It is good practice to save regularly throughout a project to avoid losing valuable work in the event of a power failure or other unfortunate occurrence. The Save command saves the changes you have made to your audio document by writing it to your hard disk. The Save command cannot be undone.
Peak allows you to save your audio documents in a variety of common audio file formats, each of which is described below. Be aware that different formats allow different information to be stored with the file. Peak preserves this information unless you save the file into a different file format. Saving a file in a format different from its original format may, however, cause some information stored in the file to be discarded.
Peak supports the following audio file formats
• AIFF: This is Apple’s Audio Interchange File Format. It is also Peak’s default file format and is supported by many Macintosh software applications.
• Sound Designer II: This is Digidesign’s audio file format for its digital audio products. Use this format if you wish to use an audio document in a Digidesign audio application.
• .au: This file format is commonly used on the World Wide Web and in Java audio applets. It is supported by many platforms and programs.
• WAVE: This is Microsoft’s Windows Audio File Format. It is supported by many Window’s software applications and some Macintosh applications. The WAVE format is best if you plan to use an audio document in an application that supports or requires WAVE format files.
• QuickTime: This is Apple’s audio file format for QuickTime-based multimedia. It is supported by all Macintosh software applications that support QuickTime. The QuickTime format is best if you plan to use an audio document in multimedia applications that support QuickTime, such as Adobe Premiere ™ or Macromedia Director ™ .
• Raw: This is the headerless raw file format that may be useful for some game platforms.
• RealAudio ™ : This is the file format for RealNetworks ™ RealAudio 5.0, 3.0 and 2.0 Encoders, used for preparing audio for streaming over the internet.
• System 7 Sounds: This the Apple audio file format used for Macintosh Operating System Sounds.
• JAM image files: This is the JAM audio image file format. JAM audio image files may be created in Peak and used in Adaptec JAM for burning audio CDs.
• Sonic AIFF: The file format used by Sonic Solutions audio workstations.
• .paf: This is the file format used by Ensoniq’s Paris audio system.
• Shockwave: This is the file format used for Macromedia’s Shockwave, for preparing audio for streaming over the internet.
• MPEG-3: This is a file format used for internet transmission of audio, with very high quality results.
To save a Peak document:
1. Choose Save from the File menu or press command-S on your keyboard.
2. Select a file format from the pop-up File Type menu. AIFF is Peak’s default audio file format.
3. Enter a name for the new audio document, select where you want to save the new file, and then click Save.
Using the “Save As” Command
The Save As command allows you to save a copy of the current document under a different name, or in a different location on your hard disk. Since the Save As command closes the current document and lets you keep working on the renamed copy, it is useful for saving successive stages of a project. This allows you to save each major step under a different name. Later you can retrace your steps should you want to go back to an earlier version.
To save an audio document under another name:
1. Choose Save As... from the File menu, or press Shift-command-S. This dialog appears:
2. Select the desired file format from the File Type pop-up menu. AIFF is Peak’s default audio file format.
3. If you wish to save the audio document in a different bit depth resolution, click the bit depth pop-up. If not, leave this item unchecked. (Peak does not use dithering when saving this way, so you may wish to use a product such as L1 ‚Ñ¢ or IDR‚Ñ¢ from Waves ‚Ñ¢ before saving for higher-fidelity conversion.)
4. Enter a name for the new audio document, select where you want to save the new file, and click Save.
Saving Compressed Audio Documents
AIFF/AIFC and QuickTime files with compression such as MACE 3:1, MACE 6:1, IMA 4:1 or mlaw are compatible with Peak. If Sound Manager version 3.2 or later is installed, Peak can open these files for editing and then save them with compression. You may only compress AIFF or QuickTime documents.
User Tip: Audio compression should be the last step in mastering your audio documents. Decom-pressing
and recompressing audio documents will degrade their sound quality each time they are recompressed, so it is best not to save with compression until all editing and mastering has been completed.
To save an audio document with compression:
1. Choose Save As... (Shift-command -S) from the File menu. The Save As dialog appears.
2. Choose the audio compressor you wish to use from the Compressor pop-up menu. Some compressors work with 8-bit or 16-bit data only, so the compres-sion options may be grayed out, depending on your setting in the bit depth pop-up. The types of audio compression that will be available to you if you have Sound Manager 3.3 or later include: MACE 3:1, MACE 6:1, QDesign Music, Qualcomm PureVoice‚Ñ¢, ALaw 2:1, 32-bit Floating Point, 64-bit Floating Point, IMA 4:1, 24-bit integer, 32-bit integer, 16-bit Little Endian, 16-bit Big Endian, and mLaw 2:1.
3. Type the name of the new audio document, select the folder you wish to save the audio document, and
click Save. Peak shows how much disk space the compressed audio document will occupy with the compression and bit depth settings.
To save a Peak document:
1. Choose Save from the File menu or press command -S on your keyboard.
2. Select a file format from the pop-up File Type menu. AIFF is Peak’s default audio file format.
3. Enter a name for the new audio document, and click Save.
Using the “Save As” Command
The Save As command allows you to save a copy of the current document under a different name, or in a different location on your hard disk. Since the Save As command closes the current document and lets you keep working on the renamed copy, it is useful for saving successive stages of a project. This allows you to save each major step under a different name. Later you can retrace your steps should you want to go back to an earlier version.
To save an audio document under another name:
1. Choose Save As from the File menu. The Save As dialog appears.
2. Select the desired file format from the File Type pop-up menu. AIFF is Peak’s default audio file format.
3. If you wish to save the audio document in 8-bit format (if it isn’t already) click the 8-bit checkbox. If not, leave this item unchecked. (Peak does not use dithering to convert to 8-bit format when saving this way, so you may wish to use a product such as L1™ from Waves for professional dithering before saving as 8-bit.)
4. Enter a name for the new audio document, and click Save.
