Cleaning Reaper Media file

[1031ked]

I was sending a rendered project through email attachments and I noticed a lot of stuff in my Reaper Media file. I think they're individual track takes but not sure. Does all of this take up a lot of space on my hard drive? Should I be cleaning this and if so how do I know what to delete?

[nicholas]

This is a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question.

You can see how big these files are and how much disk space you have left in Windows Explorer (or Finder on Mac). Be careful about deleting though --- better to keep something you don't need than to remove something you do.

On a project by project basis, however, you can remove unused files using the Clean Current Directory command from the File menu.

[1031ked]

I tried that Clean Current Directory command and holy shit! I had 1700 wav unused wav files for a 5 measure long project. I didn't bother to investigate what they were I just deleted them all and my small song didn't seem any different. Do these files eventually automatically delete or am I supposed to manually do this for every project. And is it ok if I do it the same way, just select all and delete?

[nicholas]

They won't automatically self-destruct, I guess because REAPER has no way of knowing that you have finished with them unless you tell it!

[1031ked]

Well I just figured if I’m not actually using them in the song that they would eventually go away just like temporary files! I’ll try to be not so stupid next time

[1031ked]

Oh yeah and deleting those I actually deleted some of my other projects

[GtrGeorge]

Originally Posted by 1031ked

Oh yeah and deleting those I actually deleted some of my other projects

Oh Geez...I just went down this rabbit hole,too. I looked at ALL that was there..ready to be sent to the recycle bin and I realized THERE WERE MANY Files I didn't want deleted..so I clicked on CANCEL.

Are my files SAFE? Im not really sure now. I dont want to loose anything. Help!

[akademie]

Originally Posted by 1031ked

Oh yeah and deleting those I actually deleted some of my other projects

Well, that's exactly why nicolas wrote you following:

Originally Posted by nicholas

...
<snip>
On a project by project basis, however, you can remove unused files using the Clean Current Directory command from the File menu.

Also the word "Current" is the key aspect here ... which means that it only cares about the current project directory.

If you use one common directory for many projects, than this command should not be used as is.
Instead you should re-"Save project as..." all the projects from that common folder to new place with "Create subdirectory for project" and "Copy all media into project directory..." options active/ticked in Save as dialog.

That way you will create selfcontained folders for each project with only media used. If done for all projects, then the older common folder could be erased completely (still double check if it does not contain some other files that do not belong to projects but are not for deletion!)

[GtrGeorge]

Originally Posted by akademie

Well, that's exactly why nicolas wrote you following:

Also the word "Current" is the key aspect here ... which means that it only cares about the current project directory.

If you use one common directory for many projects, than this command should not be used as is.
Instead you should re-"Save project as..." all the projects from that common folder to new place with "Create subdirectory for project" and "Copy all media into project directory..." options active/ticked in Save as dialog.

That way you will create selfcontained folders for each project with only media used. If done for all projects, then the older common folder could be erased completely (still double check if it does not contain some other files that do not belong to projects but are not for deletion!)

THANK YOU!! You are a life saver! No wonder you are known as Academy..you are so learned!

[akademie]

Originally Posted by GtrGeorge

THANK YOU!! You are a life saver! No wonder you are known as Academy..you are so learned!

Thanks
You're welcome.
Glad to help you.

[GtrGeorge]

I guess I am not a quick student...

I have tried learning this a little at a time and I guess nothing really "took" in my mind.
So I am running out of memory and my little efforts to conserve space aren't going well.
Is there a video on this? Text info has only helped me a little.

GtrGeorge

[Philbo King]

https://www.reaper.fm/videos.php#pjey57lAp1k