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Hello everyone,

I am working at a studio (with their library) and I have an interesting dilemma.

There are duplicate (and triplicate) sounds in Soundminer. The interesting part is that the file names do not match and neither does the metadata. So several of smaller libraries have been renamed/converted and re-entered into the database.

Is there any way to find these files other than manually? Since none of the naming or matadata matches , Soundminer does not recognize them as duplicates.

Thanks for your help.

Chris

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3 Answers 3

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One way to possibly speed up the process could be to find a bad/unwanted duplicate, then hit the SAME FOLDER button and/or REVEAL SELECTED IN FINDER and see if all the bad duplicates are in the same folder - that way you might be able to trace back which groups of files should not have been added to the library database....

Don't forget to make a backup of the library database before you do anything destructive, so you can go back a step

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  • I'll give this a shot. Thanks for the advice! It would make sense that most of them are grouped into folders. Do you ever get to that point where everything is right where you want it? or do we just constantly chase our tales with this stuff?
    – Chris Davis
    Feb 1, 2012 at 15:34
  • No, and I dont actually have a problem with duplicate files in my library, ie I have lots of them & dont worry about it. Eg after every film I archive all the ambiences from that film back into my library (& foley & FX) so i end up with more duplicates, but drive space is cheap & I like to have a complete self contained copy of ambiences from XYZ film for easy access as its another quick way to find something useful
    – user49
    Nov 1, 2012 at 17:45
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Hi Chris,

I've experienced this many times and I'm afraid you're kinda out of luck re. automated removal of identical recordings. Since both the filename and description / metadata are both unique, there is no way for Soundminer to identify which ones are the same. Your best approach (should you even choose to undertake it) is to delete already existing files when you encounter them.

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  • I was a afraid of that! Thanks for the reply. I run into stuff like this all the time and I am spending a huge amount of time fixing things and not enough time editing. Such is life I guess.
    – Chris Davis
    Jan 31, 2012 at 13:56
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Well, I know my answer may just end up half helping, but I would be glad if it did (half-helped). If Im not wrong, apps like shazam and soundhound for smartphones use a technology that identifies similar soundwaves from what they are listening to and search it in their database.... THAT I don't know how they do it, but if you find the way, you could play the sound and let the mysterious process find the similar files, and delete them.

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