Hi everyone,
I’ve got a 2018 BIAB audiophile license.

I’d like to know if there is a way I may install only the BIAB software and the Real Tracks sets (not the .wav files) I really need. I want to have the Real Tracks on the HD, just not as many. Right now, I can only install everything or nothing at all.

I've tried to contact the tech support about this but received no answer.

Thank you for your help,
Giorgio

What do you mean by Realtracks set (not .wav files)?

Do you mean the WMA files?
Have you tried simply copying them to the new location? (Try to keep the same file structure and you'll need the whole RT folder along with the .BT* files).
Then you have to point BiaB to the new location so it knows where to look (in Preferences)

>What do you mean by Realtracks set
There are several hundred Real Tracks sets, identified by a progressive number. I only need to install several, not all, of them (I'm having HD space issues).

> (not .wav files)?
Audiophile edition includes both WMA and WAV files. I was making clear that my question concerns the WMA files only.

>Have you tried simply copying them to the new location?
How, exactly, since I only need some of them? One Real Track after the other? How do I even tell them from one another?

I assumed you knew which ones you wanted.
There are thousands of them, so auditioning them all can be time consuming.

Do you have the Audiophile hard drive?
If so the RTs in external drive:\bb\realtracks are pretty clearly labeled.

I think the 'sets' really only come into play when purchasing the RTs separately. With Audiophile and/or Ultrapak you should have them all installed already and thus can copy them over.
.. or you can leave them on the USB drive and use them from there.

For my laptop, I do manually copy only some of the folders so I have some basic RealTracks for composing when I’m away from my production machine that has everything. I think the folder names are descriptive enough to do it this way.

I’m not clear yet on your reference to WAV and WMA files. If you don’t copy the WAV files, you won’t have the audiophile quality. Please elaborate.

There is your answer. Install BiaB onto your hard drive and leave all of the RTs and RDs on the USB drive. This way all of them will be available to you. Plus you could use the WAV versions of your RTs!

>Do you have the Audiophile hard drive?
Yes, I do have it

>If so the RTs in external drive:\bb\realtracks are pretty clearly labeled.
No, not really. They're labeled by instrument, while I'd need a genre label (just like those assigned to RealTracks sets), to leave out all of the music genres I'm not interested in.

>I’m not clear yet on your reference to WAV and WMA files. If you don’t copy the WAV files, you won’t have the audiophile quality. Please elaborate.
WAV files take up a lot of HD space. I want the files on my PC drive, do not want to have to plug the BIAB drive every time I have to use it. And I'd like to be able to install only the music genres I need (to be clearer: I do not need all of the jazzy, latin, stuff, which adds up to the vast majority of the RealTracks).

>There is your answer. Install BiaB onto your hard drive and leave all of the RTs and RDs on the USB drive. This way all of them will be available to you. Plus you could use the WAV versions of your RTs!
Same as above.

>I think the 'sets' really only come into play when purchasing the RTs separately.
So you're basically telling me that, after spending the kind of money that goes with purchasing an Audiophile license, there is no way to install specific RealTracks sets only? That does not make much sense.

I have tried once but it is very hard to do. You could copy single tracks at a time but your styles won't work anymore because many realtracks are used in different genres of music.

Ok, it’s becoming a little clearer that space is your concern and you don’t want to run BIAB with your external audiophile drive attached. I hope I have that right.

If you want to do it manually, you can copy over the folders of the individual RealTracks you want, and then delete the .WAV files within. This gives you more space so you can do it again with more folders. BIAB first looks for WAV files and if it doesn’t find them, loads and uncompresses the WMA files. You are correct, the WAV files are on average eleven times larger than the corresponding WMA files and each RealTrack contains both. See my sticky article in the Tips and Tricks Forum about the differences between the audiophile and regular versions. https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=378939#Post378939

I suppose one could write a batch file to assist in accomplishing what you want. I just never saw the need.

The audiophile version has almost everything PG Music makes, minus a few paid bonus paks. You’re right, the files are all together, not separated by genre. The only way to copy some is to read the folder name.

Hello Giorgio,

Welcome to the forum!

You can copy RealTracks from your external USB hard drive that stores the 2018 Audiophile package to your computer hard drive by (1) copying the desired RealTracks instrument folders and (2) redirecting the program to use the copied folders instead of the original folders. The devil is in the details.

The most tedious task will be making a list of those RealTracks instrument folders you want to copy.
Here is one way you can simplify that task.
(1) Open Band-in-a-Box
(2) Open StylePicker
(3) Select "Action ..."
(4) Select "Copy List To Clipboard"
A window pops up informing you

A tab delimited file can be opened in Microsoft Excel or LibreOffice to populate a spreadsheet. Using the spreadsheet you can manipulate the data to identify the RealTracks folders you want to copy.

As you copy RealTracks folders from the original hard drive to your computer hard drive. You likely will want to go inside each copiedRealTracks folder and delete the WAV files to save storage space on your computer hard drive.

I've often thought about thinning out my RTs but it seems too tedious a task.

What would happen if some of the folders selected as keepers contain no data except an AlternateFolderNames.txt file. As I understand it the required data is in another RT file, but there is no info as to which folder that is.

Vintage

Thank you all for your suggestions. But... going through the RealTracks files one by one? I really do not have that kind of spare time... nor patience. Especially since, I'll say it again, this does not make any sense at all.

The obvious importance of having the RealTrack sorted by genre is ackowledged by PG Music itself, since the individual sets are sold like that. And (just found out) there also are RealPAKs Volumes. By genre, that is.

Now, would someone please explain to me, and forgive me if I'm being simple-minded, why on earth I am not being given download links to the individual RealTracks sets (since I've already paid for the whole bunch of them), but only to a single humongous file that will give me no other option but install/do not install all of the RealTracks on my PC?

You can have download links for the sets. If not already in your account perhaps you could send me a PM and I will add them.

If you have the whole Band-in-a-Box folder on your computer hard drive and you want to get rid of some RealTracks that won't be using to free up space, I think the easiest way is to simply open the RealTracks folder and delete the folders that you don't think you want.

Just to be clear, I'm not recommending that people do this, since one advantage to having the full Band-in-a-Box hard drive, is that you have all the RealTracks. There is LOTS of "crossover", for example there's a good chance you'll find "Bass, Electric Country Ev 065" used in a "Pop" style, and so on. On the other hand, maybe there are some RealTracks that you are fairly certain that you'll never use, like "Tuba, Dixieland.. " or whatever.

There isn't a way to tell Band-in-a-Box to only install Jazz RealTracks etc., although it's a reasonable request I agree. However this doesn't have to be any more complicated than going into the RealTracks folder and deleting some RealTracks that you think you'll never use. Specifically, I would move them to a separate hard drive so you have them in case you want to copy them back later. Also, you will want to turn off the options to "show styles with 'n/a RealTracks in the StylePicker window ("Other" dropdown menu).

>You can have download links for the sets. If not already in your account perhaps you could send me a PM and I will add them.

Excellent! Will do that
Giorgio