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Inspiring
March 31, 2016

P: wav files will not import

  • March 31, 2016
  • 23 replies
  • 704 views

I posted the below to the Adobe Communities > Lightroom > Discussions forum earlier today and an MVP suggested I post the problem on this forum because they, too, have the same problem.

Occasionally I will create an
audio file to accompany an image. That audio file is written to my
camera's CompactFlash memory card in a wav format. In my workflow, I
insert the CF card into my computer and open LR to initiate an import of
the image as well as to rename the image using my own template (which
is yyyy_mm_dd_HHmmss). Since LR1 and until sometime about 4 months ago,
that workflow worked perfectly renaming both image and its accompanying
wav file (giving both the same name) and placing both in the folder I
designated during import. That enabled me to use LR to see which images
had attached audio files by looking at the Library module's Metadata
field entitled "Audio File" while I viewed the images as well as to play
that wav file by clicking the appropriate arrow in the Metadata panel.


During
the past few months I continued to use the above workflow but noticed
that, though I thought that I had created wav files for some images, I
no longer saw them listed in the "Audio File". Since I didn't see those
audio files appear in the Metadata panel, I assumed that I had simply
forgotten to create the files. However, recently returning from a large
shoot, I once again followed my usual workflow but this time noted that I
did have wav files on my CF card but none were imported though the
images did import and were renamed according to my template.


I
have spent the morning trying various methods of getting my workflow to
work as it originally did but have not had any luck. Ironically, I
noticed that a new version of LR was available today (2016-03-31) so I
installed it but the problem has not been corrected.


Procedures I have tried and their results:

  1. Import
    without using my custom template. Results: image imports to designated
    folder and is viewable in LR but the wav file does not import and is
    thus not viewable (or playable) in LR.
  2. Import without using my
    custom template THEN manually copy the wav file to the designated
    folder. Results: image imports to designated folder and is viewable in
    LR but wav file is not listed in the Metadata panel BUT after restarting
    LR the image file is viewable AND the wav file is listed in the
    Metadata field (and the wav file is playable by clicking the "arrow" in
    the Metadata field).

I
am using Windows 10, and have tried the above procedures with image and
audio files created with both a Nikon D3 and Nikon D3x.


I have searched through this and other forums and cannot find a solution to allow my workflow to work as it has for years.


I appreciate anyone's help.

This topic has been closed for replies.

23 replies

johnrellis
Legend
April 15, 2016
The only workaround identified so far is to first copy the contents of the card to your hard drive and then import from there.  (Not very convenient.)
Participating Frequently
April 15, 2016
I've been seeing this behavior for months and across multiple cameras (D3, D5). When I import RAW files, the wav files, even though they're named the same thing, don't import alongside them. I have to dig into my card for those. Not so bad when I'm uploading photos immediately, but it's a pain when I need information after I've already cleared my card.
johnrellis
Legend
March 31, 2016
I experience similar symptoms on Windows 10: importing a .ARW from an SD card won't import a .WAV sidecar, but importing from a disk folder will import the sidecar.   

On OS X 10.11.4, importing .WAV sidecars from SD cards works for me as expected.