Transferring via flashdrive

[Melanie]

I'm completely new using Audacity. My friend and I are doing a project, called NHD and have to make a 10 minute documentary. We're using Audacity to do a voice over. We're recording at my friends house, then saving it on a flash drive and then syncing it with Windows Movie Maker at my house. The problem is that when I open the project, which worked perfectly at the other house, it doesn't work here. It takes a long time to play once the play button is pushed, and when it finally does start to play back, the voice is jagged and it sounds like it's skipping. It does that for about 10 seconds, then it's silent, though the cursor indicating where the time is still move. Then a couple minutes later, it picks up where the voice left off. So the cursor would be at 3 minutes while my voice is at 15 seconds. Any suggestions?

[stearman65]

Hi Melanie
Check http://www.guidesandtutorials.com/audac ... orial.html
Are you actually exporting your file? not just saving it. Go to File, Export as, MP3 or WAV or OGG, whichever your MS software requires.
Stearman65

[Melanie]

So I can't just save it onto a flashdrive, I have to export it?

[kozikowski]

Audacity isn't, as one user put it, a "WAV Editor." It's an Editorial Production Environment Manager. As such, it's main output during SAVE is an Editorial Production Environment (Project), not a sound file. To get a sound file, you have to Manage the Saved Environment to Export one.

No, I'm not joking.

Koz

[stearman65]

So I can't just save it onto a flashdrive, I have to export it?

Yes!!!!!
Record your track, when complete, go to file save as, and save onto your computer. Then go back to file, export as WAV, or MP3 etc. onto your computer. Then you will have an MP3 or WAV icon containing your recording, the WAV file will be 5 times bigger than the MP3. Then copy the Wav & MP3 files onto your memory stick. Then you can read/play them on a second computer and put one or the other, not both into your MS software.
Yachtsman1

[kozikowski]

<<<the WAV file will be 5 times bigger than the MP3.>>>

If you set it up that way. WAV files are excellent quality and stable but large and don't change in size. MP3 is a compressed format that can damage the show. Both the compression (file size) and damage are adjustable in Edit > Preferences > File Formats > MP3 Export Setup. Small file sizes start sounding bubbly and mushy.

Audacity Saved Projects can be moved and there's a wiki on how to do it, but the computer at the other end has to have matching software and it's easy to mess up the show.

Exported WAV files and MP3s will open up anywhere. If you don't need exotic collaborative editing at both ends, far better to Export.

Koz

[wellsradio]

We are also have a similar problem. Someone is sending us audio from a PC. We're using a Mac. We've tried having them send us an MP3 and a WAV file, but all we are getting is garbled audio. We've tried having them send it to us via email, and via a flashdrive. Since they are an hour away, it's not convenient to keep doing it by flashdrive! We had them send us an Audacity file, but they didn't know to send the whole data folder, which is how I found this forum topic. We have been using an older version of Audacity, but just upgraded today to the beta version, still no joy. Oh, and we've tried opening these MP3 and WAV files in iTunes and iMovie, and they are garbled there as well, so I'm pretty sure it is not Audacity.

Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Carol

[kozikowski]

<<<Someone is sending us audio from a PC. We're using a Mac.>>>

You're the one!

Just kidding. That's how I do it. I record a corporate meeting on a linux machine and prepare it for playback on one of the production people's Windows PCs. Then I record some additional material on my PowerBook and send that to him as well. Both WAV and MP3. Slicker 'n snail slime.

Audacity defaults to the WAV format because literally anybody can open them across all three computer platforms. We would have rather they didn't default to 32-bit floating because that can get you into trouble, but if you change that to 16-bit 44100 Stereo, y'all should be good to go for interchangibility.

Now, if you are the mid-point in a complex production, I would probably stick with the 32-bit thing if you can.

There is a really short list of people that have managed to send an Audacity Project to somebody successfully. They're celebrities.

What are they doing? Exactly what is the show and how are they producing it? Which Windows and which Audacity--all three numbers (e.g. 1.2.6) Audacity has a nasty characteristic of opening up files it has no business opening and then pushing them back out the door so badly damaged that they're unrecognizable--and all the while the editor human thinks everything is OK.

The "should we post it or mail it" thing is pretty common. Each person gets to decide where the break point is. Like if the file goes over 10MB, it's going by portable hard drive and FedEx. And speaking of posting, can you push some of the garbled work up onto a server somewhere so we can look at it?

Let's see. You're on the Mac. What happens if you Open With... and pick QuickTime Player? Does that play it? Apple-I to get the INFO panel and see what that says.

Koz