Can I add multiple audio clips in one operation?

[bq7]

In Mixcraft 5, I can add one audio clip at a time by using control-h or by clicking on the "add a sound" menu option.

My question is, is there any way to add a group of MP3 files in one operation?

I ask because I have mp3 audiobooks that I have downloaded from Downpour.com, and these (once unzipped) consist of dozens, sometimes hundreds, of individual mp3 files. Just one production of "Romeo and Juliet," for instance, has 25 mp3 files.

Now and then there's a book that I would like to merge into one single large mp3 using Mixcraft. (Particularly plays, so that I can normalize the audio to avoid the huge volume ranges that sometimes make listening to such programs on the road impractical.) It's quite time-consuming to individually load so many short individual mp3 files into Mixcraft5 and it's easy to misplace one or to load one twice in the process. It would be nice if I could select a batch of files and have Mixcraft automatically add them sequentially, back to back so to speak, in my Mixcraft file.

If this is already a feature of Mixcraft 5 or 6, I'd appreciate some info on how to do this. If not, please consider this post to be a vote on my part in favor of the eventual addition of such a functionality.

Thanks,
Brian

[gypsy101]

yes. just add each "sound file" back to back on a single track & make sure they don't crossfade each other then normalize & burn to mp3.
you may want to check out this thread in case you want to separate them for chapter location like the songs on a cd.
http://forums.acoustica.com/bbs/viewtop ... =4&t=13775

[fredfish]

if you open the folder that contains the mp3's (in windows - not in the mixcraft open dialog) then multiple select the files that you want. Then just drag and drop the multi selection to a vacant audio track in mixcraft. The files will then all be loaded sequentially.

I would like the option to choose if the files will be loaded sequentially or placed on separate tracks.

I use a website called karaoke-version that does cover versions (mainly for karaoke of course). I download each part separately and then load them all in to mixcraft - this gives me the ability to mix my own backing tracks the way I like them. But sometimes there are 10 - 15 tracks and it is a bit of a chore to load them to each track separately . This one thing is the only reason I still use my copy of Reaper (which does have that facility) for everything else I use Mixcraft.

[bq7]

Thanks, Fredfish.

I tried your suggestion of dragging the files. I opened Window Explorer (I have Windows 7) and attempted to drag a group of highlighted mp3's onto a track in Mixcraft 5, but the operation would not work for me. The icon changed to that circular international symbol for "not allowed."

I'm thinking maybe that operation doesn't work in Windows 7 and/or in Mixcraft 5? I do have Mixcraft 6 on a second laptop, which I might try to download onto this computer, too, but I'm not sure that will solve the problem.

Maybe I could use that Reaper program that you mentioned as an interim step: drag all the files into Reaper and then export one big mp3 for subsequent processing in Mixcraft.

Thanks again for the ideas,
Brian

PS Then again, I'm going to need to buy a new computer soon, anyway. I was recently getting all excited about signing up for a streaming movie service, only to realize (only after filling out all of the many detailed forms, of course) that the service won't work on my old Windows 7 Samsung laptop.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

Dragging and dropping audio files into Mixcraft 5 should work just fine with any version of Windows. Make sure that you don't have any dialog screens open in Mixcraft (like the preferences screen). Also make sure that the files you're dragging are in a supported format (MP3, wav, WMA, Ogg, AIFF or MID). Can you drag and drop just one file?

Greg

[fredfish]

You absolutely can do it in Mixcraft - Reaper wouldn't offer you any improved options for what you want to do (only if you wanted everything on different tracks)

I have just quickly recorded a video of how to do it and uploaded it to youtube - have a look. any more problems come back again - although the video is MX6 it is exactly the same for MX5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhM9pEYM ... e=youtu.be

[SirLanceALot]

I've been dragging multiple files into Mixcraft for a long time now.

-->Nowever...I'm attempting to drag in 35 wav files of instrument note samples,
and I need them to load in the same order they appear in a directory listing.

-->Is there a certain way the files have to be named to make that happen?

Here's an example of the order they appear in a DIR listing:

FilesNumberedSeq.png (4.67 KiB) Viewed 2773 times

And here's an example of the order Mixcraft loads them:

FilesNumberedMixcraft.png (24.31 KiB) Viewed 2773 times

-->I'd like those first 2 numbers to be the actual midi note#'s, 44..79 and not just 1..35. But when I do that they really get loaded in a jumbled order.

--> So my question is, "How does mixcraft select the order of the files when dragging in multiple files? I can easily rename them, but to what?
I tried adding sequencial numbers at the beginning of the filename, that didnt work completely.

--> Any ideas? ***My only alternative is to do a lot of track dragging after the fact to get them in order. (wanting them to be in order of the midi note#'s)
LA

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

When you drag and drop audio files into Mixcraft, they appear in the order that Windows offers them up, and that isn't always in the order that one would expect, unfortunately.

Greg

P.S. This is only tangentially related but here's a Mixcraft tip: if you hold down the shift key when you drag and drop, it causes all the clips to load onto one track.

[SirLanceALot]

Greg,
Thanks for the tip in your PS .
I used it tonight.

[cactus-head]

Something to try - i don't know if it would make a difference: try sorting the clips you want to drag over by date and time within the directory they are stored in. Does it change the order in which mixcraft loads them? Try sorting them according to size. Any difference? Try other sorting methods. If the sorting method in the directory makes a difference that may help you with expectations in track loading order when dragged.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

I don't think it does, and that's the issue. The sorting in File Explorer isn't necessarily the order that Windows will dispense the files.

Greg

[cactus-head]

I think I got it.

Three things are important:
1. The sort order of the tracks - sort the files in reverse order so that the track you want first is on the bottom in the list and the track you want last is at the top.
2. Selecting each item to drag 1 at a time using + CTRL until all items are selected. I've gotten it to work with CTRL+A or using the Shift key but it's been consistent with selecting them 1 at a time using CTRL.
3. Dragging the group of files into mixcraft making sure you are dragging from the file at the top (in this case this will end up being the bottom track).

I've tested it multiple times and this has been consistent with the three steps above. The key seems to be selecting the files in order 1 at a time using the CTRL key and then making sure to drag the files over from the file at the top of the directory. The order always comes over into mixcraft reverse - that's why the files have to sorted in descending order.

Screenshot 1 is the order of the files in my directory (reverse order)

MC 10 directory reverse order.JPG (32.95 KiB) Viewed 2612 times

Screenshot 2 is how the dragged over files line up as tracks in MC 10

MC 10 file drag to track.JPG (159.38 KiB) Viewed 2612 times

[SirLanceALot]

*** Thanks for the suggestions cactus-head

I had already sorted them in order before.
-->But I tried your suggestion of reversing the order of the 35 filenames, that I'm trying to drag in as a group.
The result each time was, it skipped down to the 11th file then dragged them in, in order,
then it dragged in the 1st 10 files in order. So 54..77, then 43..53
That got me closer, and helped a lot to reduce the import file time!
I just have to select those 10 tracks at the bottom and drag them up to the top. So the tracks are in order 43..77
(Those are the numbers at the beginning of the filenames, they're midi note #'s).

--> But as Greg mentioned, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to how windows reorders the files when you're dragging them in.

I may keep trying to rename the files to figure out the magic, but I can't waste anymore time on this.
I do need to load over 50 libraries of 35files each to reprocess,retune & extend their range using Mixcraft's fx tools, so that's why all the effort in the first place. I wrote a quick program in Delphi to quickly rename the files, so renaming a whole directory in one swoop is no trouble at all.
Thanks again,
SirLanceALot

[cactus-head]

Hi,

You have to make sure you are grabbing and dragging the file that should be the last track in mixcraft. So for example, if you had 43 files, you would put them in reverse order:

43 hjk
42 jjjghkfd
41 hjkh
...
2 hjkh
1 hjkhk

Then select them and only drag from 43 to mixcraft. It always has to be dragged from the top file. For me it works every time.

When you say it jumped down to the eleventh file, that suggests to me that you dragged the group from a file somewhere in the middle of the selection.

[SirLanceALot]

cactus-head

Alright my man, you get the “At-A-Boy” for this entire post!.
—>Selecting the highest numbered file & dragging the highlighted group over, that was sorted in reverse order, was the final trick.

That’ll save me a ton of time, thanks.