Help.

My group played a concert that was recorded and I was given a dvd-r of
the protools files. I went to open the file(s) and found no extensions
on the file names. The info I've found online is not encouraging. The
files have been erased from the computer that recorded it- only this
dvd exists- and now I fear I may have lost it all.

The file sizes for the "Audio Files" folder appear to match the massive
MB (40 minutes per track) I'd expect, but changing the extension
manually to .aif or .wav doesn't make them accessable. Any help or
advice (other than the "up **** creek/SOL" hilarity that one expects)
would make me - and the label- extremely appreciative.

please, please help.

Sounds like you have a folder of the audio files but not a PTools
session? I can only speak of Mac, but PTools OSX doesn't necessarily
add file name extensions. If the files are straight from the session
(not exported) they're probably Sound Designer files, though it could
be a wav session. Wouldn't be AIFFs, IIRC. Are you making the mistake
of clicking on the audio files instead of opening them from within a
session or app? (The creator may be PTools but clicking on them won't
open a PTools.) Drag them onto any audio app (Quicktime player, Peak,
etc.) and it'll tell you exactly what they are. If you put a .wav
extension on a SD file it'll confuse it for sure. Are you preparing
to use them in another app? If you're starting with a PTools
session it'll generally convert anything that's not the same format as
the session to the proper format (make a new copy, actually), so you
really wouldn't be in any trouble there, and when you browse files from
within the session it'll tell you what format they are as well.


More info? : )

wrote:
Help.

My group played a concert that was recorded and I was given a dvd-r of
the protools files. I went to open the file(s) and found no extensions
on the file names. The info I've found online is not encouraging. The
files have been erased from the computer that recorded it- only this
dvd exists- and now I fear I may have lost it all.

The file sizes for the "Audio Files" folder appear to match the massive
MB (40 minutes per track) I'd expect, but changing the extension
manually to .aif or .wav doesn't make them accessable. Any help or
advice (other than the "up **** creek/SOL" hilarity that one expects)
would make me - and the label- extremely appreciative.

please, please help.

Are you on a PC and the files were recorded on a Mac? Mac
versions of Protools don't add extensions to the names of audio files
(at least the versions I have used.) And you cannot see an audio file
from the "Open" menu you use to open a session in Protools either, you
have to have an open session already, then in your main edit/tracks
window click on the "Audio" button at the top of the audio regions
list. You get a drop down menu with "Import audio" as a selection
choice; select that and you will be able to see your audio files and
what their formats etc. are, whether they have extensions on the names
or not. Or maybe you are using an older Protools 3 Mac system, if so
your files need to be transfered to/located on a scsi drive connected
to one of the Protools cards in your computer.

I would suggest downloading and reading theProtools manual,
look up importing audio. Although I don't understand why you can't
just open the original Protools session itself, as PT files should work
cross platform. Was the Session recorded in a newer version of PT
than you own?

Will Miho
NY Music and TV/Audio Post Guy
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away... Tom Waits

In article .com,
wrote:

My group played a concert that was recorded and I was given a dvd-r of
the protools files. I went to open the file(s) and found no extensions
on the file names. The info I've found online is not encouraging. The
files have been erased from the computer that recorded it- only this
dvd exists- and now I fear I may have lost it all.

The file sizes for the "Audio Files" folder appear to match the massive
MB (40 minutes per track) I'd expect, but changing the extension
manually to .aif or .wav doesn't make them accessable. Any help or
advice (other than the "up **** creek/SOL" hilarity that one expects)
would make me - and the label- extremely appreciative.

please, please help.





First open up a brand new (and empty) PT file. Then import the audio
files.

Our Mac PT HD system opens every kind of audio file clients throw at me.
It should automatically knows the sample rate, how many bits, & what
kinda file it is, and then drop it into PT for ya.

Since it's a concert, they should all start at the same time, just line
them up.

Give it a try.



David Correia
www.Celebrationsound.com

Thanks so much for looking into this. I'm somewhat familiar with
protools (5.3, I believe), though I usually use Radar.

There is a top level file that I assume to be the session file, though
there is no extension. Then there are two folders: an audio files
folder, which has 16 files (each of the same size, about 195 MB,
without extensions) and a session back-up folder than has 10 files in
it. I'm not sure what the extension should be for any of these. Do you
suggest .sdII for the audio files? I imagine that perhaps the versions
are not the same, or that it was originally recorded on a different
platform (not sure what the soundguy used), or -most troubling of all -
what I read on a post from april, that the files were all just dragged
off of the desktop onto a disc, and that all the files were lost.
Another possible pitfall: the mac I use for protools doesn't have a dvd
drive, so I had to pull the files onto my PC laptop and then put them
onto 6 cd-rs, which were then used to move the data onto the mac. I
tried opening a new session, but I couldn't import the audio files,
either without an extension or with .wav or .aif added (described as
unrecognizable).

In the corner of my room, my Tascam Portastudio 424 is pointing at me
and laughing. I need to lay off the funny stuff.

If you don't have a Mac - then you'll need pro Tools 6.7 or later and
MacDrive from www.mediafour.com

Mount the DVD as a Mac drive and start up Pro Tools. Open the session
directly off the DVD and you'll be prompted to resave/copy the session.

The audio files are sd2 files BTW -- to convert them to WAV you can use my
free sdTwoWav utility.

Rail
--
Recording Engineer/Software Developer
Rail Jon Rogut Software
http://www.railjonrogut.com


wrote in message
oups.com...
Help.

My group played a concert that was recorded and I was given a dvd-r of
the protools files. I went to open the file(s) and found no extensions
on the file names. The info I've found online is not encouraging. The
files have been erased from the computer that recorded it- only this
dvd exists- and now I fear I may have lost it all.

The file sizes for the "Audio Files" folder appear to match the massive
MB (40 minutes per track) I'd expect, but changing the extension
manually to .aif or .wav doesn't make them accessable. Any help or
advice (other than the "up **** creek/SOL" hilarity that one expects)
would make me - and the label- extremely appreciative.

please, please help.