Frequently Asked Questions
- Why
does it take so long to play after hitting audition?
- Why
did my DEMO run out before the 30 days is over?
- Why
do I have to choose an Audio Files folder? Other databases don't make
me do this.
- How
come the cursor "jumps" to the description field sometimes?
- Why
is it so expensive?
- I
keep getting "Error -43". What is that?
- I
just tried to copy a Sound File's name in Pro Tools and paste it into
SoundLog Pro™, but it didn't work.
- My
buttons are all screwed up (or blank).
- Why
don't you use the Pro Tools "Convert & Import" function to convert
sample rates?
- I
got an error when cataloging. It said "The variable varString is not
defined."
- I
sometimes get a "This file was not closed properly. SoundLog Engine
is now performing a consistency check." Can I turn this off?
- How
do I save? There's no "Save" Command.
- I
just made a new sound file in Pro Tools using the SoundLog Pro™
naming function, but the sound file info (sample rate, length, etc.)
doesn't show up in the record.
- I
can't get SoundApp & Pro Tools to open at the same time.
- Can
I edit the path fields manually?
- How
do I get Commercial Library CD information into SLP?
- How
do I clear paths? I've got a bunch of records that say both "Online"
& "Server", and I want to clear the Online Paths.
1.
Why
does it take so long to play after hitting audition?
Normal playback averages around 1/2-2 seconds on an
online drive. If its taking exceptionally long (4-5 seconds), then:
- Set your disk cache (In the Memory Control Panel)
to at least 512k, then restart your computer.
- There may be an extension conflict. Try turning
off as many extensions as you can, but you'll need "Applescript" &
ApplescriptLib" running to test the audition.
- Make sure other applications aren't accessing your
drives in the background (like Copying with the Finder, etc.).
- Make sure you have Quicktime
4.1 or later.
- If needed, defragment your drives. (With something
like Norton Utilities Speed Disk)
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2.
Why
did my DEMO run out before the 30 days is over?
If you have over 500 records, then the DEMO will run
out before 30 days. Also, if you have changed the Date/Time in your
control panel, then any function in the DEMO will access the current
date, and interfere with the time remaining. Do not change your Mac's
current date while working with the DEMO, or you'll risk cutting the
DEMO short. You can always reinstall to get an empty copy of the DEMO,
but records can't be imported into the DEMO, so each time you start
over you'll have to start from scratch.
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3.
Why
do I have to choose an Audio Files folder? Other databases don't make
me do this.
There are two very good reasons:
- Most other databases require you to store your
files (even MONO files) as interleave stereo. Those databases don't
need to know your Audio Files folder because Pro Tools has to split
the files anyway. This wastes your time & disk space, since you have
to wait for the file to be split & overviews to be created every time
you import a file. SoundLog Pro™ allows you to store Mono, Split
Stereo, as well as Interleave Stereo files. This allows unsurpassed
flexibility in Sound File storage, and Importing ability.
- The "Audio Files Folder" is used whenever you create
a new sound file name, to create an instant path to the new file.
This makes the new file immediately available in the database, without
having to do a Catalog first. In order for this to happen, a folder
path must be assigned to the beginning of the new Sound File Name,
and for this, we use the "Audio Files Folder".
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4.
How
come the cursor "jumps" to the description field sometimes?
SoundLog Pro™ has a "tab order" (Not in the DEMO),
meaning you can tab between fields. In most layouts, the tab order is
set to description first, then sound file name. Some other
fields have pull-down lists/menus, like the creator field. When
you make a selection in those fields, SoundLog Pro™ jumps to the
next field in the tab order. Simple press [ENTER] on the keypad
(NOT [RETURN]), to exit the record, or click somewhere else in the layout.
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5.
Why
is it so expensive?
It's actually only about the price of a single plug-in.
Consider this. Any given plug-in is used only occasionally, as the need
arises, sometimes as little as once a week, once a month, or even longer.
SoundLog Pro™, on the other hand is a tool you'll use ALL
day EVERY day, and nothing else available at ANY price manages
your sound library like it. I've seen the alternatives, and that's why
I wrote SoundLog Pro™ in the first place. Don't take my word for
it though, check out ALL the alternatives. I think you'll find SoundLog
Pro™ gives you the most bang for your buck.
- Clients are already switching to SoundLog Pro™
from the currently "known & most popular" programs, not because of
the price, but because SoundLog Pro™ WORKS better, and includes
critical features the other guys have ignored!
- SoundLog Pro™ was originally intended for
individuals, at a price they could easily afford. I'm actually surprised
at the number of large companies, who have already spent tons of $$$
on other recent software, that are snatching up SoundLog Pro™.
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6.
I
keep getting "Error -43". What is that?
Error -43 is a Mac OS error, not a SoundLog Pro™
error. It means "File Not Found", and loosely translated, means that
some disk error has likely occurred. In most cases, restarting your
computer will clear this up, but if not, you may need to run a disk
repair utility like Norton Utilities
Disk Doctor or Disk First Aid (which gets installed with your System
software, so you should already have this).
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7.
I
just tried to copy a Sound File's name in Pro Tools and paste it into
SoundLog Pro™, but it didn't work.
When a sound file name is copied in Pro Tools, it doesn't
go to the Mac's clipboard, so it can't be pasted ANYWHERE, not just
SoundLog Pro™. You CAN copy & paste it within Pro Tools, but they
don't let you paste it anywhere else.
For this reason, to get names to match in SoundLog Pro™ & Pro
Tools, you should use the Auto-Naming function in SoundLog Pro™.
Go to the Quick Name page to see quickly
how this is done.
As a broken down overview:
- Make a new record in SoundLog Pro™.
- Type in a description.
- Hit the naming button for whichever program you're
naming a file in. (Pro Tools, PEAK, SoundHack, etc..)
- Paste the new name (automatically copied to the
clipboard in the previous step) in Pro Tools, Peak, SoundHack, etc..
(Note: I usually have my new file already made
(or ready to be saved in the case of PEAK, etc.), but unnamed, before
using Auto-Naming. This way I don't have to worry about accidentally
erasing the clipboard (which contains my new sound file name) before
I have a chance to paste it.)
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8.
My
buttons are all screwed up (or blank).
There are 2 possible causes for this.
- Your database is pointing to the wrong copy of,
or couldn't find, "SoundLog Pro Values". Quit SoundLog Pro™,
then make sure you have the latest copy of "SoundLog Pro Values" (from
the latest installer), and relaunch your database.
- You imported some records, and matched up some wrong
fields, which put some incorrect data in the button fields. Simply
Quit SoundLog Pro™, and relaunch it to refresh the buttons.
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9.
Why
don't you use the Pro Tools "Convert & Import" function to convert sample
rates?
This function of Pro Tools is not accessible by applescript,
so it's currently not possible.
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10.
I
got an error when cataloging. It said "The variable varString is not defined."
This is due to selecting a directory that contains
too many files. One user reported this because they selected a folder
on their server which was called "Sound Effects Library", and it contained
multiple subfolders with over 70,000 files. I've never encountered this
myself, so don't know the upper limits of how many files can be scanned
at once, but there is an easier, and better, way to accomplish this.
- Perform a "Multiple Disk/Folder" Catalog instead,
selecting each subfolder of the large master folder.
- To make this easier, I've included an applescript
that can do this for you. It's called "Multiple Subdirectory Adder",
and it's in the "Helper Scripts" folder, in your "SoundLog Pro™
folder. Just double click it, and follow the prompts to select the
large master folder. It'll add all the subfolders to the "Multiple
Disk/Folder" field.
- The effect of this is, each subfolder then gets
scanned individually, so it'll only have to deal with a few hundred,
or a few thousand, at a time.
- This also makes it easier to track the Catalog's
progress. Instead of saying "Cataloging 70000 files, on Disk 1 of
1", it'll say something like "Cataloging 3000 files, on Disk 26 of
100".
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11.
I
sometimes get a "This file was not closed properly. SoundLog Engine is
now performing a consistency check." Can I turn this off?
No. This is inherent in many types of databases. SoundLog
Pro™ never needs to be saved, since it writes to disk as you work.
When your computer crashes, with the database still open, it will need
to perform this check to verify the database is still in working order.
The only time I've seen this be a problem, is when a crash occurs &
SoundLog Pro™ is in the process of writing to a field. In the
event there is a problem with the database structure, you'll get a warning
"This file has been damaged. Please use the Recover command."
To Recover your database:
- Quit SoundLog Engine
- Double click "SoundLog Engine" while holding
down the Command & Option Keys.
- You'll be asked to select a database to recover,
so choose your damaged file, and it will recover it.
Note: This is a SLOW process, so avoid using it by keeping
regular backup copies of your database file. Also, it's a good idea to
import your recovered file into a fresh empty copy of the original stuffed
database you received on purchase (Hopefully you kept this copy handy!).
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12.
How
do I save? There's no "Save" Command.
You don't need to save, since SoundLog Pro™ writes
to disk as you work. It defaults to "saving" during idle time, but you
can change this by going to this menu:
Edit:Preferences:Application
Then choose "Memory" from the pull down menu. You
can then set it to save during idle time, or every 10 minutes, etc..
This auto-saving feature does have one down side, in
that if you crash while the database is open, SoundLog Engine will need
to check the database file the next time it's opened. Be sure to read
the section above for more info.
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13.
I
just made a new sound file in Pro Tools using the SoundLog Pro™ naming
function, but the sound file info (sample rate, length, etc.) doesn't
show up in the record.
SoundLog Pro™ creates the name for you, and copies
it to the clipboard for you to paste in your other program (Pro Tools,
PEAK, etc.). However it has no idea WHEN you're going to paste the name
onto the file. So the SoundLog Pro™ record is correct when you
make the new name, but the file doesn't even exist until you paste the
name onto a file. The sound file info can't be retrieved until the file
exists, so this needs to be added later.
You can do this several different ways:
- Hit the small bluish "i button.
- Choose "Info All Records from current record", from
the "Scripts" menu.
- Choose to "Get Sound File Info" when Cataloging.
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14.
I
can't get SoundApp & Pro Tools to open at the same time.
Try one of the following:
- Make sure "Active in Background" is unchecked
in Pro Tools.
- or -
- Make sure your "Sound" control panel's "Sound
Out" is set to built-in. Then plug your Mac's sound output
into your mixer for monitering.
If your "Sound" control panel is trying to output all audio applications
through the "Digidesign Output Drivers", you may run into problems
when any other audio applications are open at the same time as Pro
Tools, particularly if in Pro Tools "Active in Background" is checked.
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15.
Can
I edit the path fields manually?
Yes. Go to the Browser page, then hold down
[Command] and click the Browser tab again. This will take
you to the Extended Browser page, where you can edit the path
fields manually. You can also perform finds on the path fields here
by the keystroke [Command F], and entering your search criteria
in fields directly.
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16.
How
do I get Commercial Library CD information into SLP?
The single best & easiest way to get Commercial CD
information into SLP is to use the "SLP Ripper" to extract audio CD
information, which extracts the Audio Tracks as sound files, names them
using info found in the description, and enters all the important data
into your main SLP database. Check out the "SLP Ripper" & it's documentation
here.
If you've already extracted the Audio Tracks, and
they are already Sound Files, then unless you have the actual Sound
File Name & Description together in a format SLP can import, it's a
very time consuming process of manually assigning the correct Sound
File to it's correct record. There is no way to know how each individual
will name their files, so there is no way to automate pointing Sound
Files to their appropriate records.
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17.
How
do I clear paths? I've got a bunch of records that say both "Online" &
"Server", and I want to clear the Online Paths.
Find the Path Clearer script, which is in the
folder "SoundLog Pro Folder:SoundLog Pro Files:Helper Scripts".
You can then use this to clear the current
record, or the entire found set of records.
To clear the paths for the found set of records:
- Find the records you want to clear the paths to,
and have only those records showing.
- Double click the Path Clearer helper script.
- Follow the prompts to select which paths to clear.
- Give it a few moments to do it's work. It'll let
you know when it's done. If there are lots of records to clear, it'll
take a little time to finish.
To clear the paths for the current record:
- Select the record you want to clear.
- Double click the Path Clearer helper script.
- Follow the prompts to select which paths to clear.
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