Guidance on importing 1000's of tracks without creating duplicates?

I am helping a friend consolidate his music library.
He has an existing library that I organized and is currently in great shape, no duplicates, tags are all good.
I have collated about 40,000 tracks from various sources he had into another library to work on. Once I have it cleaned up I would like to add it to his existing library, but there are thousands of duplicate albums spread through out the library.
Is there any way to import this new library into his existing library without creating a LOT of duplication?
Thanks very much
Henry

while dupes are easily dealt with (IMHO), you might want to take a look @ SuperSync.
the developer claims the app is able to *Compare and merge any two music libraries*, and more besides.
JGG

Similar Messages

  • Many events and photos are missing from my iphoto.  I have time machine and would like to restore without creating duplicates. The issue is although my photos are presently blank time machine/iphoto does see the file so importing them will create duplicat

    For some unknown reason, events and photos in my Iphoto are appearing blank. The photos have a title / placeholder but no picture. I use time machine and have back ups, my goal is to restore the photos without creating duplicates. Unfortunately iphoto sees the blank photos as if the picture exists?  Help

    If you want to use your back up you need to restore then entire Library from Time Machine, and then replace the damaged Library with it.
    Regards
    TD

  • How to make iTunes add a folder without creating duplicates?

    Hello,
    I have a PC running windows 7.  I keep all my music in one folder on a NAS device.  I am getting more and more fed up with Windows Media Player (WMP) and I would like to move to iTunes.  This move, however, appears to be as painful as using WMP.  Please help if you can.  I have used iTunes before so I have an existing music and video library and I also have a number of playlists both with music and videos.  I cannot afford to start from sratch, i.e., to remove and readd everything; it would be too costly.  I have two major problems with iTunes:
    1. When I try to add files that already exist in the iTunes library iTunes happily adds these file and creates duplicates.  I cannot find a knob that would prevent iTunes from creating these duplicates and simply ignore any found files if they are already present in the library.  All such duplicates point to the same file on disk.  I am really scratching my head over this as I would think that this would be a very basic thing to do/allow, yet it does not seem to be possible.  Is it me missing something simple here or is it Apple telling me that this is how it must be...???
    All I want to do is to add the top folder that contains all my music without having to deal with thousands of duplicates.  I cannot add the files one-by-one because there are too many of new files there and if I remove all the files and re-add them all my lists will likely become empty (tried it on one list and, as expected, the list got emptied once I removed the files that were in the list).  Hmm, is this asking for too much?  Please help.
    2. I do not seem to see a way to tell iTunes to monitor for new media files.  WMP allows you to specify folders to monitor.  You add a file to the folder and the file gets added to the library.  What is wrong or bad with this concept (other that it would not work if duplicates were handled)?  Why does iTunes not seem to support that?
    Thank you,
    Peter

    tt2, thank you for your reply.  Let me restate your answers the way I see them.
    Problem #1:  You said that "iTunes only creates duplicates if you ask it to...".  Well  my goal is not to create duplicates but to avoid them and the problem with iTunes is that it does not seem to offer an easy way to do this.   Do not get me wrong, I like iTunes but let's call black black and white white.  So the way I read your answer is: no iTunes does not support a way to add the same folder twice without creating duplicates. 
    Problem #2: The answer to the second question is also no, iTunes does not offer any way to monitor for new files in a folder or folders.
    I wish the above were incorrect but from what I hear and from what your wrote I conclude iTunes does not support any of that.
    You offered external to iTunes solutions for both problems.  Thank you for that!  I did not know about this tools.  Having said that my iTunes music files are on a NAS device (files not copied to iTunes library), my video files are on NAS but (because of the necessity to convert to iTunes supported format) they were transcoded and stored in iTunes library, my iTunes Store purchases (music) are in the iTunes library and on the NAS (backup - likely duplicates).  In short it gets messy very quickly and after reading the NAS and multi-path warnings for the DeDuper tool I am just not jumping on the idea of using it - there would be physical duplicates and I would not want any physical files to be deleted.  tt2, do you know if the DeDuper offers a mode where it would present the user with a list of duplicates and allow the user to decide which dups to remove before doing anything?  I basically would want to remove the dups from the library but without deleting any physical files.
    I will have a closer look at the iTunes Folder Watch program.  Unless I am misinterpreting something I think it should do what I want to do. 
    So again, thank you for your answers and suggestions with the external tools.  It is just too bad that iTunes does not support what I (and many others) need natively.
    Peter

  • How do I move/copy contacts from Entourage to iCloud Address Book without creating duplicates? Address Book on Mac, iCloud, iPhone and iPad is now empty

    How do I move/copy contacts from Entourage to iCloud Address Book without creating duplicates? Address Book on Mac, iCloud, iPhone and iPad is now empty

    Thank you for letting me know!
    Going to give it a go. Had a back up of all my clients files stupidly not my software as I have the originals disks. Just realised that amongst the software is ibiz and have lost al my accounting and billing files for the last 7 years want to cry so losing my contacts now will really tip me over the edge!
    Fingerscrossed this works!

  • How to import images without creating duplicates of images aready imported?

    i am trying to find a way to import pictures into aperture without duplicating pictures already in the library. it will be great that aperture recognize that a picture is already in the library and ask if we want to duplicate or replace the picture with the new import. with my current system setting, i can import the same pictures over and over in the same project, and i get several duplicates with the same file name.
    how can i set up aperture so it recognizes that a pictures (according to its file name) is already in the library. thanks for your help.

    I never figured this out either and it bugged me. You basically have to import the iPhotos for instance the first time and if still uploading into iPhoto then have to import folders. Go to File>Import>Images/or Folders as Projects(what I usually do) and then track down the right folder and click Import. Make sure you have the right place clicked you want them on the Projects Panel or you may import them into the middle of another Project (done that more than once). Sorry I don't have answer but at least a fix till someone knows more.
    Scott

  • How do I import a folder of images without creating a new project?

    In Aperture 2.xxx I can import a folder of photos into the project and mimic the folder structure on my hard drive. For example, I export photos as tiffs into a folder that is a subfolder of the folder that contains the master raw files on my hard drive. If I want these new tiff files to be part of the Aperture library I simply import the folder into a project.
    With Aperture 3 I can only import a folder as a new project as far as I can tell. Is there a workaround
    to import a folder of photos as simply a new folder of the project that contains the master files?
    Thanks
    John

    Hi John,
    I also think Aperture 2 has a better import facility and organisation Than Ap 3.
    Having tried pvonks suggestion I just cannot get that to provide the folder structure you require.
    File>Import Files seems to me to have an odd behaviour. The right hand import panel does not necessarily 'see' all the Projects but does remember ones imported into. If not used before it is necessary to highlight the Project you want to import into in the Library panel which then sets the import panel to match.
    By experiment it seems the function of a new Ap 3 folder is just to contain Projects. The easiest way to achieve what you desire is to use a new folder as a bin in which to group your Project structure as you did before with folders. The effect will be the same as you are used to, only the icons will be swapped around.
    Alternatively, after importing into an existing Project use a Smart Album to collect the files by import session date and time. You can have as many Smart Albums as you need, each with a different filter setting as suits your purpose. The Import Session filter is found under the Add Rule section on the Smart Album control sheet. This way the Project is the bin and the Smart Albums represent the folder structure you want.
    AW

  • Trying to combine folders within LR4 from two separate drives without creating duplicates--sometimes it won't let me transfer to destination folder because it says files are there when they are not; other times, allows duplicates to transfer

    Trying to consolidate 261K+ of images within LR4 between two drives.  Someone who was "helping" me with my Library in LR4 for some reason took some but not all of the file folders from my main backup drive (M) and duplicated them onto a partitioned hard drive (E) directly on the computer.  The duplication is huge, so I am trying to condense them all back onto the original backup drive M, particularly since I believe there are also folders on the partitioned backup drive E that do not appear on the main one M, and there are many more file folders on M that are not on E, so that is the destination drive.
    CONSOLIDATION:  When I try to drag either the file folders or the individual files from the duplicate drive E to the original drive M to combine the two drives since the folders in many cases for some reason are not identical, sometimes LR4 says the files already exist when they clearly don't. Other times it allows me to drag and drop all files, even if the exact duplicates are already on the destination drive, thereby doubling the number of files per image and creating more duplicates.  Right now I am opening each file folder on the duplicate drive E, looking at what extensions and file names are there, scrolling to the original drive, making sure they appear to be identical, then going back to the duplicate drive E, deleting the images in the folder, removing the folder, and moving to the next folder on the duplicate drive E.  *There has got to be a simpler way.*
    CONSOLIDATION APPROACH: I did start to create file folders names A, B, C and group file folders under them to reduce clutter, since those header folders can be closed down when not in use, but now I am wondering if I should have done that alphabetization to the main backup drive rather than to the partitioned backup drive.
    My goal is to consolidate the two drives down to one, delete as many images along the way that I know I will never miss, then backup the catalog and export it to an external drive and then copy that to yet another drive for offside storage.  Does this sound like the proper plan?  Last time it took almost 24 hours and over a terabyte to export the catalog.
    DUPLICATION:  I also have many file folders that have the exact same image in them.  One portfolio image may actually be in eight different folders, with the exact file, file name, file size, and date, even though I always have checked "no duplicates on import,"  How can this be? What is the best way to sort through duplicates?  Why are the files in some of the duplicate folders not in numerical order? If I do a search and call up a file # and find 15 duplicates, the only way I can find where those duplicates reside is to take each duplicate, right click to Locate Folder in Library, then once I find it, I have to go back to All Photographs>Text.search for file #, go to the second duplicate, right click to Locate Folder in Library, then once I find it, I have to do it all again.  Is there a simpler way to see all the occurrences in their respective folder locations at once?
    SEARCH BY FILE FOLDER NAME ONLY: I also find I can't search for a file using a folder name (for example, "John_Doe").  I can only search by file #, keywords, or camera/lens/date, etc.  Why will it not work to use All Photographs>Text>search for Doe? In other words, if I didn't keyword the individual files as John Doe, I can't search for them by that moniker.
    BACKUP:  It also appears that the only way I can back up the catalog is to shut down LR.  Really?!
    FOLDER LIST PRINTOUT: Is there a way to print out the Folder list (other than a screen shot)? I have so many file folders on each drive since I sort not by Year/Month/Date but by subject. It makes trying to compare duplicate folders quite unwieldy. 
    SLOW RESPONSE:  And finally, as though that weren't enough, why does LR4 continually blink to a white screen after each keystroke?  Takes forever just to be able to click through images, view info after hovering, etc. All other programs are closed down and the operating system shows very little memory being used.

    A brief and probably non-helpful answer: I know of no way to eliminate your large amount of duplicates other than by repetitive, tedious manual effort.
    *There has got to be a simpler way.*
    I hope you're right, but I don't think there is a simpler way.
    BACKUP:  It also appears that the only way I can back up the catalog is to shut down LR.  Really?!
    Yes, really

  • Importing iphoto library into Aperture 3 creates duplicate events

    I am so hoping you can help me here.
    I started importing my iphoto library that was going well to a point it stopped importing. Looking at Aperture i can see project folders that coincide with the iphoto events but not all of them came across, still not a problem. I choose  to import the iphoto library again checked the box to not import duplicates, now the problem, it starts downloading the same library and the same events.
    ABOUT TO PULL MY HAIR OUT, HELP IF YOU CAN

    Your iPhoto Library may need rebuilding. If you have iPhoto '11 try the following:
    First back up your iPhoto Library.
    Then lauch iPhoto in "Rebuild" mode by holding down the command and option (or alt) keys when launching iPhoto.
    From the "rebuild" panel choose: Rebuild iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup.
    Then try again to import into Aperture.
    Delete the previous iPhoto imports before you try that, for the "Do not import Duplicates" option does not work recently.
    Report back, if this should not work for you.

  • How Do I get data merge to work without creating duplicate pages in a single page native file?

    I've called Adobe about this and they indicated it was some kind of setting that needed to be changed in InDesign, but wouldn't tell me how to do it unless I paid for an "incident pack" and talked with technical support.
    Problem: I have a single page document in InDesign CS5. It's a direct-mail postcard with large high-res images and complicated graphics on it. I want to merge a list of recipients names/addresses from Excel with this single-page design. Excel document has 2,000 names in it.
    I successfully create the merge using InDesign's data merge feature, but it creates a new InDesign document with 2,000 pages in it. Each page is a duplicate of my original file, but with different addresses on each page. Because of the multiple records and the high res images it has created 2,000 duplicates of - InDesign crashes. It also took about 4 hours to do the merge.
    There has got to be a better way to merge data w/o it created the same page over and over again.
    I can't make a pdf to solve this problem becasue I have to work with an in-house printer and they do a poor job of printing from pdf. So, I always send them native files. This printer does not have variable data software. However, if that is the fast and easy solution to this problem - I will force them to purchase it.
    Any advise or solution to this problem would be appreciated. Is there a setting in InDesign that needs to change so it doesn't repeat the single page design 2,000 times and cause InDesign to crash?
    Thank you.

    That's exactly how Data Merge works. If it's on the page, it gets duplicated. 2000 records is a lot, so I'm not sure if the images or the sheer number is what's slowing things down.
    One thing you can try is to moove everything EXCEPT the merge placeholders to a master page, then assign the [None] master to the page with the placeholder anbd do the merge. Change the master to the one with your static content after the merge. That might speed up the merge, but it won't do anything for the file being 2000 pages that each has to RIP for printing. The best way to deal with this is to find a printer who can do VDP printing and give him the template file and your data file, and let him do the merge in the print stream.

  • HT2513 Older iCal calendars (used with MobileMe) now won't sync with iCloud without creating duplicates. How do I sync to my other devices without iCloud?

    I've been using iCal for years for my business and have over 15 calendars on it (to color coordinate projects) and used to sync them with MobileMe.  Now that I've upgraded my mac and have Mountain Lion and can only use iCloud to sync Address Book, Notes etc - iCloud doesnt even acknowledge my 15+ calendars unless they are DUPLICATED.
    I've turned OFF iCloud and tried to sync via iTunes telling it to sync to iphone/ipad from "Calendar on this Mac" - but it sees nothing.  My device Calendars are blank (iCloud off on them too).
    HELP!!!

    I share a similar situation (usb iTunes sync with Outlook with my corporate laptop; personal calendar on icloud).
    With IOS7, at first, iTunes/Windows does not propose Outlook sync anymore. I need to switch off calendar from iTunes to enable usual usb sync with Outlook. I had to sync it twice while checking "replace iphone data" to get a stable behaviour (like before) IOS7.When I try to re-enable icloud calendars, it proposes me to merge them...
    I did not test merging so far...
    IOS7 and iTunes 11.1 are not completely polished ;-)
    PY

  • Syncing edited songs without creating duplicate files ... ideas?

    I'm thrilled you can now move songs via iTunes to different computers. My issue is that I want to move songs when I change info for a song (ie. star rating, comment, etc.). If the song already exist on the other computer moving the song via iTunes creates a duplicate on the receiving computer. Ideas?

    While also time consuming, the Consolidate command will do it and is automatic.
    What you would do is go into your iTunes preferences and change the iTunes Music folder location. Pick something like a spare external drive or if you have enough room on your internal to duplicate your whole library, another spot there.
    Now invoke the consolidate command. What this command does is copies any files not in the currently identified iTunes Music folder location into that location and updates the database so the song is now accessed from that location. Since you just change the location to somewhere else, ALL of your library is outside that location and will be copied into it.
    So here is the part that helps you. All those 19 gigs of orphaned files are left behind. If the file is not used by iTunes it is not copied. So the new iTunes Music folder location ends up being a clean folder with only those files actively used by iTunes.
    As that point you can either continue to use this new location and delete the old location from your computer. Or if you want everything back in the same place, clear out the old folder then change the location back to that folder and consolidate everything back. Again, will take a fair bit of time for many many gigs, but you can start it and go to bed, go to lunch, work, go watch a show as it is done automatically.
    Cheers,
    Patrick

  • Importing Troubles: Incomplete First Tracks

    When I try to import a CD, the first track invariably winds up... how should I say... abbreviated. It will start importing, get a little ways into the first track, get stuck there for a while, then skip to track 2. The rest of the CD imports just fine, but I only get about 30 seconds or so of the first track. I'm running XP on a new Mtech laptop. I've updated all my hardware drivers. I've uninstalled and reinstalled iTunes. I don't get any error messages or funky track times or anything else that other people have reported. Just an incomplete first track. Anyone have any suggestions?

    Thanks for the info. I did try just re-importing the incomplete tracks, and it worked the first couple of times, but then iTunes started merely re-importing the same partial track length it had the first time around. But good news: the issue has been resolved without having to resort to using a separate program for ripping, converting .WAV files, etc - none of which I was keen on doing.
    For anyone else who might be having this problem, what seemed to fix it was this: I turned Error Correction on, and I turned the automatic import feature off. BUT... just doing this alone wasn't enough. After making these adjustments, I completely closed out of iTunes and then rebooted my computer. I opened up iTunes after the reboot and have been happily importing CDs problem-free ever since.

  • How do i mute an audio track without deleting it.

    how do i mute an audio track without deleting it?

    There have been a few recent posts, where Audio Mixer settings are not "held," in PrE 11. Those cited problems seem to be Project-specific, in that Audio Mixer works, as expected, in a new Project - just not the one, causing issues.
    I do not know if there is a glitch/Bug in Audio Mixer, or if the users are doing something that is "disconnecting" Audio Mixer in some way.
    As a test, create a New Project, Import a Video file with Audio (Muxed Video Stream and Audio Stream), and test Audio Mixer, and the Mute function there. How does Audio Mixer work in that Project? Does the Muting of the Audio "stick?"
    Second test: in your existing Project, Select all the Clips on that Audio Track #1, and drag them to Audio Track #2, or another, empty Audio Track, and test the Mute for that new Track, in Audio Mixer. How does that work for you? Does the Mute stick?
    Good luck,
    Hunt

  • Can't add a new audio track without any settings

    Can anyone tell me were faced with the same problem. Doing audio post production in Logic Pro X, the latest version, the project is big, At some stage the work I was faced with the fact that you can't add a new audio track without any settings, no matter what inserts I track with duplicate settings of one of the tracks and it begins to sound with this track. I don't add a new audio track with duplicate settings. I add a new one, and I still opens the track with some sort of settings. What is it? This is a glitch or I'm somewhere that we have not considered? Duplicates the configuration of one of the tracks collected in group 1, which I did for editing convenience. Duplicates and also automation and if the new track am I doing something then this machine is transferred to the existing track from this group.

    Everything works in full 'Logic Pro X' mode. It's just a glitch in my project. The problem while you decide this: I insert a new track and it reset and set the output.

  • I am trying to import standard midi file that I created in Band in a Box into Logic Pro 9.  I can not get all the track to play with internal instrument sounds... only the piano track.  how can I get the others to play... drums, bass etc????   Help

    I am trying to import standard midi file that I created in Band in a Box into Logic Pro 9.  I can not get all the track to play with internal instrument sounds... only the piano track.  how can I get the others to play... drums, bass etc????   Help

    Don't drag the midi into an open Logic project. The tracks won't set up correctly.
    'Open' the midi file with Logic as if it were a Logic project. Then all the tracks will be set up so you can start editing them and applying better saved sounds and instruments, but you'll be at a starting place where you can hear what's going on.

Maybe you are looking for

  • IPhone 3G, Safari cannot open OWA (Outlook Web Access) to Exchange 2007

    Hello, picked up iPhone 3G in hopes of replacing my Windows Mobile 6 phone (AT&T 8525), and first i did was, a) Installed the my .pfx certificate, appears successful as the certificate showed up under Settings | General | Profile, as identity certifi

  • ATV Home Sharing and Connection FIXED (finally)

    I'll start off by saying once upon a time Apple products worked togather with only minor hiccups.  Not ture any more!!!!!!!!!  Why because they rush products/softwater/firmware out the door without fully testing and so much intergration with iOS and

  • Status profile in Q-info record not updating on UD

    HI All, My required scenario was, delivery of a material from a vendor must pass through inspection series u2022     Model u2022     Preliminary   u2022     Regular delivery  For that, 1). Maintain different inspection types (with corresponding task

  • IPad 2 chooses to use Cellular data instead of Wi-Fi (This is Sh*t!)

    Just learned today, the hard way, that for some reason the iPad 2 in it's eternal wishdom chooses to use Cellular data (3G) over Wi-Fi while both are available! If the iPad 2 is not smart enough or can not be made smart enough to strongly choose Wi-F

  • Install leopard on a FW hard drive as a second boot drive?

    I have one my 8 core on snow leopard and there are some apps that wont work. I want to be able to use a few of these apps on my MBP. I haven't gone up to SN yet on the MBP. I want to know if I can partition an external 2.5 inch HD. Install Leopard an