User Manual

Chapter 20: Importing and Exporting Session Data 399
Audio files of the following types can be imported
into Pro Tools sessions and projects, but will be
converted to the current session or project file for-
mat on import:
• AAC audio (including audio with AAC, Mp4,
and M4a file extensions)
•ACID files
•MP3
•MXF audio
• QuickTime (Mac only)
• ReCycle (REX 1 and 2) files
• Sound Resource (AIFL—Mac only)
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 ses-
sion. It can also applied when exporting files at dif-
ferent sample rate and when bouncing to disk.
There are five possible settings, ranging from
Low
(fastest, but lowest quality) to
Tweak Head (high-
est 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 and the Import Ses-
sion Data dialogs. In each case, the
Sample Rate
Conversion Quality
setting is local to that specific
dialog. The
Sample Rate Conversion Quality pref-
erence only applies to conversion on import 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 ap-
plications, the
Good or Better setting will yield
very good results.
3 Click OK.
Bit Depth Conversion and Dither
If the Convert Copied Files on Import preference is
enabled (
Setup > Preferences > Processing), the
following occurs when importing audio files with
different bit depths than the current session bit
depth:
• 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 applies a
preset, noise-shaped dither and converts the file
to the session bit depth. For example, when im-
porting a 24-bit file into a 16-bit session, dither
is applied automatically and the file is converted
to 16-bit.
Pro Tools 11 and higher cannot import SD I
or SD II files. Please use Pro Tools 10 to
open older sessions that reference SD II files,
or use an audio file format conversion utility
to convert the files to AIFF or WAV.
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.
The Import Audio and Import Session Data
dialogs provide local controls for sample rate
conversion quality.