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Old 11-12-2012, 08:35 AM   #1
ShikiGami
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Default How Reaper wasted 4 hours of my life

I'm trying Reaper, and so far so good, I was about going to buy it, when today it made me waste 4 hours of my life.

Apparently Reaper developers believe that their product is so stable, that they don't have enabled by default auto-backup, and apparently there isn't even backup for files that have not been saved.

I assumed that Reaper was at the same level of other products in the industry, so I started a new project, and worked non-stop 4 hours, until it crashed. I still hadn't saved my project, buy I believed that there was no problem because Reaper obviously made some kind of backup.

And then I open the program, and nothing, search for it, nothing, search on the forum, and surprise, there is no such function.

This is incredible, because even crappy text processors has it.

Thank you, now I will use programs that actually are usable and do not waste my time.
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Old 11-12-2012, 08:42 AM   #2
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Well...i dont think "Reaper is unusable and a waste of time" is the logical conclusion, though.

Not saving for 4 hours is really bad practice man. Should it be enabled by default? Maybe. Should you automatically assume that it is? Not really...

Sorry for your loss, but i really dont think you should blame Reaper...set autosave up the way you want it, and save new projects when you start them up. There are other reasons that saving your project early is a good idea btw...problem solved.
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Old 11-12-2012, 09:07 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by j79 View Post
Not saving for 4 hours is really bad practice man.
Yeah, seriously. I can't imagine doing that.
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Old 11-12-2012, 09:13 AM   #4
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I ran my reaper for 2 hours expecting it to mix and master my songs by itself...dam thing did nothing but wait for me to take control...back to cassette tape for me.. dave
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Old 11-12-2012, 09:17 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by fixerdave View Post
I ran my reaper for 2 hours expecting it to mix and master my songs by itself...dam thing did nothing but wait for me to take control...back to cassette tape for me.. dave
Your's must be busted or something. I merely sat my guitar in the general area of my computer while Reaper was running. I came back 2 hours later and BAM, killer guitar tracks.
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Old 11-12-2012, 09:22 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by j79 View Post
Not saving for 4 hours is really bad practice
Not saving *at all* and not even naming a project is way worse than "bad practice".
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Old 11-12-2012, 09:25 AM   #7
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ok, right, I'm putting my keyboard and my laptop to bed together tonight... see what I got in the morning.. dave
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Old 11-12-2012, 09:32 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShikiGami View Post
I started a new project, and worked non-stop 4 hours, until it crashed. I still hadn't saved my project
Sounds like you just started using computers. I guess from now
on you will press CTRL+S more often in your life, as we all do,
and learn ways and options of backing up your work which
Reaper offers (and so do other programs).

Everything else in your post is just an overly emotional reaction with
no rational grounds, no need to comment that, we're all human.

Welcome to the forums of course, if you need help with auto backing
features feel free to ask or read the user guide.

e
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Old 11-12-2012, 09:49 AM   #9
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quick, boys, back to garageband!
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Old 11-12-2012, 09:55 AM   #10
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Little tip (even the bold) from ProTools:

"The AutoSave files only exist to recover a sequence from a crash and the manual recovery of sequences should not be considered a replacement for frequent saves and archives of your project, and should be used as a last resort."

Quote:
Originally Posted by ShikiGami View Post
I was about going to buy it, when today it made me waste 4 hours of my life...

...now I will use programs that actually are usable and do not waste my time.
So, whaddya gonna spend your 60 bucks on?
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Old 11-12-2012, 09:55 AM   #11
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Be nice please gents.
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Old 11-12-2012, 10:05 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fixerdave View Post
I ran my reaper for 2 hours expecting it to mix and master my songs by itself...dam thing did nothing but wait for me to take control...back to cassette tape for me.. dave
Admittedly it's a little bit hidden...But searching for "Automation" you will find it.
Have a look here:
Attached Images
File Type: png AutomationMixAndMaster.png (49.6 KB, 1424 views)
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Old 11-12-2012, 10:20 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ShikiGami View Post

And then I open the program, and nothing, search for it, nothing, search on the forum, and surprise, there is no such function.
Surprise! Preferences > Project saving.

You can set autosaving by time interval and set autosave directory, where even your untitled 4-hour project would be saved.
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Old 11-12-2012, 10:23 AM   #14
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OMG! FOUR hours?! That is really horrible!!!

How long is your overall life expectancy?
Can you get a refund?
What time is it now???



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Old 11-12-2012, 10:31 AM   #15
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Sorry man, it has got to be frustrating.

I actually disable auto save in the couple of daws I use...but control S is a habit....probably hit that about every ten minutes...perpetually.

Yeah, don't leave a good daw for that.
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Old 11-12-2012, 10:53 AM   #16
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That sucks. But if you liked how things were progressing, you should have saved it. Blaming Reaper for an avoidable loss is childish at best.

Moral of the story? Always save your work. Always...
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Old 11-12-2012, 10:58 AM   #17
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Unfortunately you wasted 4 hours of your own life, blaming Reaper because you didn't save and assumed that it had autosave (Always disabled by default in any audio app that i know of, because in realtime tasks like recording audio they are more trouble than they are worth)

Reaper is prone to crashes quite often because its plugin support is not that great, you need to work out what plugins run OK for you and then the rest you run them in compatibility mode.

You should be fine then for crashes, I am actually horrified now when i get a crash on my main rig now, but it has very limited plugin installs
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Old 11-12-2012, 11:26 AM   #18
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I hit ctl+s every 3 mins while I sleep.
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Old 11-12-2012, 11:45 AM   #19
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Sometimes I disable undo and don't save, to practice for real life.
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Old 11-12-2012, 11:54 AM   #20
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Sometimes I run with scissors !

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Old 11-12-2012, 04:15 PM   #21
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When I start a new project, the first thing I do is save the blank project under the working title so whatever else happens I neither lost anything I already did or overwrite my default song template.

Surely this is how most people work, isnt it?

Once I have done that I never ever do mid-session saves, as Reaper does that for me every 5 minutes.
Not rocket science, surely?
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Old 11-12-2012, 04:22 PM   #22
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I have two folders..each on different drives.

I save to them both..the main recording drive..pretty much every time I do something..and then about every 30 mins I save the project to the second drive.. ..just use the same project file..just overwrite it.

havent lost more than ten minutes work in a year..and I only lost those because of some stupid plugin crash or something.
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Old 11-12-2012, 05:09 PM   #23
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Losing data is always painful, so I hear your pain. We all agree not saving for 4 hours isn't the best practice, but it would be nice to have Reaper cover your back, so to speak.

However, Reaper does have an option to backup your work at regular intervals. See Preferences->Project Save (in preference do a find on "backup").

I set it to backup every 10 minutes and that has avoided some painful data losses.

Maybe this should be on by default.

My experience is that Reaper is very stable, so I wouldn't recommend not choosing Reaper based on one experience.

As a side note, some apps are moving away from "save" (for example google docs). With a good undo UI, this could work pretty good. In the future we'll look back and say "remember when you have to save your file and if you forgot and crashed you would lose data? Crazy!"
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Old 11-12-2012, 05:16 PM   #24
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Hang on, didn't Hopi (and me, probably) get ripped to pieces for taking the mickey out of a poster somewhat recently?


>
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Old 11-12-2012, 05:18 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by planetnine View Post
Hang on, didn't Hopi (and me, probably) get ripped to pieces for taking the mickey out of a poster somewhat recently?


>
What a shower of bastards!

GET EM!

I got yer back ninesy..
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Old 11-12-2012, 05:30 PM   #26
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Hang on, didn't Hopi (and me, probably) get ripped to pieces for taking the mickey out of a poster somewhat recently?


>
Ahem.... Um, yeah. THAT thread..... Anyway, to the OP. Reaper has "odd" defaults because Reaper is a very deep program that is so customizable that it can make your head spin. Some people (like me) disabled auto-save immediately because it can cause issues while tracking large sessions (at least it did back in early V3 when I disabled it!). Reaper is not easy to understand totally right away, but it is easy to get going with it. But as with ANY program (or hardware or tool or...) there is usually a manual and a forum. Reaper happens to have both, and a pretty kick-ass forum I will add. So before you dismiss Reaper and blame your conundrum on the software, learn your lesson, start making more music, and ask a ton of questions. I am like some of the others here, I hit CTRL-S so often I hardly notice. And the few times I have had crashes (last one was a non-Reaper related.....power surge) I re-opened the project half expecting to have lost something, and found that my last unconscious CTRL-S was only a few minutes before the ctrash. Quit being lazy, don't expect this music making to be easy. You are in charge of your DAW, so learn how to use it.
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Old 11-12-2012, 05:43 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam C View Post
Sorry man, it has got to be frustrating.

I actually disable auto save in the couple of daws I use...but control S is a habit....probably hit that about every ten minutes...perpetually.

Yeah, don't leave a good daw for that.
Bit late with everyone else here posting like cubase forum smartass keyboard warriors, doubt he'll give reaper a second look now... well done idiots.
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Old 11-12-2012, 06:00 PM   #28
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Auto save should be on by default. The newbies will get their parachute and the pros will turn it off.
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Old 11-12-2012, 06:01 PM   #29
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Bit late with everyone else here posting like cubase forum smartass keyboard warriors, doubt he'll give reaper a second look now... well done idiots.
Fuck that.He came on here all moany with a half arsed complaint about something you learned on yer zx spectrum, and got the piss rightly ripped out of himself.

He left the door open.Everyone else just sauntered in.
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Old 11-12-2012, 06:15 PM   #30
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Really a sad trend going on. Whatever became of Be Nice™?
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Old 11-12-2012, 06:24 PM   #31
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Fuck that.He came on here all moany with a half arsed complaint about something you learned on yer zx spectrum, and got the piss rightly ripped out of himself.

He left the door open.Everyone else just sauntered in.
Every gets frustrated when learning something new, I say give them the benefit of the doubt, but I guess you've never lost it in your life have you.

Gofer is right... a sad trend indeed
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Old 11-12-2012, 06:46 PM   #32
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Really a sad trend going on. Whatever became of Be Nice™?
Totally agree gofer, it's starting to feel as it the whole Reaper forum is in the lounge.

Well, not quite that bad but it's good to see you making comment.
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Old 11-12-2012, 07:10 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gofer View Post
Really a sad trend going on. Whatever became of Be Nice™?
I thought they were being nice Or is having a sense of humour classed as not being nice these days

Hell, even GP was joining in


>
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Old 11-12-2012, 07:28 PM   #34
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Really a sad trend going on. Whatever became of Be Nice™?
Agree totally. I may chide a bit, but I know better now since some people can't stop at the "gentle sparring" for that friendly hard-time. Too bad, a tiny ribbing is a great way for people to be friendly in that odd "guy" way. But it seems that people are a bit over-ego'ed these days.
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Old 11-12-2012, 07:42 PM   #35
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This is the internet, after all. It's funny how people are just plain assholes on the internet when in real life they would never be like that.
And if you are... god save us.

My frustration comes from the fact that I've using Reason for 9 years now, and I've never have had a single crash. Not even once.

I've been using Reaper for very little time, and this is not the first time I've had a crash on Reaper, but it is the first I've lost all the work I've done.
Yes, you could argue that not saving constantly is not a good practice, I agree, but also not having enabled by default a simple auto-saving feature is not a good practice as a developer, and even more if you are aware that your program is not that stable and could crash at any moment.

I mean, even the development tools, like Visual Studio, have some kind of auto saving feature, that does not need to be manually enabled, and that works even on a non saved project. Why?, because Visual Studio could crash at any second.

Yes, I was emotional because I lost all the work I made, so for that I'm sorry, but to the asshole who asked me how long my life expectancy was, I would warn you to not make that kind of comment again, for all you know I could have cancer.

To all the people who answered nicely, thanks.
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Old 11-12-2012, 07:50 PM   #36
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Originally Posted by ShikiGami View Post
and even more if you are aware that your program is not that stable and could crash at any moment.

I mean, even the development tools, like Visual Studio, have some kind of auto saving feature, that does not need to be manually enabled, and that works even on a non saved project. Why?, because Visual Studio could crash at any second.
I wouldn't say that the Reaper devs "are aware that your program is not stable and could crash at any moment", Reaper has been unusually stable for me for over 3 years. Any program could crash at any time, for that matter. But maybe you can take a deep breath and ask more detailed questions, or give us more info about the crashes you've had. I don't think that the lack of auto-save is important, now you know to enable it if you want to, or get into the habit of manually saving. But Reaper is actually amazingly stable for many people, so maybe we can help you figure that out.
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Old 11-12-2012, 07:57 PM   #37
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Reaper has been unusually stable for me for over 3 years.
Just had a 35 track project open while tracking and some mixing for 72 hours straight; even left it open while I was sleeping. No crashes.
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Old 11-12-2012, 08:06 PM   #38
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Yes, on a serious note, I wouldn't say REAPER isn't a stable DAW.

I go to some efforts to make my workstation bombproof, and I know exactly why it has crashed on the two occasions it's failed in the six years since I built it. One of those times I tipped it over on purpose loading samples into RAM to see what happened. it's usually a plugin or bad drivers that cause instability,

I would honestly say that REAPER is the most stable DAW I've ever used. I'd be looking elsewhere if you have problems...


>
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Old 11-12-2012, 08:10 PM   #39
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This is the internet, after all. It's funny how people are just plain assholes on the internet when in real life they would never be like that.
And if you are... god save us.
Well to be fair to both sides, many would have said exactly the same thing in real life and both of you, due to tone, facial expression and body language would have not seen your post or their replies as assholes and there would have been no hurt feelings.

I talk just like your first post all the time in real life when I'm frustrated... "Damn fing friggin fart blossom (**&#($(*W$R!! bloom data piece of shite!" ... Then I feel better.

Both your initial post and the replies are on similar playing fields and if they shouldn't take your frustration as literal then you shouldn't take theirs literal either. So, maybe now that auto-save is on, you can use it more and pop in with the occasional question of which we will be happy to help.

Last edited by karbomusic; 11-12-2012 at 08:16 PM.
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Old 11-12-2012, 08:24 PM   #40
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Even if the tone of my first post wasn't the best, the point remains.
There should be an auto-save function enabled by default, even for non-saved files.

We can argue about the stability of Reaper all day long, and it would be pointless. Reaper uses plugins to work, so yeah, it could be unstable.

From a consumer perspective, it would be far better. Veterans of course know all the tricks and the inside of the program, so they don't care because it works for them, so that's why I cannot take "Control+S" as a good argument.
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