How to export without the _01 suffix.

Report · Dec 13, 2018

Hi, I'm using Audition CC 11, in the "Audio File" mode. I want to do something that I think should be really simple, which is to save a copy of the current WAV file I am working on as an MP3. The best way I've found to do that is File > Export > File, but that defaults to appending a "_01" suffix to the file name of the MP3 file. For example, if the file I am working on is "Song.WAV" and I export, I get "Song_01.mp3".

I really it's easy to rename manually but I do this often and would rather save a step. I'm also wondering if maybe I'm missing something about what the export feature is designed for (i.e., what is the use case where you'd want the _01) and if there's a better way to do what I want?

Thanks!

Report · Dec 13, 2018

marcs12042908 wrote
I really it's easy to rename manually but I do this often and would rather save a step. I'm also wondering if maybe I'm missing something about what the export feature is designed for (i.e., what is the use case where you'd want the _01) and if there's a better way to do what I want?

Yes there is - use Save As. Your MP3 will then save with exactly what it says in the file line:

Just use the Browse and Change options to select exactly what you want.

Report · Dec 13, 2018

I know about Save As, but that's not really what I want either. The idea is to save the file as a copy without changing the "active" format the file is getting saved in to a lossy format, so that when I close the file it's still going to be saved as WAV file by default. It seems to me that that's what Export > File is for, but I don't get why it adds the prefix.

Report · Dec 14, 2018

marcs12042908 wrote
I know about Save As, but that's not really what I want either. The idea is to save the file as a copy without changing the "active" format the file is getting saved in to a lossy format, so that when I close the file it's still going to be saved as WAV file by default. It seems to me that that's what Export > File is for, but I don't get why it adds the prefix.

Er, no... the whole point of Save As is that it doesn't touch your original wav file. It saves another copy in the format you choose. After you've saved your original, you don't get the 'Save' option any more - because that copy's safe. Any other save you do in a different format - which is why Save As is there - will have a different extension, even if it has the same file name, so the original is retained. If you try to use Save As to save another copy with the same extension and the same name, you'll trigger the 'already exists' warning.

If you have a wav file open and you save it, it will automatically save as a wav file unless you go out of your way to change this, and you'd have to do it each time. If you go to Save As and change the file type to the one you want - like MP3 - then you'll find that the MP3 settings that are remembered are the last ones you used.

As for the export function - I think that exporting single files was only added for the sake of completeness. Generally the other categories in the Export list are the ones it's really there for, as there isn't any other easy way of carrying them out.

Report · Dec 15, 2018

I understand how Save As works. The problem is that once I Save As in MP3 format, if I make more changes to the file and Save again, then it will save my changes to the MP3 and not the WAV - that's what I mean but it changes the "active" file, it's what's active in the application. I suppose at that point I could do another Save As as WAV again, and maybe that's the best solution. My concern is that in all my years of using different software I'm used to just using "Ctrl-S" to save and it would be too easy to forget that I Saved As an MP3 at some point in my work and so my subsequent changes end up in the lossy format.

To put it in the context, the case is that I might want to send someone an MP3 of what I'm working on (because the WAV file is too big) but I still want to keep working on the WAV file. Photoshop has an "As A Copy" checkbox in the Save As dialog that does exactly what I want, so it seemed like I should be able to do something similar in Audition, but maybe not.

Report · Dec 16, 2018

I can see your concern at using the Save As method. Bit in any case does it matter that it has _01 appended? Surely it indicates that it isn't the necessarily the final proper version of the audio file?

Report · Dec 16, 2018

marcs12042908 wrote
I understand how Save As works. The problem is that once I Save As in MP3 format, if I make more changes to the file and Save again, then it will save my changes to the MP3 and not the WAV - that's what I mean but it changes the "active" file, it's what's active in the application. I suppose at that point I could do another Save As as WAV again, and maybe that's the best solution.

Ah, I see your problem - but actually you shouldn't use that as a solution, because you will end up re-saving an already compressed file. You have to re-open the original if you're going to do that, or you will introduce even more losses into your final MP3. Not only that, but then your master wav file won't represent the distribution copy...

On the one hand, yes it's technically correct that it's the active file. But on the other hand, did you ask it to close your original file when you did the 'save as'? No you didn't, so I'd say that should still be in the 'open files' list after you've done a 'save as', because effectively the 'save as' file is a new file. And either they should both be open, or just the original file and not the MP3 copy. Why? You only asked it to save the MP3 - you didn't ask for it to be opened.

I don't know what chance there is of changing this behaviour, but I'll put it forward as a suggestion, with reference to this thread.

Report · Dec 16, 2018

SteveG(AudioMasters) wrote
I don't know what chance there is of changing this behaviour, but I'll put it forward as a suggestion, with reference to this thread.

This is now done...