Can anyone help me find out how to make mp3 files from a montage of wave files which have mp3 tags such as name artist and genre? fransmo
I get lost in this software…. I´ve managed to get a playable Cd with edited tracks all right, but now I´m lost again….
Read the chapters about meta-data in the documentation.
I would also suggest reading the manual because there are so many options.
What works for me is to transfer all the entered CD-Text info to the main metadata fields using my preset, then I add the artwork that is specific to the project.
I’ll attach the preset file here to get you started (it’s the zipped .dat file). You should add it to the meta data section of the montage as shown in the picture attached.
Thanks for answering! I still find difficulties. After writing in all required META data and burning my CD, then importing it to iTunes, iTunes does not recognize the META data, so it has no information to built upon to make mp3 tags as I understand it. I really don´t know what to do to make mp3 files of my montage files.
This is such a classic inquiry.
Nothing you can do in Wavelab will make iTunes software recognize mp3 metadata when you insert an audio CD to a computer, and import the CD into iTunes (as mp3 or WAV). iTunes can’t read the metadata from your CD (burned or professionally replicated) because CDs can’t carry mp3 metadata such as artwork, and other info you see in an mp3 file. Sudio CDs can only carry CD-Text info which is different even though some info is the same.
mp3/AAC metadata must be manually entered and submitted to Gracenote database, then iTunes can retrieve the metadata info from the database based on your CDs info such as number of tracks and how long the tracks are. Once this info is initially submitted to the Gracenote database, anybody else inserting the CD into their computer with an Internet connection will then see the metadata.
If you have a Wavelab montage, and want mp3 files, you can make them using the render function in Wavelab, no need to use iTunes or make a CD. With the right CD-Text info entered into the montage, and metadata settings in your montage (of which I gave you a good starting point), your rendered mp3 files will be fully tagged with the info you desire, even artwork if you add it.
Here is more info on why iTunes can’t see your metadata. Audio CDs can only carry CD-Text info (different and not as thorough as mp3 metadata):
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20660906/Gracenote-All%20Music%20Database%20Info.pdf
Thanks again for great explaining. I´ll try the render function. I dare say however, it is difficult to find your way around Wavelab complex as it is. There should really be some easy, more or less fool-proof, workflow strategies available, that would be a great help. It´s difficult to know what things like rendering does or not does to your material. I mean should you render your Audio montage or not? If you do, Should you then have to bypass master section or not when listening, not to get double effect treatment?
Can you erase the audio files in the audio files window once you´ve got them in the audio montage window and have added effects or edited them? There are so many questions it seems like a full time job just trying to learn Wavelab.
Yes, reading manuals seems hopeless some time all though you use them as encyclopedias which helps a lot generally.
Still I am keeping on hoping the day will come when I understand it fully….
When you render a file there is an option to “bypass master section on resulting file” if that is your preference for the situation. Near the bottom of the screen, there is also an icon that chooses between playing that particular audio through the master section or not.
If you need WAV, mp3, or other files from your montage, this is what rendering is for. You can render WAV, mp3, or other files types based on your CD track markers, a time selection, a selected clip or CD track, or the entire montage as one file. If you need a CD or DDP, you can also create those from the CD Write function as it sounds like you’ve found. I have a nice preset that translate all my CD-Text info and ISRC codes to all applicable files of mp3, AAC and WAV files when I render those files from the montage. I just have to add artwork for the specific project, and sometimes some other small adjustments for unusual metadata requests, often with compilation or greatest hits albums.
In the montage mode, I only use plugins on the “montage master” and the clips themselves. and keep no plugins on the global master section. This way if I move to the edit mode or another montage, I don’t have to worry about plugins being inserted on the global master that I don’t want active. When I first started with Wavelab, the global master section was the strangest thing to me. I was used to most other software that had a master section for each project, montage, layout etc.
I started with Wavelab 7 when it came to Mac. I never read the manual start to finish but slowly learned what I needed to do, I still learn new stuff weekly. This forum was, and still is a big help for certain things, but I think you can learn some basics on your own by taking time.
I’d love to write a book for Wavelab 9 when it’s available. Something that is less technical than the manual and more real world uses for certain workflows. Music album mastering, audio restoration, and other popular uses for Wavelab. I make a living using Wavelab and I probably don’t even use or need half the features. Although, it’s nice when you discover a feature you never needed until that time, and it’s nice when it’s there. 
Thanks for help, I´ll take the time to slowly discover more layers of WL. Right now I have some other obligations in between, but I look forward to sorting the whole workflow out. It seems more and more important to establish a solid workflow almost from songwriting to finished record, although there will always be surprises and improvisation in the process. Stay well and bye for now….
OK! back at the workbench… I´ve managed now to render mp3s AND getting track title, artist and album title to show in iTunes, this goes for AAC plus too. (God only knows what shows or not in a PC environment…)
Next question: How do I ge the tracks to show together as an(mp3) album, or a playlist, in iTunes…?
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This is of course stuff a twelve year old fixes in a second. Guess I am a helpless blockhead. 
/frans
p.s. found another strange thing too - after decoding, the mp3s show up in the edit workspace wave window in about half the volume as in the original montage window. any explanation for this…? 
mp3 and AAC files do have a metadata field to enter album track number and album track total so that the rendered files stay in order when loaded into iTunes or other software. In my preset, I have it set to transfer the CD track numbers over to metadata for mp3/AAC files so the track numbers and total tracks are embedded. This way, the song title that iTunes sees doesn’t have a track number in it, but the songs stay in order.
Of course, the actual file names start with 01 Song Title, 02 Song Title but when you see it in iTunes it looks good like an album you buy from iTunes Store. When you render files from the montage you can choose to add a numeric prefix to the rendered file name. So to explain better, the file names have an 01, 02 before the title, but the song title metadata that iTunes sees doesn’t contain those numbers, and knows the album track order because of metadata.
It’s hard to say why your rendered mp3 files are about half the volume as the audio in the montage but it should not be that way. Maybe you could post a screen shot of your master section and any plugins and render settings.
Hi! I´ll get back to you on wednesday with a screenshot. Right now I´ll be away from my studio for two days. / yours Frans
Getting back to the problems on making mp3.
1)
I have attached pics of the waveforms before and after decoding. I don´t know what is happening.
2)
Also, I thought I did everything right and then i found iTunes just show the songs of the album in hazard order although I´ve marked the numbering option and numbers show up nicely in the finder.
This software getting you close to jumping off this world…, think I am going crazy. But is there an alternative to wavelab really, thats the question.
/yours Frans
song 1 after decoding.tiff (134 KB)
song 1 before decoding.tiff (378 KB)
Are you speaking about the level change? I see that the Master Section meters are at -.65 dB, hence the level is lowered on render.
Maybe I haven’t understood the master section rightly. Should it be on -.0 dB?
Yes, “0 dB” means “no gain”.
I raised the master section volume now and it made a clear difference, thanks. Silly of me not to consider this before.
still, If I take one song in a montage which has no effects added at all, run it through master section (at -.1 dB) with no effects there either, no dithering, and than render it to mp3, the wave looks smashed and compressed, now how is that?
Aside from naming the render files with a numeric prefix, you also will need to make sure Wavelab properly tags your mp3 files with track number/track total info so that iTunes (and other software) can see the track order.
This way, you can keep the numeric prefix out of the song title metadata so it looks nicer, like when you purchase a song on iTunes Store.
Here is a picture of the metadata section for track number/track total that needs to be filled in:
Now I tried to fill in my META data the way you´ve described. STILL when I open up iTunes, iTunes only presents the tracks of the album in alphabetical order and if I use the forward/backward button it picks tracks in random. What to do?
Are you sure that your iTunes is set to display the songs in the order of determined tracks?
Can you use another software like Jaikoz (there is a free trial) to analyze the metadata that you are telling Wavelab to embed?
I suspect that either the metadata is somehow not being added, or maybe your iTunes is displaying songs in alphabetical order for some reason. iTunes offers a few views.
Also,if you post a link to download your montage (and audio if it’s not too large), I can take a look. If the audio is too large to easily upload, just the montage file is okay too.
