Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Multitrack .wav files with Cool Edit Pro

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Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 01-12-2004, 04:25 AM:

I'm using Cool Edit Pro 1.2a (since bought out and renamed Adobe Audition or some such nonsense) on Win XP Pro to remaster a 6-channel .wav file.

I have no problem getting all of the channels into the multitrack editor, but in order to save the file, it appears that I am required to mix it down to two channels.

How do I get this back out to a 6-channel .wav file? (Yes, you can have 6-channel .wav files.)

If I have to, I can use other software. Currently, each channel is saved as a mono .wav file, so I could import the tracks into something else.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 01-12-2004, 04:32 AM:

Cool Edit Pro 2000 actually had a "save multitrack wav" option. I think it might even have been in the File menu. I guess it's not there anymore.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 01-12-2004, 04:39 AM:

Hmmm ... I think I might have CE Pro 2000 around here somewhere as well. I'll have to look into that.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 01-12-2004, 06:24 PM:

Adobe Audition will let you edit multi-channel audio, but it won't let you encode a DD 5.1 track. Adobe Encore (their DVD authoring app) and Premiere Pro will only encode 2.0 channel AC-3 files out of the box.

You have to spend $295 for a SurCode Dolby Digital 5.1 encoder plug-in for Premiere Pro from Minnetonka Audio or use some other app that will let you encode 5.1 audio.

The situation is apparently the same if you use apps like Sonic Foundry Acid or Vegas. You have to spend $279 for a DD 5.1 encoder pack from Sony Pictures Digital. On the bright side, the price of that plug in used to run $399.

The situation kind of sucks ass and continues to make the Mac platform more inviting for video authoring. Final Cut Pro still costs a grand. But Apple dropped the price on the newest version of DVD Studio Pro to $500, an app that features a built in Dolby Digital 5.1 encoder. Sure, you still need apps like Photoshop, After Effects (and Illustrator if you want to bring Postscript animateable paths into AE). But overall the software situation is so much more EASY and SIMPLE. You get what you want without any disappointing surprises.

The software developers on the PC side cannot seem to get their stupid acts together and create a comprehensive and easy to use package with features that matter. Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding should be a very basic, mandatory requirement for any DVD authoring app/suite worth a damn.

Adobe Systems needs to get on the phone with Dolby Labs and get some kind of deal inked. They're going to be playing catch-up with Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro for some time to come. In terms of features the DD 5.1 encode thing is something they need to add as a standard feature ASAP.

DTS encoding would be nice too for video authoring suites. Right now it is just too expensive for anyone but paid professionals to use. Minnetonka sells two software DTS encoders, a $499 encoder for DTS music CDs and a DTS DVD encoder that runs $1995. Anyone in the hobbyist tinkering camp would be priced way out of the market with that.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 01-12-2004, 08:46 PM:

I don't need to encode anything. I just want to save it as a 6-channel .wav file.

Cool Edit 2000 had a "studio" plug-in that let you do something 4-track, but I don't know if it allowed you to save it that way.

I'll have to look into the newest version of Audition and see what changes have been made other than Premiere integration.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-12-2004, 09:49 PM:

I demand to know why you want to make a 6 channel WAV file. Tell me now or I will report you to the authorities. [scream]

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 01-12-2004, 09:55 PM:

Because I want to. [Razz]

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 01-12-2004, 10:40 PM:

And I bet I know why [Wink]

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 01-12-2004, 11:08 PM:

I'll bet on that too.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 01-12-2004, 11:09 PM:

Maybe I'm overlooking something but it doesn't appear that Cool Edit Pro or Adobe Audition will output a 6-channel LPCM audio track. I'm not so sure any other "hobbyist" or "pro-sumer" level audio apps will do it either.

On top of that, can a standard computer or consumer electronics device even support such a thing? 6-track LPCM does exist at least in terms of high-end niche uses, such as the LPCM 5.1 audio track found in certain "D-Cinema" presentations. How that track is being assembled is the mystery. Can Pro-Tools output LPCM 5.1?

Maybe the LPCM 5.1 track is being put together manually by someone saving three different LPCM 2.0 data streams and simply folding them all together in a format friendly to a proprietary digital tape system. That final suggestion is the only way I see saving surround mixes in LPCM format using affordable off the shelf software.

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 01-12-2004, 11:27 PM:

Now that I think of it, I don't think the standard WAV format supports more than 4 channels.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-13-2004, 12:08 AM:

I always use 6 separate 16-bit 48KHz mono AIFF files when I author 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks. Pairing them up to stereo files kind of makes them more of a bitch to deal with. And I know about dealing with bitches! [Razz]

Posted by Christian Appelt (Member # 1067) on 01-13-2004, 08:27 PM:

Adam, the Studio Plugin for CoolEdit 2000 is just a four track expansion window where you can arrange WAV files and mix them down. It's a nice piece of software, you can switch between single file editing with all tools and the 4-track arranger, but it has nothing to do with 5.1 or similar formats.

There is, however, a function that allows you to interpret raw data without format headers, but I never tried them for anything but old and obsolete 2-track file formats, and CE2000 can do that without the Studio Plugin anyway.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 01-16-2004, 10:55 AM:

Pro Tools is the only way to go, guys. [Wink]

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 01-16-2004, 11:45 PM:

Pro Tools is the only way to if you have a shit load of money. Most of us will just have to settle for something priced much farther down away from the stratosphere.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-17-2004, 12:55 AM:

Can Pro Tools help me convert an MP3 to WAV so I can burn it to CD? If so, it might be worth the money.

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 01-17-2004, 01:04 AM:

OOPS!

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 01-17-2004, 03:17 AM:

OK.