Audio Exports ignore Flow selections?

Another “this seems like a bug, or else I’m missing something” post:

Setup: Dorico 1.1 for Mac

Steps to repro:

  1. Create project with multiple flows
  2. File > Export > Audio…
  3. Select a subset of the available flows
  4. Click “OK” to export

Expected Result:
Dorico should create a WAV that only includes the selected flows, or should create separate WAVs for each flow.

Actual Result:
Dorico exports one giant WAV including all flows, regardless of which flows were selected in the dialog box.

Bonus: I’ve got 20+ minutes of music in this project so far, so each export of audio seems to take about that long, and creates a 200+ MB file. During export, Dorico seems tied up and pinwheels, seems the only way to cancel the export is to force-quit Dorico. The same behavior reproduces on multiple projects for me.

Let me know if there’s any helpful diag info I can capture. Cheers!

I’ve experienced that too (macOS 10.12.5) - even empty (albeit, having certain number of bars with time signatures) placeholder flow is included in the exported wav file despite being unchecked.
Also, exporting audio takes almost as long as the music’s real time duration. Is that expected? (No negative/complaining connotation is meant :slight_smile:
IB

Sorry for the delay in replying to this one: it is as designed that exporting audio will export all flows into the same audio file at the moment. In due course I expect we will add options to export each flow as a separate audio file.

I can’t speak to the speed of the audio export process, but I will ask Ulf and Paul about that.

And one more thing regarding exporting Audio.
I’ve noticed that no matter what panning of the two instruments (and the only ones) you set in Mixer, the exported wav file ignores that completely - both channels feature both instruments pretty much equally.
Am I missing some control(s) in the Mixer?
IB

Thanks Daniel! Just one further clarification: Is it also expected that all flows should be included in the exported WAV file, regardless of which flows are checked or unchecked in the “Export > Audio > Select flows to export” dialog box? I confess, it’s not obvious to me what other purpose those boxes would have, if that’s the case.

No, I would say that bit qualifies as a bug :slight_smile:

Got it, thanks Daniel :slight_smile:

Not to belabor the point, but this particular bug makes the Audio Export feature pretty painful to use on larger projects currently. For example, what should be a relatively quick task (exporting 2 of 16 flows in audio format, in a couple different keys each) instead takes well over an hour, in order to:

  1. Export the entire project, ~45 mins long (and takes around ~30 mins to export)
  2. Slice out the relevant sections using a separate program
  3. Transpose the flows to a different key
  4. Export the entire project again (and go eat lunch in the meantime)
  5. Again slice up the new files to get the relevant sections

And of course, if you discover that something was wrong with one of the exports (i.e. Halion for some reason wasn’t properly initialized, even though it was open and responding to some input), then you get to tack on one more cycle (as I just did).

I know you guys have a million priorities you’re juggling, but I just wanted to be transparent about the impact of this particular bug so you all can prioritize effectively. Cheers, and as always, thanks for a magnificent product!

Matt, I haz a workaround:
Export the flows you want first. Not as audio. Just as separate files. Just File>Export>Flows.
Then open each of those in turn and export to audio.

Any good?

Clever idea! I’m past this particular task the long way, but seems like that would work for the next time around.

Thanks!

I am not sure that is exactly what is happening. It seems to me that I exported audio from a file:

  • 2 flows
  • Only one of the flows selected

And the result was a WAV file that had the first flow as expected, followed by several minutes of SILENCE where the second flow would have been.

Either way, it isn’t ideal, but I was going to take that file into a mastering program anyway, where it can easily be trimmed.

Yes, that’s what 2.0 does, but the forthcoming update will handle this more elegantly, and indeed will allow you to export each flow as a separate audio file (and even export each player from each flow as its own audio file as well, effectively allowing you to export stems that can be dragged and dropped en masse into a DAW).

Normally I would want to take MIDI to the DAW for the maximum control, but this is a really nice option for a quick mix in cases where you want to do a bit more mixing than Dorico is capable of. For example, on my current project, I do have a recorded vocal track (from video) and it would be handy to apply automation to the vocal, and also use side-chaining to duck the band under the vocal. Likewise with an instrumental solo.