10-07-16 3:27 AMExporting Logic Multitrack Files

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Exporting options for OMF.Exporting options for OMF.

Exporting Logic Multitrack Files : February 2010

In this article: Exporting Logic Multitrack FilesLogic Notes & TechniquesTechnique : Logic Notes

There are sure to be times when you need to exportmultitrack Logic files to other platforms. We explainthe options.Stephen Bennett

hough the Digital Audio Workstation has allowed musicians to become their own engineers and producers, it’srare that a project will remain completely within the bounds of Logic Pro throughout its whole gestation period.Even if you don’t collaborate with others, you may want to import Logic songs into Apple’s Final Cut Pro or Pro

Tools, or other DAW software, without them being fixed as bounced-down audio files. Logic Pro’s expanded outputfacilities make all this possible with just a few mouse clicks.

Logic Pro’s Export menu, which you’ll find in the main File menu, is the place where you can utilise all theprogram’s output options. Which ones you’ll use depends on what you want to achieve and which program you wantto export your Project to.

Working With Pro Tools

Many Logic Pro users will, at some point, want to import their projects into Pro Tools. Digidesign’s flagship HDprogram is at the heart of the recording industry, and if you want to take your projects to mix in a commercial studio,so you can make use of their classic gear, it’s more likely they will be using Pro Tools than any other DAW. Ofcourse, you could just export all the tracks as audio files, as explained in last month’s workshop, but there are acouple of more elegant solutions available in Logic Pro.

The ‘Project to OMF’ (Open Media Framework) menu item exports all the audio files in a project and packs theminto a single OMF file. Choosing this menu item opens a dialogue box where you can select which OMF type to saveas — which you use depends on how old your version of Pro Tools is, so it may pay to save copies of both types —and you’ll need to select ‘Include Audio’, as well as ‘Convert Interleaved to split stereo’, because Pro Tools likes towork with these kinds of files. Normally, you’d leave the files at 24-bit resolution for maximum fidelity and,consequently, you wouldn’t set a dither type. Volume and pan data is retained in OMF files, but instrument and MIDItracks are not, so you’ll have to bounce these down in real time before you export. OMF is not just for Pro Tools,though; you can import OMF files into any program that supports the format — Sonar or Cubase, for example — so itcould be a good choice for collaboration with our Windows brethren. Although OMF export has been flaky in earlierincarnations of Logic Pro, in version 9 it’s much improved, and I’ve been swapping Logic Pro and Pro Tools sessionsfor several months now, with no problems.

AAF (Advanced Authoring Format) is a more sophisticated way ofexporting from Logic Pro and importing into Pro Tools. Files can have theirsample rates, bit depths and file types defined, and you can choose todither if converting from 24-bit to 16-bit. The advantage of AAF is thatregion information is retained, as are automation data and any audio filethat contains tempo information. An imported AAF file re-imported intoLogic Pro should look exactly the same as the original version, with allregions placed exactly where they should be on the Arrange page. Thesame caveats mentioned when exporting to OMF, with regard toInstrument and MIDI tracks, also apply to AAF.

Working With Final Cut Pro

Apple are bringing their flagship programs closer and closer together, so itmakes sense to be able to export Logic Pro files easily to the Final Cut Pro

Working With Pro ToolsWorking With Final Cut

ProInstrument & MIDI

TracksWorking With

Soundtrack ProMore About File

Formats

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Exporting options for AAF.Exporting options for AAF.

Bouncing virtual instrument tracks toaudio files in Logic Pro 9.Bouncing virtual instrument tracks toaudio files in Logic Pro 9.

Setting Soundtrack Pro as theexternal editor in Logic Pro.Setting Soundtrack Pro as the externaleditor in Logic Pro.

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makes sense to be able to export Logic Pro files easily to the Final Cut Provideo editing package. When Logic projects are exported using the Projectto Final Cut Pro/XML option, an associated XML file is created, along withall the exported audio. Instrument Tracks are also rendered to audio, butMIDI ones are not, so you’ll have to bounce these down in real time beforeexport. The XML file can then be imported into Pro Tools — and automation data should transfer too.

Instrument & MIDI Tracks

When you have regions in a project that are on virtual instrument tracks, you can just right-click or Control-click onthe region and use the Bounce In Place command to create an audio version of the region — assuming you’re usingLogic Pro 9. In earlier versions, you’ll have to bounce the tracks as if they were MIDI tracks, as described below.

Work on a copy of the project (using ‘Save a Copy As’ from the Filemenu).Select the Destination as a New Track.Set the Source to Delete, to remove the original Instrument track.Choose whether you want to include plug-ins, volume, pan orautomation in the bounce.

The resulting audio file and region will be exported in exactly the same wayas an ordinary audio file. If you have tracks that are controlling externalMIDI hardware, such as synthesizers, you’ll have to solo these and use theFile menu’s Bounce window to bounce the project to disk in real time. Ifyou select the ‘Add to audio bin’ option, you can just drag the resultingaudio file back to the Arrange page, to a new audio track, delete theoriginal MIDI track and select the export option you want. Any virtualinstruments that use Logic’s suite of MIDI processors in the Environmentwill have to be treated in exactly the same fashion before exporting.

Working With Soundtrack Pro

Soundtrack Pro is bundled with Logic Studio and is designed specificallyfor working with any audio destined to be included in Final Cut Pro — soswapping audio between these two programs is fairly seamless. You can export audio directly from Logic Pro toSoundtrack Pro by setting the latter as your external editor in the Audio Preferences window. Once this is set, youcan use the Option menu’s Open in External Editor command to open aselected region in Soundtrack Pro. When you’ve saved and Soundtrack prois closed, Logic Pro updates the edited file — or you can use the saved.stap file directly in Final Cut Pro. Soundtrack Pro has some nice editingfeatures not available in Logic Pro’s own Sample Editor, such as theSpectrum View, which can be used to pick out pesky problem frequenciesmuch more easily than regular sample waveform views, as well asextremely detailed sample-level editing. There are also tools for noisereduction, and an analysis function that is useful for locating and removingpops, clicks and hum.

More About File FormatsLogic has an extensive range of File Type options available for whenyou’re bouncing and exporting. But what do they all mean, and how doyou know which one to use? Here’s a handy guide.

Sound Designer II: This format was originally introduced as the nativefile type of the veteran Macintosh-based Digidesign audio editingprogram of the same name. Originally, the output consisted of twolinked mono files, but there is now a single stereo file version as well.You might want to export in this format if you are working with ProTools users on the Mac, or those aficionados still using SoundDesigner!AIFF: This is Apple’s full-bandwidth PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) fileformat that maintains the full audio quality of the bounce. AIFF files canhave a maximum size of 2GB, which equates to stereo files of aboutthree hours and 15 minutes at 16-bit, 44.1kHz resolution.WAV: WAV files are, effectively, the Windows version of AIFF. Thesedays, Macs are perfectly happy with WAV files, but Windows programs

10-07-16 3:27 AMExporting Logic Multitrack Files

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Soundtrack Pro’s Spectrumwaveform view (top) vs Logic Pro(bottom).Soundtrack Pro’s Spectrum waveformview (top) vs Logic Pro (bottom).

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cannot always use AIFF, so if you expect your files to end up on a PC,WAV format is preferable. Sonically, there’s no difference betweenWAV and AIFF. Logic generates Broadcast Wave Files (BWF), so themaximum WAV file is 4GB (about six hours and 30 minutes at the CDstandard bit and sample rates).CAF: To address the limitations of AIFF and WAV files, CAF (CoreAudio Format) has been introduced, and can cope with durations of upto 13 hours and 30 minutes at 44.1kHz. While bit depth and format (stereo, mono or surround) do not affectrecording time, sample rate does, and the recording time is reduced to about three hours at 192kHz.MP3 and AAC: Both of these formats use ‘perceptual encoding’ to trim down file sizes. You can select a bit rate(the higher the rate, the higher the quality, but the larger the files generated) or use variable bit rates, whichchange depending on the harmonic content of the audio, with lower rates during simple passages and higherrates for more harmonically complex ones.

Published in SOS February 2010

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