Consolidate vs Combine - Whats the true difference???

[maestro777]

Still trying to grasp my way around Mixbus and this is something I'm still unclear on.



Per the manual:







Consolidate Range : Removes all the region data in the Range, and renders all the regions into a single region (and audio file). This file incorporates all region gain setting, region gain automation, and fade in/out settings for the included regions.




Combine??? : The manual does not clearly define what it is or how it differs from Consolidate.




To me the terms by definition are relatively the same but there's obviously some difference with the Mixbus concept of the terms.




What I've observed through experimentation is Consolidating a group of ranges still leaves each region as a separate segment. So if I consolidate 5 regions, each region is still selectable without inclusion of the others in the group. I can select the 1st region and regions 4 through 5 remain de-selected. So though the definition suggests that the 5 regions are 1 file, the behavior of how each region can now be manipulated is confusing b/c I'm actually restricted to each section of the file.




What's the use case for this and when would it have any applicable benefit???




Combining the regions seems to me to create a new file by combining all the individual regions into a single file. And like the Consolidate command, it includes the region specific fades, automation and etc. But unlike the Consolidate command, it looks and feels more intuitive like I am actually working with 1 region and 1 file. So if my intent (among other things) is to discard multiple fragments of audio files in my project and have instead, a single file to optimize my disk space. Combining seems the way to go, no??



Combining the regions also looks cleaner from a UI perspective b/c performing this over all my tracks creates 1 region and 1 file per track.




So aside from appearance and the workflow, what's the difference??? Because to me things appear to be clear as mud and I'd like to better understand this.




Just looking for some clarity on this.

[Dingo]

Still trying to grasp my way around Mixbus and this is something I'm still unclear on.
Per the manual:

Consolidate Range : Removes all the region data in the Range, and renders all the regions into a single region (and audio file). This file incorporates all region gain setting, region gain automation, and fade in/out settings for the included regions.

Combine??? : The manual does not clearly define what it is or how it differs from Consolidate.

From the Ardour manual
Combine Group all the selected regions belonging to the same track as one (Audio or MIDI but not both).
Uncombine (Audio only) splits back a compound into its original regions.

To me the terms by definition are relatively the same but there's obviously some difference with the Mixbus concept of the terms.

What I've observed through experimentation is Consolidating a group of ranges still leaves each region as a separate segment. So if I consolidate 5 regions, each region is still selectable without inclusion of the others in the group. I can select the 1st region and regions 4 through 5 remain de-selected. So though the definition suggests that the 5 regions are 1 file, the behavior of how each region can now be manipulated is confusing b/c I'm actually restricted to each section of the file.

What's the use case for this and when would it have any applicable benefit???

Combining the regions seems to me to create a new file by combining all the individual regions into a single file. And like the Consolidate command, it includes the region specific fades, automation and etc. But unlike the Consolidate command, it looks and feels more intuitive like I am actually working with 1 region and 1 file. So if my intent (among other things) is to discard multiple fragments of audio files in my project and have instead, a single file to optimize my disk space. Combining seems the way to go, no??

Combining the regions also looks cleaner from a UI perspective b/c performing this over all my tracks creates 1 region and 1 file per track.

So aside from appearance and the workflow, what's the difference??? Because to me things appear to be clear as mud and I'd like to better understand this.

Just looking for some clarity on this.

Basically:

From a series of regions Consolidate creates a single new region and a new source audio file - this action is un-doable.

Consolidate allows you to create a new audio file which can then be imported into another project, or dropped from the source list into multiple positions of your current project.
It is also a way of reducing overall project size where you have used a few short grabs from a very long recording.

Combine groups a series of regions together as a single new region without creating a new source audio file and this action is un-doable (Un Combine).

Combine is a handy non destructive way of grouping a lot of regions just to make slipping or positioning easier, also for re-spotting numerous times through a project.
Great for comping and major editing with the ability to un-combine for further fine tuning or moving if needed.

As with many things in Mixbus, there are multiple ways to do things, each with subtle differences.... but all roads lead to Rome

[maestro777]

.... Combine groups a series of regions together as a single new region without creating a new source audio file and this action is un-doable (Un Combine).

Combine is a handy non destructive way of grouping a lot of regions just to make slipping or positioning easier, also for re-spotting numerous times through a project.
Great for comping and major editing with the ability to un-combine for further fine tuning or moving if needed.

As with many things in Mixbus, there are multiple ways to do things, each with subtle differences.... but all roads lead to Rome

Thanks for that. Apparently I got things a bit backward in my understanding b/c it "visually appeared" as though combining the regions also created a new audio file so that explanation really helped clear some of my misunderstandings.

From a series of regions Consolidate creates a single new region and a new source audio file - this action is un-doable.

Consolidate allows you to create a new audio file which can then be imported into another project, or dropped from the source list into multiple positions of your current project.
It is also a way of reducing overall project size where you have used a few short grabs from a very long recording.

Speaking of which, I took into consideration of using Consolidate to reduce the overall project size and ran the Consolidate command on every track in my Session where I can now see the consolidated files in the Sources window.

This is great except that I don't see any command available to cleanup all the unused files that have been Consolidated. None of the options provisioned under the Session -> Cleanup menu seem to remove them.

So lastly I'd ask, is there any way to remove all those source files no longer required in my Project other than cherry picking them from the source window and manually deleting them?

[Dingo]

Speaking of which, I took into consideration of using Consolidate to reduce the overall project size and ran the Consolidate command on every track in my Session where I can now see the consolidated files in the Sources window.

This is great except that I don't see any command available to cleanup all the unused files that have been Consolidated. None of the options provisioned under the Session -> Cleanup menu seem to remove them.

So lastly I'd ask, is there any way to remove all those source files no longer required in my Project other than cherry picking them from the source window and manually deleting them?

https://forum.harrisonconsoles.com/thread-11634.html

[maestro777]

https://forum.harrisonconsoles.com/thread-11634.html

Perfect timing. Just downloaded the update. Thanks