3.2. Alternative Methods of Audio Ingestion
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## 3.2. Alternative Methods of Audio Ingestion

In addition to manually recording material in realtime, RDLibrary supports two alternative methods for audio ingestion:

- Importing from a File
- Ripping from a CD

### 3.2.1. Importing Audio from a File

To import audio from a file directly into a cut, we start by opening the cut's parent cart in the Edit Cart Dialog. Next, touch the cut's entry in the cut list and then touch the `Import/Export` button to open the Import/Export Audio Dialog.

The Import/Export Audio Dialog

Select the file you wish to import, either by entering the path and filename to it in the `Filename` field or by clicking the `Select` button to open a file browsing dialog. Rivendell is capable of importing the following types of audio files:

- Microsoft WAV (*.wav) – PCM16, PCM24 and MPEG are supported
- MPEG (*.mp1, *.mp2, *.mp3)
- OggVorbis (*.ogg)
- Free Lossless Audio Codec [FLAC] (*.flac)

Next, set the `Channels` drop-down menu to the appropriate number of channels. You may also wish to adjust the `Normalize` or `Autotrim` controls, although these will normally be set to reasonable default values by the system administrator and should seldom have to be altered. If `Normalize` is selected, then the imported audio will be peak normalized to the level indicated. The `Autotrim` does the same thing as in the Record Dialog (see section 2.0.1.2, 'Recording and Auditioning a Cut in the Record Dialog' above for details).

Finally, touch the `Import` button. A progress bar will indicate percentage completion of the import, followed by a popup box to announce completion. The Import Audio Dialog will automatically close after acknowledging completion. The audio is now imported, and can now be auditioned and otherwise processed in the usual way.

### 3.2.2. Ripping Audio from a CD Track

To rip audio directly off of a CD into a cut, we again start by opening the cut's parent cart in the Edit Cart Dialog. Next, select the cut's by touching the cut's entry in the cut list, and then touch the `Rip` button to open the Rip CD Dialog.

The Rip CD Dialog

Load a CD into the CD drive. After a few seconds, list of tracks should appear in the Tracks area. If the system administrator has enabled the FreeDB CD Lookup Service, the names of the various tracks may appear as well.

Set the `Channels`, `Normalize` and `Autotrim` controls appropriately (see section 2.1.0 for more details on using the `Normalize` and `Autotrim` controls). Next, touch the track you wish to rip and then press the `Rip Track` button. The track will now be ripped into the cut, with a progress bar keeping you informed of progress. When the rip is complete, a message box will pop up to inform you of this.

If FreeDB data was found for the CD, you can have the FreeDB track, artist and album names be automatically placed on the cart label for the cart by checking `Apply FreeDB Values to Cart` before closing the Dialog.

### 3.2.3. Ripping Multiple CD Tracks at a Time

Sometimes, when transferring multiple audio tracks from CD, it's more convenient to be able to set up the entire transfer at once and then let the rip run in a 'batch' mode. RDLibrary is capable of ripping audio in this manner as well. To do this, click the `Rip CD` button near the bottom of the main RDLibrary screen, bringing up the Rip Disk Dialog.

The Rip Disk Dialog

This dialog is similar in many ways to the Rip CD Dialog described above, except that each track can be assigned to transfer to a different cut by double clicking on its listing, or by touching the listing and then the Set Cut button, bringing up the Select Cart/Cut Dialog.

The Set Cart/Cut Dialog

The destination cut is selected by first choosing the cart from the left-hand pane, followed by the desired cut within that cart on the right-hand pane. The complete set of library filtering tools are available to you here – see section 2.2, 'Navigating the Audio Library' for details on their function, just as in the main RDLibrary screen.

Once all of the desired tracks have been assigned to cuts, be sure that the `Normalize`, `Autotrim`, `Channels` and `Apply FreeDB Values to Cart` controls have been set as desired, then click the `Rip Disk` button. A set of progress bars will keep you informed of the progress of each track, as well as overall progress. When, the rip is finished, a message box will let you know.

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