Ableton/Live/UG/05 Managing Files and Sets
- The file types Live works with — samples, MIDI files, Live Clips, Sets and Projects — and how to find missing files, collect external ones and pack projects.
- A sample is an audio file. Live reads mono and stereo WAV, AIFF, AIFF-C, FLAC and OGG Vorbis, and imports MP3, plus M4A on Mac.
- Uncompressed files of any length, sample rate or bit depth load without conversion; compressed files are decoded on import.
- Samples play from disk, so large files don't fill RAM, though many at once can overload the disk (see Ableton/Live/UG/38 Computer Audio Resources).
- The first time a sample is added to a Set, Live writes an analysis file for it.
- Live decodes a compressed file such as an MP3 into a temporary WAV, usually fast enough to play right away, and keeps it in the Decoding subfolder of the Cache folder. Old files are cleared automatically.
- Settings → File & Folder → Decoding Cache: Minimum Free Space to leave on disk, an optional Maximum Cache Size, a Cleanup button that deletes files the open Set doesn't use, and the cache folder location.
- An analysis file (Ableton/File/.asd) sits next to its sample with the same name. It improves warping quality, detects the tempo of long samples, and speeds up waveform drawing. Long samples stay grayed out and unplayable until analysis finishes.
.asd files don't show in the browser; a checkmark on a sample's icon means one exists.- The Save Default Clip button in a clip's title bar stores the clip's settings, such as Warp Markers, in the
.asd, so the sample loads that way in future Sets. It doesn't change clips already in other Sets, and unlike a Live Clip it stores no devices. - A sample with an
.asd isn't analyzed again. Long samples aren't analyzed when Auto-Warp Long Samples is off. - Create Analysis Files = Off in File & Folder Settings stops writing
.asd files, so samples are analyzed on every load. Existing files stay, and Save Default Clip still writes one.
- File → Export Audio/Video, or
Cmd+Shift+R (Mac) / Ctrl+Shift+R (Win), renders the Set's audio, and video too when the Set has video clips. 5.1.3.1 Selection Options
- Rendered Track chooses what to render, always post-fader:
- Main: the Main output, the same signal you hear.
- All Individual Tracks: one file per track, including groups, returns and Main, all the same length for easy alignment. MIDI tracks with no instrument or audio effects are skipped; a MIDI track with audio effects but no instrument exports silence.
- Selected Tracks Only: the same, for tracks selected before opening the dialog.
- A single named track.
- Render Start and Render Length default to the whole Set. An Arrangement time selection made beforehand sets them.
- The render captures what was playing: if Session clips are playing over the Arrangement, only each track's active clip is rendered.
5.1.3.2 Rendering Options
- Include Return and Main Effects: adds the returns a track uses and the Main track's effects when rendering individual tracks, for stems.
- Render as Loop: renders in two passes so an effect tail that runs past the end wraps into the start, making a seamless loop of the same length.
- Convert to Mono, and Normalize, which raises the gain so the highest peak reaches full scale.
- Create Analysis File: writes an
.asd alongside the render. - Sample Rate: rates at or above the Set's rate render directly; lower rates render at the Set's rate and are then downsampled with the SoX Resampler library.
5.1.3.3 Encoding Options
- Encode PCM (on by default) writes a lossless WAV, AIFF or FLAC file at 16, 24 or 32 bits.
- Below 32 bits, choose dithering: No Dither, Rectangular, Triangular (the default), or POW-r 1, 2 or 3. Dither only once. Render at 32 bits if the file will be processed further, and use POW-r only on the final render, never for files headed to mastering.
- Encode MP3 writes a 320 kbps CBR MP3, alone or with the PCM file. MP3 export adds a little silence at the start, which can throw off alignment in another DAW.
- With both encoders off, Export is grayed out.
5.1.3.4 Video Rendering Options
- Create Video writes a video file next to the audio. It needs video clips in the Arrangement and a PCM audio file.
- Video Encoder lists the encoders installed on the computer; Edit opens the encoder's settings when it has any.
- Audio renders first, then video, possibly in several passes. Resolution matches the source unless the encoder settings change it. See Ableton/Live/UG/28 Video.
5.1.3.5 Real-Time Rendering
- Rendering is offline unless the signal passes through an External Audio Effect or External Instrument routed to hardware; then the Main output and the tracks using it render in real time.
- A 10-second countdown lets external gear fall silent first. Change the seconds, Restart, or Skip.
- Auto-Restart on drop-outs re-renders automatically if Live detects glitches. Restart starts over; Cancel stops and deletes the partial file. The dialog counts attempts; closing other CPU-heavy programs helps.
- A MIDI file holds commands for an instrument such as Simpler. Importing copies its data into the Set; the resulting clips no longer refer to the file.
- Import from the browser or with Create → Import MIDI File…, which places it at the Insert Marker in Arrangement View or in the selected clip slot in Session View.
- File → Export MIDI Clip saves a MIDI clip as a Standard MIDI File. This differs from saving a Live Clip.
- A Live Clip (Ableton/File/.alc) saves one audio or MIDI clip for reuse. Audio Live Clips only reference their samples, so they stay small.
- Drag a clip into the Current Project or a user folder in Places to save it; Collect Files on Export decides whether the sample is copied. Name it and press
Enter. - A Live Clip keeps the clip, its envelopes and the original track's devices. The devices return only when you drop it on an empty track or into empty space; on a track with devices, only the clip settings load.
- Clips inside any saved Live Set also count as Live Clips (see Merging Sets).
- Default clip settings in an
.asd describe how a sample should load. Live Clips are separate musical ideas: several variations of one sample, each with its own warp, pitch, envelopes and effects, can be stored and previewed side by side.
- A Live Set (Ableton/File/.als) is one song. Sets are saved inside Projects so Live can keep track of their clips, presets and samples.
- File → New Live Set, Open Live Set and Open Recent Set; in the browser, double-click or press
Enter on a Set. - Save Live Set saves as is. Save Live Set As saves under a new name or place; Save a Copy writes a copy and keeps working on the original.
- The Undo History lists every action since the Set was opened, newest at top, and returns the Set to any point.
- Open it from the View menu or with
Cmd+Option+Z (Mac) / Ctrl+Alt+Z (Win). Select an action with the mouse or arrows and Enter: actions above it gray out as undone; select a grayed action to redo up to it. - The history isn't saved with the Set. Opening or creating the Set is the first entry and can't be undone.
- Drag a Set from the browser onto a track title bar or the empty drop area to bring in all its tracks, except returns, with their Session and Arrangement clips, devices and automation.
- Unfold a Set in the browser like a folder to drag individual tracks, Group Tracks, its grooves, or just a track's device chain via the Devices icon.
- Unfold a track further to browse, preview and import its Session clips as Live Clips, so any Set can serve as a sound pool for another.
- Select several Session clips and drag them into the Current Project or a user folder to save them as a new Live Set.
- File → Save Live Set As Default Set… makes the current Set the starting state for new Sets: input and output setup, devices such as EQs and compressors on every track, and key and MIDI mappings.
- Any template in the browser can become the default via Set Default Live Set.
- File → Save Live Set As Template… saves more templates. They appear in the browser's Templates label and the User Library's Templates folder, and open as Untitled.als.
- File → Manage Files → Manage Set → View Files lists every file the Set uses; expand a line to see where it's used.
- Replace: drop a file from the browser on an entry. Every clip using it changes. Clip settings stay, and Warp Markers stay if the new sample is at least as long.
- Hot-Swap: browse alternatives quickly with the button on each line.
- Edit: open a sample in the external editor chosen in File & Folder Settings. It stays offline while Edit is engaged, and Warp Markers survive only if the length doesn't change.
- Location: missing, in the User Library, in a Project, or external.
- A Live Project is a folder for the files of one piece of music: its Set versions, recordings, imported samples, and the clips and presets that belong to it. The File Manager manages it.
- Saving a Set under a new name or location creates a new Project folder unless you save into an existing Project. The manual's example: saving "Tango" to the Desktop creates "Tango Project" with Tango.als and Samples/Recorded.
- Saving a new version with Save As into the same folder keeps both Sets in one Project sharing its samples. An unrelated new Set saved elsewhere gets its own Project.
- Opening any Set in a Project opens the Project, shown in the window's title bar.
- A Set saved out of a Project into a new one still points at the old Project's samples until you collect external files.
- Subfolders are fine; use the File Manager to update references after moving files. Moving files in Finder or Explorer can break things Live can't prevent.
- Sets from older major versions can't be overwritten; Live asks for Save As, which puts them in a Project.
- New presets go into the current Project by default. To use them across Projects, drag them to another folder or the User Library, or drag the device's title bar onto a folder in the sidebar.
- Collect Files on Export decides whether samples in the preset are copied.
- With a Set from the Project open, File → Manage Files → Manage Project shows the Project's contents and tools to locate missing files, collect external files, list unused files, and pack the Project as a Pack.
- When a Set, clip or preset references missing files, the Status Bar warns, affected clips and sample slots show "Offline", and they play silence.
- Click the warning to open the File Manager's missing-file list (Manage Files → Manage Set → Locate).
- Drag the right file from the browser onto its line in the missing-file list. Live accepts whatever file you give it.
- The Automatic Search Go button searches for missing files; its triangle shows options to search a chosen folder, the Project folder, and the Library.
- No candidate: try another folder or repair by hand. One: accepted. Several: press the line's Hot-Swap button and double-click candidates in the browser to choose, even while the music plays.
- Collecting copies external files into the Project folder so moved originals can't break the Set.
- File → Collect All and Save asks which locations to collect from. Packs and the User Library need collecting only if you plan to move or uninstall them; collecting multisampled instruments can make the Project much larger. Files go into the Project's Samples or Presets folders.
- In the File Manager (Manage Set), the External Files section groups files outside the Project by location with counts and sizes. Show displays them in the browser; toggle Collect Into Project per location, then press Collect and Save.
- Collect Files on Export, in Library Settings, decides whether dependent files are copied when you drag clips, presets or tracks from a Set to the browser:
- Always, the default: copied without asking.
- Ask: choose Copy, Don't Copy or Cancel, then name the item.
- Never: original references are kept.
- One clip or preset moves at a time; several tracks can move together. A clip becomes an
.alc, tracks an .als, and copying also creates a Project folder. - The setting also applies to the Save Preset button when a preset contains samples.
- The File Manager can locate and collect files for the User Library, the current Project, and other Projects, not just the open Set. Use Manage User Library or Manage Project, or right-click a Project folder in the browser and choose Manage Project. Finish with Collect and Save.
- File Manager → Manage Project → Unused Files lists files the Project's Sets, clips and presets don't reference, grouped by folder type. Show opens them in the browser to preview or delete.
- "Unused" ignores other Projects, so deleting can break another Project that uses the file; collect each Project's external files first.
- Manage User Library has the same Unused Files section.
- File Manager → Manage Project → Create Pack turns a Project into a Pack (Ableton/File/.alp) for archiving or sharing. Installing it restores the whole folder with all its Sets.
- External files aren't included, so collect them first. Lossless compression can make the Pack up to 50% smaller. The original Project isn't changed.
- Install by double-clicking the
.alp, dragging it into Live, or File → Install Pack…, then choose where to unpack.
- Short answers to common file management questions.
- Saving a Set creates a Project automatically, unless you save into an existing one.
- Drag the device's title bar onto the Current Project label in the browser.
- Save the versions into the same Project, usually the one created with the first version. The Project keeps one copy of the samples they share.
- Anywhere, but save into an existing Project only when the Set is related to it, such as an alternate version of a song already there.
- Yes, then relink with the File Manager:
- Reorganize the folder in the browser or the operating system.
- Choose Manage Project from the folder's context menu in the browser.
- If Missing Samples shows moved files, press Locate, open Automatic Search, turn on Search Project and Fully Rescan Folders, and press Go.
- Press Collect and Save to update the Project.