Will you update REAPER versions mid-project?

future fields · 01-20-2019, 09:09 AM

I see REAPER is up to 5.95 with a lot of improvements since the version I am using on my current project (5.50c)

Would you guys typically update now or wait until project is done to update? (Just to be on the safe side I suppose)

Coachz · 01-20-2019, 09:19 AM

Never ever update during a project unless you have a backup of Reaper prefs, backup of project and solid reason for doing it. You are inviting disaster.

lunker · 01-20-2019, 09:27 AM

I update all the time. I can’t think of a time when it caused me problems.

The update from 5.50 includes a lot of changes, so do follow the advice above and make sure to save backup files in case you decide to go back to the older version.

Glennbo · 01-20-2019, 09:30 AM

I update REAPER as often as it tells me there is an update. If I were a commercial studio, I would wait until all projects were complete, but in the 10 years I've been using REAPER, I've never had to roll back a version.

Coachz · 01-20-2019, 09:51 AM

Unless there is a compelling feature then there is absolutely no upside to upgrading Reaper in the middle of a project and even then, do it with backups. I agree with the above posters that upgrades are very reliable but there is no reason to add what is called in the investment world "uncompensated risk" to your project.

Paul99 · 01-20-2019, 10:07 AM

I never ever had a failure while updating Reaper, but I am a hobby player. If it is your income, I would advise you to not change while in a project. Only if you would absolutely need a feature of the new version. But then I would make a portable version of your current version so that I always could go back to the last working version to finish your project.
But Reaper is a pretty stable program with a pretty good test team.
And always do as said above: backup your projects an settings!

BTW: you can use multiple versions of Reaper next to each other. So you could always keep your old version alive while installing a new version. You only have to export and import your personal settings.

Coachz · 01-20-2019, 10:21 AM

That's a nice idea. Do a portable install of the new version and import your settings. If all works great with your project (backed up), upgrade the main install.

bladerunner · 01-20-2019, 10:32 AM

Never, ever had a problem updating Reaper. Mid project, pre project, post project.. If you ever did you can always just roll back to the previous in a matter of seconds..

synkrotron · 01-20-2019, 01:07 PM

I always go ahead and update, regardless... I could have many projects on the go and I'd never really know if they were finished or not.

No probs encountered thus far.

foxAsteria · 01-20-2019, 01:37 PM

I always do. Only time I got burned in ten years was when I was immediately installing every pre-release and doing normal work with it. I saved a project with dependencies on a feature that was subsequently removed. In this case I only had to stick to using the pre-release until finishing the project, as it wouldn't open in newer versions.

If you're working professionally or live, maybe it's worth being careful about, but in general, Reaper updates are exceedingly safe.

Coachz · 01-20-2019, 02:00 PM

Anyone remember the time after updates that some action ids changed ?

pingosimon · 01-20-2019, 02:49 PM

Absolutely not.

I'd only do so if the new version had a feature that really applied to my current project.

But then, I tend to start and finish a project within a couple weeks, so it's not a big wait for me.

peter5992 · 01-20-2019, 02:57 PM

Never had an issue after updating Reaper, I tend to update it as soon as an update is available. Some projects go on for a long time or may even never quite finish ...

drichard · 01-20-2019, 06:10 PM

I do it all the time. Maybe I'm tempting fate, but I've never hesitated once to upgrade Reaper. Of course part of the reason is because the whole upgrade process from start to finish takes about 10-15 seconds on my system. I'm not very cautious because I've never had a problem.

(I'm forced to reminisce about my time with Pro Tools, when upgrading to a new version might be a day long affair, with all of the reconfiguring, backing up, etc., and a full blown plan for reverting back to the previous version.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by future fields

I see REAPER is up to 5.95 with a lot of improvements since the version I am using on my current project (5.50c)

Would you guys typically update now or wait until project is done to update? (Just to be on the safe side I suppose)

JSMastering · 01-20-2019, 08:17 PM

No. I lag pretty far behind current and tend to make a bootable clone before I knowingly/willingly update anything. In fact, I'm about to spend quite a bit of money to be able to SAN-boot my studio machine off a unix server mostly so it'll be trivial to take snapshots super-often so I can easily roll back windows updates and worry less.

That being said...I've never had a Reaper update break things. That's one of the reasons I suggest it whenever asked, along with a lot more. It seems like the dev practices the team uses are just better than so many other projects.

But, it's an old habit. I've been burned one too many times by updating something and not being able to use my setup for a while.

WolfJames · 01-20-2019, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by future fields

I see REAPER is up to 5.95 with a lot of improvements since the version I am using on my current project (5.50c)

Would you guys typically update now or wait until project is done to update? (Just to be on the safe side I suppose)

Technically, you shouldn't. However, I've updated Reaper with betas and new releases continuously over the years, and it has never missed a beat with projects in progress.

MRMJP · 01-21-2019, 06:18 AM

I install just about every pre-release version and can’t recall a time it ever induced a problem.

That being said, mastering is so fast paced I’m technically NEVER not in the middle of a project.

Reason · 01-21-2019, 07:58 AM

I've never finished a project, and I bought the license 3+ years ago v4.7x, so yes, I update it "mid" project all the time. Never had a problem.

I agree with the cautions that others are suggesting though.

Dannii · 01-22-2019, 08:48 AM

I'm also nearly always "mid project". My latest album has been a work in progress now for two years and I've installed many REAPER updates in that time with zero issues.

My main install of REAPER is a portable one so it is pretty simple to revert to a previous version if I did encounter an issue.

At the moment, I'm actually running pre releases on my main studio rig because there's a feature in them that has become a HUGE improvement to my workflow and isn't yet in the main releases.
That isn't something I would normally do but REAPER isn't your typical DAW either. It's been amongst the most stable and reliable tools I've used on a computer by a LONG shot.

babag · 01-22-2019, 04:28 PM

i always work from portable installs and build up a list of them in my reaper folder as the updates come. only once, very recently, did i have an issue.

they recently made some welcome tweaks to reasurround and, in doing so, decided to change the names of a number of parameters. that broke about a zillion of my scripts, which i had to go through and change the parameter names in. it does happen but seems rare.

BabaG