Adding media files to a library

Before you can search or organize your media files, you’ll need to add them to a media library.

When the Sony Sound Series Loops & Samples™ reference library is installed and set as the active reference library in the Media Manager Options dialog, tags and custom properties from the reference library will be applied to media from existing Sony Sound Series Loops & Samples or Loops for ACID collections when you add media to your library. For more information on Media Manager options, see Setting Media Manager options on page 81.

Note: The Sony Sound Series Loops & Samples reference library is not installed by default, but you can install it from the ACID CD or download it from the Sony Creative Software Inc. Web site (http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/reference). After installing the library, go to the Media Manager Options dialog and choose the reference library from the Reference library drop-down list.

Tip: If the Save media-usage relationships in active media library check box is selected on the General tab of the ACID Preferences dialog, you can add individual files to a library by previewing the files in the ACID Explorer window.

1.Click the Add Files to Media Library button (). The Add Files to Media Library dialog is displayed.

2.Choose the folders that will be searched for media:

a.If it isn’t displayed automatically, click the Add Folder button () to display the Browse for Folder dialog.

b.Select the folder you want to search.

c.Click OK.

Tips: If you want to change an item in the folder list, select it and click the Browse button () in the Folders column. If you want to remove a folder from the list, select it and click the Remove Folder button ().

3.Repeat step 2 for each folder you want to search.

4.Select the Include subfolders check box if you want to search folders within the selected folders.

5.Select the Audio, Video, Images, or MIDI check boxes to indicate the types of media you want to add. Clear a check box to exclude that type of media file.

Files that contain audio and video streams will be added if either or both of the Audio or Video check boxes are selected.

6.Specify whether you want to search for new files or all files:

•Select the New files only radio button if you want to search only for new media files. Files that already exist in the media library will be skipped.

—or—

•Select the All files radio button if you want to search for all media files in the specified folder. New media files will be added, and files that already exist in the media library will be searched to determine whether their properties have changed.

7.Select the Add tags and custom properties from files check box if you want to add tags and custom columns saved in the media files to your library. For more information about tagging media, please see Tagging media files on page 71. For information about adding custom columns to the Search Results pane, see Adding custom columns on page 80.

8.Select the Use file and folder names to apply tags automatically check box if you want to automatically tag files based on the file path.

For example, when this check box is selected, a loop saved in the d:\loops\drums\hi-hats\folder would have the tags Drums and

Hi-Hats applied when it is added to the library. Some synonyms (and variant spellings) will be resolved automatically. If you need to modify the pattern-matching, you can edit the AutoTagPatterns.xml file, which is created in your My Documents\Sony Media Libraries folder the first time the application starts.

Note: Changing the selection of the Add tags and custom properties from files and Use file and folder names to apply tags automatically check boxes also changes the settings in the Media Manager Options dialog.

70 CHAPTER 4