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icfm
icfm
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How to overwrite source files, or use source file names?

Oct 30, 2011 1:58 PM

Hi all

 

I would like AME (5.5.1.12, under Windows 7) to overwrite the source files that it is encoding, or if that's not possible, save the exported files to a different folder with the same file names as the sources.

 

However I can see no way to do this without manually specifying a file name for every file. I need to process 400 files so this is not practical.

 

Currently AME automatically adds a "-1" suffix to the exported file name, whether it's saved in the same folder as the source or a different folder.

 

Can anyone advise, please?

767 Views   8 Replies   Latest reply: icfm, Nov 2, 2011 12:23 PM
 
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  • Jim Simon
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    1. Jim Simon,
    Oct 30, 2011 4:32 PM   in reply to icfm
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    Obviously you can't overwrite a file that you're still reading from.  That's just not possible.

     

    The current operation is the only one I'm aware of.

     
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  • icfm
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    2. icfm,
    Oct 30, 2011 4:39 PM   in reply to Jim Simon
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    Hi Jim,

     

    Thanks for the reply. However, overwriting source files during a batch process is a common feature in audio/video software. It's possible in Audition, for instance, as well as in third-party programs such as Sound Forge, Wavelab and Samplitude.

     

    Presumably in these cases the software writes to a temporary file, either in RAM or on the hard drive, before deleting the original and replacing it with the new one.

     

    I'm surprised to hear that AME can't do this for conversions that stay within the same file format (such as the bit depth of a wave file).

     
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  • Jim Simon
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    3. Jim Simon,
    Oct 31, 2011 11:04 AM   in reply to icfm
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    Presumably in these cases the software writes to a temporary file, either in RAM or on the hard drive

     

    Correct.  NLEs are typically non-destructive, however, and don't do that.  All they do is read the source media, they don't alter it in any way.  (And that's a good thing.)

     
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  • icfm
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    4. icfm,
    Oct 31, 2011 11:09 AM   in reply to Jim Simon
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    Thanks for the response. I understand what you mean about NLEs, but the batch processing features I'm describing aren't non-linear, and can be used "destructively" if needed. (FWIW, Sound Forge and Wavelab aren't NLEs.)

     

    Anyway, that aside, is there a way to stop AME from renaming outputted files with a numerical suffix, without having to specify the name for each file?

     
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  • Ann Bens
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    5. Ann Bens,
    Oct 31, 2011 3:12 PM   in reply to icfm
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    No. besides its bad practice to overwrite files.

    If you want the same file name delete the previous file first.

     
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  • icfm
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    6. icfm,
    Oct 31, 2011 5:02 PM   in reply to Ann Bens
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    Hello,

     

    Sorry but I don't understand what you mean by "If you want the same file name delete the previous file first" - if I am not overwriting the previous file (if by previous file you mean the source file), then how would I do what you describe?

     

    Apologies if I'm misunderstanding something obvious.

     
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  • Jim Simon
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    7. Jim Simon,
    Nov 2, 2011 10:08 AM   in reply to icfm
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    I think Ann meant for subsequent exports.  Like a version 2 or something.  She wasn't thinking about overwriting the original source.

     

    The short answer here is, what you want can't be done with AME.

     
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  • icfm
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    8. icfm,
    Nov 2, 2011 12:23 PM   in reply to Jim Simon
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    Ok, thanks Jim.

     
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