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Old 08-17-2019, 06:48 PM   #1
IndustrialOkie
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Default Unfinished Project From Old Computer

I've got an 18 track work in progress on my old iMac I would like to transfer to my new MacBook. I know how to render a finished project, but don't know how it's possible to move the project with all the tracks still separate and able to be manipulated for further editing.

My last question was answered friendly and fast- what a great community!

Thanks in advance!

Tom
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Old 08-17-2019, 07:06 PM   #2
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Hi Tom,

You should be able to move the whole thing and continue as before. As long as you transfer all of the audio (and any other files used, like impulses, etc) Reaper will at worst ask where the files are when you point it to them it will load them. The best thing to do is probably to, on the iMac, do a new "save project as" and have the boxes for "Create subdirectory for project" and "Copy all media into project directory" checked, give it a new name, and then move that new folder, which will contain the Reaper file and all other files, to the MacBook.
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Old 08-17-2019, 07:12 PM   #3
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The short answer is yes, but the devil is in the details, as in how the data is organized on your old Mac. The better organized the data is on the old computer the easier it will be to copy everything over.

You'll probably need to install any non standard Reaper plugins that you have on the old machine on the new machine as well. I know you have to do that on a PC, but can't say for sure if that's the case on a Mac, I suspect it is though.

Maybe start small with a couple of projects, see what you run into. But definitely wait until other forum members weigh in, lot's of people on here know a lot more about this stuff than I do.

Edit: See that? VDU proves my point, lot's of smart people here who are more than happy to help. Good Luck.
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Old 08-17-2019, 07:33 PM   #4
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LOL, toleolu, I forgot about the plugins : )

That's pretty easy, or at least a necessary evil you'll have to take care of eventually anyway. Just copy all the plugins in your iMac to the MacBook. Generally, aside from when you drag the plugins to their folder, plugin installers default to putting them in Library/Audio/Plugins, but check your user/Library/Audio/Plugins too, as that also works and maybe some ended up there. (Hold down 'option' while viewing the Go menu in the Finder and the user Library becomes visible.) Also, you may need to move authorization keys or if the plugins had online authorizations log on to their site (or often the iLok site for some plugin companies) and transfer or add the auths to the MacBook.

If you only have been using Reaper plugins you won't have to do any of that. But if you started with a clean system on the MacBook and have a few third party plugins you used, you'll need to. If you did an install to the MacBook from an iMac Time Machine or similar, then you won't have to physically move anything but will have to reauthorize the plugins for the new computer. It's pretty simple, just a little time consuming before it falls in place, but Reaper is as foolproof and easy as it comes for moving to another computer.
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Old 08-17-2019, 07:52 PM   #5
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I should have been more specific on the plugins as plugins that required an installer rather than .dll's (or whatever the Mac equivalent is) that as vdu stated, can be copied.

Thanks for catching that.
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Old 08-17-2019, 08:13 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by toleolu View Post
I should have been more specific on the plugins as plugins that required an installer rather than .dll's (or whatever the Mac equivalent is) that as vdu stated, can be copied.

Thanks for catching that.
I do have all the plugins from my old setup on my new as well.
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Old 08-17-2019, 08:15 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vdubreeze View Post
Hi Tom,

You should be able to move the whole thing and continue as before. As long as you transfer all of the audio (and any other files used, like impulses, etc) Reaper will at worst ask where the files are when you point it to them it will load them. The best thing to do is probably to, on the iMac, do a new "save project as" and have the boxes for "Create subdirectory for project" and "Copy all media into project directory" checked, give it a new name, and then move that new folder, which will contain the Reaper file and all other files, to the MacBook.
Thanks I will try this next!

I've lost songs before and while a pain in the ass, I've found the recreated version is almost always better. But now I've got young kids, am middle aged and lazy lol.
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Old 08-17-2019, 11:45 PM   #8
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The only scenario where you will get stuck is where you have older plugins that can't be installed to a newer OS and you have a newer machine that doesn't support that older OS.

If you aren't sure, look up the system requirements of the plugins in question and look up the supported versions of OSX for both machines.

If you ARE in that situation (new machine that doesn't support an older OSX that your plugins in question need), the only option is to freeze any tracks with said plugins or take a chance on a newer version of said plugins. If you don't want to spend required money or you believe something has been changed in the new version that you don't like... those would be the cons.

Transferring files of course is a no-brainer. If you are planning on abandoning the physical hard drive in the old machine just boot it in target disk mode, plug into the new machine like an external hard drive and copy the files and your Reaper resource folder.
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Old 08-18-2019, 01:15 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by serr View Post
The only scenario where you will get stuck is where you have older plugins that can't be installed to a newer OS and you have a newer machine that doesn't support that older OS.

If you aren't sure, look up the system requirements of the plugins in question and look up the supported versions of OSX for both machines.

If you ARE in that situation (new machine that doesn't support an older OSX that your plugins in question need), the only option is to freeze any tracks with said plugins or take a chance on a newer version of said plugins. If you don't want to spend required money or you believe something has been changed in the new version that you don't like... those would be the cons.

Transferring files of course is a no-brainer. If you are planning on abandoning the physical hard drive in the old machine just boot it in target disk mode, plug into the new machine like an external hard drive and copy the files and your Reaper resource folder.
oh boy. Boot in target disk mode and plug into new machine sounds way out of my depth. Is there a tutorial for this somewhere?

Thanks again everyone!
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Old 08-18-2019, 04:33 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by IndustrialOkie View Post
oh boy. Boot in target disk mode and plug into new machine sounds way out of my depth. Is there a tutorial for this somewhere?

Thanks again everyone!
This is just the stock "target disk mode" for Macs.
Power on the machine and immediately press and hold the "t" key until you see the firewire/thunderbolt icon on the screen. The computer now acts literally like an external hard drive. (With its internal hard drive(s) being the drive in question.) Plug it into the host computer with firewire or thunderbolt just like you would plug in an external hard drive.

When you are finished, eject the "drive" (the computer in target disk mode that is) and disconnect it like normal. Power off the machine in target disk mode. (Depending on the model it's either a press of the power button or you have to hold the power button until it shuts off - like a force quit.) Next power-on will boot normally.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201255

Last edited by serr; 08-18-2019 at 04:41 PM.
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Old 08-18-2019, 05:42 PM   #11
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There's always "Sneaker Net".

Copy the file(s) to a USB drive, walk it over to the new computer, and copy to the destination folder on the new computer.

Works OK unless you're trying to copy a lot of stuff from different folders, then Serr's suggestion would be the best way to go.
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Old 08-18-2019, 06:41 PM   #12
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Yeah, save a step and use the Mac as an external hard drive. That's what the feature is for. This has been around for a long time and just works. Nothing risky or wonky about it.
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Old 08-19-2019, 02:46 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by toleolu View Post
There's always "Sneaker Net".

Copy the file(s) to a USB drive, walk it over to the new computer, and copy to the destination folder on the new computer.

Works OK unless you're trying to copy a lot of stuff from different folders, then Serr's suggestion would be the best way to go.
I attempted the USB route, but always get a "file destination not found" error. Perhaps I'm saving them wrong?
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Old 08-19-2019, 08:11 PM   #14
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On the new Mac, if you open Reaper and go into Options>>Preferences>>Paths, there should be a default project path listed under Default path to save new projects. If there's not a folder listed there, you can click on Browse and create one. Once there's a folder in there, you should be able to save files and folders in there.

Also, when you saved the old project to the USB drive, did you do as VDU suggested and check the check boxes for creating a subdirectory for projects and either Copy or Move media files?

FYI, there is a Mac section on this forum. From the Forum home page, scroll down and you'll see it. Maybe posting in the Mac section of the forum, more Mac users will see it and they may be better able to help with the Mac specific issues.

First things first though, make sure you have a valid projects folder on the new Mac.
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Old 08-19-2019, 11:44 PM   #15
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Your project files will simply be where you saved them in your file system. Using the Finder is really the simple straightforward way to handle copying/managing files. That's literally what it's there for. Opening up Reaper and using the save dialog project by project... OMG! Just copy your stuff with the Finder.

re: USB stick
Did you re-format it to HFS+ ?
These are normally formatted with the oldest file system that works with the oldest Windows OS out of the box. (Often fat32 but sometimes back to NTFS) While the Mac can read and write to it, there are a few more restricted characters and name lengths for filenames. That might be what's giving you an error.

PS. USB is not supported with target disk mode. Use firewire or thunderbolt.

Do you have a master project directory somewhere in your filesystem? Copy it over and put it in the same place on the drive in the new machine.

I like to make a folder named "Recordings" under the home folder if it's a system drive. (Being that you treat your home account folder as root level on system installed volumes.) Moving it to another hard drive would simply be moving that whole folder.

Last edited by serr; 08-19-2019 at 11:49 PM.
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