Audition Import / Export to/from other DAWs

Report · May 06, 2009

Well its done!

AATranslator is finally finished.

http://www.aatranslator.com.au/ is where you will find it.

Its been 3 months in the making and as I mentioned previously its not donationware but it is a fully functional demo only limitation is the number of tracks and 'clips'.

Many thanks to John Lundsten from the UK for the idea of this project, for his tireless efforts testing the application and for his insight as well as the user guide. Thanks also to Adrian Connelly for additional programming efforts and the interface and also dstDean from this forum for additional testing and encouragement.

Those who have supported me in the past (as at the time of this post) through donating for any of my previous applications are entitled to $50usd off the price for every application they have donated to me in the past. For some that equals a free copy! Never let it be said that I don't appreciate your support!

This application is not for everyone but certainly for anyone who needs to move their projects from one DAW to another it is certainly worth a look.

It definitely the only application which currently allows you to import/export from Adobe Audition!

There are many other DAWS in our sights and significant work has already been completed interfacing to Reaper project files and OpenTL files. These will appear in a free upgrade in the not too distant future.

Enjoy.....

Report · May 15, 2009

Found a problem with some Nuendo ADLs which required a fix - thanks Bruce Williams for breaking it - won't be letting you near the china cabinet next time you drop over 🙂

So I have put a version 1.01 up on the site but don't go rushing to download it unless you use Nuendo as there will be another update to add Reaper project files very, very shortly.
Also included is a fix for a minor problem importing some video clips but again it shouldn't be a problem for most.

None of this should be a problem 'cause I think my mom's the only one that has downloaded it and I know she doesn't use Nuendo!

Report · May 27, 2009

I got sidetracked with this 'append session' function - screen is done and the whole thing WORKS!

I must admit it is pretty pleasing to see two Audition XMLs appended to each other again

Anyway a quick slap on the back, a collective high five and back to trying to get this Reaper version out the door

I think I said it before but version 1.10 should be ready any day now - must stop getting sidetracked

Report · May 29, 2009

After much pain, suffering & anguish version 1.10 of AATranslator is available for your edification.

We have added native support for Reaper Project files allowing transfer of much of Reaper's rich functionality.
At this stage we have catered for clip (or Take) envelopes (gain/volume & pan) and will look at Track envelopes in a later release.
Updated documentation will be uploaded in the next few hours.

This Reaper stuff took longer than anticipated and so the 'append session' functionality wasn't quite ready for this release but should make the next one which is due soon.

Stay tuned for more exciting developments....

http://www.aatranslator.com.au

Report · Jun 04, 2009

We've been working on a few improvements to AATranslator.

The Append Session function needs testing (haven't given it to JL yet)

Successfully imported a Cubase SX3 XML file into AA etal

Working on Cubase 4 & 5 - which are both different again. (thanks Lawrence - Reaper/KVR Audio forums for the XML files)

New version soon...

http://www.aatranslator.com.au

Report · Jun 22, 2009

I thought I would post this rather than John as he is a bit shy about singing the praises of his own testing efforts and while he has kept me on my toes his efforts are much appreciated

John Lundsten (and one or two others Lawrence, Dean etc) have been spending literally hundreds of hours testing the latest beta versions of AATranslator. In particular the Steinberg XML functions and the many variations & combinations possible with a Steinberg Track archive.

They have tested using every version of Cubase & also Nuendo 2, 3 & 4, but while we think we have covered everything (that we had in our scope) no doubt there may something we have missed mainly because we were unable to test using Nuendo v1 or v5. So if you buy AATranslator & there are any problems understanding Nuendo vers 1 or 5 files, we will endeavour to fix em.

This is a pretty major update so it will take a while to update the notes. In the meantime here are a few pointers to the new stuff.

The Import tabs now have TL, RPP, EDL, ADL, XML.
XML includes both Adobe Audition & Steinberg (track Archive) XML's, if you click on an XML either of these 2 types will load.

TL is the Open TL standard used on the Tascam MX2424 and a number of DAW's, Logic being a major one of these.

Append:
Will add 2 Audition XML files together. You access this via the "File" menu. Yes it's just AA XML and why not? The Audition session format is very fully featured so a good no compromise append to any of the other supported formats can be done by going via AA XML.

As well as the special Reaper EDL compatibility option we had before you can now save to Samplitude v1.5 to be compatible with all the app's that haven't kept up to date with the later V1.6 & 1.7 Samplitude EDL formats.

You can now save to the same format as imported.
JL reckons that this is a major addition, to get a file that theoretically should work, to an actually 'does work' status.

The truth is standards are very loosely interpreted by many (probably most) software developers, we have worked hard to understand most variations that are around re Import and then Export in as standardised format as possible.
That in itself can be regarded as a "clean-up" function. Plus on export having options to be compatible to some specific known Export forms/variations/deviation/mistakes (?) And there is filtering of data available too.

To give a better idea of what AATranslator can do we have increased the number of files/clips that you can use in Demo mode.

John and the others are already testing some of the functionality which will be in the next release.http://www.aatranslator.com.au

Report · Jul 06, 2009

If there isn't enough in the current version of AATranslator there should be another version ready in a few days.

In this coming version there have been a few fixes, a lot of small improvements but also added support for import/export of Vegas EDLs as well as improved pre v4 & v5 Cubase xml import functionality.

Report · Jul 12, 2009

I have finally managed to get AATranslator to export to a Cubase file (from Reaper, Audition, Vegas, Samplitude, OpenTL etc etc).

It is basic clip positioning, offsets, gain, mute & lock information. As soon as I add clip fades and get JL to test it we will put up a new version of AATranslator as there are a heap of other additions and 'fixes' that have also been made.

I'll let you know when its ready.

I'm sure I mentioned earlier that I hate Cubase XMLs

Report · Jul 14, 2009

Version 1.30 is now available.

Among a heap of other improvements we have added export to Cubase and Sony Vegas EDL import/export.

Hopefully I can now get some time to concentrating on breaking down the PT5 session format

Report · Jul 18, 2009

Hi All,

This is my first post and I was wondering if you can help.

I have been using Adobe Audition 1.5 for about 6 months so my technical knowledge is limited at the moment but getting there.

I have been working on the sound for a short film and I am afraid a problem has arisen.

We were working on as session when larges files disappeared and we can’t get them back. We had forgotten to save a previous session and have lost a lot of work.

We have fond some work on an older session so now our timeline is split into 2 sessions. So going forward I don’t want this to happen again.

2 questions then

I presume there is no back up facility for your Adobe Audition® session file like Premier Pro has with Auto Save.

To fix this problem I was thinking about SESBackup (Donate) so this never happens again. Does the product work like the auto save facility in PRO (i.e. the session) or does it record & save everything i.e. the sound files again as well into a specific folder of your choice.

More importantly I need to combine these two sessions together and presume there is no facility for you to do this Adobe as well.

I have just read this thread and I am hoping AATranslator can achieve this. If translator does do this what is the best way to achieve a great result without losing any information.

Thanks in advance.

Report · Jul 18, 2009

Welcome aboard!

There are a number of points to address here:-

"I presume there is no back up facility for your Adobe Audition® session file like Premier Pro has with Auto Save."

That is correct but even with applications with 'auto save' there is no substitute for regular backup of both your audio files, session file & audition settings.

"To fix this problem I was thinking about SESBackup (Donate) so this never happens again. Does the product work like the auto save facility in PRO (i.e. the session) or does it record & save everything i.e. the sound files again as well into a specific folder of your choice."

SESBackup only targets adobe session files (either singularly or ALL of your session files). It is handy to easily back them (or it) up before recommencing work on a project or as soon as you are finished for the day. It does not backup your audio material.
MediaSweeper will isolate and seperate the unused files from your project and move them to another location so that you only backup the material that is actually in your session.
AuditionFX will help you backup your Adobe Audition settings

"More importantly I need to combine these two sessions together and presume there is no facility for you to do this Adobe as well."

As I recall AA1.5 has the facility to 'append' other AA1.5 sessions.

"I have just read this thread and I am hoping AATranslator can achieve this. If translator does do this what is the best way to achieve a great result without losing any information."

As far as Audition is concerned AAtranslator was designed with AA3 in mind. AATranslator can append sessions either from Audition, Samplitude, Cubase, Nuendo, Reaper, etc but it would need to be converted to an AA3 xml file at present.

But as i mentioned before AA1.5 it (as I recall) has that 'append' function built in.

Remember "save early and save often".

BTW You can download and try all of those applications and they all come with documentation.

Report · Jul 18, 2009

Thanks for the fast reply Suite Spot,

Great information and help with your comments.

SESBackup only targets adobe session files (either singularly or ALL of your session files). It is handy to easily back them (or it) up before recommencing work on a project or as soon as you are finished for the day. It does not backup your audio material.

*Does "SESBackup" back up your session while in progress i.e. at timed intervals automatic? If so that would be ideal if not I presume I keep SESBackup open then just press save on my own accord while working on my session.

*The reason I ask this is because we lost the files while in a session and couldn’t go back because we had saved the new session without the files over the previous session so it was impossible to go back. In high sight I would be using "save as" on each session as a different name but this seems a lot of work during a session.

*Also Undo is reset after you save the session so it’s impossible to go back to the point where I lost the files in one session. I would therefore be in the same position where you would have 2 session files wanting to mix together with old & new work.

*A quick question why doesn’t Adobe have a Redo function surly people have asked for this?

MediaSweeper will isolate and seperate the unused files from your project and move them to another location so that you only backup the material that is actually in your session. AuditionFX will help you backup your Adobe Audition settings

*This sounds brilliant, too many files on my computer it’s getting out of hand.

"More importantly I need to combine these two sessions together and presume there is no facility for you to do this Adobe as well."
As I recall AA1.5 has the facility to 'append' other AA1.5 sessions.

*This sounds brilliant I will look into this straight away, I am praying I can combine these two sessions together. Does appending keep all the projects points and audio levels with Envelopes inside the Multi track view?

*As far as Audition is concerned AAtranslator was designed with AA3 in mind. AATranslator can append sessions either from Audition, Samplitude, Cubase, Nuendo, Reaper, etc but it would need to be converted to an AA3 xml file at present.

*I do have AA3 (still to load into computer) just happy with AA1.5 at the moment. Didnt like AA2. Could I therefore save the sessions into AA3 and then use AAtranslator to combine them both and then use these files back into AA1.5.

Remember "save early and save often".

*How true and we have learned the hard way that’s for sure.

Report · Jul 18, 2009

"Does "SESBackup" back up your session while in progress i.e. at timed intervals automatic?"

No but you can run it anytime and it will backup the last saved session.

I would recommend using it to backup the session file prior to commencing work on the session.

I would also advise that you use something like SyncToy which is free to backup any changes (including audio) regularly.

I would recommend using MediaSweeper when your project is completely finished to free up disk space and isolate the unused files.

I would also address any system problems leading to AA instability.

"The reason I ask this is because we lost the files while in a session and couldn’t go back because we had saved the new session without the files over the previous session so it was impossible to go back."

Using the advice above you would ahave at least 2 levels that you could go back to.

"MediaSweeper will isolate and seperate the unused files from your project and move them to another location so that you only backup the material that is actually in your session. AuditionFX will help you backup your Adobe Audition settings

This sounds brilliant, too many files on my computer it’s getting out of hand."

Yes it is and very useful but lets keep that our little secret shall we 🙂

BTW Those 'unused' files can come in handy sometimes if things turn pear shaped - they aren't always the curse people think they are!

"More importantly I need to combine these two sessions together and presume there is no facility for you to do this Adobe as well."
As I recall AA1.5 has the facility to 'append' other AA1.5 sessions.

This sounds brilliant I will look into this straight away, I am praying I can combine these two sessions together. Does appending keep all the projects points and audio levels with Envelopes inside the Multi track view?"

Yes AA1.5's append does that as I recall as does AATranslator for non AA1.5 projects.

"Didnt like AA2."

Neither did I but I love AA3.

"Could I therefore save the sessions into AA3 and then use AAtranslator to combine them both and then use these files back into AA1.5."

If you are happy with AA1.5 stay there but there are significant benefits to using AA3 - try the demos that's what they are there for.

No I haven't written a convert to AA1.5 - its on my list but Adobe certainly doesn't need me encouraging users to stay in AA1.5 🙂

Report · Jul 19, 2009

Suite Spot wrote:

"Could I therefore save the sessions into AA3 and then use AAtranslator to combine them both and then use these files back into AA1.5."
If you are happy with AA1.5 stay there but there are significant benefits to using AA3 - try the demos that's what they are there for.
No I haven't written a convert to AA1.5 - its on my list but Adobe certainly doesn't need me encouraging users to stay in AA1.5 🙂

The major problem with taking a session back to 1.5 is that there is a load of stuff that you might have used in 3.0 that simply isn't in it. So apart from clip timing perhaps, you might just as well start over with a new session and the raw files, for all the extra work you will have to do anyway.

Report · Jul 19, 2009

I unintentionally opened a 3.0 file with 1.5. While it DID open, it had similar attributes to the movie character Andre Delambre after the material recomposition experiment went awry....

I'm with SuiteSpot on this one - having been an avid 1.5 user and 2.0 headshaker, I am a total convert to 3.0.1 and have not opened 1.5 in months (2.0 is GONE from the machines!!!)

--Dean

Report · Jul 19, 2009

SteveG is corerect in that converting back to AA1.5 from AA3 is a backward step and there are things which cannot be converted.

But to clarify if I was to write an export to AA1.5 (which is not that hard) it would certainly not be for the purpose of encouraging the use of AA1.5 but rather for those needing to specifically convert from other DAWs to AA1.5.

Report · Jul 22, 2009

It is clear that our abilities lay in analysis, design, programming & testing and not marketing or sales.
We think that AATranslator is a pretty good program. Sure its not perfect very few are (except maybe MediaSweeper) and for sure things are tough out there yet we still want everyone to be able to experience this application.
So before we move too much further down the ProTools conversion path and in the spirit of 'give a bit get a bit' we have decided to drop the price to $39USD!

But being good guys we have not only dropped the price but have offered all existing buyers of AATranslator a refund of the difference in their purchase price.

I don't think we could be any fairer than that!

While AATranslator makes no claims to converting everything it does do quiet a lot!

So download a copy, try it and then support us in supporting you.

http://www.aatranslator.com.au

Report · Aug 03, 2009

Its a bit premature but we have just successfully converted a ProTools v5 session file to Reaper, Audition, Samplitude, Vegas, etc,etc

For those interested an AATransalator version with PT support is not far away.

Report · Aug 03, 2009

WhoooHooo!! That is some WORK, there, mate!! (Not that I use ProFoolz, but what a great notch in your belt!)

--Dean

Report · Aug 06, 2009

Thanks for that Dean 🙂

Just an update.

An updated user documentation has been uploaded which covers the latest (v1.3) release.

PT5 is almost there and the first PT release will include a facility to import PT5 session files.

We do need more PT5 session files in order to expand our test bed. If anyone has some it would be appreciated........

It's probably only fair to let everyone know that with the PT release there may be a small price rise (still much cheaper than the opposition products of $800 & $500). Existing purchases at the time of release will naturally receive the upgrade for free.

Be advised.

Report · Aug 19, 2009

Its been a while but we now are confident that we can effectively convert a ProTools v5 session to Audition, Reaper, Samplitude, Vegas, Cubase, Nuendo, etc, etc, etc.

We are doing some last minute testing as well as looking at sessions containing video and also 'PlayLists'

Not long now before we do another release.

Be warned anything connected with the word 'ProTools' demands an automatic increase in price and AAtranslator will be no exception.

Anyway, we will get this out very soon and then we will start on the export to PT, then Acid, Sonar, etc, etc

Report · Aug 19, 2009

Haven't bought mine yet, but I must say... That is one cool software tool

Report · Aug 19, 2009

Now that I think about it... You could actually integrate this into Audition through the use of SES reader/writer plug-ins. You could then use AATranslator for other applications or just simply use Audition to import/export into the correct format...

But I guess that is something you'd want to do in the full version only

Report · Aug 19, 2009

My brain hurts just thinking about writing plug-ins 🙂

Those Audition guys write some pretty good code so no need to bring it down with my stuff 🙂

I have decoded the SES format (v1.5 to v3) so when I get around to it I'll write the function to read & write using the native SES file.

Thanks for the interest

BTW This has to be one of my favourite testimonials...

http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php?p=360356&postcount=22

Report · Aug 20, 2009

Yes... This software is great and as long as you keep it within a reasonable price range I'm sure you'll have the edge on the competition...

I remember that other software and then how I freaked out when I discovered how much it actually cost. "Outrageous" I think were my exact words...