Pro Tools and .wav files ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter spantini
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spantini

spantini

COO of me, inc.
Are there any reasons importing .wav files to a Pro Tools project should be a problem?

An ex-bandmate is using Pro Tools and has worked with other "professional" engineers to produce his first album - all using Pro Tools.

I have been attempting to collaborate with him, offering to play bass on his songs. I'm using Reaper and have offered to send him unprocessed HQ WAV tracks. He's refusing to accept WAV files, saying studios with Pro Tools don't accept them.

The little reading I've done says Pro Tools can import WAV files with no problem - it will also convert them to it's preferred format to match the project if desired. So what's the problem here, if any? Are WAV files of matching resolution inferior or incompatible in some way?

My intention would be to supply an unprocessed WAV track to be dropped into his Pro Tools project and have him and/or the other studio(s) mangle it any which way they see fit for the song. All the processing will be don done on their end.
 
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Hi,
I'm not aware of any reason someone would want to decline wav files.
They're ideal and no conversion is required or carried out when importing into ProTools.

Did he tell you what format he would accept?
 
I can see no reason why PT won't load WAV files, nor why a PT user would refuse to accept them. However, it is possible that he may be using a version of PT that can't accept anything better than,say, 16 bit. Maybe it's a problem like that?
 
I've had wav problems with Pro Tools as well.
I think there are compatibility issues with the bit-rate sampler.
I'll have to run this one by the audio engineer, next time I take a pro-tools lesson.
He's reasonable. It's like $65/hr with a $200 minimum.
He's in Miami and he does zoom meetings/sessions online.
He worked for Amy Winehouse.
He can work your session in to a lesson format as well.
I can PM more information.
about Pro-Tools, I have to say their plug-ins are really impressive.
I especially like Boom Beats and the Graphic EQ tweeks.
 
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His words were :

"Pro Tools would be for large projects of yours, mine, or [name] so we were on the same page, but that's OK. When sending out to professional mixers they don't like to load the wav files."

Resolution would be 24-bit 96khz with all parties involved.

Part of the issue is he wants all involved to be able to move the project(s) back and forth. I've explained I don't want or need that capability as I would just be supplying single WAV files composed to his stereo mp3.
 
He’s being a super snob and using the term ‘professional’ in a very unprofessional way! Some studios prefer flacs or one of the many newer uncompressed formats but protocols doesn’t care. I suspect the studio just run on one format and wavs need producing. It might just be one conversion but they have stuck their noses in the air. I’d just ask what format they want. I bet your daw could export in that format. Dave on here always wants files in 16 bit wav at 44.1k that’s his chosen standard. It takes me five minutes to convert my 24bit 48k files. I don’t do 96, but I could if I wanted. I’d like to think my little business is ‘professional’ and I get given a really wide range of formats. None have foxed me yet. Sure, it’s a pain sometimes but hardly a problem.
 
He's being an idiot. Any uncompressed or lossless format is fine. Ideal would be to match his sample rate and do 24 bit or 32 float, but the type of extension doesn't make a difference.
 
It's like when you have a quiet smirk when the guitarist pulls out his Epiphone, or the keyboard player has a clavinova, not a Nord - and then proceeds to wipe the floor with everyone. That is what makes the professional, NOT what gear they have or process they use.

In this case, it's even more silly because they deem an mp3 as a suitable format for you to play to, but decree your wav is somehow deficient!
 
I think Dave prefers wav files because that's what RightMark analyzer will accept. It won't read an mp3.

Rob,
I'm a bit confused by your comment about wav files needing "producing". I'm not sure what that means. It's like an office saying they can't read a text file, it needs to be in MS Office format. A wav file is the most basic format for audio... no compression, no data loss. Nothing but the raw sampled bits of data. I haven't touched anything ProTools in so many years that I must be missing something.

Maybe Reaper users are spoiled because we can drag most any type of audio file into a track and its done.

Now, if the guy is talking project files, that's a whole different deal. That's specific in all the particular settings that ProTools or Reaper or Cubase use. It's like the old days of office software, where you had WordPerfect, MS Word, AmiPro, AppleWorks, WordStar or IBM DisplayWrite. The file contains formatting codes, text, and other control processes and were incompatible.

Converting the doc to either text or RTF takes care of 99% of the issues.
 
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I'm thinking he wants me to be a part of the whole project with mixing and using all of Pro Tools native FX processing and plugins. Now he's offering to help finance my aquisition of Pro Tools.. I declined.
 
I meant that maybe they run on say AIFF, so no wavs floating around so to deal with wavs, they'd have to produce them - as in manufacture by export, not produce as in produce as in what a mastering engineer does to change things - my fault using a word open to misunderstanding.
 
I would gladly let him finance ProTools, as long as he pays the subscription costs! $360 a year for a home recordist is a bit too pricey for me.

Reaper will read AIFF files directly, and the second choice in the export format is AIF. I guess the answer it so just export the track to AIF.
 
I'm not going to get caught up in the Pro Tools subscription - would be different if I was generating dollars.

I'll try one last time with an offer of exporting to AIF, that would remove one obstacle.

For fun, here's a Cockos thread from back in the day - someone tripped over a "bug" in the process.

Consolidate Tracks and Export in AIFF format - Cockos Incorporated Forums

Consolidate Tracks and Export in AIFF format REAPER General Discussion Forum
forum.cockos.com
 
Too bad that you can't save project files in a ProTools format. A bit like OpenOffice will read and write most MSOffice files. It's probably a copyright violation or something. I understand that the plugins might be an issue, but that's an issue for any project, even within the Reaper process. If you use IsoTope and EZ drummer, and I don't have either, it just tells me that those plugins aren't available. The audio is still loaded at the proper points.
 
spantini said:
His words were :

"Pro Tools would be for large projects of yours, mine, or [name] so we were on the same page, but that's OK. When sending out to professional mixers they don't like to load the wav files."

Resolution would be 24-bit 96khz with all parties involved.

Part of the issue is he wants all involved to be able to move the project(s) back and forth. I've explained I don't want or need that capability as I would just be supplying single WAV files composed to his stereo mp3.
Click to expand...

The idea that 'professional mixers' don't like to load wav files - He may mean that he's sending to someone who expects a complete session,
and he's not aware that you expect him, or someone else, to include your file in that session before that stage, but I'm guessing.
Might be worth asking him that, though, or clarifying with him.
 
Steenamaroo said:
The idea that 'professional mixers' don't like to load wav files - He may mean that he's sending to someone who expects a complete session,
and he's not aware that you expect him, or someone else, to include your file in that session before that stage, but I'm guessing.
Might be worth asking him that, though, or clarifying with him.
Click to expand...
That's a good point. I did specifically tell him he could just add my WAV file to the project and Pro Tools would convert it to whatever the project format was. I don't use Pro Tools, so I based that on what I've read on the subject.

He would be assembling the tracks in his system, then doing his thing (whatever that may be) before sending the project on to his mixing engineer.

Our (his and mine) discussions on this collaboration are going about as well as the current Ukraine discussions :drunk:
 
Adding your wav to a session is literally drag + drop, wait a few seconds, then move into correct time.
Based on what you've relayed to us, I think there's some misunderstanding going on.
 
That's my understanding of how it should work. Either he's totally ignorant of this (though I explained it to him), or he's just being stubborn in his desire to get me into his world of Pro Tools.
 
Weird either way.
If you have the session and your contribution wav and want someone to put it together, ping me.
 
We're at an impasse. I don't expect I'll have access to the session, but if he lightens up I'll get back to you. Thanks :)
 
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