How to display collection for converting to mp3

[streetrodder]

I think I'm missing something basic here. 

I've recorded many albums and copied a few in the past to a thumb drive as MP3s

I seem to have completely forgotten how to do so

I followed the how to video and all was well until it's time to bring up the recorded albums.

Whenever I try to access the collection it comes up "Your collection is empty"

What am I doing wrong?

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

Hi,

Please try the following:

1.  Go to the Split Tracks window.

2.  Click on the link where it says 'filtered' (top-left of the window).

3.  Clear all filters and then click OK.

If that doesn't fix it, please get back to me.

[streetrodder]

Sorry, I don't see that on the screen.  Screen shot attached

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

OK, thanks for the screenshot.  It's not the problem I thought it was.

So, your collection is genuinely empty.  Did you delete all the albums in it, or perhaps install the software on a different machine?  Also, you might have other collections.  Have a look under Menu -> File -> Recent Collections.

[streetrodder]

Responding:

No, the albums are still in the directory, and it's the same machine.

The only collections I have are "My Albums" and one I created yesterday for the USB drive.

However, your comment has triggered an idea.  About a year ago, I had a software issue that required reloading the OS.
Could that have broken the connection?  If so, how can I re-establish it?

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

Are you looking at the 'raw' recordings or your saved tracks?  The difference is described in a topic in the VinylStudio help file entitled 'Where are my files located?' under 'Importing and Exporting Files'.

[streetrodder]

My directory structure isn't exactly as in the help file.  It is:

C:\Users\Paul\Music\My Albums for the music, which has all my recorded discs.

C:\Users\Paul\Music\My Albums\My Albums for the collection
This folder is empty

This would explain the error.  Do I need to resave the albums to rebuild the collection?

[streetrodder]

And now a follow-up.  How would I access those recordings to resave, since all actions except 'record new' require the collection?

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

You have a problem.  If MyAlbums.mcf has somehow been destroyed (i.e. is empty) then you cannot save your tracks again since VinylStudio doesn't know what to do.  You might like to take a look to see if you have a file called MyAlbums.mcf.bak, and if so send it to me for analysis:

p DOT sanders AT alpinesoft DOT co DOT uk

It also begs the question where all your saved tracks went (assuming that you did in fact save them).  Are they in the Recycle bin?

[streetrodder]

No backup file.  What's next?

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

OK, please send me MyAlbums.mcf and I will see if there is anything in it.  But I fear the worst.

[streetrodder]

In looking for  MyAlbums.mcf, I may have found what we were looking for in a different directory.

In C:\Users\Paul\Music\Album Artists, which has all my digitized music, I found the My Albums Directory with the art directory a 'vsfiles' folder with .wav.wfd files.

If my guess is correct, I need to redirect the program to use that directory.  Am I on the right track?

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

Hi,

Possibly.  Let's hope so.

The corresponding .mcf file will be in the parent folder of that folder.  Try opening that in VinylStudio (Menu -> File -> Open Collection).

[streetrodder]

Under options, I pointed it to that folder.  It looks like that did the trick.  Will let you know.

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

Great, thanks.