aMUSEd.
aMUSEdI’m not really getting why there is a dialogue to save a Project as and give it another filename but not the same thing for Arrangements. Surely since the Project can be a “container” for any number of Arrangements and you tend to edit Arrangements quite a lot it would seem useful and logical to be able to have “save as” for Arrangements too.
swindusYou can right click the arrangement and create a unique copy of it. It’s some sort of ‘save as’.
aMUSEdIs it? There seem to be 3 “flavours” – unique, phantom and track. I want to be able to save any updates I have made to a new arrangement so which should I use?
thanks
swindusThe unique copy will create a exact copy of your arangement with all settings, audio files and so on . I use it to save different versions of an arrangement. The phantom copy will only save all settings and no audio files. It needs less memory but does not ‘backup’ the audio files.
For the track copy I don’t know what it does exactly. Maybe Frits or another user can explain it.
aMUSEdWhat I really want is just to be able to save different working versions of the same arrangement as I’m going along (like Tracktion’s “save edit as”) – not make copies beforehand
It makes more sense to me to be able to do that at the Arrangement level rather than the higher Project level.
swindusSounds like a job for the phantom copy.
aMUSEdI’ve tried that now but it doesn’t work how I need it to at all. The first time I created a new arrangement and laid down a couple of tracks of midi. Then I wanted to save that version. If I had a “save as” for arrangements I would be able to save that iteration without it affecting the previous (blank) version which is what I need from this function, so I can cumulatively add different versions but still go back to my starting point if I need to. So I saved a Phantom copy as you suggested but then when I reopened Podium I found it had vanished. I realised I had not saved the project the new copy was in!! (in Tracktion this would not have happened – a saved copy is a saved copy).
Anyway I started again and laid down some midi, made a phantom copy and this time saved the project as well. However the next time I opened it I found that both versions were identical – in other words saving the project (as I had suspected actually) saved both versions but in the last state of the first version. A “Save as” would not do that if I chose to save the second version as a new iteration and left the first version unsaved.
It seems there is stuff to iron out with the current project/arrangement model. A proper “save as” for arrangements would help, and maybe also something like Tracktion’s project management which is similar in it’s logic but does not require one to save twice.
aMUSEdSo any chance of this being addressed in an update? – just a “save as” for arrangements in the file menu would do
thanks
Zynewave@aMUSEd wrote:
I’m not really getting why there is a dialogue to save a Project as and give it another filename but not the same thing for Arrangements.
Because arrangements are not saved in separate files. They are contained within the project file. If you prefer to only have one arrangement per project, then just use “save project as”.
If you want to take “snapshots” of an arrangement in progress, use the “new unique copy” and add a timestamp or something to the name the new arrangement so that you can identify it. Then continue working in the original arrangement and repeat the “new unique copy” when you want a new snapshot.
aMUSEdI’m sorry but maybe I’m not being clear enough. If I save a phantom copy or a unique copy it is an exact replica of the current state of the arrangement I am working on. That is fine in itself. However in order not to lose that copy I have to then save the whole project which means it also fixes the original arrangement in that same state when I would like that one to remain unchanged. That to me is the point of a “save as” command – it makes it possible have multiple snapshots of the arrangement while at the same time avoiding overwriting my original arrangement (or any of the snapshots) so can always trace my steps backwards
Like I said Tracktion manages this very well – you also have Projects in Tracktion but they are more like folders and you can save multiple variations in the same project.
swindusThen just create a copy before you begin to work on a arrangement.
UncleAge@aMUSEd wrote:
I’m sorry but maybe I’m not being clear enough.
Are you saying that even if you make “new unique copies” that they would all be changed later-on to the current state of the current arrangement upon saving the project?
If this is true then I agree with you. I wouldn’t want my versioning erased when I save the project either. I’ll have to play with this tomorrow and see what happens.
Zynewave@UncleAge wrote:
@aMUSEd wrote:
I’m sorry but maybe I’m not being clear enough.
Are you saying that even if you make “new unique copies” that they would all be changed later-on to the current state of the current arrangement upon saving the project?
No, of course that is not happening.
If you use the “new phantom copy” then the copied arrangement will have phantom copies of all sequence and sound events. This means changes made to sequences in one arrangement will be mirrored in the other. The “phantom copy” arrangement can be useful if you want to try out different mixes of an arrangement while you’re still working on editing the sequences.
@aMUSEd: I agree with what swindus recommended, namely to make a unique copy before you start to edit the arrangement.
aMUSEdYes I know I can do that (in fact that’s what I am doing) but it’s back-to-front compared to being able to save copies along the way at key points as I make changes. At least it ensures I always have a pristine versions but it doesn’t flow as easily for me as being able to “save as”. Maybe I’ll just have to do as you said and have one arrangement per project and ditch the whole arrangement concept.
H-manSounds to me like this is drifting a little 😕
Isn’t this FR basically as follows:
Change “New Uniquie copy” to “Save Unique Copy”, add the option for timestamp, rename or sticknote and make it available from the arrangement window?
I’d be pretty happy with that.