P: wav files will not import

[lep7]

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.

[johnrellis]

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.

[coheedcollapse]

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]

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.)

[coheedcollapse]

Yep, I agree, not convenient at all. Hoping for a fix from Adobe, but it's been an issue (for me at least) for months across two different cameras/cards/readers, so I'm not sure when or if I should expect them to fix it.

[Linwood Ferguson]

Import from the CF card in a card reader with attached wav files, the wav file is ignored.

Copy the CF card to hard disk, and import from hard disk, the wav file is properly copied over.

This worked fine on 2015.1.1 (I think that's the right version number, the one 2 back from 2015.3); I've heard elsewhere it broke in 2015.2 or 2.1 (not sure).

This has worked for years and is a serious issue since THERE IS NO WARNING IT LOSES YOUR VOICE MEMOS, so you might reformat the CF card before noticing.

[coheedcollapse]

Yep - it's quite serious. I actually did exactly that on a recent job. Luckily, I was able to contact the organization I took photos of and get names from them, but it was still embarrassing to have to do after I'd already taken copious amounts of voicenotes already when I was actually taking the photos.

I'm lucky it wasn't a more immediate job and I had time to ask them.

This has been happening to me for quite a long time, actually. I can't pinpoint exactly when, but I believe it started when the new import screen was announced. It was subsequently rolled back to the original variation, but my .wav files still don't come through if  I import them directly from the card.

[Sunil_Bhaskaran]

Thanks for pointing this out.
We are investigating.

Thanks,
Sunil

[OwenDeutsch]

I am using LR 2015.5.1 and a NIkon D5 and am experiencing the same problem.

[johnrellis]

Which version of Mac or Windows?

[OwenDeutsch]

Windows 7 Ultimate

[johnrellis]

Thanks, it does seem to be specific to Windows, not Mac.

[OwenDeutsch]

Thanks, I appreciate your time,hopefully Adobe will get this fix it soon.

[Linwood Ferguson]

Is there any update on this?   I checked and 2015.6.1 still has the issue.

[coheedcollapse]

Still an issue. I actually lost a whole slew of names on a photojournalism assignment because I formatted a card before manually copying over the wav files separately. It's absolutely unacceptable that a professional suite would have a bug like this for so long, 

[coheedcollapse]

How is this still a thing? I'm using the newest version of LR as of this post, an external XQD reader, and files from my D5 and I just lost a bunch of .wav files with names of the people I was taking photos of because LR still isn't importing .wav files properly, after over a year of having this issue.

I'm usually very easygoing and understanding when it comes to this type of stuff, but a bug like this should have been fixed by now and it really disrupts the flow of my work, having to go back to the card drive to hunt down wav files instead of having them attached to the photos in question and sometimes losing them outright when I forget to manually select and copy wav files over.

[lep7]

I'll second, third, fourth etc City Eye's comments. When I first reported this <6months ago John R. Ellis was kind enough to provide a workaround but after all this time and at least 2 LR updates it seems that someone has dropped the ball on solving this problem and restoring the functionality to the way it once was.

[Sunil_Bhaskaran]

Thanks for pointing this out.
We are looking into the issue.

Thanks,
Sunil

[lep7]

Thank you Sunil.

[coheedcollapse]

Thanks, Sunil. I look forward to a solution!

[Linwood Ferguson]

You guys are very polite.  My question may seem rude now but: How, when people report bugs AND they get acknowledged, does Adobe just forget about them?   Is there no bug tracking software in use?   Do developers just pick things that interest them to look at?   Is the only prioritization how many people complain on social media? 

[coheedcollapse]

Just a heads up - it looks like this has been fixed in the newest cloud version. Thanks to Adobe Devs for getting to it.

[Sunil_Bhaskaran]

Thanks for confirming that the issue is fixed.
It was fixed in the latest release (6.8).

Thanks,
Sunil

[lep7]

Thank you Sunil. Sort of a "holiday" gift. <g> We appreciate your fixing this.