ESSENTIAL File Management in REAPER DAW Tutorial

[@MikeLuke]

It’s not boring, it’s super important and helpful. Thanks Jon!

[@timocarliermusic]

Please never delete this video!

[@fivebyfivesound]

SUPER helpful, thank you! Came here for best practices on storing peak files, stayed for the entire layout of how manage project files optimally. 🙏

[@MrFeinberg]

Very VERY not boring, and I only wish I could go back and retroactively apply these settings. Thank you!

[@xNARCx]

Been doing this shit for a couple years and finally got tired of workflow issues. Wish I took the 13 minutes to deal with this when you first uploaded. THANK YOU!

[@tommyzai7038]

You're awesome. Not only great info, but delivered in a clear, concise, friendly, informative way . . . and you have an attractive way about you. Thumbs up!!

[@michal.ochedowski]

Auto-backup is incredibly useful. Even when you just want to try something out, like a new plugin, you don't even have to worry about saving untitled new project. Even if Reaper crashes, which it rarely does, your project will be waiting for you in pre-selected folder. While watching this video I revisited my wildcards and made some minor changes. Thanks for sharing !

[@renecardenas3237]

This is SO not boring. Coming from a DAW that crashes A LOT, this is fantasyland come true!

[@edufighter5643]

Thanks Jon, even after being a REAPER user for a long time I've never set my file structure so efficiently as you suggested here. Big thanks!

[@timocarliermusic]

This is one of your best videos. I'm so glad I bookmarked it now that I'm transferring over to another laptop!

[@arnoth440]

Just moved my Reaper related folders and files to a new drive and started configuring all the settings and made some project templates to clean things up. Your videos are easy to follow and you go straight to the point. Thank you.

[@kieroneil]

I'm just a hobbyist trialing Reaper and found your video super-helpful with getting an optimal setup to start from.

[@crawlinginfilm9683]

Fantastic tutorial - removed uncertainties over file management, not only for this app, but more generally. Thanks!

[@ricardoposada211]

Nada de aburrido, demasiado importante esta información que nos regalaste. You are the best. El que quedó aburrido fuíyo cuando vi el desorden que tengo

[@marceloribeirosimoes8959]

First of all, thank you very much! Not just for this video, but for all your work and effort to keep the Reaper community up-to-date and glowing 9in the best sense). But if there's something Reaper keeps missing, it is a better way to organize plugins. WOW! How cool would be seeing plugin folders with subfolders and actual plugin GUI IMAGES...?

[@TadDoylemusic]

Thanks Jon, the recommendation for backblaze was worth the price of admission alone. If your back-ups don't exist in three separate drives, they don't really exist at all. Redundancy has saved me a ton of heart-ache and misery multiple times over the years. Wildcards on Track name and take. I love it! 000

[@tomphillpotts]

Nice work thanks, 8:45 is so important to have a media folder!

[@jeanz9174]

Thank you so much! The paths and backups have been confusing me for a while, and this just helps me a lot with all those stuff!

[@ultralife73]

Just did a fresh reaper install and followed your method. Works great, thanks!

[@liamcubes7691]

Incredibly helpful. Just setting up a new recording pc and wanted to avoid the insane mess I got in to on my old one. Thank you!

[@TheREAPERBlog]

you may also like this one on fixing your messy projects kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4G0ZpWQjdSLorM

[@Billyssword]

Very helpful video Jon ! People coming from pro tools are most of the time lost in Reaper file management system. This video will save me some explantation time during my Reaper tutorial ;)

[@rune288]

Hi john and the reaper blog community, After a brief one year fling with pro tools I am happy to report I am back using reaper. God what a ball ache pro tools can be. I'm back using the best 60 pounds I ever spent

[@TheREAPERBlog]

welcome back!

[@deltavistastudio124]

I had the same experience back with PT7. Found REAPER and never looked back. :^)

[@reghunt2487]

That was good. And getting these settings right makes everything a whole lot easier.

[@birdbrainsane]

Sorry, i found answer to my question in your video specifically on Video Templates. Thanks for having covered all my questions before in advance.

[@Streck0_909]

This was helpful! I'm often just noodling around in Reaper and my project folders always ended up being a hot mess. Dedicated folders for backups and reapeaks should clean things up. The subfolder for project media is also a good idea. Speaking of .reapeaks. In an attempt to get organized, I just deleted a couple of 100MBs of .reapeaks that had been cluttering up my sample folders over the years. Having those created and saved next to the files by default was really not the best decision the Reaper devs have made. Makes no sense at all for drum hits or other short samples. A native temp folder with the option to override (per audio item) would have been much more elegant.

[@FrankTGuitar]

Very helpful thanks, just hope I didn't mess anything up. I was having issues with Reaper overcrowding my desktop with individual takes of guitar tracks for some reason. I did the first few parts of the video because that was my main issue. I just finished a project and now I have to clean up the desktop. My question is should I just save all the files to "Reaper Media" or a subfolder or..?

[@MichaelRossMurphy]

This was great - these are all things that bothered me and are better solutions than I came up with on my own... Thanks!!!

[@TheREAPERBlog]

You're very welcome!

[@TheeCapN]

You and people like you are saints. I know you're probably used to compliments and thanks but seriously dude reaper professors like you save lives lol

[@daviddahl8562]

Yeah after I got everything set up and working with the extensions and Reapack, there was a few things I had to change in preferences and project settings break time

[@robbolandsvids]

Thanks Jon, this is perfect timing as I'm just about to setup Reaper on a new machine and had been scratching my head for the last couple of days on the best way to organise it all. You've just saved me a whole load of time. Cheers, Robbo

[@1tigercat2]

Very helpful. A huge thank you. If you ever want to explore themes and changes thereto I am super interested.

[@lazarusrize]

Thanks, Jon. As usual, this was extremely helpful.

[@kurthendrix7324]

Jon this not boring at all. I'm in the process of removing everything I need from a different computer so this was very helpful. If you or anyone here have any other useful tips to include prior to setting up the new computer I would appreciate it.

[@DopamineOverload]

Yet another extremely helpful and informative vid. Thanks, Jon!

[@zbsfm]

7:41 FYI on my system, this is now in its own tab under Media, called "Import"

[@TheREAPERBlog]

@@zbsfm yep, lots of preferences moved in v7. New, better defaults too

[@jeremymullins1294]

Thanks, man. Exactly what I was looking for!

[@blazelarson1427]

Thanks for explaining this, painful but necessary computer skills.

[@juanchis.investigadorsonoro]

Thanks for this video. :) Do you have a video on how did you set up grid changes on the transport bar? I made custom keyboard shortcuts for that.

[@eddiepersa1752]

Thank you Jon. I have a question: what hub are you using today to connect all drives to macbook pro M1 ? Are currently using all SSDs ? Thanks again !!!

[@TheREAPERBlog]

Currently my 2 external NVME drives are connected directly to my Mac Studio thunderbolt ports. I have an old OWC Thunderbolt 2 hub, plus hubs on monitor and audio interface for additional usb devices.

[@coreymelanson2906]

Just perfect,omg!! Im gna delete and start over,i had it so confusing. Thank you a million times!! All made perfect sense,im in need of a good computer course ,but this post def saved me from lots of wasted time finding stuff. Thank you,i cannot say enough of how mundane it may seem to others,and so mindblowing to newbies like myself. Ok,sorry for long rant,but seriously keep up the posts. Im ordering the Reaper hardcopy online as we speak,and prob shoulda a looong time ago.😕 Thanks again-COREY M.

[@nicolawoodham]

Thanks so much, this was really clear and helps a lot!

[@ErikNolander]

A great video, Jon, hadn't even considered the Audio Files folder as an option. Will definitely change my settings now. Quick q, how did you set up the grid division buttons in the toolbar? That looks like a really useful thing.

[@TheREAPERBlog]

This video kzbin.info/www/bejne/goG2o6Jobdd0eMk

[@timocarliermusic]

Great video, Jon. I use a combination of Backblaze and pCloud. So did I understand correctly that you keep your rendered mixes in the same folder as the project? Also, if the ReaPeaks files are in a different folder, doesn't this cause problems when opening old projects, or does the main Reaper project file rebuild the ReaPeaks files if they are not there?

[@timocarliermusic]

Sorry - just rewatched the video and you do explain that Reaper just rebuilds any missing ReaPeak files when starting up the project.

[@TheREAPERBlog]

rendered mixes go in project folder, sometimes in a subfolder if there are many. My versioning on mixes is usually 1,2,3… and when artist asks for changes I add letters

[@timocarliermusic]

@@TheREAPERBlog Ok, that's something for me to think about. I've always rendered to a 'Mixes' folder in a different location, but it makes sense to keep things simple.

[@jeffevansmusic]

Excellent video. Very helpful.

[@J3unG]

Thank you. This is very important stuff that I knew nothing about. Keep up the good work!

[@beatweezl]

Got a lot of nuggets on this one!! Thanks Jon!

[@caryheuchert]

Thank you 🙏 Jon!!! Very helpful...

[@jsmacks11]

Thanks. I like your tutorials. Do you have any tutorials on your long toolbar at the top of the screen?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

mostly explained here kzbin.info/www/bejne/naW8oZJrdsyGjcU

[@barankaypakoglu7643]

God bless you my good sir.

[@visuallearning7169]

thank you so much ! this is great. I'm wondering at the end though you had the example project folder. I thought the .RPP and .REAPEAKS files would then be in their separate TEMP folders , instead of the project folder. Something I'm missing ?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

at 11:35 you see 1 project file, backup file (the previous manual save), 3 video exports. No peak files or autobackups there.

[@jasonjohnston5256]

This is an outstanding tutorial!!! Thank you!!

[@clydesight]

Thank you for the tips!

[@julianc.227]

Thank you man, great stuff.

[@The_Absurdistt]

Great vid, Thanks. Do you load projects on to your internal HD when mixing/ recording? I was told to not store projects on the OS/DAW HD and only load projects to the OS/DAW HD when working on projects.... What is your take on this.

[@TheREAPERBlog]

nope I run them right from the external drives

[@The_Absurdistt]

@@TheREAPERBlog Thanks for your insight. How are your ext HD's connected?... USB2/3, THUNDERBOLT, Firewire?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

2 usb3, 1 thunderbolt. connected to mac through thunderbolt dock.

[@The_Absurdistt]

@@TheREAPERBlog Are your external drives solid state or hard disk?

[@granaff]

fantastic video and invaluable, thanks

[@groovydrummer19]

Thank you. You are great. I have just realized that we have the same glasses

[@crawlinginfilm9683]

Why not set the peak files location to be a subdirectory of the project directory (which as in your case could be on a fast-connection external disk, maybe even a SSD) ?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

main reason is so it's just one place to clean up

[@tomburden]

Awesome video again!! Thank you. Do you recommend putting these files on the system drive or can you put them on the audio drive?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

I have temp files on my system drive. I don't think it makes a difference so long as their managed.

[@tomburden]

@@TheREAPERBlog thank you. Your videos are very helpful.

[@boimesa8190]

10:56 if I add a wildcard AFTER recpass it changes the 001 into 100... how do I avoid this?

[@joshzero4293]

This dude is awesome thanks man.

[@lunanimomusic]

I've been using dropbox for a few years. Would it be worth it to switch to Backblaze? Or do you think dropbox is good as well?

[@jppagetoo]

Project Templates. The biggest time save ever. I have created very complicated project templates. The default one I use has about 80 tracks in it. The default template should be filled as much as possible to allow you to just start creating. I never use all the tracks, but the ones I need most of the time are then for when I need them. You shouldn't need to add tracks just to get going (unless you are doing something very outside your norm). Project templates set up and configuration would be a great video.

[@Joey.Darkwoods-Studio]

great tutorials! thank you!

[@brotherj22stops84]

Hay quick question ,easy question Is the master track the one you put a limiter on ? why is there no decent tutorials at how to get the best level using the master track and which plugins for limiters on the master track it appears that most tutorials are always on about the darn drums . I like to get a karaoke track from you tube sing along with a vocal , is there a tutorial on this . I guess one still does comp eq reverb on the vocal track although what is done on the master track ? What is the best level for the karaoke track . What is the best level for the audio to match the Karaoke track , let say an Elvis Karaoke track, There is nothing on this for reaper ,any help towards appreciated . I have cronic arthritus and like to sing along , have reaper a mic a mixer . looking forward to some input. Warmly J

[@ThatBeTheQuestion]

This video is a few years old, so this probably won't be seen, but how did you get the buttons to quantize the grid in the transport dock? That'd be super useful to me.

[@TheREAPERBlog]

Of course I read the comments. It’s a docked toolbar with actions for setting the grid. I did a video on my toolbar somewhere

[@ThatBeTheQuestion]

@@TheREAPERBlog thanks! Actually, just after posting the original comment, I noticed KZbin was recommending your Fresh Start tutorials to me, so I'm going through those now. Over the years I've watched many a Reaper tutorial, I largely had my file management set up, and my friend who is an avid Reaper user has helped me set up various things. But your videos are my far the most comprehensive that I've seen so far, so I appreciate that. Though I do think there were a few things that you kind of glossed over that could've warranted a big more explanation, but they were small things. At and rate, but the title of the Part 2, I think you might cover the grid snap thing at some point, and if not I'll search for the video in your channel.

[@Itamarsho6]

Question- is it possible to transfer files and sync them using cloud system? Like one drive?

[@thomas.cloutier-guay]

i realy need to spend time going through all settings, data management was what was missing going between reaper and pro tools.

[@TheREAPERBlog]

I was a Pro Tools user before so this should be similar

[@CFM7]

Would be nice if Cockos added Optional settings to their setup file to set these kinds of settings into place.

[@a-donflores4836]

Idk how you manage to make this so simple and i have no idea how i manage to not understand it still.

[@TheREAPERBlog]

just using it every day and talking to a lot of users with different backgrounds and experiences

[@colinfjs]

This was a life saver! Thank you so much!

[@patrickgregory6745]

Very useful! Thanks

[@shanefiddle]

EXCELLENT video, super useful, thank you!

[@exscape]

Hm, I'm not sure why you'd want to have reapeaks or especially backups in a separate location from the project files. Having them in the project directory makes the whole project much more portable. I keep them i subfolders, so basically all my files are in one of: (Project dir)/Audio, (Project dir)/Audio/peaks or (Project dir)/Backups. Clean and handy. For most projects, the only file in the project root directory is the .rpp file.

[@TheREAPERBlog]

both are temp files. peaks are created when needed, backups are usually only needed when there was a crash. if you took the project to another computer neither would be required to open the project. having these in a separate single folder makes it easy to clean of old files

[@jmd76family]

Very informative.

[@francoisBonin-phils]

Time saving , thanks a lot

[@ArielAlbrecht]

Thanks Jon, great tips.

[@KamilKisiel]

Thanks John, I've always found Reaper file management to be pretty messy. These settings should really help.

[@azeguitarist1]

Thank you!🎸

[@grandmaenjoysmusic]

Great tips! :) Wish I knew all those things when I started out ;)

[@flickeringscreens]

Great man, thanks

[@carolinastringband]

Thanks brother!

[@vladrileynavilys]

isnt there an option to delete / not keep the takes you're finally not using in the project? I thought i saw tat somewhere but can't find anymore.

[@deejayworlhed738]

CAN I GET TO TALK TO U ABOUT SOMETHING. I HAVE A ISSUES WITH REAPER

[@celebratethesongsandlife]

After recording over a clip why it's become mess stereo track change to mono PREVIOUSLY recorded clip is gone! ? any way to avoid hope you help Thanks in advance 😁🙏

[@kenbrunet6120]

I set this up after having done 3 or 4 test projects. Now I can't seem to be able to load up those previous projects. I moved the folders into my new Projects folder but Reaper is giving me a missing files message when I try to open one of them. What do I do?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

That's because the project file is still pointing to the old location for files. in the Relink Files window that comes up, press Search and direct it to the right folder, then save the project. Should be good from then on.

[@richardweidner1625]

very useful. thank you

[@fabiojorge3160]

legend! thanks mate

[@Not-Only-Reaper-Tutorials]

I’m wondering what forbidds to release default settings that are compliant. I also struggled to get them done. It’s possible ... so ... It’s even possible to have the same structure and behaviour that Nuendo/Cubase has ... I did it, so why not setup as default?

[@ageshero]

So, ive been using reaper for years now, i have a mess of tracks, and moved to multiple computers, is there anyway to fix the absolute mess of files i have?

[@FrequencyAlchemy]

Thanks for this John ... I have the same question. What's the best practice for moving current projects to the new structure?

[@getstew]

This was helpful. Thank you!

[@jameswallace5967]

This is complicated stuff. That's one reason I like recording on a tape machine!

[@plummetplum]

Have you tried calibrating a tape machine? 🤔🤔

[@rollandjoeseph]

im with you on that , this is like a crash course in programing

[@Blue_3rd]

I followed the instructions on the blog page on how to set up backups and an 'audio' file for projects, using the 'project settings' option. The backups work, but nothing has ever gone into the 'audio' file, it´s always been empty. I´m obviously doing something wrong somewhere, but I have no idea what. Any ideas? Thank you!

[@politicscultureandsomeothe9868]

Why is Peter Sagan giving me reaper tips? , awesome. 3 times world champuon AND recording engineer.

[@alexsbsantos74]

Thanks man!

[@crums2brikks]

Perfection!

[@midiman5045]

Jon Get your self a NAS with minimum raid 5. You will need 3 drive to do that. Best investment you can make for backups.

[@Phazerville]

What kind/size external hard drives do you have? SSD? USB 2 or 3? FireWire?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

2x G-Tech 500gb USB3 or FW800, 1 Buffalo 1TB thunderbolt. Not SSDs.

[@ctld5266]

Jon, which solution did you on blackbaze ?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

Personal, paid a year in advance. Here's my link secure.backblaze.com/r/011orj

[@foodlord1]

1000th like! and thank you!

[@TheREAPERBlog]

whoa! that is cool Thanks for letting me know!

[@RKBibleStudy]

Very helpful. Thank you