Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual

							471
The Track Sheet
Overview
The track sheet provides a text-form “flow-chart” repre-
sentation of the Project. It lists all audio (and video) tracks 
and their contents, and can easily be printed out. 
To open the Track Sheet window, select “Track Sheet” 
from the Project menu.
The actual track sheet is displayed in the lower part of the 
window. It contains the following items:
•The leftmost time column contains a list of time posi-
tions in the display format selected in the Project Setup 
dialog.
The time positions relate to start and end times of audio or video events 
or parts on the tracks.
•The following columns display the tracks in the order 
they appear in the track list.
Only audio and video tracks are shown.
•The events are listed in their corresponding track col-
umns in the order they appear (starting at the top).
•For each event, the start and end times are shown, with 
a vertical line binding the two together.
Viewing the pages in the track sheet
If your project is large (i. e. there are many tracks and/or 
many events) or if you are working with a large scale factor 
(see below), the resulting track sheet may have more than 
one page.
The more tracks you have, the larger the number of pages 
next to each other (horizontally). The more events you 
have, the larger the number of pages below each other.
To select which page is visible in the Track Sheet window, 
you use the “Y Page” and “X Page” fields in the upper left 
part of the Track Sheet window. Think of the Track Sheet 
as divided into rows and columns, with “Y Page” deter
-
mining which row is viewed and “X Page” determining the 
column. The numbers in parenthesis show the total num
-
ber of rows and columns, respectively.
•The size and proportions of the Track Sheet pages are 
set with the Page Setup dialog, see 
“Printing the track 
sheet” on page 472.
In this case, the page in row 2 and column 3 is shown:
X
Y1234
1
2 
						

							472
The Track Sheet
Adjusting the view
The two sliders at the bottom of the Track Sheet window 
have the following functionality:
•The slider in the lower left corner is the scale slider.
Use this to adjust the actual size of the track sheet contents (including 
the font sizes). This will also affect the number of tracks and events 
shown on each page. 
•The slider in the lower right corner governs the display 
zoom.
This affects how much of the track sheet is shown in the Track Sheet 
window – the printout is not affected.
You can also adjust the width of the columns by dragging 
the edges of the “Timecode” and “Tracks” fields at the top 
of the window – this resizes the corresponding columns in 
the Track Sheet.
Resizing the track columns. If the Timecode and Tracks fields are 
hidden, click the “More” button.
Additional settings
•The “Pen Width” determines the thickness of the verti-
cal lines that bind together the start and end times for 
events and parts.
•If the track sheet is more than one page wide, you can 
use the “Timecode Column” pop-up menu to determine 
whether the time column only appears on the first page, 
on each new page, or not at all.
The following settings can be shown or hidden by clicking 
the “More/Less” button.
Printing the track sheet
Printing is done using the standard procedures:
1.On the File Menu, select the “Page Setup…” option.
The Page Setup dialog opens.
2.Make sure that the correct page size and page orien-
tation are selected.
You may also want to make additional printer settings, following the stan-dard Windows/Mac procedures.
3.Select “Print...” from the File menu.
Make the desired printer settings in the dialog that opens, and click OK. 
The track sheet is printed.
SettingDescription
Project By default, this is the name of the current project, but you 
can adjust this if you like. The project name will be shown 
in the top left corner of each track sheet page.
EditorThe editor name you enter will be shown below the 
project name in the track sheet.
HeadingAllows you to enter a heading (shown centered at the top 
of each track sheet page).
Do not show 
end times if 
length is 
under...If this checkbox is ticked, the track sheet will not display 
the end times of events shorter than the time specified in 
the field to the right. This is useful if you have many short 
events, like spot effects, where only the start time is of 
any relevance.
No leading 
zeroesBy default, the time positions of events will be listed in a 
syntax with “leading zeroes”. For example, if the display 
format is seconds, hours and minutes will be listed as 
“01”, “02” etc. If this is activated, the time column will not 
display the leading zeroes.
Merge events if 
gap is less or 
equal...If events on a track are lined up end to end – i. e. there is 
no gap between them – they will be considered as a sin-gle event in the track sheet. By defining a value in this 
box, you can specify how large a gap between events has 
to be for them to be considered as separate events. If 
gaps between events are smaller than or equal to the 
value you specify, they will be listed as a single event. 
Otherwise they will be listed as separate events.
Name FilterThis allows you to filter out certain event names of your 
choice so that they are not displayed in the track sheet. 
Click in the text field and type in the name(s) – to enter 
several names, separate each with a semi-colon (;). Par
-tial names are OK, so if you want to filter out the event 
name “Crossfade”, for example, you could just write 
“Cross”. However, this would filter out other events start
-ing with the word cross as well – e. g. “Crosstalk” would 
also be filtered out.
Setting Description 
						

							36
Export Audio Mixdown 
						

							474
Export Audio Mixdown
Introduction
The Export Audio Mixdown function in Nuendo allows you 
to mix down audio from the program to files on your hard 
disk in a number of formats. In the Channel Selection sec
-
tion, you can choose which channels (or busses) to ex-
port. By activating the “Channel Batch Export” option you 
can choose to mix down several channels in one go. For 
each channel, an individual file will be created.
The following channel types are available:
•Output channels
For example, if you have set up a stereo mix with tracks routed to a stereo 
output bus, mixing down that output bus will give you a mixdown file con
-
taining the whole mix. Similarly, you can mix down a complete surround 
bus, either to a single multi-channel file or to one file per surround chan-
nel (by activating the Split Channels option).
•Audio track channels
This will mix down the channels for the tracks, complete with insert ef-
fects, EQ, etc. This can be useful for turning a number of events into a 
single file, or to convert tracks with insert effects into audio files (that are 
less CPU-intensive). Simply export the track and re-import the file into 
the project.
•Any kind of audio-related Mixer channel
This includes VST instrument channels, instrument tracks, effect return 
channels (FX channel tracks), group channels, and ReWire channels. 
There are many uses for this – for example, you can mix down an effect 
return track or turn individual ReWire channels into audio files.
Please note the following:
•The Export Audio Mixdown function mixes down the 
area between the left and right locators or ranges defined 
by cycle markers.
•When you mix down, you get what you hear – mutes, 
Mixer settings, record enable, and insert effects are taken 
into account.
Note though that you will only include the sound of the channels you se-
lect for mixdown.
•MIDI tracks are not included in the mixdown!
To make a complete mixdown containing both MIDI and audio, you first 
need to record all your MIDI music onto audio tracks (by connecting the 
outputs of your MIDI instruments to your audio inputs and recording, as 
with any other sound source).
Mixing down to audio files
1.Set up the left and right locators to encompass the 
section you want to mix down.
You can also set up a cycle marker accordingly.
2.Set up your tracks so that they play back the way you 
want.
This includes muting unwanted tracks or parts, making manual Mixer set-
tings and/or activating the R (Read) automation buttons for some or all 
Mixer channels.
3.Pull down the File menu and select “Audio Mixdown…” 
from the Export submenu.
The Export Audio Mixdown dialog opens.
4.In the Channel Selection section to the left, select the 
channels you want to mix down. The list contains all output 
and audio-related channels available in the project (see 
“About the Channel Selection section” on page 475).
Activate the Channel Batch Export option if you want to mixdown several 
channels at once.
5.If you want to export a cycle marker range instead of 
the area between the left and right locators, activate the 
Export Cycle Marker(s) option and select the correspond
-
ing marker(s).
Only the cycle markers of the active track can be selected. On export, 
you get one audio file for each section defined by a cycle marker. Please 
keep in mind that working with channel batch export and cycle markers 
might lead to a high file number. For example, exporting five tracks and 
three cycle markers leads to 15 new audio files. 
						

							475
Export Audio Mixdown
6.In the File Location section at the top you can set up 
the naming scheme for the exported files and select a path 
for the mixdown files.
For details about the naming options, see “About the File Location sec-tion” on page 476.
7.Select an entry from the File Format pop-up menu and 
make additional settings for the file to be created.
This includes codec settings, meta data, sample rate, bit depth, etc. The 
available options depend on the selected file format, see 
“The available 
file formats” on page 478.
8.In the Audio Engine Output section, specify whether 
you want to export all subchannels of a multi-channel bus 
as separate mono files (Split Channels), downmix all sub
-
channels to one mono file (Mono Downmix), or export only 
the left and right channels of a multi-channel bus to a ste
-
reo file (L/R Channels).
For details about the settings relating to the audio engine, see “About the Audio Engine Output section” on page 477.
9.Activate Realtime Export if you want the export to hap-
pen in realtime (see “About the Audio Engine Output sec-
tion” on page 477).
10.If you want to automatically import the resulting audio 
files back into Nuendo, activate any of the checkboxes in 
the “Import into Project” section.
For details about the available options, see “About the Import into Project section” on page 478.
11.If you activate Update Display, the meters will be up-
dated during the export process.
This allows you to check for clipping, for example.
12.Click Export.
A dialog with a progress bar is displayed while the audio file or files are 
being created. To cancel the operation, you can click the Abort button.
•During the realtime export of a single channel, the Audi-
tion Volume fader is displayed in the progress dialog (see 
“About the Audio Engine Output section” on page 477). It 
allows you to adjust the Control Room volume. 
Note that this fader is only available if the Control Room is activated.
•If the “Close Window after Export” option is activated, 
the dialog will be closed automatically.
•If you have activated any of the options in the “Import 
into Project” section, the mixdown file(s) will be imported 
back into the same or a new project.
When playing back the reimported file in the same Nuendo project, mute 
the original tracks so that you only hear the mixdown.
The Export Audio Mixdown dialog
Below you will find detailed descriptions of the different 
sections of the dialog and the corresponding functions.
About the Channel Selection section
The Channel Selection section shows all output and au-
dio-related channels available in the project. These chan-
nels are organized in a hierarchical structure that allows 
you to easily identify and select the channels you want to 
export. The different channel types are listed below each 
other, with channels of the same type being grouped in a 
node (e.
 g. instrument tracks).
•You can activate/deactivate channels by clicking on the 
checkboxes in front of the channel names.
•If Channel Batch Export is activated, you can also acti-
vate/deactivate all channels of the same type by clicking 
on the checkbox in front of the channel type entry.
•If Channel Batch Export is activated, you can select/de-
select several channels in one go using the [Shift] and/or 
[Ctrl]/[Command] modifiers and then clicking on any of 
the checkboxes for the highlighted channels.
Note that this toggles the activation status of a channel, i. e. all selected 
channels that were previously activated will be deactivated and viceversa.
•If your project contains a large number of channels, it 
might get difficult to find the desired channels in the 
Channel Selection section. To simplify the process of se
-
lecting several channels, you can filter the display. Simply 
type in the desired text (e.
 g. “voc” to show all tracks con-
taining vocals) in the Filter field below the tree view.
!If you set the export range in such a way that the ef-
fects applied to a preceding event (e. g. reverb) reach 
into the next, these will be heard in the mixdown (even 
though the event itself is not included). If you do not 
want this, you need to mute the first event before ex
-
porting. 
						

							476
Export Audio Mixdown
About the Cycle Marker Selection section
If you have already setup cycle markers to organize your 
project (see 
“Cycle markers” on page 137), or if you want 
to export different subsections of a project in one go, it 
might be useful to define the export range based on cycle 
markers.  This is done in the Cycle Marker Selection sec
-
tion at the bottom left of the window.
•To select the export range, activate the “Export Cycle 
Marker(s)” option and select the desired marker(s) from 
the list.
A checkmark in front of the marker ID indicates that a cycle marker is se-
lected.
•If you have selected several cycle markers and click the 
Export button, the ranges defined by these markers are 
exported one after the other, starting with the topmost 
marker in the list.
ÖIf “Export Cycle Marker(s) is activated, the Naming 
Scheme pop-up menu (see below) contains two more 
elements: Cycle Marker Name and Cycle Marker ID.
About the File Location section
In the File Location section you can specify a name and a 
path for the exported files. Furthermore, you can define the 
naming scheme for the exported files.
At the right of the Name and the Path fields there are two 
pop-up menus with a number of options:
Naming Options
•Select “Set to Project Name” to set the Name field to 
the project name.
•Activate the “Auto Update Name” option to add a num-
ber to the specified file name every time you click the Ex-
port button.
Path Options
•Select “Choose…” to open a dialog in which you can 
browse for a path and enter a file name. 
The file name will automatically be shown in the Name field.
•Select an entry from the Recent Paths section to reuse 
a path specified for a previous export.
This section is only shown after an export has been completed. With the 
“Clear Recent Paths” option you can delete all entries from the Recent 
Paths section.
•Activate the “Use Project Audio Folder” option to save 
the mixdown file in the project’s Audio folder.
Naming Scheme
Clicking the “Naming Scheme…” button opens a separate 
pop-up window. Here you can choose a number of ele
-
ments that will be combined to form the file name. Depend-
ing on the settings in the Channel Selection and Marker 
Selection sections, the following elements are available: 
Name, Project Name, Mixer Index, Channel Type, Channel 
Name, and Counter, as well as Cycle Marker Name and Cy
-
cle Marker ID.
The elements are defined as follows:
!When using multiple marker tracks, this section al-
ways shows the cycle markers from the track that 
has the focus.
ElementDescription
NameThe name that you entered in the Name field (in the File 
Location section).
Mixer IndexThe number of the Mixer channel.
Channel TypeThe type of audio-related channel that is being exported.
Channel NameThe name of the exported channel.
Project NameThe name of the Nuendo project.
CounterThis is only available for batch export. Use this to include 
an incrementing number in the generated files names in 
order to create unique file names.
Cycle Marker 
NameThis is only available for cycle marker exports. This is the 
name as shown in the Marker window or the info line in 
the Project window.
Cycle Marker 
IDThis is only available for cycle marker exports. This is the 
ID as shown in the Project window and the Marker sec-tion of the Export Audio Mixdown dialog. 
						

							477
Export Audio Mixdown
ÖBy combining the available naming elements, you can 
make sure that all the files of a batch are exported with 
unique names. If you have set up a naming scheme that 
would result in identical file names, a warning message 
appears when you click the Export button.
•To add an element, press the “+” button on the far right, 
and to remove an element from the naming scheme click 
the corresponding “-” button.
You can also remove an element by dragging it out of the Elements sec-
tion.
•To rearrange the sequence, simply click on an element 
and drag it to a different position.
•To choose a different element for a certain position, 
click on the element name and select a new entry from the 
pop-up menu.
The elements can only be used once in a naming scheme. The pop-up 
menu therefore shows only those elements that are still available. 
Below the Elements section you will find some additional 
options:
The field below these options shows a preview of what the 
resulting file names will look like. For example, if you set up 
the elements as follows:
 -  - 
This could result in a file name such as the following:
Reel2 - Dialogue - Scene15.wav
ÖTo close the Naming Scheme pop-up window, simply 
click anywhere outside the pop-up window. The gener
-
ated name will now also be shown to the right of the 
“Naming Scheme…” button.
About the File Format section
In the File Format section, you can select the file format for 
your mixdown files and make additional settings that are 
different for each file type. For details, see 
“The available 
file formats” on page 478.
About the Audio Engine Output section
The Audio Engine Output section contains all the settings 
related to the output of the Nuendo audio engine. The fol
-
lowing options are available:
OptionDescription
SeparatorAllows you to enter any character sequence to be used 
as a separator between the naming elements (e. g. a hy-phen enclosed in spaces).
Leading ZerosThis controls how many leading zeros the Counter and 
Mixer Index components will have. For example, if you set 
this to “2”, the numbers from 1 to 10 will be written as 
001 to 010.
Counter Start 
ValueHere you can enter a number that is used as the first 
Counter value.
OptionDescription
Sample Rate 
(uncom-pressed file 
formats only)
This setting determines the frequency range of the ex-ported audio – the lower the sample rate, the lower the 
highest audible frequency in the audio. In most cases, 
you should select the sample rate set for the project, 
since a lower sample rate will degrade the audio quality 
(mainly reducing the high frequency content) and a higher 
sample rate will only increase the file size, without adding 
to audio quality. Also consider the future usage of the file: 
If you plan to import the file into another application, for 
example, you should select a sample rate supported by 
that application.
If you are making a mixdown for CD burning, you should 
select 44.100 kHz, since this is the sample rate used on 
audio CDs.
Bit Depth (un-compressed 
file formats 
only)Allows you to select 8, 16, 24 bit or 32 bit (float) files. If 
the file is an “intermediate mixdown” that you plan to re-
import and continue working on in Nuendo, we recom
-mend that you select the 32 bit (float) option.32 bit (float) is a very high resolution (the same resolution 
as used internally for audio processing in Nuendo), and 
the audio files will be twice the size of 16 bit files.
If you are making a mixdown for CD burning, use the 16 
bit option, as CD audio is always 16 bit.
In this case, we recommend that you activate the UV-
22HR dithering plug-in (see the separate PDF document 
“Plug-in Reference” for details). This reduces the effects 
of quantization noise and artifacts from being introduced 
when converting the audio down to 16 bit.
8 bit resolution should only be used if required, since it 
results in limited audio quality. 8 bit audio may be suitable 
in some multimedia applications, etc.
Mono 
DownmixActivate this if you want to downmix all the subchannels 
of a stereo or surround channel or bus to a single mono 
file. To avoid clipping, the following summing rules are 
applies:
Stereo: The panning law as defined in the Project Setup 
dialog is applied (see “About the “Stereo Pan Law” set-ting” on page 162). Surround: The channels are summed and then divided through the number of channels used (in 
case of a 5.1. channel = (L+R+C+Lfe+Ls+Rs)/6).
Split ChannelsActivate this if you want to export all subchannels of a 
multi-channel bus as separate mono files. 
						

							478
Export Audio Mixdown
About the Import into Project section
In this section you will find several options for importing 
the resulting mixdown files back into the existing or into a 
new project:
•If you activate the Pool checkbox, the resulting audio file 
will automatically be imported back into the Pool as a clip.
Use the Pool Folder option to specify in which Pool folder the clip will 
reside.
•If you activate the Audio Track option as well, an audio 
event that plays the clip will be created and placed on a 
new audio track, starting at the left locator.
If you activate the Audio Track, the Pool option will automatically be acti-
vated as well, and deactivating the Pool option also deactivates the Au-dio Track option.
•If you activate the “Create New Project” option, a new 
project is created that contains one audio track for each of 
the exported channels, as well as the signature and tempo 
track of the original project. Note that if this is activated, 
the Pool and Audio Track options are disabled.
The tracks will have the corresponding mixdown file as audio event. The 
track names will be identical with the export channel names. Note that 
the new project will be the active project.
ÖThe Create New Project option is only available if you 
have selected an uncompressed file format and the Use 
Project Audio Folder option is deactivated.
About the Import Options dialog
If you activate any of the options in the “Import into Project” 
section, the Import Options dialog will open for each ex
-
ported channel when the export is complete. For a detailed 
description of the options in this dialog see 
“About the Im-
port Medium dialog” on page 329. 
The available file formats
The following pages describe the different export file for-
mats, as well as their options and settings. 
• AIFF files (see “AIFF files” on page 478).
• AIFC files (see “AIFC files” on page 479).
• Wave files (see “Wave files” on page 479).
• Wave 64 files (see “Wave 64 files” on page 479).
• Broadcast Wave files (see “Broadcast Wave files” on page 
479).
• MP3 files (see “MPEG 1 Layer 3 files” on page 479).
• Ogg Vorbis files (see “Ogg Vorbis files” on page 480).
• Windows Media Audio Pro files (Windows only, see “Win-
dows Media Audio Pro files (Windows only)” on page 480).
ÖMost of the settings described below for AIFF files are 
available for all file types. Where this is not the case, you 
will find additional information in the corresponding sec
-
tion.
AIFF files
AIFF stands for Audio Interchange File Format, a standard 
defined by Apple Inc. AIFF files have the extension “.aif” 
and are used on most computer platforms.
For AIFF files the following options are available:
L/R ChannelsActivate this if you want to export only the left and right 
subchannels of a multi-channel bus into a stereo file.
Realtime 
ExportActivate this if you want the export to happen in realtime, 
in which case the process will take at least the same time 
as regular playback.
Some VST plug-ins, external instruments and effects re-quire this in order to have enough time to update cor-rectly during the mixdown – consult the plug-in 
manufacturers if uncertain.
When Realtime Export is activated, the exported audio 
will be played back via the Control Room. Depending on 
the CPU and disk speed of your computer, it may not be 
possible to export all channels simultaneously if Realtime 
Export is activated. If an error occurs during the realtime 
export, the program will automatically stop the process, 
reduce the number of channels and start again. After
-wards the next batch of files is exported. This is repeated 
as often as needed to export all selected channels.
Due to this splitting of the export process in “runs”, the 
realtime export might take longer than the actual playback 
would.
Option Description
!Note that the Wave 64 file format is the only format 
that allows you to export files with a resulting size of 
more than 2
 GB.
OptionDescription
Insert Broad-cast Wave 
ChunkThis allows you to include information about the date 
and time of creation, a timecode position (allowing you 
to insert exported audio at the correct position in other 
projects, etc.) along with author, description and refer
-ence text strings in the exported file.Some applications may not be able to handle files with 
embedded info – if you get problems using the file in an-other application, deactivate the option and re-export. 
						

							479
Export Audio Mixdown
AIFC files
AIFC stands for Audio Interchange File Format Com-
pressed, a standard defined by Apple Inc. These files sup-
port compression ratios as high as 6:1 and contain tags in 
the header. AIFC files have the extension “.aifc” and are 
used on most computer platforms. 
AIFC files support the same options as AIFF files.
Wave files
Wave files have the extension “.wav” and are the most 
common file format on the PC platform. 
Wave files support the same options as AIFF files and 
have one additional option:
•Don’t Use Wave Extensible Format
The Wave Extensible format contains additional metadata, such as the 
speaker configuration. It is an extension to the normal Wave format that 
some applications may not be able to handle. 
 
If you get problems using the Wave file in another application, activate 
this option and re-export.
Wave 64 files
Wave 64 is a proprietary format developed by Sonic 
Foundry Inc. In terms of audio quality, Wave 64 files are 
identical to standard Wave files, but in the file headers 
Wave 64 files use 64-bit values for addressing where 
Wave files use 32-bit values. The consequence of this is that Wave 64 files can be considerably larger than standard 
Wave files. Wave 64 is therefore a good file format choice 
for really long recordings (file sizes over 2
 GB), e. g. live sur-
round recordings. Wave 64 files have the extension “.w64”.
Wave 64 files support the same options as AIFF files.
Broadcast Wave files
Concerning audio, Broadcast Wave files are the same as 
regular Wave or Wave 64 files, but with additional meta 
data. To create a Broadcast Wave file, select either Wave 
or Wave 64 as the file format and activate the Insert Broad
-
cast Wave Chunk option. Click Edit if you wish to edit the 
chunk information, otherwise the defaults as specified in the 
Preferences dialog (Record–Audio–Broadcast Wave 
page) will be used. Broadcast Wave files have the exten
-
sion “.wav”.
Broadcast Wave files support the same options as regular 
Wave files.
MPEG 1 Layer 3 files
MPEG 1 Layer 3 files have the extension “.mp3”. By use of 
advanced audio compression algorithms, MP3 files can 
be made very small, yet maintaining good audio quality.
In the File Format section, the following options are avail-
able for MPEG 1 Layer 3 files:
Edit buttonBy clicking this button the “Broadcast Wave Chunk” di-alog opens where you can enter additional information 
that will be embedded in the exported files. Note that in 
the Preferences dialog (Record–Audio–Broadcast 
Wave page) you can enter default text strings for author, 
description and reference that will automatically be dis
-played in the “Broadcast Wave Chunk” dialog.
Insert iXML 
chunkThis allows you to include additional project-related 
metadata (e. g. project name, author and project frame 
rate) in the exported file.
Some applications may not be able to handle files with 
embedded info – if you get problems using the file in an-other application, deactivate the option and re-export.Note: In the Project Setup dialog you will find the fields 
Author and Company that you can use to include the 
corresponding data in the iXML chunk. These fields are 
also available in the Preferences dialog (General–Per
-sonalization page). 
Option Description
OptionDescription
Bit Rate faderBy moving this fader, you can select a bit rate for the 
MP3 file. As a rule, the higher the bit rate, the better the 
audio quality and the larger the file. For stereo audio, 
128
 kBit/s is often considered to result in “good” audio 
quality.
Sample Rate 
pop-up menuOn this pop-up menu you can select a Sample Rate for 
the MP3 file.
High Quality 
Mode optionWhen this is activated, the encoder will use a different 
resampling mode, which can give better results de-pending on your settings. In this mode, you cannot 
specify the Sample Rate, but only the Bit Rate for the 
MP3 file.
Insert ID3 Tag 
optionThis allows you to include ID3 Tag information in the 
exported file. 
Edit ID3 Tag 
buttonWhen you click this, the ID3 Tag dialog opens, in which 
you can enter information about the file. This additional 
information will be embedded as text strings in the file, 
and can be displayed by most mp3 playback applica
-tions. 
						

							480
Export Audio Mixdown
Ogg Vorbis files
Ogg Vorbis is an open source, patent-free audio encoding 
and streaming technology, offering compressed audio 
files (extension “.ogg”) of small size, but with compara
-
tively high audio quality.
In the File Format section you will find only one setting: the 
Quality fader. The Ogg Vorbis encoder uses variable bit 
rate encoding, and the Quality setting determines be
-
tween which limits the bit rate will vary. Generally speak-
ing, the higher the Quality setting, the higher the sound 
quality but also the larger the files.
Windows Media Audio Pro files 
(Windows
 only)
This is a continuation of the Windows Media Audio format 
developed by Microsoft Inc. Due to the advanced audio co
-
decs and lossless compression used, WMA Pro files can 
be decreased in size with no loss of audio quality. Further
-
more, WMA Pro features the possibility of mixing down to 
5.1 surround sound. The files have the extension “.wma”.
When you select “Windows Media Audio File” as the file 
format, you can click the “Codec Settings…” button to 
open the “Windows Media Audio File Settings” window.
Note that the configuration options may vary, depending 
on the chosen output channel(s).
General tab
In the Input Stream section, you set the sample rate (44.1, 
48 or 96
 kHz) and the bit resolution (16 bit or 24 bit) of the 
encoded file. Set these to match the sample rate and bit 
resolution of the source material. If no value matches that of your source material, use the closest available value 
that is higher than the actual value. For example, if you’re 
using 20
 bit source material, set the bit resolution to 24 bit 
rather than 16
 bit.
ÖThe setting in the Channels field depends on the cho-
sen output and cannot be changed manually. 
The settings in the Encoding Scheme section are used for 
defining the desired output from the encoder, e.
 g. a stereo 
or a 5.1 surround file. Make settings appropriate for the in
-
tended use of the file. If the file will be downloaded or 
streamed on the Internet, you might not want too high bit 
rates, for example. See below for descriptions of the op
-
tions.
•Mode
The WMA Pro encoder can use either a constant bit rate 
or a variable bit rate for encoding to 5.1 surround, or it can 
use lossless encoding for encoding to stereo. The options 
on this menu are as follows:
•Bit Rate/Quality
This menu allows you to set the desired bit rate. The avail-
able bit rate settings vary depending on the selected 
mode and/or output channels (see above). If the Variable 
Bitrate mode is used, the menu allows you to select from 
various levels of quality, with 10 being the lowest and 100 
the highest. Generally, the higher the bitrate or quality you 
select, the larger the final file will be. The menu also shows 
the channel format (5.1 or stereo).
ModeDescription
Constant BitrateThis will encode to a 5.1 surround file with a constant 
bit rate (set in the Bit Rate/Channels menu, see be-low). Constant bit rate is preferably used if you want to 
limit the size of the final file. The size of a file encoded 
with a constant bit rate is always the bit rate times the 
duration of the file.
Variable BitrateEncodes to a 5.1 surround file with a variable bit rate, 
according to a quality scale (the desired quality is set in 
the Bit Rate/Quality menu, see below). When you en
-code with variable bit rates, the bit rate fluctuates de-pending on the character and intricacy of the material 
being encoded. The more complex passages in the 
source material, the higher the bit rate – and the larger 
the final file.
LosslessEncodes to a stereo file with lossless compression.