Originally Posted By: JohnJohnJohn
Charlie, I can simply export a WAV directly without having to figure out and remember APTs. Then I can simply import that audio track back into my song if I want. I see absolutely no advantage to going the APT route. What am I missing?


1) There are a lot of similarities between exporting a WAV track and converting a track to an APT. The obvious advantage to saving as an APT is simplicity.

At some point you had to learn how to export a WAV file. After exporting WAVs a few times, it became second nature to you.
If you review the various methods of exporting a WAV file, you'll easily see there's much more to learn and later recall when exporting to a WAV than there is to saving as a Performance Track. You can export a track by using the DAW Drop quadrant, export a Mix using the DAW Drop Quadrant, Selecting the WAV radio button from the File Toolbar gives 3 different selections to export your WAV file forcing you to choose one. You can also Save your song as a WAV file from the File\Save Special Menu. You can export a WAV file from the Audio menu at the top of the main page. I think the final method is to Save a track to a WAV file from the BIAB Mixer track sub menu.....

There's one method to save an APT. One place to access the APT feature. One click to select and complete the process.


2) Saving a Track to an APT is approximately 2.5 times faster than exporting the same track as a WAV.

3) Saving a Track to an APT automatically freezes the track. You have to manually freeze a track you exported if you want to use the original track material without it regenerating.

4) Saving a Track to an APT color codes the track so it's obvious at a glance you've converted the Track to an APT.

5) Saving a Track to an APT renames the track so it's obvious at a glance you've converted the Track to an APT.

6) After exporting a WAV track if you regenerate, the original WAV track is erased and the audio material is replaced. You'll have a saved audio file of the original but you'll have an extra step to import that audio file back into BIAB in order to use the original WAV file on a track. Saving to an APT, regeneration does not affect the original track, it's frozen and does not have the extra step of having to be imported.

7) If you want to regenerate the APT, select Track Actions\Erase Performance Track and the track reverts to the exact status of the track prior to the conversion making it a Performance Track.

8) An APT is a UserTrack. As such, it reacts to Key Signature Changes and tempo changes without altering the Audio content. so, when you come across that; "OMG... I love the riff the guitar does right there..." audio on a track, convert the track to an APT and if you change the key signature and tempo, the APT with the audio riff changes key and tempo too.

9) A frozen RealTrack is not a UserTrack and a frozen RealTrack will not transpose so if you change key, you have to lose your frozen track and regenerate it.

10) It's very easy to make an APT into a normal UserTrack so the APT will react the same as a UserTrack to play over any chord progression, in any key and at any tempo just like a BIAB RealTrack.

11) When you close a BIAB song that contains one or more APT's, BIAB automatically creates BIAB proprietary bt1 files in the save folder.

12) "I can simply import that audio track back into my song if I want." You don't have to import the audio file back into your song if you Save it as a Performance Track. It stays there and an exact copy is saved and named in a folder if you need to access and use the audio file.


Last edited by Charlie Fogle; 08/25/20 02:18 AM.
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