User`s guide

Pro Tools Reference Guide318
When you select this format, the Resolu-
tion and Sample Rate pop-up menus in the
Pro Tools Output Options dialog are un-
available, because resolution and sample
rate are set by the encoder.
When you export or bounce to MP3 for-
mat, you can set the following options:
Encoding Quality Determines the audio
quality of the bounced file. The higher the
quality, the longer it will take to process
the audio. The three options, in ascending
order of quality, are Fastest Encoding, Me-
dium Encoding, and Highest Quality.
The Highest Quality setting can take up to
five times longer to process audio than the
Fastest Encoding setting, so you should use
it only when the highest fidelity is essential
and you have a considerable amount of
time to devote to the encoding process.
You should experiment with the other en-
coding quality settings, since they can pro-
vide acceptable quality with a significantly
shorter encoding time.
Encoding Method Two encoding methods
are available:
◆ Constant Bit Rate (CBR) encodes the file
at a single bit rate that you choose from the
CBR pop-up menu. Because the bit rate is
fixed, the quality of the encoded audio will
vary depending on the nature of the mate-
rial being compressed. This option is best
for streaming over the Internet, since it has
predictable bandwidth requirements.
◆ Variable Bit Rate (VBR) encodes the file at
a varying bit rate to maintain the level of
encoding quality you choose from the VBR
pop-up menu. The bit rate varies automat-
ically depending on the nature of the ma-
terial being compressed. This option is best
for personal jukebox applications.
ID3 Tag Type The ID3 tag stores data about
the encoded audio file that is used by MP3
players to display information about the
file. Pro Tools supports three versions of
this tag, in order to provide backward com-
patibility with older MP3 players:
◆ ID3 v1.0: Appears at the end of a stream-
ing MP3 file, so tag information is only dis-
played when streaming is finished.
◆ ID3 v1.1: Same as version 1.0 but adds
track number information to the tag.
◆ ID3 v2.3: Appears at the front of a
streaming MP3 file, so tag information is
displayed when streaming begins.
▲ While ID3 v2.3 is becoming the standard
MP3 format, not all MP3 players currently sup-
port ID3 v2.3. Contact the developer of your
player software for compatibility information.
ID3 Tag Information
Type the title, artist,
and other information for the MP3 file.
This information is displayed by many
MP3 players.
MP3 Output Options