Reorganizing after installs on new computer

[bradholtz]

I had installed VS on my prior computer in 2014 and used it for a while - recording a few hundred albums , including a larger number of 78's. for the 78's, I recorded one folder per side, rather than one per album.  Recently, on a new computer (same hard drive), I installed VS, recording dozens of 78's, this time one folder per record.

I now have files in
   .../VinylStudio Audio/My Albums
   .../VinylStudio Audio/My Albums/My Albums

and WFD/WBO/WFS/WFT files in
   .../VinylStudio Audio/vsfiles
   .../VinylStudio Audio/My Albums/vsfiles

and .WAV/.CRD files in
   .../VinylStudio Audio/My Albums

and .MP3 files in the above "my Albums" folders, as well as
   .../VinylStudio Audio/My MP3s/My Albums
   .../RECORDED
   .../MUSIC
and other locations


I'd like to clean all of this up, and there IS some duplication.

Questions:
1. What do I need to consider when I reorganize outside of VS?
2. What if any tools are available for getting rid of duplicates?
3. What's the best way to convert the older recordings from one folder per side to one folder per album (or vice/versa)
4. with regard to the record image, is it okay to have multiple jpgs/folder (i.e., one for each side) and if so, are there any naming constraints?

Please note that I'm in the first leg of digiting 9 linear feet of 78's - perhaps 1000 or so, so I'd like to get this right before I continue.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

Hi,

To answer each of your questions in turn:

> 1. What do I need to consider when I reorganize outside of VS?

VinylStudio only really cares about the 'raw' recorded album sides.  These must stay where they are, and the corresponding .mcf file lives in the parent folder and has the same name as the folder containing your recordings (that's how VinylStudio knows where to find them).

It follows, from what you said, that you must have (or have had) two collections.  Maybe one of these is redundant, only you can say.

The files in vsfiles don't matter.  They will be regenerated when they are next needed. 

Likewise, VinylStudio doesn't care what you do with your saved tracks and these can be regenerated on demand, as long as the original albums (and the corresponding recordings) are still present in your collection.

> 2. What if any tools are available for getting rid of duplicates?

Sorry, none.

> 3. What's the best way to convert the older recordings from one folder per side to one folder per album (or vice/versa)

Why would you want to do this?  VinylStudio itself isn't too worried about it.

> 4. With regard to the record image, is it okay to have multiple jpgs/folder (i.e., one for each side) and if so, are there any naming constraints?

VinylStudio supports one image per album.

[bradholtz]

1. a - What is the format of the "raw" files?  (I suspect that I have them in multiple folders)
   b - If I move the "raw" files from a previous installation, will VC recognize that they are there?
2. Understood.
3. for consistency
4. If there are multiple jpgs in a folder, does VS pick between them, or does that need to be done in VS manually, or does VS just see the one named "folder.jpg"?

Thank you again.

[Paul Sanders (AlpineSoft)]

> 1. a - What is the format of the "raw" files?  (I suspect that I have them in multiple folders)

They are just regular audio files.  The formats are standardised.

> 1. b - If I move the "raw" files from a previous installation, will VC recognize that they are there?

VinylStudio has an entry in the .mcf file for each recorded it 'knows about'.  If that entry already exists then you can just move the file.  If not, you need to import the file instead.

> 3. for consistency

Overrated

> 4. If there are multiple jpgs in a folder, does VS pick between them, or does that need to be done in VS manually, or does VS just see the one named "folder.jpg"?

Ah, I think we have some confusion here.

1.  Within your 'collection', VinylStudio stores album art files in a subfolder called artwork.

2.  When you save your tracks, this is embedded in the saved tracks themselves.

3.  folder.jpg is used only by Windows Media Player, AFAIK, and even then WMP will read the embedded version, if present.