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SOLIDAge · Jan 8, 2004, 07:41 PM

How does Garageband save files?

Heres my thought. A really cool feature would be to able to make some great tunes then send it over to a buddy so he can add something too it as well...digital collaboration!

Now are there temp files? or whats the deal? is it all inside the saved file? has anyone here played with it at MacWorld and can tell us anything about the file format or what they've read?

thanks!

sandsl · Jan 8, 2004, 08:27 PM

I would have thought it works the same as iDVD and iMovie work - it saves a project file with dependancies (eg. recorded vocal track) included. Garageband can then export, or 'Share' the composed music track as mp3 etc.

SOLIDAge · Jan 9, 2004, 12:21 AM

Originally posted by sandsl:
I would have thought it works the same as iDVD and iMovie work - it saves a project file with dependancies (eg. recorded vocal track) included. Garageband can then export, or 'Share' the composed music track as mp3 etc.

right, but it can only export the final project, i want it to be able to "package" almost? i don't know if thats even how it'll work!
i just want to be able to send a 1/2 done song to my friend, he adds a track, sends back to me, i send to another guy for another track etc...that'd be awesome.

waffffffle · Jan 9, 2004, 02:35 AM

Imagine rendezvous collaboration....

Although then again that might be useless considering the fact that if 2 musicians are on the same subnet they are probably pretty close to eachother. Internet collaboration would be a lot cooler.

Spheric Harlot · Jan 9, 2004, 04:52 AM

If you're going to be doing actual audio recording (not just using the preset loops and the internal virtual instruments), do remember that one minute of mono sound at CD resolution (44kHz/16bits) takes about FIVE MEGABYTES of storage.

So if you're going to be sending a four-minute song about, with just four audio tracks, that's already going to be 80MB.

Not really practical via the net, yet.

-s*

scottiB · Jan 9, 2004, 09:45 AM

I read (sorry I can't recall where--too many sites lately) that GB only exports to the iTunes Music Library as an AIFF file. From there you can pluck it and transcode it. No multitracks.

SOLIDAge · Jan 9, 2004, 10:06 AM

Originally posted by scottiB:
I read (sorry I can't recall where--too many sites lately) that GB only exports to the iTunes Music Library as an AIFF file. From there you can pluck it and transcode it. No multitracks.

Actaully i believe said in his Keynote that they export to Quicktime 6 format.

york28 · Jan 9, 2004, 02:28 PM

I read at another forum that GB projects are saved as packages, inside of which you can get at the individual audio files. Sound like a good arrangement to me.

SOLIDAge · Jan 10, 2004, 09:30 PM

from Apple.com discussion

Anything you record as regular audio is placed inside the .band package file that is your GB project. It'll get REALLY BIG if you record a lot of stuff yourself. If you stick to loops and midi input, then as long as you both have ST installed, you'll already have the instruments and loops. so your files will be small.

killer_735 · Jan 12, 2004, 01:10 AM

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
If you're going to be doing actual audio recording (not just using the preset loops and the internal virtual instruments), do remember that one minute of mono sound at CD resolution (44kHz/16bits) takes about FIVE MEGABYTES of storage.

So if you're going to be sending a four-minute song about, with just four audio tracks, that's already going to be 80MB.

Not really practical via the net, yet.

-s*

Awww, c'mon. Ever check the sharing tab in Network settings? OSX has a built in FTP server, and if that's not enough, you could also do it with SSH. EIghty or even a hundred megs is not that big a file these days. Unless of course, you're on dial-up, in which case let me know so I can light a candle for you and pray that the networking gods see fit to get you some decent bandwidth.

Can yeh hear me all the way back in 1995?
; )

Spheric Harlot · Jan 12, 2004, 07:21 AM

Originally posted by killer_735:
Awww, c'mon. Ever check the sharing tab in Network settings? OSX has a built in FTP server, and if that's not enough, you could also do it with SSH. EIghty or even a hundred megs is not that big a file these days. Unless of course, you're on dial-up, in which case let me know so I can light a candle for you and pray that the networking gods see fit to get you some decent bandwidth.

Can yeh hear me all the way back in 1995?
; )

That's good and all, and I do have a 2Mb/192kb DSL line, but, Mr. 1995, a good 80% of the internet is still on dial-up at this time.

And those 80MB were for a four-track, four-minute song.

GarageBand does 64 tracks.

-s*

SOLIDAge · Jan 12, 2004, 09:51 AM

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
That's good and all, and I do have a 2Mb/192kb DSL line, but, Mr. 1995, a good 80% of the internet is still on dial-up at this time.

And those 80MB were for a four-track, four-minute song.

GarageBand does 64 tracks.

-s*

right, but those 4 tracks have to be recorded inorder for it to be a HUGE file like that.

Think about it, if myself and my friend have the same program why would it package the loops with it? that doesn't make any sense, so i'm thinking the only physical audio files within a package like that would be imported ones.

memento · Jan 12, 2004, 01:36 PM

I would think that you could share the .band project file. I used to do this with midi files because my band was too far away to work with during the week. If they had recording equipment, we would have done a lot more than just midi. Sharing an 80MB file with some people to record music is not a big deal. And if it gets like 300MB you can burn a CD and overnight it. This kind of collaboration would be cool. You can make a recording with people without even jamming together.

[APi]TheMan · Jan 12, 2004, 03:19 PM

Originally posted by memento:
I would think that you could share the .band project file.

I would imagine it would be as simple as this also.