Serato DJ Pro General Discussion

Talk about Serato DJ Pro, expansion packs and supported hardware

Why, Where and When are cue points saved?

Joe Cal 4:44 PM - 5 August, 2016
I recently got a DJ controller so I was learning the basics and I started using Serato's - "DJ Intro" about a week ago. Then about 5 days ago I got the 14 day free trial of Serato DJ.
So for the past five days Ive been setting up my music library and all my cue points for my music.
Last night I system restored my pc to factory settings and backed up all my files so today I have a brand newish pc.
The major problem I'm facing now is when I reinstall Serato and rename the Serato backup folder to just _Serato_ I end up with Cue points from day one. All of my crates and music loads just fine, but all of my cue points that I've spent the past 5 days painstakingly filling out are now gone.
I'm so mad, if I cant figure out why the cues weren't backed up so it doesn't happen again. I've read that the cue points save to the music files themselves... then why didn't it update the info as I built them? I reset a lot of cues over the past few days but it didn't save? Why? and when does it? Why does it seem to load cues from day one, like the past few days of work didn't save to the file? but yesterday it all loaded fine and I shut the pc down the night before. I backed up the _serato_ folder and database v2 files last night before I system restored so that they were very up to date. If I cant restore the cues Ive wasted over 25 hours of work over the course of the past few days. And if that's the case I might as well find a new DJ program because theres no way I'm rebuilding all those cues again.
SirForce 5:36 PM - 5 August, 2016
The CUE points are stored in each MP3/Audio file, the exception might be wav files since they don't have the concept of tags.

Copying a MP3 with CUE's and Loops transfers when you copy that file to another computer and load it into serato SSL/SDJ. Try moving a copy of a crate / tracks onto a USB stick and that stick will work great on another computer.

I don't know specifically when the audio files are updated but I would guess it's at least when the track is unloaded from the deck but it might be at the time the CUE is actually set or deleted. The same would apply to loops saved/set within a track.

That's based on my personal experience with the software.
Joe Cal 9:11 PM - 5 August, 2016
All the files are mp3's.
This is why I'm so mad. I copied the mp3 files to my new computer and they didn't bring the most up to date versions of my cue points...
The deck was loaded and unloaded multiple times as well as the copies were copied more than once for safe keeping as well as Serato closed multiple times as well before the backups were made.
So the fact that it doesn't work is bullshit. There's no excuse for it not to work.
Like why does it load a previous version of my cue points from a week ago? Where is it getting this info?!
Why is it so difficult to make sure your cues are backed up when they become so valuable over the course of 5000+ songs?
It saves to the music file? How do you know when and where the info is stored?
Why is it so difficult to find out?
SirForce 9:23 PM - 5 August, 2016
Are you copying the correct file? Press CMD-R to reveal the selected file in serato. Set cues then reveal the file and copy that one. That should work no question.
djgaetano 1:08 AM - 10 March, 2018
I have been having similar issues except my cue points don't vansih after closing then reopening serato. Problem I am having is after I back up my music onto an external then use that external drive on another Mac none of my new cue points show up? So where are the cue points really saved other than in the mp3's id3tag?
The Return of Dj Sparky 10:31 AM - 10 March, 2018
they are saved in the metadata of the mp3, if its not saving make sure the file isn't read only
The Return of Dj Sparky 10:31 AM - 10 March, 2018
and that you have access to modify files
Joe Cal 11:17 PM - 10 March, 2018
Ok everyone I figured it out and I came back to finally answer so we can close this thread.
It was because the music (mp3s) were copied/ backedup AND THEN the cues were built. Soo when I rebooted/cleaned my pc drive, I looked at my music folder on my external drive and thought everything was copied BECAUSE IT CLEARLY WAS and then proceeded to wipe it clean. What I didn’t know at the time, and now do, is that you should ONLY copy the music files (mp3s) THE MOMENT you are about to delete them as the information as we’ve learned is stored within the mp3 itself and not your serato folders.

So the point is if your going to transfer your setup to another pc and you’ve made fresh changes to the library, do a fresh copy of your crates AND ALL MUSIC FILES.

Thanks everyone for your help I really appreciate it and I hope this post can help someone else.
The Return of Dj Sparky 1:18 PM - 11 March, 2018
thanks for coming back to tell us what we already knew
Joe Cal 2:30 PM - 11 March, 2018
I figured I should since you guys are posting in my two year old thread. Lol