Old 07-12-2020, 05:23 PM   #1
dalezjc
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Default Delete Track Leaves Files in Folder

So when I delete a track (or multiple tracks) from Reaper, the files remain the song folder. I assume there's a preference to change this behavior?

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Old 07-12-2020, 05:33 PM   #2
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There's a really easy way to deal with it:

File > Clean current project directory

Clears out unused files, with the option to send them to the recycle bin.
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Old 07-12-2020, 06:28 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by Fex View Post
There's a really easy way to deal with it:

File > Clean current project directory

Clears out unused files, with the option to send them to the recycle bin.
Yes, I was aware of that, but was looking for a way to delete files in the folder when I deleted a track.
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Old 07-13-2020, 01:46 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by dalezjc View Post
Yes, I was aware of that, but was looking for a way to delete files in the folder when I deleted a track.
You can't...
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Old 07-13-2020, 09:07 AM   #5
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You can't...
And it shouldn't... Luckily Reaper is very careful with deleting files. Be aware that even the Clean project directory may do more than what you expect and want.

Better safe than sorry.
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Old 07-13-2020, 09:22 AM   #6
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The whole idea of the non-destructive workflow is to avoid accidents.

When you delete the only copy of a file, that's pretty final. (Desperation data recovery services aside.)

The workflow is to not pay any mind to a folder-full of working files and outtakes along the way. Do a 'save-as' at the end and keep only the final files you wish. (We're in the age of terabyte drives. 20 - 100GB of stray files during a project shouldn't be a big deal. Time to buy a hard drive upgrade if it is!)

But if you're stubborn and really wish to live circa 1983...
You can find or write a few custom actions to actually delete source files following those moves.
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Old 07-13-2020, 09:50 AM   #7
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What would you do if you accidentally deleted a track?
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Old 07-13-2020, 09:55 AM   #8
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You DON'T want REAPER to start deleting files when you remove a track... that's a sure way to make a mistake and BAM it's all gone, your hard work...

Don't think too highly of yourself that you would never make a mistake

These things exist so you can't easily shoot yourself in the foot...
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Old 07-13-2020, 10:04 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by Mordi View Post
What would you do if you accidentally deleted a track?
I believe the argument here goes something like:

Being forced to make permanent final decisions leads to more creative results when you don't second guess stuff or give yourself the ability to redo work.

I agree with the premise to make decisions and move forward! But I also like the computer age ability to leave a trail of bread crumbs as it were. You can always choose to move forward and normally always ignore that bread crumb trail. Leaving yourself open to mistakes eating up some of your work just to be stubborn with that point seems unwise and unproductive.
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Old 07-15-2020, 04:30 PM   #10
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You all make good arguments about work flow. But if you're not really deleting the track files, the command should really say "hide track". I've been using Reaper for 3 years now and I've never even really looked at my folders, but while transferring a bunch of songs to a new hard drive, I noticed these files.

I'll just make sure to clean up my folders manually.
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Old 07-15-2020, 05:07 PM   #11
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It just makes perfect sense to me that if I delete a track the only thing that's deleted is the track, not the audio. That's how every DAW I've ever used is. Use the DAW's file cleanup to trash files not used. I wouldn't want to work another way.

I'll add that I have never used a DAW where I've accidentally deleted a track as often as I do in Reaper. I don't even remember ever having done in anything else, but at least once a week I hit a key to remove something and the last tracks hilighted go poof. I immediately undo and they come back, but I'd hate to have to go fishing in the deleted files with a utility or even just in the trash, to get back in business.
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Old 07-15-2020, 07:15 PM   #12
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Constantly curating and fussing over your files while you work is a bad way to go IMHO. Let outtakes and extraneous working files collect in the project folder as they do. Do a 'save as' at the end to a new folder with the copy option to make a new project folder with only the files in use. Delete the old folder. Don't screw around 'cleaning' the original project folder. Don't keep your working hard drive so full that you can't have an extra 20 or 50GB space wasted with some outtakes or working files.
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Old 07-15-2020, 07:37 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dalezjc View Post
You all make good arguments about work flow. But if you're not really deleting the track files, the command should really say "hide track". I've been using Reaper for 3 years now and I've never even really looked at my folders, but while transferring a bunch of songs to a new hard drive, I noticed these files.

I'll just make sure to clean up my folders manually.
It couldn't say hide tracks as trackhiding is a different feature in Reaper.
Btw, the files are probably still in the project. Just open the ProjectBay and you ll probably find the files from the just deleted track in there. So they are removed from the track, not the project.
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Old 07-17-2020, 10:37 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dalezjc View Post
I'll just make sure to clean up my folders manually.
No you don't want to do that manually, there's a function "Clean Current Project directory" on the "File"-menu for specifically such a need that it will list all the media files in your project folder that are not anymore referenced (used) by the project. Then you can select from these and delete them from the disk and from the folder.

This is to help you NOT MAKE MISTAKES AND LOSE WORK when you're working... you've no idea how easily that can happen.

When you really think your project is ready, glue everything together, remove any media items and tracks you don't need anymore, make absolutely sure everything's as it supposed to be by listening carefully through your work... then save and clean the project directory using the tool... and hope you didn't make a mistake because now they're gone (to the recycle bin at least... lest you're not using that... then they're gonezky!)

You'll be happier in the end.

And never allow yourself to have so little space on your work drive that you can't have additional 50Gb+ of files when you're doing a project.

Hard drive space is cheap. Annoyance of having to run an buy new hard drive in the middle of the project and moving everything there is just a killjoy and annoying.
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