Traktor What saves where questions?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

Traktor What saves where questions?

I have a few what saves where type questions with Traktor

I am going through my mp3s and giving them:

  • star ratings
  • tempo grid
  • tempo is on first beat 1/4, 2/4, 3/4 ,4/4,
  • playlists

I have set up folders of 24 mp3 or less (hoese 1 house 2 etc). then added each folder as a playlist. so as not to get too confused.

Q1) What is saved with the mp3 file? (star rating? /tempo grid?)

I don’t want to lose or overwrite stuff i have sorted out.

Q2) will Analyze will overwrite tempos and or grid? or can Consistency Check muck up stuff? will locking tempos help this?

Q3) ‘same name files’: what happens if i overwrite a file with a same named file or one with same name and same tags (like one of my own tracks with different tags or something similar) what links the traktor data and the mp3?

Q4) I read somewhere that when you export a playlist collection as files, you can add the traktor data to it. Is the traktor data automatically written to the files or do i have to ask it to save it to the files?

Q5) I turned auto gain off. i felt it was a bit inaccurate. and it meant the slight gain adjustment was awkward because i had to latch the gain control for it to start working. My question: does it still save auto gain settings with it turned off? and is it possible to manually select the auto gain value or adjust it if i decide to use this feature in the future

sorry its a bit a boring post, but help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

2

anyone?

:slight_smile:

3

  1. Someone can come by and correct me later but IIRC beat grids are saved to the .mp3 file and everything else is stored in collection.nml

  2. Yes it will overwrite unless the file is locked. Locking the file will prevent any modifications

  3. You might have to do a file consistency check after copying the file over.

  4. As for exporting, when you actually export the playlist Traktor gives you a list of check boxes of what you want to include.

  5. mp3gain is your friend

4

super sweet

Thanks for answering my questions bro

and Cheers for MP3 gain pro. I’m checking it out.
I take it it writes ‘gain values’ to the mp3 tag so autogain will pick these up? as long as i don’t rescan the mp3, is there a way of locking this gain value so i can rescan the mp3 without overwriting the autogain value.

I’m tempted but the gain on my controller is not an infinite one, so tiny gain adjustments in the software un-latch my gain control. so with auto gain on, if the software has turned it ‘down a tiny bit’ and i go to ‘turn it up’ nothing happens, until i down then up again.

Also as regards Question 3: if i make a tune, add it to traktor, make some changes ie a different mixdown of it, then overwrite the file will it still appear in traktor playlists, have star ratings, and or appear in traktor as normal? What makes it connect with the Traktor DATA (collection.nml) as long as it has the same filename, or do all the tags and file size have to be the same? or does it treat it as a completely different file.

5

I wrote this post for NI user forum, but I found this while trying to solve my situation and your questions lead me to solution, so I figured I’ll post it here as well, I think it also answers some of the stuff you asked about :wink:

So I had this nightmare situation last night, for some moment I felt totally “alone” in that not knowing what to do, but everything’s solved now, I hope this might help someone

Had Traktor 2 installed for a while, as always, keeping my collection proper, grids, cuepoints, tags, playlists, gridlocks - all done for every single track.

Here’s what happened:

a couple of days ago I accidentally opened Traktor 1 instead of Traktor 2, both icons still in my dock next to each other. I remember Traktor 1 started to analyze some tracks, which seemed ok to me, I always analyze everything right after I post it in tractor music folder, set the beatgrids etc. I was just wondering if Traktor 1 will recognize the grids, cues etc I’ve set in Traktor 2, so I let it do his thing and did not interrupt. When done, I realized that Traktor 1 did not recognize a shit, just put the autogrid for those new tracks I had imported while on Traktor 2. well, whatever. shut down Traktor 1.

I open up Traktor Scratch Pro 2, everything looks fine, grids locked etc. Only when I load the tracks in the deck, I am starting to realize than all my beatgrids are gone. Right when I load a track into deck, the gridlock mark disappears and I don’t see any of my cue points anymore, just the autogrid, which is off in most cases anyways.

I scrolled down to see how many of the tracks have lost their grids, and turns out I’ve lost everything I’ve done in Traktor 2 since the upgrade from Traktor 1. only the playlists and preferences intact, files themselves also present, but no grids, cue points etc. 2months work just gone.

Ok then. I tend to think the accidental opening of Traktor 1 did this mess. I go into Time Machine, look for a date before that, copy the Traktor 2 folder, even the preferences from library, everything traktor 2 related to my desktop. Then I copy all this backup into my usual Traktor 2 location - in my home folder/documents/native instruments.. still nothing. the only difference now is that I can clearly see the messed up tracks, they have no gridlock mark anymore.

Then I went into Traktor 2 preferences, and changed the root dir from my usual location to the newly created folder on my desktop, where I copied my backup from time machine. open up T2, everything looks normal again, gridlock marks intact etc. Start to load files into decks, gridlock marks goes missing again, no grids no cue points, nothing.

Only then I remember reading somewhere that Traktor stores all that grid, cue etc info into actual music files themselves, so I figured I have to copy the actual files from the backup, not the Traktor software related files. Copied all the mp3, wav etc music files from last two moths from the Time Machine to my desktop. Opened up T2, in preferences added my newly created folder on desktop to Traktor music folders, also deleted the “messed up” tracks from my usual music folder, run consistency check, of course had all those deleted file shown as missing, removed missing files from collection, reimported the newly added folder on desktop with files from backup - and voila !!! had everything back just like it was. Grids, cue points, playlists, prefs - everything.

SO - do not let Traktor 1 analyze the Tracks you have done in Traktor 2, better not open Traktor 1 at all after you’ve been using Traktor 2 :slight_smile: it will fuck up everything you’ve done.

There’s just one thing I still can not figure out. Did not want them tracks lying on my desktop, so I put those backup tracks from my desktop back to the normal tractor music directory I’ve used all the time. When I reimport from there, I still have grids, cue points etc missing for quite a lot of files, about 15-20% of the files in question. If I reimport exactly the same files from my desktop folder, where I copied them straight from Time machine, everything is fine. So now all my tracks from last two months are still lying on my desktop, so that I not lose the grid info, if I would put them back where they’re supposed to be - in my tractor music folder… now why is something like that happening ??

MacBook Pro 5,4 , Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X 10.6.8, Traktor Scratch Pro 2.0.3

Hope this helps to someone :wink:

6

Thanks for your post.

Traktor is supposed to be industry standard.

But my experience of native instruments products, has been bad.
Crashy
Silly tiny menus
Silly architecture

I totally don’t trust the company.

I showed traktor to a mate, he said it reminded him of another vst I had with silly pokey menus. He was referring to NI Kontakt.

Thanks for the concise info in your post. I will be uninstalling traktor 1.

when I installed traktor 2, there was no mention of any of the issues you faced. And no warnings about any potential issues.

7

It was a pretty well-known tidbit that T2 had to re-analyze all tracks due to the new nature of the wav form.

Anything “auto” will not be “perfect” depending on your actual preferences. Set auto-gain, then adjust to taste.

8

Thanks “Thecableguy” for the detailed info .. Yeah, you right. I feel my OLD Traktor 3 is still AMAZING with a controller. I can do everything needed to DJ with a controller. T 2 is awesome but few things not as good as the OLD Traktor 3. Easy (yet comprehensive), No lagging, And easy to view!
I reckon T2 revert back to the OLD Traktor 3!! Keeping:

  1. The spectrum
  2. Sample Decks
  3. Multi-Channel
  4. Advanced FX
    All above not extremely needed for performing. Sure it takes it to the next level with a controller. However all can still be manipulated in the OLD Traktor 3.
    Love it! And still use it
    p.s For visual purpose: Its a pity T2 in a simple view does not have “Beat Jump”. It has Loops though.