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The MediaBay
Working with Volume databases
Cubase stores all media file information used in the Media-
Bay, such as paths and attributes, in a local database file on
your computer. However, in some cases, it might be neces-
sary to browse and manage this kind of metadata on an ex-
ternal volume. For example, a sound editor might have to
work both at home and in a studio, on two different comput-
ers. Therefore, he has stored his sound effects on an exter-
nal storage medium. When he is working on a different
computer, he wants to connect the external device and di-
rectly browse its contents in the MediaBay, without having
to scan the device again. This can be achieved by creating
a volume database for the external device.
Volume databases are files that can be created for drives
of your computer or for external storage media. They con-
tain the same kind of information about the media files on
these drives as the regular MediaBay database.
Creating a volume database
To create a separate volume database file for a drive, pro-
ceed as follows:
1. In the Define Locations section of the MediaBay, se-
lect the external storage medium, drive or partition of your
computer system that you want to create a database for.
2. Right-click on it and select “Create Volume Database”
on the context menu.
The file information for this drive is now written into a new database file.
When the new database file is available, this is reflected
by the symbol to the left of the drive name.
For this volume a volume database has been created.
Volume databases are automatically mounted when Cu-
base is launched. They are shown in the Define Locations
section and their data can be viewed and edited in the Re-
sults list, as for the other media files in the MediaBay.
Rescanning and refreshing
Use the Rescan and Refresh MediaBay functions for a vol-
ume database if you have modified the scan settings on a
different system, for example, by activating additional fold
-
ers for scanning.
Removing volume databases
When you have worked on another computer using an ex-
ternal hard disk and return to your own computer and con-
nect the external device again as part of your system setup,
you do not need a separate volume database for it any
more. Any data on this drive can then be included in the lo
-
cal database file again, by removing the extra database file.
• To remove a database, right-click on it and select “Re-
move Volume Database” from the context menu.
This integrates the metadata in the local MediaBay database file and
subsequently deletes the volume database file.
Ö Depending on the size of the volume database, this
might take a while.
Mounting and unmounting volume databases
When you launch Cubase, all available volume databases
are automatically mounted. Databases that are made avail
-
able while the program is running have to be mounted man-
ually via the command “Mount Volume Database” on the
context menu. To unmount a volume database, select “Un
-
mount Volume Database” from the context menu.
!
You must select the topmost level (root) for this. You
cannot create a database file for a lower-level folder.
!
If the drive contains a large amount of data, this pro-
cess may take a while.