Troubleshooting and File Management

Now that we have looked at some useful and creative mixing techniques, we have arrived at the last chapter of this book. In this chapter, we are going to look at some troubleshooting techniques. We are going to explore how to replace missing files, which is super important if we might have made a mistake during our file management process, and now, we are facing missing samples. Sometimes, we also can end up with an unnecessarily large project that takes up loads of disk space because we have piled up some unused files. This can be aided easily by removing these unused files.

And finally, if you are looking to use third-party plug-ins, you will find out how to manage them properly.

These topics might not be the most exciting ones; however, they are a crucial part of maintaining a fluid and stress free workflow and being able to troubleshoot with ease when needed.

The chapter will consist of the following topics:

• Missing samples
...

Technical requirements

In order to follow along with this chapter, you will need the following:

• A computer with at least 8 GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 processor
• A pair of headphones
• A copy of Live 11 Suite

Managing missing files

Missing files in a project is a common problem that can happen to any of us. This can be due to incorrect saving (not saving samples upon saving a project or a file management error), not using the Collect All and Save commands, or misplacing the saved sample folder in our project file. When any of these things happen, and we open the set (the .als file), Live will give us a message indicating that it is unable to locate the files (Figure 17.1):

Figure 17.1 – Live’s warning that there are missing files in a project

When this happens, you can also see that the missing files are grayed out and appear offline in your project. Luckily, it is very simple to run a quick search on your computer or on an external storage device where the files might be. For this, we are going to use the File Manager (Figure 17.2):

Figure 17.2 – The File Manager in Live

Let’s talk a bit more about...

Managing unused files

As I mentioned before, it is not unlikely that we end up with unused files eventually in our project that can take up unnecessary space, increasing our project’s file size.

This can be especially annoying and something to look out for when you are collaborating with someone and you are transferring the project folder back and forth online.

To see whether you have unused files that you would like to remove, do the following:

1. Go to View | File Manager.
2. Click on Manage Project.
3. Navigate to the middle of the File Manager to Unused Files (Figure 17.6):

Figure 17.6 – Unused Files in the File Manager

As Figure 17.6 shows, there are two unused files.

4. Click on Show to view them in the browser (Figure 17.7):

Figure 17.7 – A list of unused files displayed in the browser

5. Once you see the list of unused files in the browser, you can simply decide to select...

Managing third-party plug-ins

Besides the native Live devices, you might wish to use third-party plugins.

As we have already learned in this book, you can find these plug-ins in the browser under the Plug-Ins tab (Figure 17.8):

Figure 17.8 – Third party plug-ins in the browser

When you install or uninstall plug-ins, Live will not detect them and, therefore, will not show the changes in the browser until you close and reopen Live.

It is necessary to activate your plug-in sources if no plug-ins are showing up in the browser.

To do so, and to carry out other plug-in-related settings, head to Live | Preferences | Plug-Ins (Options | Preferences | Plug-Ins on Windows) or hit Cmd + , (Ctrl + , for Windows) (Figure 17.9):

Figure 17.9 – The Plug-Ins tab in Live’s Preferences

In Preferences (Figure 17.9), you can also set custom folders where you might also store VST2 and VST3 plug-ins (Use VST2 Plug-In...

Summary

In this chapter, we looked at some troubleshooting techniques if you are having to deal with common problems. These can happen to anyone, and knowing how to use the File Manager will give you the confidence to oversee and be in control of all the files belonging to your project. Reducing file size is also crucial in the modern world to make file transfers easier. And, of course, everyone likes to use some new cool additional plug-ins to add some extra spice to the already amazing selection of Live devices.