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exporting wav files for Pro Tools
Hi all,
My sound designer has specifically requested wav files for the project I’m working on. She’s using Pro Tools, I’m used to exporting OMFs and I’m not sure how to export wav files in such a way as to get it all lined up in Pro Tools properly with handles. Can this be done? I’d like to try and accomodate her. She’s working for free and apparently doesn’t have the right plug/software in to work in Pro Tools with OMFS?
thanks,
Pam
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12 Replies
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Pamela,
Sorry, but your sound designer is requesting a ridiculous, unnecessary, and very time-consuming step, with no simple solution. I’ve done a few zillion mixes at many different facilities with projects from FCP and never once had to export the audio as WAVs.
The only efficient way to achieve what she wants would require your exporting each track of audio cuts as a a single WAV file, which would then make your mix a huge pain in butt that would take loads of extra time.
I’d suggest that you either get your sound designer to enter the modern world, or find another one who’s already there.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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Here are a few suggestions:
First, select your FCP Sequence … Right click … Send to “Soundtrack Pro Multitrack Project”
Now you have a few options that may suit your needs:
You can export a mix-down (as WAV), or individual files representing each track (as WAV). You can also export the entire sequence including the video using the Export to Compressor option. Just use a custom preset that shares the sequence video attributes, and set the audio attributes accordingly.
-paul.
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Paul,
That only accomplishes an export of the individual tracks in a bit more automated fashion.
Mixers don’t want the whole track, they want to see clips in a timeline exactly as you see them in your FCP sequence. While it’s possible to mix a project in ProTools from entire tracks without clips, it’s certainly not an efficient way to work.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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David,
When you export individual tracks form the STP project, sync is retained. All exported tracks match the duration of the project sequence, and each audio segment within each track maintains it’s location in the mix. These files can be incorporated into Pro Tools or Logic individually to recreate the original mix.
-paul.
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[Paul Figgiani] “All exported tracks match the duration of the project sequence, and each audio segment within each track maintains it’s location in the mix.”
Are you suggesting that each audio segment remains as a separate clip?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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Export an OMF and then find a ProTools system that takes OMFs. Import and save media and project file on an external drive. Take the drive & ProTools session to your sound designer and start work.
Your sound designer is clearly not well equipped or experienced as no-one working professionally in audio can’t import OMFs. It is a shitty standard but it is universal and an absolute basic requirement.
You can’t supply as clips with handles properly by exporting wav files from FCP so don’t waste your time chasing that phantom.
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Michael,
Your recommendation is obviously spot on advice for a professional workflow. In this case it looks like Pamela is looking for a work around, hence my recommendation.
And David … Yes. You can export each track individually and retain sync.
Look here:
https://www.pfiggmsc.com/mtwav.html
The FCP timeline (image 1) has a mixed down bed. I send the project to Soundtrack Pro (image 2) and added two ambience clips on tracks 2 and 3.
I export from STP: Exported Items-Selected Tracks, Buses, and Sub mixes. File Type: WAV
Now I pull these files into Logic (or Pro Tools) and sync from the beginning of each file (image 3). By the way, those are stereo copies in Logic.
As I said, definitely not the best case scenario. But given the circumstances, it’s a sensible workaround.
-paul
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[Paul Figgiani] “And David … Yes. You can export each track individually and retain sync. “
Not exactly what I was referring to Paul. A long-form project is going to have hundreds of events and audio clips on each track, and keeping them separate and identifiable is the way I need to work.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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I suspect it will take more time and effort to do it your way Paul compared to finding someone with ProTools to do the import. Also the job will be in the form that is required with separate clips with hidden handles. Anything less is a hopeless way to work as David has said.
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Jeeze Michael, it’s scary, we agree so often these days.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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