Audio-only exports

Frame Job can write the timeline’s sound with no picture: an M4A to send to someone, or a WAV or AIFF to hand to a mastering engineer, a DAW or a podcast editor.

Menu: File ▸ Export…
Keys: ⌘E
Where: Export sheet ▸ Format
Agent tools: export

Export the sound

Choose File ▸ Export… or press ⌘E.
In Format, choose Audio only (M4A), Audio only (WAV) or Audio only (AIFF).
Set the controls that apply. The readout under the controls shows the length in milliseconds rather than frames, for example Audio only · 00:01:12.200.
Choose Export…, or Add to Queue to keep editing while it’s written, then name the file.

Audio only (M4A)

An .m4a file holding AAC sound, 48 kHz stereo. This is the one to send to someone, because it’s by far the smallest.

The sound is 192 kbps unless you pick a tier in Quality: Low is 128 kbps, Medium 192, High 256 and Maximum 320. The footnote reads AAC · M4A, with the rate added when you pick a tier.

Chapter markers are written into the file as chapters, and the file is written with fast start, so a player can begin before all of it has arrived.

Audio only (WAV)

A .wav file of uncompressed sound, 48 kHz stereo. Choose it when the mix is going into someone else’s tool, where a second round of lossy compression is the one thing you can’t take back.

It’s 16-bit by default, or 24-bit through Bit depth. That’s about 11.5 MB a minute at 16 bits and 17.3 MB a minute at 24. The footnote reads LPCM · WAV, with 24-bit added at that depth.

A WAV holds no chapters, so chapter markers are left out.

Audio only (AIFF)

The same samples as a WAV, in an .aiff file. WAV stores each sample little-endian and AIFF big-endian, which matters only to the software reading the file, so choose whichever your tool asks for.

Everything else is as for WAV: 48 kHz stereo, 16 or 24 bits, the same file size and no chapters. The footnote reads LPCM · AIFF.

Which controls apply

A control an audio format can’t use is greyed out. It keeps what it shows, and nothing from it reaches the file.

Control	M4A	WAV and AIFF
Quality	Sets the AAC rate	Greyed out
Bit depth	Greyed out	16-bit or 24-bit
Stems	Available	Available
Loudness	Available	Available
Range	Available	Available
Size, Frame rate, Speed, Burn in timecode	Greyed out	Greyed out

Size has nothing to set because there’s no picture. A preset saved from an audio format stores no size, so it can’t carry one over to a movie.

The 48 kHz stereo master

Every export with sound, movies included, reads the mix once as 48 kHz stereo at 32-bit float, and rounds it once at the very end. In between, the loudness gain and the limiter both work on the float mix, so nothing has been clipped before they act.

The limiter holds the file’s true peak at or under −1 dBTP. See Export loudness. Sound under that ceiling passes through unchanged.

The final rounding goes to the nearest value at the file’s bit depth, with no dither at 16 or 24 bits.

There’s no control for the sample rate or the channel count. Whatever your sources are, the file is 48 kHz stereo.

Good to know

There’s no MP3 export. If your podcast host wants an MP3, export a WAV and convert it with your own tool.
A timeline with no sound at all can’t be exported as audio. The export stops with “There is nothing on the timeline to export — add a clip first.”
Stems skip the master’s limiter, so a stem can peak higher than the mix.
When the export finishes, the sheet reports what the sound measured. See Export progress and the report.

With an agent

An agent passes audio_m4a, audio_wav or audio_aiff as the preset of export. It sets the M4A’s rate with audio_bitrate and a WAV or AIFF’s depth with audio_bits. See Export: start, then poll.