removing all traces of Audio file?

[buckman]

How do you go about removing all traces of an Audio file or files within a project?

If i record big Audio parts within Cubase/Logic or Acid as part of a project then save the project. Then i burn off the Project & all its Audio / Midi parts to a CDR to back up/archive it, how do i know that ALL references to the big audio files are gone and not hanging around "choking" up my PC in the form of hidden files like .sfk and the like?

Is there an easy way of doing a quick scan whenever i have finished a project so that i can "tidy up" after myself and remove all traces of whatever maybe lurking, And where do i look?

Software recording is great but if im doing different Audio takes, and big audio files for a project, i dont want "hidden" terabytes of files/back up versions hidden away in my Pc.

Thanks for any help

[Sascha Franck]

I don't exactly understand this...

Just use ONE folder per project, whenever you record something, use THAT folder, whenever you import something into the project, import it into THAT folder too.
Then you should just be fine.

[mauseoleum]

forensics?

[tommo]

Just look at the "Audio Pool" menu in Cubase.
CTRL+F (Cubase Vst5) or CTRL+P (Cubase SX) to open the Pool window.
In Vst5, for example, u got several options to get rid of unused segments, audio files,
and to save your master project.
"Purge Segments" delete all the unused segments in the song. Best if followed by the "Erase Unused", in that way you'll trim the audio files you're using in your projects, while it keeps only the used parts. Be sure to backup the files on some cd-r before u erase them.
"Delete unused files" removes (from the harddisk aswell) all the audio files in the audio pool that aren't used.
There's a "Prepare Master" function, always in Audio Pool\File menu, that u might find usefull. It's a non- destructive (the files are not deleted from the hd & new files are created) but once it's done, can't be undone.
Same options are available on the SX Audio Pool.
Check the VST/SX documentation anyway for better details....

And...as Sascha said, use a different folder everytime.......will save time & less hassle when dealing with loads of audio takes.

[Glooper]

Actually altough I agree with what both SF and Tommo are saying.. I have had this problem too. I have managed to record files and disassociate them from the project.. they still exist on disk and in the correct folder, but I have no way of knowing what files are in the Pool and what ones are just files that have been left hanging around?

I spose the only way to solve it (apart from being more carefull in the first place) is to open the project and the project pool and compare with the projects directory.

Ben