Mackie - T2 - User's Guide

Chapter 10: Importing and Exporting

10.1 The import options

You can import material into Tracktion in a variety of ways:

Audio and MIDI clips can be imported from files on your hard-drive or from removable media such as CDs.
Audio tracks can be imported from audio CDs.
You can import your recordings from Mackie HDR devices.

To import material, you can either:

Switch to the projects page.
Select the project or edit to import material into.
Click the “import material” button in the properties-panel.
A pop-up menu appears (described below).
or:
Open the edit, and switch to the edit page.
Click the “import” button located in the control section.
A pop-up menu appears (described below).

Note: The options available differ slightly depending on which approach you take. If you want to import a Mackie HDR project, you must use the second method.

The project page “import material” options

Use this menu to associate audio or MIDI files with this project, or to import tracks from an audio CD (Fig. 10.1.1).

Import an audio or midi file...: Use this option to add material on your hard-drive or a data CD to the edit. Files located on CDs are copied into the project folder, whereas files stored on a hard-drive are referenced from their source location. Keyboard shortcut: A.
Import all files in a directory...: This option works much like the “import an audio or MIDI file...” option above. The difference is that this option imports all suitable files in the selected directory (folder).
Unpack an archive and add it to this project..: This option adds the items from an archive into the current project.
Import tracks from an audio CD...: Use this option to copy tracks from an audio CD into Tracktion. The imported tracks are saved as audio files in the project folder and added to the edit as standard audio clips. The “import audio tracks” dialogue-box is described later in this section.

The edit page “import” button options

Use this menu (Fig. 10.1.2) to quickly add content to an open edit, or to import content from a Mackie HDR device.

Import an audio or midi file...: Use this option to add material on your hard-drive or a data CD to the edit. Files located on CDs are copied into the project folder, whereas files stored on a hard-drive are referenced from their source location. Keyboard shortcut: A.
Import tracks from an audio CD...: Use this option to copy tracks from an audio CD into Tracktion. The imported tracks are saved as audio files in the project folder and added to the edit as standard audio clips.
Import a Mackie .prj project file: Users of the Mackie HDR, MDR, or SDR hard disk recorders can import their projects into Tracktion for editing and mixing. HDR users should note, however, that the non-destructive fades, looped audio clips, and volume envelopes are not imported. So, if you have any important fades, loops, or envelopes in your project, render these tracks on the HDR first. All other edits will be accurately imported.

Note: You should ensure that your HDR, MDR, or SDR unit has the latest operating system installed, otherwise imports may not work correctly. The latest operating system can be obtained from http://www.mackie.com.

Importing audio from an audio CD

When the “import tracks from an audio CD” option is selected, a dialogue-box like the one shown in Figure 10.1.3 is displayed.

If an audio CD is inserted into the specified CD drive, the available audio tracks, along with some information about them, is displayed. Clicking anywhere on the bar to the right of the the track name begins previewing the CD track. The bar represents the time-line of the track, and the position that you click on the bar sets the point at which preview playback begins.

To the left of each track is a tick/cross icon. When a track is ticked, it is included in the import. Tracks that are not ticked will not be imported. You can toggle whether a track is queued for recording by clicking the track name.

CD drive: Use this option to select the CD drive attached to your computer that you wish to import audio tracks from.

Select all: Use this option to queue all audio tracks for importing.

Select none: This button removes (un-ticks) all tracks.

Volume: Use this slider to adjust the preview level.

Stop: Stop preview playback.

Start recording: All queued tracks will be imported into Tracktion.

10.2 Exporting project and edit archives

Tracktion can create project archives that bundle a project file, edit(s), and all related materials, into a single file or folder. Archives are convenient for backing up your important work and for transferring projects between computers.

An edit archive is similar to a project archive, except that where a project archive contains a project file and all related edit files, an edit archive contains the project file and only the current edit. Because edit archives are only focused on the current edit, there are a few more available options for excluding unnecessary files from the archive.

To export a project:

Switch to the projects page.
Select the target project in the projects list.
Click the “export project” button located in the properties-panel.

To export an edit:

Switch to the projects page.
Select the edit item from the items list.
Click the “export edit” button located in the properties-panel.
or:
Open the edit.
Switch to the edit page.
Click the “export” button in the control section. This will display a pop-up menu.
Select the “export an archive of this edit” option from the pop-up menu.

Tip: Exporting can also be used to tidy up projects by casting off orphaned clips, and stripping audio files of unused sections.

The export window appears (Fig. 10.2.1). Depending whether you are exporting an edit or a project, a few options shown in Figure 10.2.1 may not be present.

Export type: Tracktion can output an archive as a single file, or as a collection of files.

Export as a single Tracktion Archive file: Use this option to export the entire archive as a single file. This is generally the most convenient way to back-up projects, or move them to another computer.
Export as files in a directory: This option copies all of the archive material into the destination directory, but does not pack it all into one file. When this option is selected, the “compression” option is not available.

Destination: Use this option to select the folder in which the export file(s) will be saved.

Handle size: (Only available when exporting edits). This option allows you to control what happens to audio items that contain unused material.

If you have a vocal take that spans five bars, for example, but you only used the first two bars of it in the edit, Tracktion can trim the excess to reduce the archive file size. The audio file referenced by the project will not be altered, but the copy included in the archive will be trimmed according to the handle size setting:

Don’t delete any unused audio: When this option is selected, and the audio is exported in full. Use this if you believe you may later need currently unused audio material.
Export shortest possible media (no handles): Select this option if you want Tracktion to completely discard unused audio in the archive. This will create the smallest possible file size, and is probably the best option for archiving completed work.
Use handles of n seconds: These options allow you to retain the specified amount of surplus audio. For example, if a clip uses three seconds worth of material from the middle of a much longer audio file, selecting the “use handles of 1 second” option will cause five seconds (one + three + one) of the source material to be archived.

Compression: (Only available when export type is set to single file.) This option allows you to create smaller archives by compressing audio contained in the archive.

No compression (1:1): Select this option to have the audio exported without any compression. This option will produce the largest file size. You should probably instead choose the “lossless 2:1” option.
Lossless (approx 2:1): The audio in the archive will be compressed using a lossless encoder. This option provides the maximum audio quality whilst still producing significantly smaller archives than the “no compression” option.
High/Medium/Lowest quality: When these options are selected, Tracktion will use a reductive, or lossy, encoding method on audio material, to reduce file size as far as possible. The encoding method used is Ogg Vorbis, which typically gives subjectively better results than MP3. These options are handy when collaborating across the Internet and absolute audio quality is not essential at all stages of the writing process.

Include files from library projects: (Only available when exporting edits.) When this option is checked, all files in the edit are included in the archive. If you uncheck this option, any files also present in your library projects are excluded from the archive. This can be useful if, say, you have common sample libraries on the computers that you typically share projects across. By placing the common samples in the library projects, you can have Tracktion reduce the archive size by not including redundant audio files.

10.3 Exporting audio files

Before you can burn your music to CD or convert it to MP3 format for internet distribution, you need to create a basic audio file. In Tracktion, this is referred to as exporting or rendering audio.

To an export an edit as an audio file:

Open the edit by selecting the edit in the items list and clicking the “open for editing” button in the properties-panel.
From the edit page, click the “export” button in the controls section. This displays a pop-up menu.
From the pop-up menu, choose the “export audio file...” option.

Tip: Exporting audio files can be useful for creating loops that can be used in other projects. Large, complex, and computationally expensive percussive patterns, for example, can be exported into a single audio file. Not only is the audio file likely to be far more gentle on your computer’s resources, it can sometimes be a useful creative tool to work with fixed loops.

File: The exported audio will be saved at the location specified here.

Format: Use this option to select whether the export should create a WAV or an AIFF file.

Stereo: Select whether to export a mono, or stereo, audio file.

Sample rate: Select the sample rate of the file (for CDs, use 44100).

Sample size: Select the sample resolution of the exported audio file. If you are intending to burn this audio to a CD, use 16 bit. If you are exporting this audio for further editing, or to be used in other projects, you may want to instead export to 24 or 32 bit.

Remove silence at start/end: When this option is selected, Tracktion will trim silence from the ends of the edit.

Only render marked region: When this option is selected, Tracktion will export only the area between the loop markers.

Render each track to a separate file: When this option is selected Tracktion will export a separate audio file for every track in the edit. This is useful if you wish to import your work into another sequencer. When this option is disabled, Tracktion simply creates one single audio file of the entire mix. If you wish to burn the edit to a CD, you should uncheck this option.

Render at 1x play-speed: Some 3rd party plug-ins get confused when made to process audio at a rate faster than normal play-speed. In particular, plug-ins which use hardware processing, such as the UAD-1, will need to render at 1x speed. Whilst this option will greatly slow down renders, it may be worth trying if a plug-in produces unexpected results in the exported audio.

Normalise: When this option is selected, Tracktion automatically adjusts the level of the exported audio to use the maximum available audio head-room. If you are exporting to 16-bit, you probably always want this option enabled.

Adjust level based on RMS: This option works like the normalise option, but where normalise is calculated based on the peak audio level, this option scales the output based on its average level. Use this option with caution, since it may allow the result to clip.

10.4 Exporting MIDI files

To export an edit as a MIDI file:

Open the edit by selecting it in the items list.
Click the “open for editing” button in the properties-panel.
With the edit open in the edit page, click the “export” button in the global controls section.
From the displayed pop-up menu, choose the “export MIDI file...” option.

Note: When exporting MIDI for tracks that contain VSTis, be aware that any automation data on the track will be lost.

File: This option controls where the exported MIDI file will be saved.

Only render marked region: When this option is selected, Tracktion exports only the area between the loop markers.

Pass midi through filters in the edit: Typically, only MIDI data contained in MIDI clips is exported. When this option is enabled, any MIDI generated or altered by filters in the edit are also included in the exported MIDI file. Note, many filters do not pass MIDI data though to their outputs. If you render a track with such a filter present, and this option active, the MIDI data will be blocked by the filter. Therefore, to avoid MIDI data being lost during exporting, you may generally wish to leave this option off.

Render each track to a separate file: When this option is selected, Tracktion exports a separate MIDI file for every track in the edit. When this option is disabled, Tracktion simply creates one single MIDI file of the entire mix.

Render at 1x play-speed: Some 3rd party plug-ins get confused when made to process MIDI at faster than normal play-speed. Whilst this option will greatly slow down renders, it may be worth trying if a plug-in produces unexpected results in the exported MIDI.

Final words

We hope this reference guide has provided you with the information you need to start making great music with Tracktion.

If you have further questions, you can always visit the Tracktion forum on the Mackie web-site (http://forums.mackie.com/). There you will receive help from Mackie staff, and other users.

Tracktion has a thriving user community at the Raw Material Software forum at the KvR Audio web-site (http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=22). You will find many enthusiastic Tracktion users who are always willing to lend a hand to fellow Tracktioneers. In addition, throughout the KvR site, you will find links to a huge library of freeware, and commercial plug-ins that you can use with Tracktion.

When all is said and done though, Tracktion is about writing music, and not about reading manuals, so with that said, we at Mackie and Raw Material Software thank you for making Tracktion your music production tool of choice. We hope you enjoy using it as much as we enjoyed creating it.