manual/include/export-format-profiles.html

<figure class="right">
  <img src="/images/edit-export-format-profile.png" alt="The 'Edit Export Format Profile' dialog">
  <figcaption>
    The 'Edit Export Format Profile' dialog
  </figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  An Export Format Profile specifies the file format in which Ardour will export
  audio files, and also other audio file export options.
</p>
<p>
  Export Format Profiles are edited via the <kbd class="menu">Edit Export Format
  Profile</kbd> dialog.
</p>

<h2>Label</h2>
<p>
  The <kbd class="menu">Label</kbd> field allows to choose the name which will be
  shown for this format in the drop-down list of export formats in the
  'File Formats' tab of the <a href="@@export-dialog">Export dialog</a>.
</p>

<h2>Pre Process</h2>
<p>
  If enabled, levels of exported files will be normalized to the level chosen here.
  The normalization can be either:
</p>

<ul>
  <li>Peak, which adjusts the gain to bring the highest signal peak to the
    chosen level (in <acronym title="decibels relative to full scale">dBFS</acronym>),
  </li>
  <li>Loudness, which adjusts the gain to bring the average amplitude to the
    chosen level (in <acronym title="loudness units relative to full scale">LUFS</acronym>),
    without exceeding the chosen true-peak value (in
    <acronym title="decibels true peak">dBTP</acronym>).
    EBU R128 is only available for mono or stereo sounds while true-peak works
    for any channel layout.
  </li>
</ul>

<h3>Trim silence at start/end</h3>
<p>
  These checkboxes allow to remove any part Ardour considers silent (&lt; &minus;90dB),
  at the beginning or/and end of each exported track.
</p>

<h3>Add silence at start/end</h3>
<p>
  These checkboxes allow to add silence at the beginning or/and end of each
  exported track. The duration of the added silence can be manually fixed in the
  adjacent 'timer' input fields.
</p>

<h2>Watermark</h2>
<p>
  This section adds watermarks to the exported audio (e.g. for limited/demo
  distribution), by overwriting part of the audio with white noise in the
  exported file.
</p>
<p>
  Both the <dfn>Mode</dfn> (how often and how long) and <dfn>Noise Level</dfn>
  (how loud) can be set.
</p>

<h2>Format</h2>

<h3>Compatibility</h3>
<p>
  Selecting an item in the 'Compatibility' emphasizes the settings in the other
  columns that are compatible with the selected standard, by turning incompatible
  options red. When an incompatible quality/format/sample rate is selected, the
  compatibility column checkbox disappears.
</p>

<h3>Quality</h3>
<p>
  The appropriate item in the 'Quality' column will be highlighted when a file format
  is chosen. At the moment, selecting a Quality setting does not show the
  compatible File formats.
</p>

<h3>File format</h3>
<p>
  This column contains a list of Ardour's supported export file types. Selecting
  one updates the options underneath it.
</p>
<p>
	Note: For mp3 export ardour relies on ffmpeg to encode the file. This comes bundled
	with the video-tools (and is always available when you install the official Ardour
	binary.
</p>

<h3>Sample rate</h3>
<p>
  A specific sample rate can be chosen for the exported files, or the current session's
  sample rate (by choosing 'Session rate'), without sample rate conversion.
</p>

<h2>Encoding</h2>
<p>
  Options relevant to the chosen file format will appear just to the right of the
  Compatibility/Quality/File format/Sample rate table.
</p>

<h3>Sample rate conversion quality</h3>
<p>
  In case the chosen sample rate does not match the current session's sample rate,
  the sample rate conversion quality can be chosen here. Better quality options are
  slower.
</p>

<h2>Metadata</h2>
<p>
  These options are presented whatever the chosen format is:
</p>

<h3>Tag file with session's metadata</h3>
<p>
  If the exported file format supports metadata (e.g. FLAC, Ogg Vorbis), use data
  entered in the <a href="@@metadata">Session Metadata</a> window to tag the
  exported files.
</p>

<h3>Create CUE/TOC/chapter mark file</h3>
<p>
  As well as exporting an audio file, Ardour can create a file (in CUE, TOC or MP4ch format
  respectively) containing CD track information, as defined in the
  <a href="@@the-ranges-and-marks-lists">Ranges &amp; Marks List</a>.
  Those files can then be used to either burn a CD or DVD, or to create "chapters"
  inside a compatible mp4 video container.

<h2>Post Export</h2>
<p>
  If this is not blank, it is considered as a command to be run after the export
  of each file. Either the command must exist in $PATH, or an absolute path to
  an executable file can be specified here.
</p>

<p>
  Certain sequences are allowed here to stand for the exported file name and
  various parameters. Currently these are:
</p>

<ul>
	<li><dfn>%a</dfn>: Artist name</li>
	<li><dfn>%b</dfn>: File's base-name</li>
	<li><dfn>%c</dfn>: Copyright</li>
	<li><dfn>%d</dfn>: File's directory</li>
	<li><dfn>%f</dfn>: File's full absolute path</li>
	<li><dfn>%l</dfn>: Lyricist</li>
	<li><dfn>%n</dfn>: Session name</li>
	<li><dfn>%o</dfn>: Conductor</li>
	<li><dfn>%t</dfn>: Title</li>
	<li><dfn>%z</dfn>: Organization</li>
	<li><dfn>%A</dfn>: Album</li>
	<li><dfn>%C</dfn>: Comment</li>
	<li><dfn>%E</dfn>: Engineer</li>
	<li><dfn>%G</dfn>: Genre</li>
	<li><dfn>%L</dfn>: Total track count</li>
	<li><dfn>%M</dfn>: Mixer</li>
	<li><dfn>%N</dfn>: Timespan name</li>
	<li><dfn>%O</dfn>: Composer</li>
	<li><dfn>%P</dfn>: Producer</li>
	<li><dfn>%S</dfn>: Disc subtitle</li>
	<li><dfn>%T</dfn>: Track number</li>
	<li><dfn>%Y</dfn>: Year</li>
	<li><dfn>%Z</dfn>: Country</li>
</ul>

<p>
  Any part of the command-line enclosed in double-quotes (") will be used as-is.
</p>

<p>
  For example, exporting an mp3 file can be done by inserting <code>lame -b320 %f</code>
  which will convert the exported audio file ('%f') to a 320 kbs mp3 using the lame encoder
  (provided lame is installed first on the system).
</p>