DAWProject: PreSonus and Bitwig have teamed up to launch a universal file format for DAWs

[avasopht]

The companies have just announced a new file format intended for easy swapping between DAWs. The DAWproject file format will only be supported by Bitwig Studio 5.0.9 and PreSonus Studio One 6.5 for now, but it could theoretically be adopted by other companies in the future. Bitwig and Presonus are calling this a DAW-agnostic platform and stress that they’ve taken steps to make the technology as open to other companies as possible.

We know that many producers use multiple DAWs, but transferring projects between programs can be time-consuming or complex. That's why we teamed up with PreSonus to create a free, open, DAW-agnostic file format that allows you to save projects in one DAW and open them in another.

DAWproject files include all information related to time, tracks and channels, as well as all audio, note and automation data — and even the state of the plug-ins used in projects. That means you never have to bounce your stems to share or transfer a project again; you can save it as a DAWproject file and open it in another program, even if it has different features. DAWproject files are currently supported by Bitwig Studio 5.0.9, and in PreSonus Studio One 6.5. For a full rundown of the specific features that DAWproject supports and more details on how it works, check out our FAQs.

[Loque]

Good luck

[avasopht]

Good luck

Am I missing something, ... didn't we already have a sort of open project format 20 years ago??

Presonus is a big player, and you've also got the Akai Force that can produce Ableton project files.



I'm sure there will be issues, but who knows, ... maybe this is the next level of awesome!

Would probably make sense if you could bounce each track in one click to share with people who don't have all of your plugins



Only thing we're missing is a platform independent future proof plugin format with an app store

[BananaSkins]

Interesting - I doubt Reason will be considered though as a compatible Daw, still to this day you find software companies who never mention Reason in their lists of compatible DAWS for their products.

[selig]

Besides the fact Bitwig doesn’t know (or agree with) the accepted definition of stems, this COULD be a great move. But so much depends on the details.

There have been a few formats over the years that attempted to do just this, first with OMF and then with SSLs Pro Convert which tried to include NLE (video) editors in the mix.

Each of these only covered a part of the DAW file (among other limitations/omissions). OMF didn’t cover automation, Pro Convert didn’t include plugins as some examples.

These formats tend to focus as much on video interchange (as does the current AAF format), with audio being along for the ride, and originated from that world. As such, a specific “DAW only” format could be a very useful advance IMO.

I see it kinda like the “pre MIDI” days where there WERE standards for connecting synths via gate/CV but there wasn’t just one and it wasn’t complete (nothing beyond gate/pitch). MIDI came along and tied it all together, developed in a similar way between a few devs at first. The key with MIDI was it was written well enough to last to this day, and was quickly recognized for it’s potential and embraced by enough to create the necessary initial forward momentum to carry it into the future.

We can only hope the same has been considered for this protocol as well, time will tell!

[selig]

Interesting - I doubt Reason will be considered though as a compatible Daw, still to this day you find software companies who never mention Reason in their lists of compatible DAWS for their products.

As I understand it, it would be up to Reason Studios to adopt or not adopt this format not to the writers of the format to include Reason. I have to wonder if it’s even possible to do with Reason’s odd approach to fader automation being but one possible sticking point. There will also be the issue of how to convert the SSL mixer signal path, not to mention all the possible insane routing possible with Reason including CV.

Grabbing some popcorn…

[Jackjackdaw]

I’m interested in it for archival purposes. It could be a cure for obsolete proprietary file types. I expect its prospects rely on the big guns adopting it though. Apple can’t abide anything open source, Ableton probably think that their file type should be the standard and Steinberg won’t want to get in bed with PreSonus. Time will tell…

[DaveyG]

Some details here:

https://www.bitwig.com/stories/bitwig-a ... grams-271/

As you might expect, a major gotcha is with projects that use built-in devices. For example the format only supports a "generic compressor".

Maybe a Reason project could be compatible if it only used VSTs but that's kinda missing the point of Reason!

[avasopht]

There have been a few formats over the years that attempted to do just this, first with OMF ...

That's the one I was thinking of.