App to marry consecutive timecode BWF WAV files?

[Izen Ears]

Okay so I think I made a promise to post that I can't keep. I told post I'd deliver one BWF WAV file for each roll. Today is day 1 and out first roll was 5 hours. I set the recording software to break the files into 1/2 hour blocks. I did this for security on the advice of smart people in this forum. Now I have ten files and no way to stitch them together. I COULD reset that to just record one long file and solve this issue, but I feel like that's complete lunacy. This is my primary recorder and I don't wanna take any chances.

 

This is day 1, and I SWORE I had figured this out but that was a completely false memory. Audacity erases timecode so I can't use that. I'd like to avoid video editing progs but I could use FCP if needed.

 

I opened Reaper imported all ten files sequentially to a single track, then exported them and it made a bunch of single tracks. And, I have no idea if the TC is preserved. Reaper only seems to be able to output single tracks and not one BWF WAV file. So I have to combine those into one BWF, but that should be easy with the WildTrax Toolkit joiner, maybe? But if there's no TC it's all a moot point. 

 

I'm open to all suggestions.

 

Dan Izen

[Philip Perkins]

To get what you want in Reaper you'd have to snap all those files to their original TC on a single track per record channel, then render those full tracks (with all the clips from that channel) as a new file.  Not at all what you want to do at the end of a prod. day!  (You said the first take was 5 hrs long??!!).   Does WildTrax do this?  I thought it combined mono files into a new poly with the same TC (and vice-versa), like WaveAgent does?   If you find an app that does please post it here--and good luck!

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

Reaper *should* be able to do it, but I can't say I've done it myself.  You'll want to set up the timeline to start at the appropriate timecode, and then there is a command to sort files by timecode.  It is *not* sample accurate, so you need to align the first one, then use 'snapping' to align the segments so they don't have gaps or overlaps that will pop.

 

When you render, you have a *lot* of options to mess with.  Relevant are "Preserve metadata", "Format", "Large Files", and "Write BWF Metadata".  And, especially "Source", which will let you write suitable polywave files.

I'd imagine it will take some trial and error to get all these options right and to carry over the metadata, and of course the stitching itself is a manual process.  But it should be possible.  And once it is possible, it should be possible to automate, at least partially.  But it will take some figuring out.  The most manual part will probably be the need to manually set the starting timecode for the timeline. Thankfully, you only have one or two rolls per day, so it should be manageable, but probably won't be fun.

Let me know if you find something (WildTrax?) that does a better job!

[Izen Ears]

50 minutes ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

Reaper *should* be able to do it,

Holy cow! Forget that, I'm gonna let post sort it out. 
 

I am still going to mess around with it based on what you said, thank you very much for that.

 

The Doc pointed out how camera files are split between cards and post needs to marry them, so they should be able to do that for sound files.

 

WildTrax is awesome, so reliable and simple. I hate that it's a subscription, but I love everything else. The WildTrax toolkit is just for making and splitting BWF WAV files, not stitching.

 

Considering every single recorder makes a new file when it reaches the file maximum, it's kind of weird that there are no standalone apps that can join those files.

 

Thanks a lot for the replies!!

[Lucas]

This should't be too difficult in Davinci Resolve. 
Put your files in a bin allign based on timecode and export the timeline as polywav. (probably best to do this in fairlight)

If you have tentacle studio you could do the aligning there and export in another program depending your workflow and possession of software. 

[Ty Ford]

DaVinci Resolve!!!  Yes, but as someone who tried it, I found it wasn't very intuitive. Finding where and what to click on to do something was so exhausting I finally gave up.

and, here's a note about .wav files. I had a session in which the files were recorded on a TASCAM 12. Wav. files on an SD card. I was able to import the files into a Pro Tools production. At some point there was a little lip smack on one track. I tried to use the pencil tool to redraw the waveform in Pro Tools, but the pencil tool was not selectable. 

I did a "copy in place" and the pencil tool was there; so all .wav files aren't the same!

Have a nice day!
Ty Ford
 

[Bouke]

A bit late at the party, but my BWF merge application does this all...

 

[Izen Ears]

6 minutes ago, Bouke said:

A bit late at the party, but my BWF merge application does this all...

 

Oh snap!! I'll have to try that. Thank you! Can I use the demo version to try it out, or do I have to purchase? I'm going to pass this on to post. They said it would help them to have one long BWF WAV file. If I can do it once and then tell them how, perhaps they will purchase. This is only a 2-week gig for me.

[Bouke]

 

1 hour ago, Izen Ears said:

Can I use the demo version to try it out, or do I have to purchase?

From memory, on long files 'sometimes' there will be silence inserted.
Do note, you have to patch, and grasp the logic, especially about midnight resolving. (It was intended for Zax workflows but 'should' work on any files.)

Otherwise, PM me and I'll give you a serial in good trust.

 

[Izen Ears]

1 hour ago, Bouke said:

 

From memory, on long files 'sometimes' there will be silence inserted.
Do note, you have to patch, and grasp the logic, especially about midnight resolving. (It was intended for Zax workflows but 'should' work on any files.)

Otherwise, PM me and I'll give you a serial in good trust.

 

Copy that, thanks! I will not take advantage. I'll give it a go tonight when I get home.

 

EDIT: this works great!! I converted 8x10-track blocks into one 5-hour BWF WAV. I just bought it, the price is very reasonable. Thank you Bouke!!!