Mystery deletes in Audacity

Marina47 · Post by **Marina47** » June 14th, 2016, 3:39 am

Is anyone else having the problem that after a perfect proofread, you go back and bits of text have mysteriously disappeared
from the recording? I use Phil Chenevert's procedure to put in missing text or correct it but I had so many bits missing that I gave up and did it over. I did it yesterday and proofread it as perfect. Today there are bits just cut out.
Marina

gypsygirl · Post by **gypsygirl** » June 14th, 2016, 5:48 am

When you save a file in the native audacity format (.aup), what you get is an xml file (eg. mobydick_01_melville_128kb.aup) and a folder full of little snippets (eg. mobydick_01_melville_128kb_data). The .aup file tells audacity where each snippet is and in what order to play them, but if any of the snippets got moved, deleted or corrupted, you might get the effect you described (though, usually, audacity will warn you that something's gone wrong when you first open the file).

Post by **annise** » June 14th, 2016, 6:59 am

I've had it happen when I don't have much space for the massive temporary files that Audacity uses to allow you to undo everything you have done in the session step by step . Audacity doesn't seem to tell you, it just struggles on and leaves some bits out. So not having anything much running in the background and making some more space may help.
While these odd things are happening , I'd save your file as .flac at suitable intervals called [project name]_a, _b , etc so if disaster strikes you can upload the last one and try again

Anne

pnagami · Post by **pnagami** » June 15th, 2016, 2:49 pm

I was losing bits when I tried to run Audacity off of a jump drive plugged into a 3.0 USB slot. It resolved when I switched to working off the hard drive.
I back up projects as MP3s on my jump drive and then once the whole project is uploaded in the catalog, I erase all file folders and project files off the hard drive Documents file and empty the recycle bin. One solo can have 10,000 little filettes with all the corrections so those project files have to go as soon as possible.

Pam

Marina47 · Post by **Marina47** » June 21st, 2016, 6:19 am

thanks guys but none of that makes any sense to me. i still don't get it. i did the file in two sections for easier proofing and i don't
know if that was why. it happened right to the end and i had to chuck some bits back in again.
Does anyone, Phil C or anyone have a good preset reverb for voice on these files? I am just playing around and could do that forever trying to get something without too much echo.
Marina

Post by **philchenevert** » June 21st, 2016, 9:07 pm

Marina47 wrote:Is anyone else having the problem that after a perfect proofread, you go back and bits of text have mysteriously disappeared
from the recording? I use Phil Chenevert's procedure to put in missing text or correct it but I had so many bits missing that I gave up and did it over. I did it yesterday and proofread it as perfect. Today there are bits just cut out.
Marina

Hmmmm. Mysterious disappearing bits would definitely be annoying!! When you say bits of text are gone, you mean that the words or phrases are missing from the recording, right? Just checking to be sure I understand. What about a recording where you have not cut out or replaced anything?

Next. when you go back, have you exported the file as an mp3 or are you opening the .aup file?

I would suggest making a short recording, saving it, closing it then opening it again to see what happens. My suspicisons are that it is something very simple and easily fixed.

Ealswythe · Post by **Ealswythe** » August 19th, 2017, 3:50 pm

I did a recording today, and when I listened back on .aup, I noticed the time towards the end, some snippets of words and phrases had been cut off in the recording. I re-did some of those phrases, but then there were so many, that I re-did the entire last page.
I was advised by another reader and DPL, that I should delete my .aup files, and not have ANYTHING running in the background. I did need the online LV book to read from, but I may have had mail open as well. I'm going to definitely delete these .aup files. Should I also delete the FLAC files that I've made, once I've gotten PL OK? Probably I don't need those anymore either. Would those also be causing an overload?

tovarisch · Post by **tovarisch** » August 19th, 2017, 6:47 pm

Nothing that is sitting on your storage unit should present any problem, provided your storage is not running out of free space.

When folks suggest that nothing should be running in the background, they usually mean for you to close all unnecessary programs, like e-mail, even web browser, skype (if you use it) or any other instant messagers, and so on. Not just minimize the windows, but close, quit.

As far as removing files that have been PL OKed, I'd hold off until it's cataloged. We've had problems in the past that caused our LibriVox repository to be reverted to a previous month's, and all files on our servers were lost. Keep your FLAC files forever, if you can. Put them on a CD and store it... Treat them like you would your family photos (digital ones).

Good luck!

Ealswythe · Post by **Ealswythe** » August 19th, 2017, 7:08 pm

tovarisch wrote:Nothing that is sitting on your storage unit should present any problem, provided your storage is not running out of free space.

When folks suggest that nothing should be running in the background, they usually mean for you to close all unnecessary programs, like e-mail, even web browser, skype (if you use it) or any other instant messagers, and so on. Not just minimize the windows, but close, quit.

As far as removing files that have been PL OKed, I'd hold off until it's cataloged. We've had problems in the past that caused our LibriVox repository to be reverted to a previous month's, and all files on our servers were lost. Keep your FLAC files forever, if you can. Put them on a CD and store it... Treat them like you would your family photos (digital ones).

Good luck!

Thank you for your info. Yes, I have a McBook Pro with tons of memory. That shouldn't cause a problem with files. But I've taken everything out, and placed it in a folder in my external drive, in case I should need it. Great advice!