26  Projects

On disk, Capo projects are stored in a directory with a .capobundle extension. These are sometimes called document bundles, or document packages. And when you browse your files using the Files app on iOS, or the Finder on macOS, they appear as just like regular files.

Warning

Unfortunately, third-party cloud synchronization services (like Dropbox and Google Drive) cause trouble with Capo projects.

For example, many users report that Capo appears to “lock up” when they access projects stored in Dropbox, and they can no longer press the play button.

So please use caution when using these services with Capo. If you absolutely must use Dropbox, it might be helpful to right-click the files and ensure they are always kept downloaded on your Mac to avoid issues.

26.1 Inside the Project

On a Mac, you can right-click on a .capobundle project in the Finder and choose “Show Package Contents”. You would see something like this:

My Song.capobundle
├── 433E9391-5BDA-424F-84FF-AFE3EF8CF7DD.m4a
├── artwork.jpg
├── documentWindowState.dat
├── neptune.json
├── playback.json
├── root.dat
├── songStructure.dat
└── viewport.mac.json

The largest file contained in the project is the song itself. The rest of the files are very small by comparison, and when you make changes to your project (e.g., modifying the isolation settings), it is only those small files that get transmitted via iCloud to your other devices. So while the .capobundle file might be 12MB on disk, you only send a few kilobytes at a time over the network.

The result of this decision is that changes synchronize very quickly between devices, and if you are moving from your Mac to an iPad, there is almost no waiting around before you can resume your practice away from your desk.