Encoded Files Folder

SM-S will only play WAV or AIFF files but you may have other file types you want to use, such as MP3 and WMA. SCS attempts to seamlessly support several file types not supported natively by SM-S. It does this by encoding a WAV file equivalent of a requested MP3/etc file, and storing that encoded WAV file in the Encoded Files Folder. So if you want to use Lilacs.wma then SCS will create Lilacs.wav and store Lilacs.wav in the Encoded Files Folder. SCS then sends a command to SM-S to open Lilacs.wav.

The encoding process is very fast so should not be noticeable except for large files. Encoding only has to be done once per file unless you make a change to the original file.

The Encoded Files Folder is named "EncFiles" and will be created if necessary under the SCS Application Data Folder (see Special Folders).

In addition to the encoded files themselves, SCS keeps an index of the files. This file is named "scs_encfilesindex.scse" and is stored in the Encoded Files Folder. SCS keeps the following information for each file it encodes:

•Full path name of the original file

•Size of the original file, and date last modified

•Name of the encoded file

Using this information, when a cue requests something like Lilacs.wma, SCS scans the index to see if this file has already been encoded. If it finds an entry for this file, and the size and date last modified also match, then SCS will use the already-encoded file. If not, then a new encoded file will be created and the index updated.

If you use an audio file editor such as GoldWave to edit an MP3 (etc) file that's already been encoded, then the next time SCS is asked to use that MP3 file then it will find the date last modified has changed, and probably the size as well. So SCS will re-encode the file. Currently, this will not replace the existing encoded file but SCS creates a new file and a new index entry. By the way, if you do want to edit an MP3 (etc) file, then it would be more efficient for SCS if you save the edited file as a WAV file, and change your cue(s) to use this new WAV file.