what are .sfl files?

slambubba wrote on 8/8/2003, 4:37 PM

some of my captured media has .sfl now that i have begun my editing. it appears to be the ones that have been added to the timeline. what exactly are these files for?

Comments

Jsnkc wrote on 8/8/2003, 4:57 PM

These are just little temp files that vegas creates. Usually when you put a video or audio track in the timeline it will say "Building Peaks" and things like that. All that information is stored in the .sfl files.

slambubba wrote on 8/8/2003, 5:02 PM

i think .sfk are the peak files. the media i've used has both .sfl and .sfk

MarkWWW wrote on 8/9/2003, 9:29 AM

Some types of media file formats (e.g. .avi) are able to store markers, regions, etc, and some aren't (.e.g .mpg).

When you save to a format that can store these markers, regions, etc, Vegas stores them in the media file. When you save to a format that can't store these extras Vegas creates a .sfl file with the same name as the media file and stores the markers, regions, etc, in the .sfl.

If you want to preserve Vegas's access to the markers and regions in the file and want to move it to another location you must make sure that you move the .sfl along with the media file.

Mark

rllagas2002 wrote on 8/9/2003, 9:34 AM

how important is sfk and sfl files.....can i prevent them from being created.... i have alot of them now in my folders....what will happen if i delete them?

rall

MarkWWW wrote on 8/9/2003, 10:18 AM

If you delete the .sfk files nothing too bad will happen - it will merely take a bit longer the next time you open the corresponding media file as the audio peak display (which is what is contained in the .sfk) is re-generated. If you don't delete the .sfk then the corresponding media file will open quicker because it can just load the audio peak display from the .sfk rather than having to create it from scratch all over again.

If you delete the .sfl files then all the regions, markers, etc, that they contained will be lost. You almost certainly don't want to delete these files.

Mark

slambubba wrote on 8/9/2003, 10:38 AM

thanks for the info on this. one thing is i DON'T have Automatically save Trimmer markers and regions with media file checked in the prefs. if i did, would it actually save the marker, etc. information in the .avi file?

when i archive a project, sounds like i better keep the .sfl files.

MarkWWW wrote on 8/9/2003, 2:48 PM

Good question.

As far as I can see, the trimmer only reliably saves marker and region information if you explicitly click on the "Save Markers/Regions" icon. (And it saves the data as a .sfl file even if the media file is an .avi which could included this sort of information within the media file itself.)

I' don't believe that the "Automaticaly save trimmer markers and regions" preference is working quite as it is meant to. As far as I can see it only does the auto-save for the first file when you open a second media file in the trimmer, i.e. when it knows you have finished working with that particular media file. If you still have the media file open in the trimmer when you close the project down then any new markers/regions don't seem to get saved automatically. I always make sure I click on the "Save Markers/Regions icon" so I'm sure they will be saved even if the auto-save doesn't work.

In any case, it's almost certainly a good idea to keep the .sfls when you archive a project. They're tiny compared to the media files so it's not as though they're taking up any significant space.

Mark

slambubba wrote on 8/9/2003, 9:02 PM

i actually have the auto-save trimmer markers turned off and it does it anyway. i've played around turning it off and on and it always seems to create a .sfl file each time i load a new clip in the trimmer. like you said, it saves the previous trimmer clip.