Yellow Caution Triangles are used to denote missing content in BFD3. In this article, we will go through a few common reasons why these may appear, and the best method of eliminating them going forward.
Contents:
- What do all of these Yellow Triangles mean?
- What's causing them to appear?
- How do I get rid of them?
- Summary
What do all of these Yellow Triangles mean?
In BFD3, Yellow Triangles are used as an indicator for unavailable content. In the example below, we see Yellow Triangles appear next to our kit pieces when trying to load a preset that isn't available:
This error signals that BFD is unable to locate audio content - specifically, BFD3 is trying to pull in this preset from a specified content location (more on that later), but the kit pieces are nowhere to be found!
What's causing them to appear?
There are two common hiccups that will cause this error to appear in BFD3, but both of them are rooted in the same, basic problem:
BFD3 is unable to load the selected audio content.
So how do we figure out what went wrong?
In the example below, we see a list of content locations, the majority of which are dotted with Yellow Triangles.
This indicates that the content locations themselves are unavailable. In this case, that is because the external drive holding the samples is not connected. BFD3 will issue a warning upon launch if specified content locations are not available:
As expected from the error message above, reconnecting the external hard drive & rescanning these locations will solve this particular issue.
Well, that's great, but what if my samples aren't on a disconnected hard drive?
If you are encountering the yellow triangle error even though your audio content is on a connected hard drive, the issue lies in your Content Location Routing. While more complex than simply plugging in an external hard drive, this is still absolutely fixable. The following section goes into detail on a tried and true method of solving this issue.
How do I get rid of them?
Part 1: File Management
Getting rid of Yellow Triangles and successfully loading audio content comes down to one main idea: Proper File Management.
BFD3 has an inordinate number of moving parts - when you consider all of our great expansion packs, their download tickets, the License Manager, and the actual software, it can be easy to misplace or mis-install files somewhere along the way. For this issue, however, we are purely interested in where the Expansion Packs (audio content) are being installed.
For this reason, we recommend creating a Master Audio Content Folder:
This gives us one folder to store all of our Expansions- with this simple piece of organizational management, we will have an infinitely easier time installing our Expansions (audio content) into BFD3.
So, how do we know that we're installing into this location, once created?
In the BFD License Manager app, go into Preferences; under "Download location," you can specify where to install your audio content. Select the Master Audio Content Folder you have created.
Now that we know all of our audio content is being installed into one easy-to-access location, we can also drag and drop our previously installed Expansions into this one master folder.
Part 2: Establishing Proper Content Locations
So: our expansions are neat and tidy, but why aren't they in BFD3?
We now come to the point of all of this tidying: Efficient and Correct Content Locations
The following steps outline the process of establishing these locations- whether you are just getting started, or have multiple expansion packs already, following these steps will get you up and running with your Audio Content:
1) Make sure you have all of your Expansions in your Master Audio Content Folder and connect any External Drives if the folder is not on an internal.
2) In BFD3, go to Tools > Set up content locations...
3) Click Remove All Content Paths - let that run its course
4) Click Search Folder and navigate to your Master Audio Content Folder. Select the folder and click Open
5) BFD3 will now scan all Expansions in that Master Audio Content Folder, and automatically establish proper content paths for each of them. This can take a few minutes, depending on how many expansions you have.
6) Once this scan is complete, click on Add BFD2 Paths (Even if you don't think you have BFD2 content, some of our older expansions require these paths to be established to function properly, and it is best practice to click this after scanning in new content.
7) Once this is done, so are you! If you have followed this guide to the nose, all of your expansions will be properly and neatly loaded into BFD3, and ready to use. Double click on a preset to load it up, and get playing!
Summary
The most common issues that result in Yellow Triangles are:
- External Drives not being connected/recognized by the computer
- Improperly set content locations
If you are still experiencing issues of this sort after going through this guide, please feel free to reach out to our support staff with screenshots of your Content Locations, as well as screenshots of your Master Audio Content Folder.