SAVE/EXPORT FILE FORMATS

Wave / MP3 / MIDI (*.WAV; *.MP3, *.MID)

Choosing to export/save to any of these files formats (Wave, MP3, MIDI) opens the Rendering dialog. Wave files and MP3 files export the whole audio output of your song.

This does NOT include any sound produced by MIDI! To export MIDI data, you can export to a MIDI file format instead.

1. Info

Shows information about the current project.

• Mode - Shows if FL Studio is in Song or Pattern mode.
• Total Time - Shows total time length of the song to be exported.
• Disk Space - Shows the amount of disk space required to export wave and mp3 files (includes sizes only of checked file types in Output panel)
• Bar# - Shows the current rendered bar and the total number of bars to render (current/total).

2. Looping Mode

Sets the looping mode. Applies only to wave and mp3 files. If after rendering the last bar from the song there is still a sound decaying, this option sets how should proceed FL Studio.

• Cut Remainder - Cuts any decaying sound after the last bar was rendered.
• Leave Remainder - Expands song's length to fit the remainder.
• Wrap Remainder - Wraps any decaying sound in the beginning of the song (useful when rendering songs that will be looped).

3. Quality

Sets the quality of the rendered wave output. NOTE: To specify the interpolation method to be used for real-time playback, adjust your Audio Settings.

• Sample Interpolation - Sets the interpolation method used in Sampler/Audio-Clip channels when exporting to wave/mp3. Interpolation is the process of 'inventing' sample amplitude data between any two known sample points (filling in the gaps). This is required when samples are transposed from their original pitch and the program calls for a sample out of sync with the source data-points. In other words, the program must interpolate between the last and next known volume levels. FL Studio provides several methods -
  • Linear interpolation is the quickest method by providing basic linear averaging between samples, however this may result in aliasing (high frequency noises) when samples are transposed far from their original pitch.
  • 6-point Hermite has been optimized to be the fast and of superior quality to linear interpolation, it is a good choice for exporting 'working drafts' of your audio files.
  • 64, 128, 256, 512-point Sinc methods provide, increasingly, the highest quality interpolation, but they are also very slow. We recommended that you use at least 64-point Sync on your final render, or better still, the highest Sync number that you are prepared to wait to finish rendering.
• Dithering - Applies 32->16bit dithering to 16 bit wave files and mp3 files.
• Alias-free TS404 - Prevents TS404's "aliasing" when turned on, but also slows down the rendering.
• HQ for all plugins - Sets high quality mode for any plugins (effects and generators) used in the song.
• Disable Max Poly - Ignores the max poly setting in Miscellaneous Channel Settings. However it will NOT ignore whether you checked the Mono option.

4. Output

Sets what files should FL Studio output when rendering. You can render to more than one type simultaneously as shown in the picture above.

5. Wave

Contains a drop-down menu to set the bit depth of the exported wave file. You can choose standard 16bit wave file, or two types of 32bit wave output (provides more precise editing in wave editors that support 32 bit wave files, however it's likely that you would not be able to play the file in an audio player). 32bit float (0.24) is the native format of FL Studio'mixer engine, while 32bit float (16.8) is the native format of Adobe Audition® (also known as Cool Edit®).

CD format: If you want to create audio files compatible with CD format use 44.1 kHz, 16-bit WAV files. Check that the Mixer sample-rate is set to 44.1 kHz in the Audio Settings window. Also note that FL Studio does not burn to CD format, it creates audio files ready for burning. Use any 3rd party CD burning program to create the audio CD.

5. MP3

Sets the bit rate of the MP3 file exported. As bit rate increases the sound quality of the MP3 improves, however this is at the expense of file size.

What bit-rate is best?: 64 kb/s (or less) is a good bit-rate for internet demo tracks where you’d like people to hear your music without obtaining a quality copy. 128 kb/s is excellent for web streaming and e-mailing music files, although some artifacts will be audible it is about the point where acceptable ‘listening’ quality starts. 160 kb/s is the rate where it becomes difficult for many listeners to distinguish CD from MP3 and so makes a good setting for most distribution and listening purposes. Above 224 kb/s and MP3 becomes practically indistinguishable from CD and so these rates can be handy when collaborating over the Internet and you need to share audio files that may be impractical in WAV format (1400 kb/s). However, where possible it is recommended to use at least 16-bit WAV format for sharing raw audio in a production environment.

6. Options

• Split Mixer Tracks - When selected, each Mixer track in the project is exported as a separate .wav file. Note: this option does not export to .mp3 format.
• Save ACIDized - Saves additional information in the wave file that is read when using the rendered loop in Sound Foundry Acid (TM).
• Save Slice Markers - If enabled, every note creates a slice marker in the exported file. This means that FL Studio can now export sliced drumloops automatically, ready for slice reordering and high quality time stretching.

7. Rendering Buttons

• Background Rendering - Minimizes and renders in background mode allowing you to work on other Windows applications.
• Start - Starts Rendering. Changes to Abort once rendering is underway.