Specifications

Pro Tools Reference Guide398
WAV File Compatibility
Convert Imported WAV files to
AES31/BroadcastWave
Pro Tools always creates AES31/Broadcast com-
pliant BWF (.wav) files when the file originates in
Pro Tools. Non-BWF .wav files can be added to
BWF (WAV) format Pro Tools sessions without
conversion. This option ensures that all WAV files
are imported, and if necessary, converted to BWF
(WAV), compliant with the AES31/EBU Broad-
cast standard.
AES31/Broadcast Wave is a variant of the stan-
dard audio WAV file type. The AES31 format con-
tains SMPTE time stamps and other information
beyond the raw PCM audio data.
This variant complies with standards set by the
AES (Audio Engineering Society) and EBU (Eu-
ropean Broadcasters Union). Choose this option to
ensure compatibility with other workstations that
recognize this file type.
To make imported WAV files compliant with the
AES31/EBU Broadcast standard:
1 Choose Setup > Preferences and click the Pro-
cessing
tab.
2 Select the Convert Imported “.wav” Files to
AES31/BroadcastWave
option.
3 Click OK.
WAVE Extensible File Format
Pro Tools 10 supports the WAVE Extensible file
format for audio files. This file format specifies
multiple audio channel data (surround sound)
along with speaker positions, which is stored
within the audio file header. These audio files are
identified in DigiBase browsers with the designa-
tion “WAV (BWF EXT)” in the Attributes field.
If you are working with greater-than-stereo multi-
channel track formats in your Pro Tools sessions, it
is recommended that you use the WAV file format.
RF64
Pro Tools 10 supports the RF64 audio file format.
RF64 is an extension to the WAV audio file format
that addresses the 4 gigabyte size limitation of
other WAV audio file formats. RF64 audio files
are identified in DigiBase browsers with the desig-
nation “MBWF” in the Attributes field.
When using the WAV file format in Pro Tools
10 sessions, the corresponding channel order
for each channel of greater-than-stereo, inter-
leaved multichannel files is displayed in the
Clip List.
Lower versions of Pro Tools cannot read
RF64 files. These files have to be manually ed-
ited and consolidated so that they are no
larger than 4 GB in order to be available to
systems running lower versions of Pro Tools.