User manual DIGITAL JUICE STACKTRAXX

[. . . ] D I G I T A L J U I C E StackTraxx USER'S GUIDE StackTraxx User's Guide M U LT I -T R A C K D I G I TA L M U S I C Inside Cuts with Creativity . . 10 StackTraxx as Conventional Buyout Music . . 10 To render out a full mix from the Juicer . . 11 To render out a remixed file from the Juicer . [. . . ] For most applications, you'll select either 44 kHz (default) or 48 kHz. You'll use 44 kHz for most projects (since that is the native format of the source files), but especially for those that will be distributed on CD-audio. 48 kHz is a good choice for DVD projects, although the higher sample rate will not result in any improvement in quality. Your DVD editing software should handle the upsample from 44 kHz automatically, anyhow. In other words, 44 kHz is almost always fine for DVD projects (upsampling errors will be obvious by the increased "chipmunk" pitch). Finally, settings below 44 kHz might be appropriate for projects that you know you are going to eventually compress for distribution on the Internet, but, once again, any editing software worth using should handle this downsampling automatically any. The short answer: the 44 kHz default is the right setting in most situations. Channels--There are two channel options: mono and stereo (default). Sample Width--The Sample Width is the bit depth of the individual samples. 16-bit samples are the default for CDaudio, DVD-video and many other standards, such as DV video and StackTraxx. You can select 8-bit in order to Figure 8: The Settings tab determines the physical format of the media that the Juicer produces. 22 | DIGITAL JUICE | USER'S GUIDE | STACKTRAXX StackTraxx User's Guide Settings Tab (continued) create 50% smaller files, but your editing software should handle this for you when you render. You will suffer a significant quality hit when selecting this option. Normalize--Normalization is an audio tool that maximizes the overall volume without creating distortion, making a mix louder. Normalization is not necessary (or available) when you are splitting StackTraxx into the component parts ("Split into Tracks" on the Output tab), since you will perform your own mix in your editing software. File Size and Format Since StackTraxx are rendered out of the Juicer in an uncompressed PCM format, the size of the resulting file (or files) the Juicer outputs is entirely determined by the options you select on the Settings tab and the inherent length of the selected track. The equation is: (duration * Rate * Sample Width * Channels)/8 = rendered file size (MB). Since there are 8 bits in a byte, we divide the entire equation by 8 to get the final file size. So, for a 10-second StackTraxx file we get: (10 seconds * 44, 100 Hz * 16 bit * 2 channels)/8 = 1. 764 MB Since this equation applies no matter how many instruments (tracks) are mixed into the final file (or files), you need to multiply this number by the number of tracks you are rendering out of the Juicer. In other words, if you are splitting the mix into five different tracks, you need to multiply by 5 to get the total disk space required. In our example, this means you would need about 7-12 MB of space to get the 4-7 separate tracks in a ten-second cut from a StackTraxx song. USER'S GUIDE | STACKTRAXX | DIGITAL JUICE | 23 Output Tab All of these variables are set on the Output tab at the bottom of the Batch Window (Figure 9): Save Location--This is the location where the Juicer will save the rendered files. Save Name--This is the name of the rendered file or the base name for multiple files. Split into Tracks--Select this option to divide a StackTraxx song up into its component parts. All tracks that are selected on the Effects tab will be rendered. Figure 9: The Output tab determines the location and name of the files the Juicer outputs. Split i n t o T r a c k s The core feature of StackTraxx is the ability to separate the component parts out of the song and let you mix them yourself. [. . . ] codec--A codec (COmpressor/DECompressor) encodes digital media on a computer. There are many different codecs that can be used for high-quality archiving or for highly-compressed distribution on the Internet. WAV or AIFF) wrappers are distinct from the internal codec used to compress the video or audio. StackTraxx are output from the Juicer in an uncompressed PCM encoding format. 40 | DIGITAL JUICE | USER'S GUIDE | STACKTRAXX StackTraxx User's Guide Glossary (continued) Juice Drops--Juice Drops are layered Photoshop still image (*. psd) graphical elements for print, presentations and video. [. . . ]