14. Working with Projects and Exporting

The title of this chapter isn't meant to cause confusion. Yes, we have been working with projects for the majority of this document, but there are a few details about projects that we haven't covered yet, including a few details about how Bitwig Studio manages project files.

Each Bitwig Studio project file uses the BWPROJECT extension. When you save a Bitwig Project file, the project file itself is placed in a new project folder. Whenever new content files are generated in a project, the program will automatically place them in the project folder within new sub-folders (such as samples, plugin-states, recordings, bounce, etc.).

While Bitwig Studio has its own preferences and settings, there are also project-based parameters that are stored within each project. And while preferences do apply across the entire program, these settings have to be reconciled with the content of your actual project file and folder.

	Note
	For information about storing project-specific mappings for computer keyboards and MIDI controllers, use the Mappings Browser Panel (see The Mappings Browser Panel).

In this chapter, we will see how to save project templates, either for your own use or for sharing with the wider world. We will look at the Project Panel, which manages your project's metadata and the status of files and plug-ins being used. We will talk a bit about the global groove settings and how they impact your project. We will show ways to share content between projects. And finally, we will examine exporting audio, MIDI, and even your entire project content from Bitwig Studio.

Saving a Project Template

Establishing a good workflow is key to working efficiently on new projects. Having project templates that are preloaded with common track setups, device arrangements, monitoring assignments, etc., may be a great boon to you and your productions.

Directly beside the Save as… function in the File menu is the Save as Template… option. Selecting this option pulls up a dialog.

There are six fields that you can set for your template.

• Name: The title of the template.

• Author: The name of the template's author (by default, your Bitwig user name is used).

• URL: A web address for the author.

• Category: Whether you would consider this project a Template, Demo, or Tutorial.

• Tags: Metadata pieces that can be used for choosing or sorting templates later. To finalize a tag, press ENTER after typing it. Use as many tags as you like.

• Description: A fuller explanation of the template.

Three basic options can be toggled as well: whether to Show welcome dialog when the template is opened, whether the save process Should collect external files to the project, and whether the save process should Should collect packaged files that are used by the project.

To create a new file from a template: go to the File menu and select New From Template… (directly beside the New… option).

To set a template as the default for any new project: in the General tab of the Preferences window, find and enable the Use a template for new Projects setting under the Template heading. Then click on the ellipsis (…) button and select the template file to be used.