DigiDesign Digidesign Pro Tools 8.0, Reference Manual

Page: 295 / 1112

Chapter 15: Importing and Exporting Session Data 277
Supported Audio File Formats
Audio files of the following types can be im-
ported into Pro Tools sessions:
• AIFF
• WAV or BWF (.WAV)
• SD II
• SD I
• MP3
• MXF audio
• Sound Resource (AIFL—Mac only)
• WMA (Windows Media—Windows only)
• QuickTime (Mac only)
• AAC audio (including audio with AAC,
Mp4, and M4a file extensions)
• ReCycle (REX 1 and 2) files
• ACID files
Sample Rate Conversion Quality
The
Sample Rate Conversion Quality
setting deter-
mines the quality of sample rate conversion
used when converting and importing audio into
a session. It can also applied when exporting
files at different sample rate and when bouncing
to disk. There are five possible settings, ranging
from
Low
(fastest, but lowest quality) to
Tweak
Head (highest quality, but slowest). The higher
the quality of sample rate conversion you
choose, the longer Pro Tools will take to process
the audio file.
The
Sample Rate Conversion Quality
options are
available in the Import Audio, the Import Ses-
sion Data, the Export Regions as Files, and the
Bounce to Disk dialogs. In each case, the
Sample
Rate Conversion Quality
setting is local to that
specific dialog. The
Sample Rate Conversion Qual-
ity
preference only applies to conversion on im-
port by drag and drop.
To set the sample rate conversion quality for
importing audio by drag and drop:
1
Choose
Setup > Preferences
and click the
Processing tab.
2
From the Sample Rate Conversion Quality pop-
up menu, select a quality setting. For most appli-
cations, the
Good
or
Better
setting will yield very
good results.
3
Click
OK
.
Bit Depth Conversion and Dithering
When importing audio at a lower bit depth than
the session, Pro Tools converts the file to match
the session bit depth by adding empty bits. For
example, when importing a 16-bit file into a
24-bit session, Pro Tools converts the file to
24-bit.
When importing audio at a higher bit depth
than the session, Pro Tools automatically ap-
plies a preset, noise-shaped dither and converts
the file to the session bit depth. For example,
when importing a 24-bit file into a 16-bit ses-
sion, dither is applied automatically and the file
is converted to 16-bit.
Pro Tools cannot import protected AAC or
MP4 files with the .M4p file extension.
These files are protected under the rules of
digital rights management.
Sample Rate Conversion Quality preference
The Import Audio, Import Session Data,
and Bounce To Disk dialogs provide local
controls for sample rate conversion quality.