question related to the import folder as playlist function

andy_andy · July 2024

Isn't this function also for a folder with several locally saved playlists? I tried and it only creates an empty playlist with the name of the folder. What I found is that in the playlist branch you can create a folder in which you can import a folder with playlists, but it takes a lot of time because you have to click OK for each imported playlist. I am interested, if there is a direct function to import a folder with playlists (saved on my laptop) as a playlist folder that contains all playlists from folder. I hope I was crear enough :)

Thank you!

MrCee · July 2024

[edit: I had to be concise here, a small error in explanation… GROUPING is an iTunes/Music.app tag which works when expanding the iTunes/Music.app node. You can achieve the results required by using an external mp3 tagging program to overwrite the ALBUM of your folder/playlist which will show as Traktor tag RELEASE)… apologies for my oversight!

Okay, so Traktor isn't the best for music management in this regard. You have to have every file in a static location included in the entire collection when you create or duplicate playlists.

You wont be able to duplicate playlists with tracks in an archived folder which is not included in your current collection (SETTINGS » FILE MANAGEMENT » MUSIC FOLDERS). Think about it this way… if you were to add some tracks outside of the file paths you have set in music folders, and play them for a while, the consistency check will scrub these files out as missing tracks during the next consistency check. Playlists is not the answer if they are not in the collection. You could use Music.app to bulk edit but you are using Windows.

Duplicating old playlists from archived folders can be achieved if you move these particular files back into the collection first.

Yes you can kind of do it all at once, how many archived folders do you have? Are the tracks numbered in the order you want? Do you care about track order?

If I was restoring archived tracks back to my main collection to recreate old playlists from the past I would do the following although I'm making the assumption you have each 'playlist' in it's own folder:

Create a new folder on your desktop named RESTORE

Copy each folder at a time and set the ALBUM tag to the folder name you may refer to as 'playlist'. Use an external tagging program to do this while Traktor is not active.

If you were on macOS I'd provide a 2 second script to do this, but long story short is you want to set the ALBUM tag to your playlist name which should reflect the folder it came from.

Then, once tags are updated you'll need to copy the updated files somewhere in your collection or just add the RESTORE folder you created to SETTINGS » FILE MANAGEMENT » MUSIC FOLDERS. Import music folders to main 'Track Collection' and run a consistency check.

The 'ALBUM' tag will be reflected in Traktor as RELEASE in Traktor tags. Then you'll be able to see what folder/playlist they originally belonged to.

This is just file management.. so really, you can't drag and drop archived files from playlists when the file isn't in the collection in the first place. Well, I say that loosely, because you can on the fly but it's not a permanent 'static' file location aligned with your file management settings and will usually be scrubbed out on the next consistency check.

Let me know how you go, just dont bulk update while traktor is open. Depending on how you externally tag your mp3's you may be able to simply set the ALBUM as the folder name which is what I had done for years. What external mp3 tagging program do you use?

MrCee · July 2024

Import folder as playlist.. you would need to import the folder first to the library to create a playlist.
I think you are going about this the long way. But I see what you are trying to do, I think..

If you have a folder as a dedicated "Playlist" then put this location to SETTINGS » FILE MANAGEMENT » MUSIC FOLDERS.

Are you trying to drag actual .m3u playlists into Traktor? Because that normally doesn't work unless the file locations are cached (originally stored) in a location Traktor recognizes.

andy_andy · July 2024

First of all thank you for the your answer and for your time. What I actually want is to "duplicate the playlists" created in the archive folder and import them in a playlist folder (grouped by mounth, year, gen, or whatever…). And I want to do this in one move, not playst by playlist. Why do I want this? Because, more recently, in Traktor Pro 4, opening playlists directly from archive takes a few seconds, while a playlist imported in the playlists branch is instant, and that helps me.

PS: I tried also to put the folder in music folders, like you said, and and the playlists open also with 2 - 5 seconds deely.

MrCee · July 2024