. If I need to do revisions to a song when I’m mastering, ideally I want to save as a new version so I don’t overwrite the previous mix but that then also freaks the project page out. Maybe it’s more straightforward to just do it manually like you’re suggesting.

 

[soundofdrums]

Anyone have any best practice tips for how to use the project/song linking feature optimally? Taking into account saving new versions of songs for revisions?

 

[darren]

I don't want to hijack this thread (but also didn't want to start a new one) but I abandoned the project/song linking feature some time ago when it kept hanging if I had too many plugins in the song. After extensive testing with Presonus support without any resolution I now just update the mastering file and import it into the project. And if you Alt-drag it replaces what's already there so it's quite simple.

By a very tiny amount it's slightly more of a hassle than when the project/song link works but it's 100% reliable.

 

[AAV]

I don't want to hijack this thread (but also didn't want to start a new one) but I abandoned the project/song linking feature some time ago when it kept hanging if I had too many plugins in the song. After extensive testing with Presonus support without any resolution I now just update the mastering file and import it into the project. And if you Alt-drag it replaces what's already there so it's quite simple.

By a very tiny amount it's slightly more of a hassle than when the project/song link works but it's 100% reliable.

Yes I've been thinking of going this route myself too.