AAton Cantar-X1 User Manual Download Page 12

Page: 12 / 64

+33 4 7642 9550

www.aaton.com

Cantar-X User Manual v2.44 (r14) 2013 March 21

p.12

Project, Day & Files

Error-free filing with

disk partitioning

When  you  cold-start  Cantar,  it  assumes  you  want  to  con-
tinue working on your latest project, which is displayed at
the bottom of the rectangular screen.
When  you  rent  a  Cantar,  its  project  memory  should  be
empty; the rectangular screen should display 'No Project'.
Once created, a 'project name' regroups all data related to
it, such as the days of recording, the tracks and the disks
used.  This name is stored in each audio file, there is no risk
of a file getting lost in a maze of terabytes.
Unlike other machines, the Cantar file sorting system doesn't
rely  on  disk  partitions.    Instead,  it  uses  the

'Project/Work

Day/Filetag'

path tree, which allows for the intuitive and safe

retrieval of any audio file on unpartitioned disks, anywhere
along the PostChain. It is

not

Operator-error prone.

1 Project

If you are in a bind and have no time to select a project in
SESSION.01  'ProjectName'  (p.36),  go  directly  to  REC,  your
audio  files  will  be  stored  in  a  project  named  AACANTAR.
Later,  with  Majax  you  will  move  these  audio  files  out  of  the
'AACANTAR' folder and into the project directory you would
have created in the mean time.

note:

in their iXML chunk, the moved files still hold 'AACANTAR'

as the Project Name. You will need to manually replace that
provisional name with the correct name.

2 WorkDay folder

At startup Cantar asks: '

New  Workday?

', giving you the

possibility to say 'NO'. Note that going to TEST or REC is a

way to say 'YES'.  The 'workday'
is  not  the  same  as  the  actual
'time-of-day'  as  defined  by  the
sync  clocks,  it  is  an  interpreta-
tion of the 'human' day (see next
page).
The  Cantar  recorded  files  are
multi-monophonic,  i.e.  indepen-

dent files stored in a 'workday folder'. That folder is auto-
matically created at the start of each day and is named for
the date, e.g. 20041206.AAD (see

Calender Time

, p.13).

If the isolated (ISO) tracks must be interleaved before import
into crippled editing machines in need of polyphonic files,
Cantar builds an

AAP suffixed 'provisional folder' to momen-

tarily store them (see BACKUP.13 'Clean Polys', p.41).

3 Filename

In 1997, the Aaton Indaw multi-track digital recorder intro-
duced the Aaton filename system. Each filename consists
of: a unique

filetag

; an optional

descriptor

that displays the

scene, take-gender and take#; a

suffix

that indicates the

kind and rank of the file.

The aim is to perform these tasks while remaining compatible with
EDL standards which only handle '8+3' DOS filenames, and with
Mac OS 9 limited to 31 characters.

• The 

filetag

(six character, automatically incremented index,

i.e.AD1234) differentiates 6.7 million takes, a sound mixer's
lifetime! ( Indaw generates a 3 letter and 3 number filetag
for 17.6 million takes). The filetag must remain untouched all
the way through the final mix.
Each 'Take' generates a 'file group' sharing the same scene
ID,  take  #  and  filetag,  the  filetag  uniquely  identifies  and
reunites  the  native  ISO  tracks/files,  e.g.  AD1234  is  the
unique filetag of AD1234_1 to AD1234_8, of their associ-
ated polyphonic file AD1234PR, and of their poly mixdown
AD1234PX.
•  The 

descriptor

displays the scene, take-gender, and

take #, e.g. scene A18:2a, take-gender t, take 04

•  The 

suffix

is used to flag the kind of file, either multi-

monophonic (_1 .. _8), or interleaved polyNative (PN), or
interleaved polyRotate (PR), or poly miXdown (PX).

Examples

A short filename: AD1234_1.wav
A long filename: AD1234==A18:2a t04==_1.wav

STOP

FOLDERS & FILES

A questionable file?