DAW import

podsink's job ends with the download, and the editing happens in your own tool. This page covers what's inside the project files in the ZIP and how to get the tracks into each editor, with everything in its place.

What the project files carry¶

The download comes with three project files, one per editor family: Timeline - Reaper.rpp, Timeline - Premiere Pro.xml and Timeline - Final Cut Pro.fcpxml. All three describe the same timeline, with one track per participant, every clip at its offset and every marker at its time.

Audio clips start at zero, because the silence that aligns them is already in the WAV. Video clips sit at the moment that participant's camera started, with the short sync tone at the start of the file already trimmed off. How long a clip runs comes from the recording's timestamps, so it ends exactly where the audio ends.

Please open the project file right from the folder it's in, so your editor finds the media next to it. If you move the files, please move them all together. With several recordings in one session, each Recording N/ folder has its own set.

Reaper and Ultraschall¶

Open Timeline - Reaper.rpp and the tracks and markers are right where they belong. Chapter markers keep their plain name, so Ultraschall's chapter export picks them up as chapters. Edit and break markers get an underscore in front, which keeps them out of Ultraschall's chapter list. Chapters and edits each have their own colour, and break and resume share one. If you already have a project open, Markers - Reaper.csv holds the same markers in Ultraschall's CSV import format.

Premiere Pro¶

You bring in Timeline - Premiere Pro.xml with File, Import, or just drop it into the project panel. Premiere builds a sequence from it, with the tracks at their offsets and the markers on the sequence. The fragmented MP4s podsink records play in Premiere as they are.

Final Cut Pro¶

You import Timeline - Final Cut Pro.fcpxml with File, Import, XML. All times in the file sit on 30 fps frame boundaries, because Final Cut requires that. So a marker can end up to half a frame away from the millisecond it was set at. Here too, the MP4s play as they are.

DaVinci Resolve¶

Resolve reads the same .fcpxml or .xml, but it needs two extra steps.

The first is about importing the timeline, because Resolve doesn't look for media in the timeline's folder on its own. You go through File, Import, Timeline, pick the file, and when Resolve asks whether to search another folder, you say yes and choose the folder that has the timeline and the WAV and MP4 files.

The second is about the video format. podsink records fragmented MP4s, because a file like that is already usable while it's still uploading, but Resolve can't play that format. For that, your profile has a switch under Downloads called "Convert videos for broader editor support". With it on, podsink re-wraps each video into a regular MP4 on your next download. That costs no quality, just a few seconds of work per track, so the download takes a bit longer and can look paused for a moment.

Reaper, Premiere and Final Cut play the original files just fine. So if Resolve isn't your main editor, you can leave the switch off.

Podlove chapters¶

Chapters - Podlove.xml is the chapter list in Podlove Simple Chapters, ready for a podcast feed or the Podlove Publisher. Chapters - Podsink.txt has the same list as plain timecodes and names, for tools that expect chapters as text.

Audacity and everything else¶

Any editor that opens WAV files can handle them. Drag all the WAVs in and they start at the same moment, because the silence that aligns them is in the files themselves. You only miss out on two things. One is the markers, which you can read from Markers - Podsink.csv and set by hand. The other is where the videos go, which the project files would otherwise tell your editor.