Mastering advice

Hi all:
I was hoping for some basic mastering advice using Logic Pro inclusive plug-ins. Knowing that mastering is its own HUUUGE animal, I am simply looking to establish some basics to help make my song standout a bit more.
Basically my plan was to bounce my track down to 24bit split and put it into a new clean session. I was planning to start first with the multipressor then EQ then fininsh with the limiter.
-Is this chain ok or should the EQ be before the multipressor?
-Should I use the Linear phase EQ opposed to the channel EQ due to the manuals stated high quality, more intensive cpu characteristics? Im assuming this all means it’s a better EQ...
-For basic EQ, I was planning to simply roll off below 50Hz, cut some at 400 Hz to remove any muddiness, and slightly boost above 10KHz for some brightness. Shoud I use multiple LP EQ's doing these separate? Im a bit concerned about delay compensation and artefacts.
-Should I use the regular or adaptive limiter or both?
-The manual states that Tracks "normalized" to 0dB will sound 2 dB louder with adaptive limiting. Where in Logic do you go about "normalizing"? Is it possible to normalize the entire 24 bit split files or should I have normalized each separate track (how does this affect instrument tracks?) as I produced the song?
I know theres a lot to ask here so if anyone would like to answer one or two based on their expertise I would appreciate it very much.
Thank you

Whoa dude... I'm on your side!
If you think you're being scolded for wanting to use plug-ins, please re-read it. No one is chiding you for using plug-ins (I use them when the song dictates). The question was, how do you know you need them? If it's because you read it in a book, or a course, then read Bob Katz's Mastering Audio (I believe that someone already suggested it as well), and he'll give you some reasons why you don't need them.
Regardless of whether a mix is really bad or good, mastering includes some level of final compression, EQ, and limiting...right or Wrong?
Right, if you believe that it will help your track sit well with the rest of your tracks on a CD.
Wrong, if you believe that it will make a bad mix sound good. Also wrong if you believe that plug-ins are a magic bullet that will all of a sudden turn any mix into a hit or give it the "professional touch".
Note carefully that this is based on the operative word: includes.
Like John stated, if you get it right in the mix, then the less you need plug-ins. Treating the sounds with EQ & compression is a part of mixing. Again, that is if it requires it as well. Helping them find their place in a mix is another part. There are also other little things that can only be done in a mix. If that certain something is not in the mix, no amount of mastering will put it there. No doubt, you have invested a lot of time in your mix. Does it pull you in? Does it make you want to shout "YEAH!"? Does it make you move? If any of these are a 'no', then revisit the mix (take a few days away from it completely, if necessary).
You're mentioning EQ and Compression as part of mastering. However, did you use any mix bus compression when mixing down? As well, did you apply any EQ on the output of your mix? For all you know, that may be all your mix needs.
By no means can I afford to go a mastering engineer either (almost all of the artists I produce/record out of our church have very little means as it is), which leave me doing the task. However, each song is different. Some require a bit of limiting; some require nothing; others require compression, EQ, limiting and possibly some harmonic exciters and reverb. However, it is to make everything sit together so that the listener can go through the entire CD without thinking something is amiss. If you were to pick any two songs off any of the CD's I've done, it's almost guaranteed that the processes were different on them. I can give you a process I use, but that would only apply to a certain song (thus, you'd have to hear the song as well).
Don't think you're being torn down for asking. Far from it. We both want the same thing: something that sounds professional.
jord

Similar Messages

Pre-mastering advice needed

Thanks. I typically bounce to 24 bit WAV and ship files to an engineer for mastering. Admittely, I'm not a mixing (or mastering obvioulsy) guru. I add EQ here or there - compression on various instrument tracks - maybe some other effects - reverb, panning, volume etc.. I do "OK"...
Problem is my work at that point, when played on a car stereo or home system, seems to always come out either muffled or too heavy on the low end (or both so when the engineers get hold of it, I'm not sure if they're getting the best output I can give them off the start line.
What "pre-conditioning" can I do in my mixes, if anything, to better prepare my tracks for off loading to a sound engineer? Normalization? Bounce individual tracks to audio files (rather than a single file)? Adjust EQ's within individual instrument tracks? ?
Thanks again...

Hi mmurray,
No, I'm not saying that the bell curve should peak at around 250. My 250hz analogy was an example of a tricky range that could cause the muddiness you describe. A bass, by its very nature, is bassy, right? But it is not alone in this song, there are lots of other tracks too. Careful management of this lower mid range (anywhere from 150 - 350ish) can cause you problems.
Your job, as a mixer, is to decide what lives and what dies down there to give your mix enough weight but no muddiness. Take a bell curve on your EQ, not too narrow but not uber wide, turn off the analyser, solo the bass track. Maximum cut, db wise and put it right up to 20k (yes 20k). Now close your eyes and sweep slowly down through the frequency range and listen at what is being pulled out. Now, it may be that there is nothing on this bass track you want pulled out. Similarly, boost the same band by a lot (but mind your ears) and sweep down from 20k again. Hear something nasty? Cut it, but maybe not quite so drastically. Now you can hear what that sounds like in solo, do it in context, with the rest of the tracks playing. Maybe you WANT your vocals lower middy on this song, this is your taste and your decision, but if you do you should watch what is happening on the other instruments in the same frequency.
In all lower mid frequency fights, muddiness wins. Your headphones are probably not helping but we all have to use what tools we have. Listen to all your tracks both individually and in context. Soloing when you suspect something is wrong or contibuting in a way you're not happy with, but remember, in the end everything is in context.
A guitars lower mid is quite high for a bass but there is cross-over. This is often good but sometimes bad. This is what mixing is, all those 100's of tiny decisions on each track to make a seamless whole.
PS Just seen your screenshot. From your analyser curve there's not that much above 200 here. You have a bump cuz you're boosting by 8db @ 82hz, but again, there's nothing inherently wrong with this. What do your ears tell you?

After some advice, I am new to Apple and looking to purchase either the MacBook Air 13inch with 256GB and 8GB mem or the MacBook Pro 13inch with retina 256Gb and 8GB mem. I am an assistant principal in a primary school and also studying my masters

After some advice, I am new to Apple and looking to purchase either the MacBook Air 13inch with 256GB and 8GB mem or the MacBook Pro 13inch with retina 256Gb and 8GB mem. I am an assistant principal in a primary school and also studying my masters at university. I don't play computer games and I don't watch movies. I do store photos and videos of my kids and music on iTunes. I also like browsing the net with numerous windows open, check email etc. I am really wanting long battery life as I do a lot of my work on the couch - not close to a PowerPoint. Would the air do the trick or will it soon be outdated as Apple move towards retina display? Both air and pro seem very thin - almost the same? And not much difference in weight either so both very portable which is also a necessary requirement. Just can't help dreaming about that 12 hour claimed battery life. Any helpful advice/opinions, very much appreciated. Thanks

It's not likely that you'll get 12 hours in reql life. Those benchmarks are set under very strict controlled conditions. Kind of like mileage per gallon claims on cars. If 16GB of ram is an option at all I'd highly recommend you get that. As far as storage 256GB isn't alot, consider storing some things on an external thunderbolt real

Advice - Non Technical - pre mastering preparation at Abbey Road Studios

I am now preparing for a mastering session at Abbey Road Studios on Tuesday for my fisrst album - very, very excited about this.
Today I discovered that I needed ISRC codes which get embedded on the master CD - this has shaken me a little as I was copmpletely unaware of this.
I am writing to you guys to see if there si anything else i need or any advice you can give prior to or for the mastering session.
I realise that this is off topic but given that this forum is populated by so many professionals I felt it might be a good place to start.
many thanks for reading
blessings
Ivan

Ivan,
Yes, this is no big deal. If you are your own label maintaining your own catalog then you'll want to register with the ISRC and they will issue you a registrant code. If your record is getting released under someone else's label/catalog, you could just get codes from them.
Another thing. You may, but it's not really necessary, also want to include the UPN retail bar code info in the DDP fileset premaster that Abbey Road makes. If they can't issue them, then check with your replicator for this. I've found their prices to be far more reasonable than the online shops offering this.
Hey, good luck!
FYI, here's the blurb from the email the ISRC sent me a few years ago when I registered for a US code:
The ISRC system is designed for creation of unique identifiers that
remain with the recording for the life of the recording regardless of
changes in ownership, licensing, territory or method of distribution.
Note that rights may vary territory by territory but the ISRC remains
the same. Please view the attached documents for information on
assigning ISRCs for your tracks.
You do not need to submit your ISRCs to the RIAA at this time. However,
you should keep a repertoire database of your ISRCs and other reference
information (metadata) relating to your sound recordings. You will
likely need to provide this information to on-line music services and
other business partners.
We strongly recommend that you become familiar with the ISRC Handbook,
as it contains valuable and authoritative information on the ISRC
system. The ISRC Handbook should always be obtained from the official
site:
http://www.ifpi.org/isrc/

Helping my Mom rebuild.. Would appreciate advice from the Credit Masters :)

Greetings everybody!  I am posting here to try and get some advice from people who may have been in our shoes, or from those who know a lot about credit and how it works. I am helping my mom rebuild her credit, let me provide some backstory. My mom used to have amazing credit (800+ FICO). Around 2006, my parents divorced. At that time, they had a mortgage through Chase for our old home. IIRC, the mortgage was in my mother's name with my father as secondary (my mom's amazing credit was how they got the mortgage). The court ordered that the mortgage was to become 100% of my father's responsibility, payments and all. My dad was to pay the mortgage, and my mother and I were to list the house for sale and move out. Well, to be blunt - my dad was a jack*** and was purposely 30-90 days late on multiple payments. Even though my dad was legally responsible for payments, my mom's name was attached to the mortage. I'm sure you see where I'm going with this... her amazing credit crumbled down to a 445 FICO. Yikes. My mom knew she needed to rebuild. She desperately needed a car as ours was mysteriously sabotaged... So she purchased a used 2003 Ford in early 2006. The interest rate wasn't pretty.. 24.3% through Americredit (AKA GM Financial). She knew she would get shafted until she rebuilt, so she bit the bulllet and took it. We paid that loan off 2 years or so early sometime around 2008. Around 2010 or so, we fought the credit bureaus and were able to wipe all of the late payment marks my dad did on the mortgage off of her credit reports.  We've slowly been building ever since. We were doing great. Around 2013, her FICO was around 715, with individual bureaus reporting 690-725. Here is where things started to go slightly downhill. In late 2013, my mom became severely injured. She had multiple surgeries and was taken off of work for the remainder of the year.  In October 2013, she applied for a Barclaycard Visa via Apple and was approved for $1,500. My mom wasn't getting disability or anything like that, so we started doing the worst thing possible (but our only option)... living off of CCs. Her balances got sky high... but she consolidated them into a loan through her credit union in 2014. All CCs were paid off, we only had the loan. That was paid off too that year. That spring (2014), Barclaycard gave her an automatic CLI to $3000. Capital One gave her an auto CLI to $1500. Right as she went to go back to work, some post-surgery complications popped up and the doctors have had her off work ever since. We started living off the CCs again... balances got sky high, this time no money to consolidate. I will admit, I have made some very poor decisions in using store credit accounts to buy things. I never should have used them. We asked Barclay for a CLI a few months ago. They bumped us to $5300. Capital One gave us an automatic CLI to $2500. 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After we are paid off, we plan on either locking our cards up or shredding them and only using them via Apple Pay, as they should be for emergencies only. We want to build up a rainy day fund in a savings account that pays interest as well, so we can avoid the CCs altogether. I would like some advice on my plan to pay our cards off. I really want to get my mom out of debt. I was wanting to lease a car before winter hit us in Ohio. Her car does horrible MPG (~10 MPG). I wanted to lease a Subaru Legacy. The lease would be in her name, with me paying for it. However, that ain't going to happen until the credit utilization is WAY down (under 30% in my mind) and credit scores are 700+, as I read somewhere around here 700+ is Tier 1 for Subaru Finance (Chase).
If the two of us can pay as much money as possible, we would hope to be able to have much lower balances by late November. I would appreciate any advice.  Looking forward to a debt-free future for my Mom and I... and staying that way (no friviolous purchases, etc.). Thanks for the help. WH

So pay the Best Buy down under limit. They will likely add the over limit amount to your minimum payment.Then payoff DellThen pay off the 18% Barclay's.Then pay off the lower rate Cap 1. You are so lucky that it's only 11K and that you have never missed any payments. This is a situation where your mom's scores can be 760 or more when these cards are paid down under 10%. That's great. Since "life has happened" twice with your mom with unexpected medical things, and the fact that she will be living off of a small disability benefit, she should reduce her credit cards to the bear minimum. Maybe one Visa/MC with a 2K limit, another card with a 1K limit and a store score like Walmart. You can call and have your credit limits decreased. But do not do this until these accounts are paid off or her scores will plunge further due to higher utilization.  Your mom is so lucky to have you. What a great kid you are to help. You also just got a lesson that many of us take 10 or 20 years to learn and you haven't gotten your own credit card yet. You will likely be a credit whiz.

My 3.4.5 has ~ 35000 jpg masters. I have set aperture not to create previews on import and have ensured "maintain previews" is not ticked. Every time I start aperture it insists on creating previews for ~ 4300 images. Why?

Having had the previews created I selected all photos and "delete previews". It did this quickly and no more previews being created. Once aperture is closed and then re-opened aperture immediately sets about creating the previews for the same photos. I don't understand why this should be happening.
This is occuring on my Mackbook Air (Aug 2012) which has 256 GB storage. I am fast running out of space as I am using "Managed Masters". I intend to make the masters referenced by relocating them to an external HDD but before doing this would like to clear up this problem first. I keep my Vault on the external HDD and have Time Machine and Time Capsule. When I have relocated the masters to the external HDD I intend that TM backs the external HDD to the TC. I tink that I will use the second partition on the external HDD for Carbon Copy Cloner to back up the Mackbook Air.
Any help or advice warmly welcomed.

Frank
Many thanks for your input.
Following your advice I have selected all the projects individually and checked the status of Mantain Previews. Some were indeed marked up for Mantail Preview so I have unmarked them.
I have also selected Photos and deleted previews and also repeated this for My Projects.
Checking the Get Info for the Preview folder in Aperture Library in Finder this now tells me that I have zero bytes for 564 items.
Close and then reopen Aperture and it regenerates these564 previews in the blink of an eye. I haven't been able to locate these photos yet. I know there are about 120 in facebook and 10 in photostream but dont know where the rest are.
It seems the issue is not with Aperture but with myself and not understanding Aperture sufficiently well
Do you see the problem this way?

APO-MD - Mass Creation of Product Masters in APO.

I have need to create about 100,000 product masters in APO. The product master general data does exist as it has been CIFed over from R/3. However these need to be mass extended to several customer locations.
I am looking for any advice on tools/programs that will allow mass creation of Product masters in APO.

The Functiona Loader did mass create products but the product model assignment did not work even though the model number was mapped in the loader.
Did I miss something in the process.
Is there another way to mass assign products and model.

URGENT ADVICE NEEDED!- outputting for iTunes

I have edited some promo videos for a small record company. They have asked me to supply them edited masters at highest quality to submit to iTunes for sale. They were shot in HDV. What should I give them? Full quality quick time movies? Compress for iPod within FCP? Welcome your advice!
Thanks

I think you best give them both. The smallest file size to post on the i-tunes store and the high quality uncompressed to provide to a client via ftp-server. Thats the way i do it.

Aperture doesn't display some managed masters

My Aperture 3.5.1 library has 11,000 referenced masters plus 1000 managed masters (mostly images saved from shared photo streams). Recently, Aperture has started listing some of the managed masters as missing. I replace them from backups but then other managed masters go missing (usually just after I import some new managed images). Referenced masters never go missing. I have tried all three library repair options including rebuilding the database, but the problem keeps recurring. I've checked the drive with Disk Utility and found no problems.
Today, I tried using "Relocate Masters" to move all 1000 managed masters to a folder on the same drive and then discovered that the Masters folder in the library package still contained over 3000 photos that had not been moved and are not displayed by Aperture when I search for managed masters. Presumably, these are the files that went missing. Rebuilding the library located 16,0000 versons in the progress bar but the final rebuilt library displays only 12,000 versions even with all stacks open and "Showing All".
I'm tempted to manually drag the 3000 "forgotton" masters from the Masters folder using the Finder and then try a rebuild. Everything else is working and I have Time Machine and other backups available in case this causes major problems. Alternatively, I could just leave the 1.6 GB of orphaned files alone and stop using managed masters entirely.
Any ideas on why these managed files are not recognized by Aperture?

I think I have figured out where the “orphaned" photos in the managed masters folder came from.
To recapitulate: I emptied the Masters folder inside the library package by using finder to drag all images to the system trash and then emptied the trash.
I then rebuilt the Aperture library. When I turned on iCloud in Aperture preferences it spent 30 minutes downloading the shared photo streams from my children.
Each photo stream was copied to the Aperture Masters folder in its own folder. Example:
Only the single image in the top folder (which corresponds to “My Photo Stream”) shows up when I search for managed masters in Aperture. The others are hidden from the user. Thus, the images from the shared photo streams ARE NOT MANAGED FILES despite being in the Masters folder. This appears to be by design.
When I unsubscribe from a shared photo stream, the corresponding folder is deleted from the managed masters folder. Thus, Aperture in OS X appears to use the managed-masters folder for temporary storage of shared streams. I suspect that the database that keeps track of these files may have become corrupted in my library. We’ll see if deleting these files and rebuilding the library fixes the problem.
These same photo stream images were also downloaded to the user Library at ~/Users/dickweis/Library/Application\ Support/iLifeAssetManagement/assets/sub/. However, there are many older images in this location that have not been modified in years and were not deleted when I deleted the contents of my photo stream and turned off iCloud sharing in Aperture.
Léonie, you previously advised using Aperture to delete these files (see https://discussions.apple.com/message/19375439#19375439). However, most of these files are no longer accessible to Aperture or iPhoto and appear to be orphans. If I continue to have problems, I will be tempted to drag these to the system trash to see if it helps (I have saved the images I want to keep). Any advice here would be welcome.

Why are my masters offline in aperture after restore from vault (not referenced)

I really hope someone can help as I am at my whits end!
I recently had to do a clean install of lion and so dutifly backed up my Aperture 3 library to a vault. 100% of my library was managed and I have never referenced files and always avoided it.
I then restored the aperture library from the vault.
When the new library opens all the files and project organisation is there, but quite a few images are showing as offline.
I have noticed that the number of offline images is going up by the minute. Something is changing the state of the images.
I have checked inside the vault and all the masters are there, but for some reason aperture things they are missing. When selecting the "offline" images and then consolidate masters it gives me the alert that there are no referenced files!
I have tried repairing and then rebuilding the database but this has no effect.
Does anyone know whats going on or how I can recover the situation?
I really do look forward to some help from you guys.
Many Thanks.
Brad

It seems so Puzzling Shutter.
I have the Aperture Library and the Vault both on the internal hard drive.
I prepared the vault yesterday and according to aperture it was up to date (updated it several times to make sure)
My vault was on an external hard drive and I copied it to the mac before restoring.
Once I restored. The library is the same size as the vault.
When I use the meta search bar in aperture and select show offline images it shows 144 but each time i come out of the all photos view and go back in this number creeps up!
When I then go and check the vault (on the mac) and the library, the file arent there either but the size of the library and vault hasnt gone down.
Do you think it could be because I copied the vault to the mac before restoring from it. Do you think I should try restoring from the vault as it is on the hard drive?
I really appreciate any advice.
Thanks,
Brad

Pro sound advice

Hi there,
Ive been using Logic for a short time now ad I just have a couple questions about the best way to input/output the sound, I know not specifically Logic related but hopefully the amount of Pro users in the forum should be able to help!
I use Logic to record both my solo projects (guitar/vocals/midi) and my band demos though usually only one or two tracks at a time, ie we'll track the drums and bass, then go away and record guitars, then put vocals on at another time. Needless to say I am a musician and not a recording engineer, I just know my way around the software to a certain degree.
So for sound input, I have this question.
I just bought an M-Audio Firewire Solo, as I needed an interface quickly and this is what they had in the Apple store. It cost me about £150 ($300). To be honest, I am really happy with it, and it works well with Logic. But every time I see the Apogee Duet I really want one. Would I really notice a huuuge improvement in sound quality and is it worth it for my recording needs? Its like $600, and having just bought the M-Audio device (unfortunately out of the returns period) I just want to know if it is really worth it? I know Apogee owners love their Duet and I understand they are supposed to be awesome but in an honest and unbiased opinion, would I benefit enough ($600 worth) to warrant buying one?
Secondly, regarding output.
Currently I am relying on hifi speakers (good ones nonetheless) when I am home, and in ear earphones when I am out and about to monitor tracks.
I want to buy some good headphones, or monitors, but not sure which to go for! I am probably using Logic 40% at home and 60% on the go or elsewhere. Could I realistically get some great headphones and use them both at home and on the go, or would I be better off getting monitors for home?
All advice is much appreciated thankyou!
Tom

Thanks for the replies.
I think for now I will stick to the M-Audio and probably end up dropping the cash on the Duet when I see one in a store. The online images are tempting enough but I think I can restrain myself. If I saw it on display somewhere, it may well be a different story.
Regarding the MOTU interface. For now, if I ever record my band, it is all tracked seperately. For example, our singer goes to college a few hours away drive from the rest of the band during some of the year so we'll get the drums recorded proffessionally then take the mix home and I will add guitars. Then I'll take my Macbook to the bass player and lay down his part. Then email the mix to our singer who will put her vocals on and send it back. If you see what I mean. This is all just for demo's and quick recordings, our full-lengths and press demo's are all recorded and mastered completely proffessionally. With this in mind, I think single input, or mic/guitar input is fine for what I need.
As for the monitors/headphone suggestion, I think I will invest in both following both your advice.
You outlined exactly my situation, I will sit in a coffee shop and shuffle a few parts around so I will invest in some headphones.
I guess it might be time to get some monitors too.
Thanks for the replies!

Web Based Messageboard (JSP, XML, XSLT) - Just Looking For Advice Please!

I have a general question - I am not looking for any code, just some advice if possible. I am studying on a Masters course and I have been given an assignment to do which I am having difficult getting started. I have worked a lot with Java up until now, however this is the first time I have had to JSP on my course.
My current assignment is that I am required to create a simple web based message board, using JSP and XML, which allows users to post messages to the board, and also to reply to messages. The content of the message board is stored in an XML file, and there is no database involved. The message data needs to be formatted for viewing in a browser using XSL transformations.
I am stuck as to how to go about starting the project, and this is all I am asking for advice in. I have created the basic XML file which has some preliminary data stored within it, and I have created an XSL stylesheet to transform this data, however I am stuck with the JSP. Do I need to create a seperate JSP page for each page of the website? How does this link in with the XSLT?
I would welcome and really appreciate any advice, but I stress that I am not looking for anyone to give me any code or anything like that.
Thanks.

You can use XSLT to convert XML to HTML. Then include this HTML in your JSP. Further on you've a plain HTML form with an input field for a message which you submit to a servlet. In the servlet validate/convert/whatever this message and add it to the XML file and then forward/redirect the request back to the JSP.

Advice On Merging Library's

WHAT I HAVE NOW:
An Aperture Library with around 30,000 referenced masters on an external HDD and an iPhoto library also with 30,000 images on a separate external HDD
WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO:
Move both Libraries to a new larger external HDD
ADVICE BEING SOUGHT:
I am not sure whether it is better to just place the old iPhoto Library along side the Aperture Library or whether to import those photos into the Aperture Library and then do away with iPhoto entirely. I cannot imagine ever using the iPhoto app again. Advantages or disadvantages either way?
If importing the iPhoto photos into the Aperture library how best to go about it.
I appreciate any and all feedback on this.
I am using the most recent versions of both Aperture and iPhoto. My computer is a 17 inch MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard.

(I hope you understand what I am getting at here)
Not quite, but I am sure we will sort that out with Kirby's aid! Kirby is the resident expert on Library organization!
First the simple part of your question: It is relatively easy to figure out what is in the different libraries; browse them using Aperture, or look inside the package in the Finder.
To browse using Aperture: Use the main Aperture menu bar: File -> Switch to Library
to switch between your Aperture libraries and to inspect them.
To browse using the Finder: Select the library in the Finder window and ctrl-click it. From the pop-up menu select "Show Package Contents". Open the "Masters" folder in the Finder and look at the Master images,
65 gifgs onboard
If you do not remember creating this library it may have been created accidentally, when you were using Aperture without your external volume being mounted. Usually Aperture then creates a library in a default location, your "Pictures" folder.
What I meant with "Space saving" is the following: I hope Kirby will elaborate on this
By now you probably are familiar with Aperture's non destructive workflow. Aperture keeps -and never changes - the original master image file. All edits are stored as versions in a way that it is possible to undo the edits step by step and to revert to the original master image file. The version image is not actually created, only the steps to create it are stored, This saves space and results in far better image processing results than storing the intermediate images.
When you import from iPhoto you will want to do it in a way that you have the original master plus the edited version in a way that Aperture can create a master-version pair as described above. Only importing as "File -> Import -iPhoto Library" will ensure this. All other import strategies will give you only the masters or the version, or both as unrelated new masters.
Before Kirby and I can proceed with your questions tell us what you know (or find out) about the different libraries you have, and exactly what imports you already have done from iPhoto. You already seem to have some images imported.

Moving a lot of masters from an external drive to Aperture library

I have just treated myself to an iMac, 3.06 GHz with 1 TB Hard drive. I have some 2,000 pictures that I have done a lot of work on already on an external Firewire drive. I have copied the Aperture library to the hard drive on the new iMac - but, they are referencing them from the external drive. I would like to import all the 45 project containing all the photos masters into my Aperture library so that I have them all together.
What is the best way to do this? Do I have to do it with individual pictures - which will take forever! I cannot seem to get the option of Relocate Master. When I tried to import - from the external hard drive - I was not able to see any pictures to import. Was this because they were already in the library and I had checked 'Do not import duplicates"
Do I need to make a new Aperture Library?
Any advice would be most welcome!

Hi William These are the two reports that seem to relate to Aperture. It is all "Gobbledygook" to me!
May 24 12:13:19 MacBook-Pro Aperture[1001]: * NSRunLoop ignoring exception 'Exception in Aperture: [<BKiPhotoFolderItem 0x28841d90> setValue:forUndefinedKey:]: this class is not key value coding-compliant for the key itemiPhotoEventDisplayName.\nBacktrace:\n0x00071fea (in Aperture)\n0x91e8beb7: +[NSException exceptionWithName:reason:userInfo:] (in CoreFoundation)\n0x90c25510: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) setValue:forUndefinedKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x90b1b028: _NSSetUsingKeyValueSetter (in Foundation)\n0x90b1aa8e: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) setValue:forKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x26a5bfe6: -[BKiPhotoEventsFolder loadFolderSubfolders] (in iLife)\n0x26a5274d: -[BKiLifeFolderItem itemsFoldersOnly] (in iLife)\n0x90b1c81a: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) valueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x010078ea (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b1c81a: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) valueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x01003016 (in BrowserKit)\n0x0100341c (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b1c7a7: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) valueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x90b4a39a: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) valueForKeyPath:] (in Foundation)\n0x93992e48: -[NSBinder _valueForKeyPath:ofObject:mode:raisesForNotApplicableKeys:] (in AppKit)\n0x93992a50: -[NSBinder valueForBinding:resolveMarkersToPlaceholders:] (in AppKit)\n0x9399253c: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _updateObject:observedController:observedKeyPath:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x939921bc: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _observeValueForKeyPath:ofObject:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x90b7958e: NSKVONotify (in Foundation)\n0x90af5f22: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueObserverNotification) didChangeValueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x01003c94 (in BrowserKit)\n0x01002447 (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b1aa8e: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) setValue:forKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x9399276a: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _updateObject:observedController:observedKeyPath:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x939921bc: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _observeValueForKeyPath:ofObject:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x90b7958e: NSKVONotify (in Foundation)\n0x90af5f22: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueObserverNotification) didChangeValueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x01013b9f (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b78914: _NSSetObjectValueAndNotify (in Foundation)\n0x90b1aa8e: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) setValue:forKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x9399276a: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _updateObject:observedController:observedKeyPath:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x939921bc: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _observeValueForKeyPath:ofObject:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x90b7958e: NSKVONotify (in Foundation)\n0x90af5f22: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueObserverNotification) didChangeValueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x00ff2ee4 (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b78914: _NSSetObjectValueAndNotify (in Foundation)\n0x00ff39a8 (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b2e02d: __NSFireDelayedPerform (in Foundation)\n0x91e12b5e: CFRunLoopRunSpecific (in CoreFoundation)\n0x91e12d18: CFRunLoopRunInMode (in CoreFoundation)\n0x969da6a0: RunCurrentEventLoopInMode (in HIToolbox)\n0x969da4b9: ReceiveNextEventCommon (in HIToolbox)\n0x969da32d: BlockUntilNextEventMatchingListInMode (in HIToolbox)\n0x937cd7d9: _DPSNextEvent (in AppKit)\n0x937cd08e: -[NSApplication nextEventMatchingMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] (in AppKit)\n0x00369f54 (in Aperture)\n0x937c60c5: -[NSApplication run] (in AppKit)\n0x00979e5a (in ProKit)\n0x00003252 (in Aperture)\n' that raised during posting of delayed perform with target 0x2694c080 and selector '_setOutputSourceProviders:'
May 24 12:13:38 MacBook-Pro [0x0-0x62062].com.apple.systempreferences[1012]: objc[1012]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Con trast.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Contrast and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Geo metry.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Geometry. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Geo metry.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Geometry.
May 24 12:13:38 MacBook-Pro [0x0-0x62062].com.apple.systempreferences[1012]: objc[1012]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Geo metry.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Geometry and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/VPT .monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/VPT. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/VPT .monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/VPT.
May 24 12:13:38 MacBook-Pro [0x0-0x62062].com.apple.systempreferences[1012]: objc[1012]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/VPT .monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/VPT and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Bez el.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Bezel. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Bez el.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Bezel.
May 24 12:13:38 MacBook-Pro [0x0-0x62062].com.apple.systempreferences[1012]: objc[1012]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Bez el.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Bezel and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Ext endedTouchSwitch.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/ExtendedTouchSwitch. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Ext endedTouchSwitch.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/ExtendedTouchSwitch.
May 24 12:13:38 MacBook-Pro [0x0-0x62062].com.apple.systempreferences[1012]: objc[1012]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Ext endedTouchSwitch.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/ExtendedTouchSwitch and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Pow erMode.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/PowerMode. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Pow erMode.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/PowerMode.
May 24 12:13:38 MacBook-Pro [0x0-0x62062].com.apple.systempreferences[1012]: objc[1012]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Pow erMode.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/PowerMode and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Aut horization.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Authorization. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Aut horization.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Authorization.
May 24 12:13:38 MacBook-Pro [0x0-0x62062].com.apple.systempreferences[1012]: objc[1012]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Aut horization.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Authorization and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/TVO ptions.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/TVOptions. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/TVO ptions.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/TVOptions.
May 25 17:55:41 MacBook-Pro Aperture[1018]: * NSRunLoop ignoring exception 'Exception in Aperture: [<BKiPhotoFolderItem 0x2375da50> setValue:forUndefinedKey:]: this class is not key value coding-compliant for the key itemiPhotoEventDisplayName.\nBacktrace:\n0x00071fea (in Aperture)\n0x91e8beb7: +[NSException exceptionWithName:reason:userInfo:] (in CoreFoundation)\n0x90c25510: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) setValue:forUndefinedKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x90b1b028: _NSSetUsingKeyValueSetter (in Foundation)\n0x90b1aa8e: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) setValue:forKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x2c9a6fe6: -[BKiPhotoEventsFolder loadFolderSubfolders] (in iLife)\n0x2c99d74d: -[BKiLifeFolderItem itemsFoldersOnly] (in iLife)\n0x90b1c81a: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) valueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x010078ea (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b1c81a: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) valueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x01003016 (in BrowserKit)\n0x0100341c (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b1c7a7: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) valueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x90b4a39a: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) valueForKeyPath:] (in Foundation)\n0x93992e48: -[NSBinder _valueForKeyPath:ofObject:mode:raisesForNotApplicableKeys:] (in AppKit)\n0x93992a50: -[NSBinder valueForBinding:resolveMarkersToPlaceholders:] (in AppKit)\n0x9399253c: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _updateObject:observedController:observedKeyPath:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x939921bc: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _observeValueForKeyPath:ofObject:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x90b7958e: NSKVONotify (in Foundation)\n0x90af5f22: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueObserverNotification) didChangeValueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x01003c94 (in BrowserKit)\n0x01002447 (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b1aa8e: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) setValue:forKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x9399276a: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _updateObject:observedController:observedKeyPath:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x939921bc: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _observeValueForKeyPath:ofObject:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x90b7958e: NSKVONotify (in Foundation)\n0x90af5f22: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueObserverNotification) didChangeValueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x01013b9f (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b78914: _NSSetObjectValueAndNotify (in Foundation)\n0x90b1aa8e: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueCoding) setValue:forKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x9399276a: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _updateObject:observedController:observedKeyPath:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x939921bc: -[NSObjectParameterBinder _observeValueForKeyPath:ofObject:context:] (in AppKit)\n0x90b7958e: NSKVONotify (in Foundation)\n0x90af5f22: -[NSObject(NSKeyValueObserverNotification) didChangeValueForKey:] (in Foundation)\n0x00ff2ee4 (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b78914: _NSSetObjectValueAndNotify (in Foundation)\n0x00ff39a8 (in BrowserKit)\n0x90b2e02d: __NSFireDelayedPerform (in Foundation)\n0x91e12b5e: CFRunLoopRunSpecific (in CoreFoundation)\n0x91e12d18: CFRunLoopRunInMode (in CoreFoundation)\n0x969da6a0: RunCurrentEventLoopInMode (in HIToolbox)\n0x969da4b9: ReceiveNextEventCommon (in HIToolbox)\n0x969da32d: BlockUntilNextEventMatchingListInMode (in HIToolbox)\n0x937cd7d9: _DPSNextEvent (in AppKit)\n0x937cd08e: -[NSApplication nextEventMatchingMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] (in AppKit)\n0x00369f54 (in Aperture)\n0x937c60c5: -[NSApplication run] (in AppKit)\n0x00979e5a (in ProKit)\n0x00003252 (in Aperture)\n' that raised during posting of delayed perform with target 0x2373bbd0 and selector '_setOutputSourceProviders:'
May 25 17:55:09 MacBook-Pro [0x0-0x79079].com.apple.Aperture[1018]: CoreImage failed to create context: CGLCreateContext return: 10002

G/L Accounts for Masters

If there are N number of Masters think 4000 masters consisting of several groups, after creating all Masters shall we also Define G/L accounts for all 4000 Masters.
After Defining shall we assign also . If I am wrong please guide me.
Regards
P.Narender

Narender,
You can certainly do that. But my advice would be to plan all the G/L Account requirement in advance and create them first and then begin importing or adding Items and Item Groups and so on.
If you have the GL Accounts defined then it will be easier for you to add their Account determination as you add the Item Group (Only if you are doing GL Determination by Item Group)
If this Item group was not planned earlier then its fine, but if you know in advance then it would be a good practise to create the required GL's first.
Suda

Mastering advice

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