PT9 - Sorting audio files by bit depth

[casual-p]

Hi people,

I hope this is in the right section, I've had a search but nothing relevant came up.

I am trying to import a large amount of audio into PT9 to allow my AAC file to function properly - the problem is I have been given a bin full of a mixture of 16 bit and 24 bit files (wav and aif.) I only want to convert and import my 16 bit files into my 24 bit session but I cannot find a way of sorting the files by bit depth? We have tried importing all the mixed bit depth files but there are too many for the system to handle and it inevitably crashes - at the moment we have resorted to adding them all in small amounts which at this rate will take an absolute age!

One way I had thought of combating this (if there isn't a way to do it on PT that I don't know about) is to use an audio editor that only supports 16 bit audio and use its internal browser to put those 16 bit audio files into a sub-folder in our master bin so I can just import those into PT. The problem with this is I can't think of a suitable program to do this with!

Any help and advice would be much appreciated, please forgive me if I've used any incorrect terminology or I've been unclear - it's my second week in this exciting industry and I've got a lot to learn!

Thanks

[UnderTow]

If you have Windows, right click in Windows Explorer at the top of the Folder Explorer and turn on the bit rate tab. Click on it to sort by bit rate.

This won't tell you the bit depth itself but assuming all your files are stereo and the same sample rate, it will be immediately clear which ones are 16 and which are 24 bit.

I personally wouldn't use Pro Tools to convert many files. I would use SoX - Sound eXchange | HomePage and create a little batch script:

@ECHO OFF
rem cd %~dp0
cd %cd%
IF NOT EXIST converted MKDIR converted
FOR %%A IN (%*) DO mkdir "%%~dpAconverted"  & sox -D -b 24 -V4 -S %%A "%%~dpAconverted\%%~nA%%~xA"
pause

Put the above in a file in the SoX install directory and call it 24bit.bat. Create a short-cut (Right click the batch script in Explorer and select create short-cut). Put the short-cut on your desktop. Then all you need to do is select all your files and drag and drop them onto the short-cut. A directory called "converted" will be created in the directory where the files come from and all files will be converted to 24 bits. (The ones that are already 24 bit will be copied to the converted directory but left unchanged).

On a Mac, you can also install SoX and create a shell script. Something like

convert_24bit.sh

SOX=/usr/bin/src/sox

if [ $# -lt 2 ]; then
  echo "Usage: $0 input-dir output-dir"
  exit 1
fi

`mkdir "$2"`
filelist=`ls "$2"`

for i in $filelist; do
    $SOX -D -b 24 "$1""$i" "$2/$i"
done

Replace the right path in the first line (If that isn't where it is installed). Make the file executable with "chmod 755 convert_24bit.sh". Then you can can execute it like: ./convert_24bit.sh <source directory> <destination directory>

But this is off the top of my head as I am not near a Mac to test the exact syntax. (And I haven't written a shell script in years!) There is a very good chance it won't work without a bit of tweaking.

Sorry if this is all way too technical. :-D The alternative would be to use something like Wavelab that has good batch processing tools. The Batch file convert Window in Wavelab will do it all for you in less than 10 clicks!

Alistair

[casual-p]

Thanks very much for your reply, that was really helpful.

[insomaniac]

You may also be able to do this in the workspace. Just navigate to the folder, then arrange the list by Bit Depth.

[casual-p]

Originally Posted by insomaniac

You may also be able to do this in the workspace. Just navigate to the folder, then arrange the list by Bit Depth.

Perfect! Thanks