Cloud Drives
Keep your sets in iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive with files set to online only? MAKID works with that. Your projects show up right away and MAKID doesn’t download your whole library to list them, so a few TB of old sessions in the cloud won’t fill your disk.
What you see right away
Click + Add Projects and pick the folder your projects live in. Every project shows up in the table, even if nothing in it is on your computer. You get the name, the sets, the bounces and when you last saved, straight from the folder. Add the same folder under Folder Watch so new projects show up too.
Some things need MAKID to read the set or the bounce first, so they fill in later for online only projects:
- Tempo, Key and Ableton version
- Waveforms and bounce length
- Locators
- Your newest bounce on your phone, if you sync to MAKID on your phone
Until MAKID reads a new bounce, your phone keeps the one it has. Renames and comments still go to your phone in the meantime.
Reading in the background
When the table is loaded, MAKID keeps going quietly. A small count next to the search bar shows what it’s up to:
- Reading projects is MAKID reading the sets and bounces that are on your computer.
- Cloud previews is MAKID grabbing each online only project’s newest set and bounce, reading them, uploading the bounce if you sync to your phone, then putting them back in the cloud. If your newest export can’t go to your phone, like a FLAC, MAKID also grabs the bounce your phone gets.
Projects you’ve opened or pinned in MAKID go first, then everything else, newest first. Cloud previews only run when your computer is plugged in, and always leave at least 10 GB free. Each file only sits on your disk while MAKID reads it, so a nearly full disk is fine.
If MAKID can’t read a file, like a set that won’t open, it leaves that file alone for a day, or until you save or export it again.
If you sync to your phone and a bounce MAKID already read is back in the cloud, MAKID downloads it again to upload it, then puts it back. It won’t do that with less than 10 GB free.
Hover the count to see what it’s doing. Click Cloud previews to jump to its setting.
Playing an online only bounce
Hit play and MAKID downloads the bounce first, then plays it. It stays on your computer after that, since you downloaded it. MAKID reads it right away, so its plays and comments stay with that bounce. If you sync, it goes to your phone too.
If you Resync a project whose newest bounce is still online only, MAKID tells you, and that bounce goes to your phone once it’s downloaded.
Opening a project that’s in the cloud
Open a project like you always do. If the set or any of its samples are online only, MAKID downloads them first and then opens Live, so Live doesn’t stall asking for every missing sample.
You’ll see Downloading with the project name, then the set and how many samples are left. Hit Cancel and Live won’t open. If the download fails, check that your cloud drive app is running and you’re online.
Sets and samples MAKID downloaded for you stay on your computer while you’re working on them. After 3 months without opening that project, MAKID puts them back in the cloud. Files you downloaded yourself are never touched.
Getting space back
Settings → Cloud Drives shows how much MAKID has downloaded and still has on your computer. Click Free up space to put all of it back in the cloud now. Anything that’s open in Live or still uploading stays put. Try again once you’ve closed it.
To stop the background downloads, turn off Read online only projects in the background. Online only projects still show up. Their tempo, key and waveforms fill in once you open them.
The macOS permission prompt
The first time MAKID looks inside a cloud drive folder, macOS asks if MAKID can access files in Dropbox (or iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive). Click Allow. That’s what lets MAKID list your projects. It doesn’t download anything.
If you clicked Don’t Allow, MAKID tells you it can’t read that drive. Click Open, find MAKID under Files & Folders, turn your drive back on, then restart MAKID.