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Bhikkhu Subhuti
Asked: 2016-06-27 01:49:03 +0800 CST

Move or resize huge Audacity project files?

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  1. My data file directory for a 1 hour mp3 edit file is 1.5 gb. Why is this so big. I only have 12 or so gigs for my system and this wipes me out with 450mb left over. Is there a setting I can change to make this smaller?

  2. Can I safely move this to an sd? (I am sure it will take ages to copy too)

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mp3

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    An Audacity 'project' has a file structure as follows:

    • An *.aup Project File which is a simple xml file used as a reference file, thus not a big file in itself.
    • A *_data folder containing many, many small .au files which are segments of the working file stored in uncompressed, lossless format = the large file sizes that you have experienced.

    Storing in a lossless format does give big file sizes but means that Audacity can:

    1. Work on the individual files better: adding filters, adjusting volume and performing all of other Audacity magic
    2. Subsequently export to multiple different formats in high quality, retaining the original high quality, lossless files for further work

    Thus you are stuck with the big size of the working files.

    As regards your other issue of moving these lossless files your best advice from the Audacity documentation is to strictly avoid moving these project files manually.

    However you can backup your project safely to your sd drive by using the Save Project As.. option in Audacity and directing the output to your backup media. This is a safe option that you should investigate...

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