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Importing and Exchanging Projects

This chapter covers the ways you can move whole projects in and out of Waveform — exchanging Edits with other DAWs using the open DAWproject format, importing older Mackie and RADAR hard-disk-recorder projects, and working with Waveform's own project archives. You'll find most of these under the File menu, grouped into the Import Other and Export Other submenus.

Exchanging Projects With Other DAWs (DAWproject)

DAWproject is an open, cross-DAW file format. It lets you hand a project to (or receive one from) other DAWs that support it — Bitwig Studio, Studio One, and others — without flattening everything to audio stems. Tracks, clips, and a good deal of mixer state travel with the file.

Importing a DAWproject File

To bring a DAWproject into Waveform, select File > Import Other > Import a DAWproject file… and choose a .dawproject file. Waveform asks you to confirm with the message "This will create a new edit from the DAWproject file and open it in a new tab." Click Import and the new Edit opens in its own tab.

There are no options to set. Waveform extracts any embedded audio into the project's media folder automatically, so the imported Edit is self-contained.

📝 Note: Importing a DAWproject always creates a new Edit in a new tab — it never merges into the Edit you're currently working on.

Exporting a DAWproject File

To send your Edit to another DAW, select File > Export Other > Export as DAWproject file… and choose where to save the .dawproject file. The file is written immediately — again, there are no options to configure.

By default the export is self-contained: the audio and your plugin state are embedded in the single .dawproject file, so you can hand off just that one file.

What Does and Doesn't Travel

A DAWproject carries a lot, but not everything. It's worth knowing the limits before you rely on it for an important hand-off.

What comes across:

  • Tracks of every kind — audio, MIDI, folder, and marker tracks
  • Track name, colour, mute, and solo state
  • Track volume and pan
  • The tempo and time signature, including their automation
  • Markers
  • Audio and MIDI clips, including MIDI notes and controller (CC) data
  • VST2, VST3, and AU plugin state
  • Scenes and project metadata

What does not come across:

  • Automation curves on tracks and plugins (the biggest gap — volume, pan, and plugin-parameter moves are not transferred)
  • Sends and bus routing
  • Step clips and Edit clips (these are Waveform-specific)
  • Clip pitch-shifting and time-stretch settings
  • Groove and quantise settings

⚠️ Warning: A plugin only loads on the far side if that exact plugin is installed on the receiving machine. If it isn't, the plugin is silently dropped from the track. Make sure both ends have the same plugins installed before you exchange a mix you care about.

Importing Legacy Hard-Disk-Recorder Projects

Waveform can read projects from two older hard-disk recorders. Both of these import into the current Edit rather than creating a new one, so start from a fresh, empty Edit to keep things tidy.

Mackie HDR Projects

Select File > Import Other > Import a Mackie .prj project file… and pick the .prj file. Waveform brings in the track names, mute states, clip positions, and any virtual tracks that actually contain material (empty ones are skipped), then zooms the Edit to fit so you can see everything at once.

The audio files need to sit alongside the .prj file for the references to resolve. If Waveform can't read the project, you'll see "Couldn't parse the file correctly."

RADAR Projects

Select File > Import Other > Import a RADAR project… and choose the project file (there's no extension filter, so you can pick the file directly). Waveform imports the song name, sample rate, up to 64 track names, and the audio regions, then zooms to fit.

RADAR projects expect their audio in an Audio Files folder two levels above the file you select, so keep the original folder structure intact when you copy the project across.

Working With Project Archives

A Waveform archive is a single .zip file that bundles an Edit together with all of the media it references. It's the right way to back up a finished project or send a complete session to someone else, because nothing gets left behind.

Importing an Archive

You can unpack an archive into a project in a few ways:

  • From the import popup, choose Unpack an archive and add it to this project…
  • Right-click in the project list and choose Unpack an archive into this project…
  • Drag an archive file straight onto the Waveform window

The file picker accepts both .trkarch and .zip archives. The contents are merged into the target project.

📝 Note: If the project is read-only you'll see "Can't import into this project, because it's read-only" and nothing happens. Importing into a folder-based project does nothing either — archives merge into a normal Waveform project.

Creating an Archive

To create an archive, select File > Create an archive of this edit… You can also reach this from the Share button on the media list, or the Export buttons in the project and Edit inspectors. The Create Archive dialog has just two controls.

Destination file — Where the .zip is saved. Waveform suggests a name based on the Edit, ending in Archive 1.zip, and bumps the number automatically if a file already exists. It remembers the last folder you used. (Default: the project's archive media folder, or your last export folder.)

Compression (Choices: No compression, Fast compression, Normal compression (Recommended), Best compression) — How hard Waveform works to shrink the file. No compression is fastest and largest; Best compression is slowest and smallest. (Default: Normal compression (Recommended))

When you confirm, Waveform consolidates every piece of referenced media into a standard .zip, showing a progress bar you can cancel. If a file of the same name already exists, you'll be asked before it's overwritten.

📝 Note: Creating an archive requires a full or demo licence. On the free edition, clicking Create Archive shows a "not available" message instead.

⚡ Things to Watch Out For

  • DAWproject doesn't carry your automation. If your mix relies on volume rides, pan moves, or plugin automation, those won't survive the round-trip. Bounce automation-heavy tracks to audio first if you need them to translate.
  • Missing plugins are dropped silently on DAWproject import. Check the receiving machine has the same plugins installed.
  • Mackie and RADAR imports go into the current Edit. Start from a blank Edit so you don't mix the imported material into existing work.
  • Keep audio next to legacy project files. Mackie expects the audio beside the .prj; RADAR expects an Audio Files folder two levels up.
  • Create Archive is full/demo only. The free edition can't make archives.

Moving On

For exporting finished audio rather than whole projects, see the Mixing Down chapter. For more on how projects and their media are organised, see the chapters on the Browser and the Projects tab.