Subject:Media Manager Issues In AP6

Posted by: ifonline

Date:4/18/2006 2:50:34 PM

I am finding some annoying issues with the Media Manager and I am hoping either someone can help me out with this or someone can tell me there is an update on the way.

1. When I render a project into a WAV file, the Media Manager automatically adds the rendered WAV file into the active Media Manager database. I don't want this. I am using the Media Manager to catalog loops and one-shots, not completely rendered music. How do I stop this?

2. When I browse to a file in the File Explorer from within ACID, and play that file, the Media Manager automatically adds the file into the active Media Manager database. Although I do want my loops and one-shots cataloged, I only want them cataloged when I SPECIFICALLY request the Media Manager scan for updates, not ANYTIME I play a file that resides anywhere on my computer. I keep my actual loops and one-shots organized in a specific location on a separate hard drive just for this reason. Someone please tell me how to stop the Media Manager from automatically adding files unless I SPECIFICALLY tell it to scan!

3. Speaking of scanning, whenever I scan for updates and new media files, I have a specific location that I have supposedly limited the Media Manager to scanning. However, when the scan is finished, I notice that the Media Manager has also scanned other areas on my computer, for no obvious reason. In other words, I have Media Manager set to scan only "e:\ACID Loops\..." but it also scans "c:\..." Why? How do I stop this?

4. I would like the option to both remove a file from the Media Manager AND delete the file from the computer. I am finding duplicated loops and one-shots, but I have to write down the file names and file directories, browse to those locations, delete the files, return to the Media Manager, sort by offline files, and THEN remove those files from the Media Manager. If there was an option to BOTH remove AND delete, that would make the task of managing the Manager (he he) easier.

Thanks for listening, and I hope there is a solution either now or in the very near future.

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: Tobias7000

Date:4/18/2006 4:58:59 PM

I echo these observations and desire the same changes.

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: ifonline

Date:4/18/2006 5:18:17 PM

Dang! Well, I was hoping that I had missed some settings somewhere, but at least there is verification of the issues I am having. Hopefully someone will be posting that the next update will address these!

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:4/18/2006 6:38:20 PM

> Someone please tell me how to stop the Media Manager from automatically adding files unless I SPECIFICALLY tell it to scan!

You want to go into Options > Preferences > General tab and UNCHECK [ ] Save media-usage relationships in active media library. ACID will stop cataloging media from your project into the library. Also MM should not be scanning for files in any directory other that what you told it. It has never scanned my C: drive (I have all my loops on “D:\ACID Loops”. Did you know you can just drag and drop a folder from the windows explorer and it will scan the files just like the scan dialog. That will definitely limit it to just that folder. While you cannot delete from the media manager and the file system, right-clicking on the file allows you to Open Containing Folder so you can delete the file, then choose Remove from library.

<shameless plug>
I’ve just completed a new training DVD Media Manager Demystified that features an hour of training on just the Media Manager. While it’s in our Absolute Training for Vegas Series, I actually use ACID loops in many of my examples. It’s being released next week at NAB 2006. There are two streams on that page that you can watch to see what it's like.
</shameless plug> ;-)

~jr

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: Illogical

Date:4/19/2006 6:27:41 AM

God Sony, I love AP6 but please just get rid of this media manager or at least allow it to be uninstalled. All I want is a simple search box on the explorer box, not a mongo database churning away in the background.

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:4/19/2006 8:19:28 AM

> ...or at least allow it to be uninstalled

They do. Try: Options > Preferences > General tab and UNCHECK [ ] Enable Media Manager (required ACID restart). The Media Manager will never start on your PC again. Feel free to uninstall it after that.

Some of us realize what an outstanding productivity tool the Media Manager is. It takes up very little resources, is much faster in ACID 6 than any other version, and saves me tons of time rather than searching through the archaic Windows filesystem (which is a single rooted hierarchy that is woefully inadequate for cataloging media). I can’t imagine using ACID or Vegas without it.

~jr

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: kbruff

Date:4/19/2006 9:45:27 AM

Google Desktop is also a slick tool -- if you take the time out to catalog your files -- it helps only to find not to audition

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:4/19/2006 10:38:19 AM

I have to say that the Media Manager (MM) opens up creative paths I wouldn't have otherwise explored. I have oodles of loops on my media drive and a lot of the time I pigeonhole myself into using a "favorite" bit of media mainly because I know where it is.

With the MM, I can generally look for similar media by keyword just to see what alternatives are available without having to fish through and drill down folders on my media drive. (Of course, that means the media has to be appropriately tagged. Non-Sony media libraries are usually not, so it's up to the user to get that done.)

Iacobus

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: Illogical

Date:4/19/2006 1:05:12 PM

Unticking that box was the first thing I did after installing. I didn't realize you could uninstall media manager separately from Acid Pro though. Cheers. I really hate it. Just let me type one word...crackle, guitar, didgeridoo, whatever...and search in my loops folder. Why can't they incorporate this into the standard explorer?

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: ifonline

Date:4/19/2006 3:19:56 PM

-----
You want to go into Options > Preferences > General tab and UNCHECK [ ] Save media-usage relationships in active media library. ACID will stop cataloging media from your project into the library.
-----

Are you taking about rendered projects? That might solve one of many issues I am having. However, what about previewing sounds in the explorer window within ACID, and those sounds then automatically add themselves to the Media Manager? They aren't in a project yet. I don't want the Media Manager to add ANY files unless I SPECIFICALLY tell it to do so.

-----
Also MM should not be scanning for files in any directory other that what you told it. It has never scanned my C: drive (I have all my loops on “D:\ACID Loops”.
-----

On mine, it does. I can verify this, as one of my colums in the Media Manager in the file path. When I scan for new media (and select a specific location), I can then sort by file path, and I find files that are on the "c:" drive, no where near what I searched for.

-----
Did you know you can just drag and drop a folder from the windows explorer and it will scan the files just like the scan dialog. That will definitely limit it to just that folder. While you cannot delete from the media manager and the file system, right-clicking on the file allows you to Open Containing Folder so you can delete the file, then choose Remove from library.
-----

Interesting, but a delete feature within the Media Manager would be much better. For software that is so feature rich, there is no reason to go through these steps. A simple delete function would suffice.

Thanks for the info, however.

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:4/19/2006 6:19:45 PM

> Are you taking about rendered projects? That might solve one of many issues I am having. However, what about previewing sounds in the explorer window within ACID, and those sounds then automatically add themselves to the Media Manager? They aren't in a project yet. I don't want the Media Manager to add ANY files unless I SPECIFICALLY tell it to do so.

I’m talking no additions whatsoever. Uncheck this and the only way for media to show up in the Media Manager is for you to explicitly put it there. Try it and see.

> Interesting, but a delete feature within the Media Manager would be much better. For software that is so feature rich, there is no reason to go through these steps. A simple delete function would suffice.

I’m not sure why anyone would want to delete their media. Most of us have spent hundreds of dollars on our loop libraries and the LAST thing we want to do is delete them. The Media Manager is not a file system management tool. It shouldn’t be messing with your media. It just catalogs it and helps you find it quickly. I’m just not sure deleting media fits with the paradigm of a catalog (which is what the MM is).

~jr

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:4/19/2006 6:24:59 PM

> Unticking that box was the first thing I did after installing.

Then you have no idea how good the ACID 6 Media Manager is.

> I really hate it.

But you've never use it...

> Just let me type one word...crackle, guitar, didgeridoo, whatever...and search in my loops folder. Why can't they incorporate this into the standard explorer?

This is EXACTLY what the Media Manager does (and more). I don’t see how you can hate something that does exactly what you want when nothing else does it. Sony has provided the function you want. It’s called the Media Manager. Try it... you just might like it.

> All I want is a simple search box on the explorer box, not a mongo database churning away in the background.

Just to put things in perspective for you from your previous post, right now on my PC, Firefox is taking up 28MB of memory, the instance or MS Word that I’m typing this into right now is talking up 18MB of memory, Acrobat Reader is taking up 10MB of memory and the SQLSERVR.EXE from the Media Manager with 4,000 pieces of media cataloged is taking up 22MB of memory. Less than a web browser and a little more than a word processor. That is less than 1% (0.022%) of my 1GB of system memory. I would hardly call that "mongo database churning away in the background".

It's really been trimmed down a lot in ACID 6. You should try it before you condemn it.

~jr

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: b4dawn

Date:4/19/2006 7:07:43 PM

Without Media Manager, I would be sunk. I had Acid 5 and didn't check for the upgrade to 5c. My fault.

I have 48,000+ loops. I am able to catalog from Media Manager to tags very quickly. If I need a guitar fast, they are all there for the "picking." My Media Manager on A6 comes up perfect everytime and hasn't been responsible for a crash yet.

At least I'm doing one thing right.

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: ifonline

Date:4/19/2006 8:12:53 PM

Thanks, JohnnyRoy. I'll check into this.

-----
I’m not sure why anyone would want to delete their media. Most of us have spent hundreds of dollars on our loop libraries and the LAST thing we want to do is delete them. The Media Manager is not a file system management tool. It shouldn’t be messing with your media. It just catalogs it and helps you find it quickly. I’m just not sure deleting media fits with the paradigm of a catalog (which is what the MM is).
-----

Because at the present, the Media Manager is also helping me organize my media. As such, when I find duplicates (for whatever reason I have partial collections in two locations), I would like a simple, one-interface way to manage them.

Once my media is properly organized, then there **might not** be a reason for a Media Manager delete function, but there might be.

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: SHTUNOT

Date:4/19/2006 8:36:22 PM

The MM should not have the ability to delete files IMHO. If you are finding doubles of your media you can:

1)scroll to the right to find out where they are stored at.
2)right click on the file and select "explore containg folder" from the menu. It will open up windows explorer to the folder with the media so that YOU can delete it then and there.

The MM should not have to take the place of good organizational skills.

Ed.

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: ifonline

Date:4/20/2006 5:37:02 PM

-----
The MM should not have to take the place of good organizational skills.
-----

Interesting position, and you might be correct. However, I still believe that delete (and even rename) functions from within the Media Manager would be helpful and not at all out of place.

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: Illogical

Date:4/21/2006 6:53:13 AM

"Then you have no idea how good the ACID 6 Media Manager is."

Well, I guess maybe I don't, but I tried it in 5 and hated it. It was counter-intuitive, over-blown, and seemed more geared to showing you what you don't have (on all the Sony libraries you don't own) than what you do.

Anyway, I'll give the 6.0 one a try, maybe, lol. Thanks for the feedback!

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: jackn2mpu

Date:4/23/2006 10:17:11 AM

Johnny Roy said (damn, I wish Sony would put in a 'quote' button):
Just to put things in perspective for you from your previous post, right now on my PC, Firefox is taking up 28MB of memory, the instance or MS Word that I’m typing this into right now is talking up 18MB of memory, Acrobat Reader is taking up 10MB of memory and the SQLSERVR.EXE from the Media Manager with 4,000 pieces of media cataloged is taking up 22MB of memory. Less than a web browser and a little more than a word processor. That is less than 1% (0.022%) of my 1GB of system memory. I would hardly call that "mongo database churning away in the background".

It's really been trimmed down a lot in ACID 6. You should try it before you condemn it.

I replied:
There are other services than just sqlservr.exe that need to run for the Media Manager to run, at elast in Acid 5. So it's more than just the one program supporting MM. I try and run a lean machine with as many services turned off as possible, which Sony doesn't officially condone. They want to see a machine with everything running as the deities and Bill Gates decree(d).

So you're saying that MM in Acid 6 is less of a hog than the one in Acid 5? That might be nice if true.

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:4/23/2006 6:56:30 PM

> There are other services than just sqlservr.exe that need to run for the Media Manager to run, at least in Acid 5. So it's more than just the one program supporting MM.

Yea, it needs the terminal service too. I know lots of tweaking sites tell you that you don’t need this services but IMHO tweaking is not as important as it once was in the days of Windows 98 and 512MB memory limits. I have stopped tweaking my Windows XP systems and they run just fine. I look at it this way, when you have 2GB of memory; turning off services just save a few MB is a waste of my time. (great idea in the past, but not a important now). But I understand where you are coming from. Windows is anything but lean.

> So you're saying that MM in Acid 6 is less of a hog than the one in Acid 5? That might be nice if true.

Definitely YES. It loads significantly faster and takes up less resources and is a tremendous productivity enhancement. I use to get all hung up on where to place my loops so I could find them easily. Now I don’t care ‘cuz the MM makes them all available at my fingertips.

~jr

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: jumbuk

Date:4/24/2006 3:26:08 AM

I have tried MM in Acid 6, and it is definitely faster than 5, especially at load time. I still don't use it, because I know my sample library pretty well .

But, having said that, I think kudos to Sony for making a feature available that some users obviously like a lot. They made it easy to turn off, so I can hardly complain about an extra feature I choose not to use.

By the way, I think Sony probably felt the need for the MM in Acid 5 because it was keeping an eye on Garage Band, which has a catalogue feature.

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: Jeff_Smith

Date:4/30/2006 11:43:55 AM

I think MM is awesome. I jumped from AP4 to AP6 and have it disbabled in Vegas. Using dual monitors I peel it off and put it on my right screen. I use the star rating to keep track of my current favorites. It's also great to use with the free Get Media loops.

But, my free 8pack loops don't seem to be tagged? I am using the sony sound series reference. Do I need to manualy tag all these?

I should know this...but, Is there a way to view all the media in a current project similar to Vegas Project Media and Edit Details tabs?

thanks,

Jeff

Subject:RE: Media Manager Issues In AP6

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:5/1/2006 8:00:53 AM

> I should know this...but, Is there a way to view all the media in a current project similar to Vegas Project Media and Edit Details tabs?

No, you can view all of the media that was used with a particular piece of media but it has no project boundaries. It just shows all of the media used in any project with that media.

~jr