Paul Davis
cb41314642
git-svn-id: svn://localhost/ardour2/branches/3.0@3248 d708f5d6-7413-0410-9779-e7cbd77b26cf
311 lines
11 KiB
XML
311 lines
11 KiB
XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN"
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd">
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<chapter id="ch-using-existing-audio">
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<title>Using Existing Audio</title>
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<para>There are two primary ways to bring data into Ardour: recording it
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within a session from a live sound source or importing pre-existing audio
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files. This section covers the various ways to import audio into a
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session.</para>
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<section id="importing-and-embedding">
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<title>Importing and Embedding</title>
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<para>Importing and embedding are two different methods of using existing
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audio files on your computer (or network file system) within a session.
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They differ in one key respect:</para>
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<variablelist>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Importing</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>An existing audio file is copied to the session's sounds
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folder, and is converted into the session's native format (WAVE or
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Broadcast WAVE depending on your choice) and sample rate. At this
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time, no control over the conversion process is offered. If sample
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rate conversion is required, it will be carried out at the highest
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quality that Ardour can provide. This means that it can be rather
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slow (many minutes to import an audio file lasting a few
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minutes).</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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<varlistentry>
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<term>Embedding</term>
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<listitem>
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<para>An existing audio file is used as a the source for a region,
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but is not copied or modified in any way.</para>
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</listitem>
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</varlistentry>
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</variablelist>
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</section>
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<section id="supported-external-audio-file-formats">
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<title>Supported External Audio File Formats</title>
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<para>The list of audio file formats that Ardour can import/embed is quite
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long. It is based on the functionality offered by libsndfile, an excellent
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and widely used software library by Australian programmer Erik de Castro
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Lopo. As libsndfile's capabilities expand, so will Ardour's abilities to
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import (and export) new formats. Ogg/Vorbis (an excellent, unpatented and
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license free audio compression format similar to MP3) is planned for the
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near future. Currently, supported formats include:</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>Microsoft WAV</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>SGI/Apple AIFF/AIFC</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Sun AU/Snd</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Raw (headerless)</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Paris Audio File (PAF)</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Commodore IFF/SVX</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Sphere/NIST WAV</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>IRCAM SF</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Creative VOC</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>SoundForge W64</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>GNU Octave MAT4.4</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Portable Voice Format</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Fasttracker 2 XI</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>HMM Tool Kit HTK</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>Sample encodings supported include:</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>Unsigned and signed 8, 16, 24 and 32 bit PCM</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>IEEE 32 and 64 floating point</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>U-LAW</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>A-LAW</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>IMA ADPCM</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>MS ADPCM</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>GSM 6.10</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>G721/723 ADPCM</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>12/16/24 bit DWVW</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>OK Dialogic ADPCM</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>8/16 DPCM</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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</section>
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<section id="using-audio-files">
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<title>Using audio files as tracks or regions?</title>
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<para>When you want to use existing audio files in an Ardour session, the
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first choice you need to make is whether you want to bring the files in as
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tracks or as new regions. Consider the two following scenarios:</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>you have an 8 track recording of existing material, with 1 audio
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file per track</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>you have a sample library containing 500 small audio
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files</para>
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</listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>In the first case, your goal is probably to have 8 tracks (at
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least), with each track containing a single audio file. In the second
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case, its a lot more likely that you simply want to be able to use any of
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the samples easily, but do not want any tracks created as a direct result
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of the import/embed. It is very important that you understand this
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distinction: many new users think there should be a "simple" way to import
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existing audio without understanding that the goal of importing/embedding
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is not always the same.</para>
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<para>Ardour provides two different options when importing. You can
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import/embed audio files as new tracks, or you can import/embed them into
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the region list, where they will be available as regions to put into new
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or existing tracks. You can also insert import/embed audio files directly
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into an existing track.</para>
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</section>
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<section id="how-to-import-embed">
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<title>How to import/embed</title>
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<para>There are three pathways for importing/embedding an audio file into
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a session. One is initiated from the File menu, one is initiated from the
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track context menu, and one is initiated from the region list. These
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methods are all equivalent: they open the file import dialog. Once the
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dialog is open, you can choose to add new audio as new tracks, as regions
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in the region list, or as audio in the selected track. You can change this
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behavior once the dialog is opened.</para>
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<para><caution>
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<para>If you want to import a file directly into an existing track,
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you must have the track selected in the editor before beginning the
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import. </para>
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</caution>If you use Nautilus as your file manager, you can easily
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import files into your project by dragging them onto the desired track,
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then releasing the mouse button. The file will then be <link
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linkend="gt-embed">embedded</link> into your session.</para>
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</section>
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<section id="how-to-embed-a-file">
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<title>Working with Tags</title>
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<para>A "tag" is bit of information, or <emphasis>metadata</emphasis>,
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that is associated with a data file. Specifically, tags are keywords or
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terms that you feel have some relevance to a particular soundfile. Ardour
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can store these tags in a seachable database so that you can quickly
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search for sounds based on the tags that you have assigned to them. For
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example you can assign the term "120bpm" to a sound, and then when you
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search for this tag, the file will appear in the search list. Tags are
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independent of the filename or anything else about the file. Tags, and the
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file paths that they are associated with, are stored in a file called
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"sfdb" in your Ardour user folder. </para>
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<section id="embedding-via-the-region-list">
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<title>Adding tags to a file</title>
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<orderedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>Select a file in the import dialog.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Enter the tags in the box to the right labeled "Tags".</para>
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</listitem>
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</orderedlist>
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<para>Tags are stored when the input box loses focus, there is no reason
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to explicitly "save" them.</para>
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</section>
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<section id="embedding-from-a-track">
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<title>Searching for files using tags</title>
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<orderedlist>
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<listitem>
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<para>Select the "Search Tags" tab on the import dialog.</para>
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</listitem>
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<listitem>
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<para>Enter the tag(s) to search for and press "Search".</para>
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</listitem>
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</orderedlist>
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<para>Files which have been "tagged" with the input terms will appear in
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the results window. You can audition these files and apply tags to them
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from this window.</para>
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</section>
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</section>
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<section id="how-to-embed-a-file">
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<title>Searching Freesound for soundfiles (optional)</title>
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<para>Freesound (http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/) is an online database with
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thousands of soundfiles which can be freely used in many projects (visit
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Freesound for the exact licensing terms). Ardour has an option to download
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files directly from freesound directly from the import dialog. Freesound
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files are tagged with metadata which you can use to search for relevant
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sounds.</para>
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<para>To enable the Freesound search engine inside Ardour, you must build
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Ardour with the option FREESOUND=yes, and you must have the "curl" library
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installed. This is currently optional but may later become a standard
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feature of Ardour.</para>
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<para>To download files from Freesound, you must first register for a
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username and password on the freesound website. Enter this information
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into the text entry boxes, enter your tags to search for, and then click
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"Start Downloading". Ardour will begin downloading files, and the "Start
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Downloading" button will change to say "Cancel". Clicking the "Cancel"
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button will wait until the currently downloading file is finished, then
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the button will switch back to "Start Downloading". The button will also
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say "Start Downloading" once Ardour has downloaded all of the files that
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match the given tag. In the future there may be better indication of the
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file progress and better filtering on the filetypes that are
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downloaded.</para>
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<para>If you later search for the same terms, you will see that the files
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appear in the list more quickly, because any files in the search set that
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are already downloaded won't have to be downloaded again.</para>
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<para>Sounds that are downloaded from Freesound will automatically be
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given tags in Ardour that match their tags in the Freesound database. This
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means that once they are downloaded, Ardour can search for the local files
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very quickly using the "Search Tags" tab.</para>
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</section>
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