This article is designed to give you the basic knowledge required to transfer a project from FL Studio 20 into Studio One 4. It includes working with FL Studio and its plugins within the Studio One environment, as this may form part of the migratory process. The article assumes you have little knowledge of FL Studio.

Before we export anything anywhere, we need to first be mindful of where FL Studio is saving user data. The default location is ...\Users\[your computer account]\Documents\Image-Line\. If you press F10 and select the Project tab, you can set the saving location for the project under the Data Folder.   

It can be a little bewildering to get your head around FL Studio at first. The Hint Panel in the top left-hand corner underneath the main menu should be helpful in operating FL Studio, generally, as well as in relation to terms described in this article.

FL Studio has a very flexible workflow. When audio, note or automation data is brought into a Project it shows up as a Channel in the Channel Rack (F3). A Channel’s routing is shown in the Target Mixer Track box next to the Channel Volume dial. All Channels default routing is to the Master Mixer Track, represented by dashes. The green lit rectangle left of FL Studio’s famous Step Sequencer indicates which Channel is currently selected. Click on another Channel to select it.  

The Step Sequencer and the Piano Roll (F7) are where Patterns (note patterns) get created. Browse Patterns by rolling the centre mouse wheel over the Pattern Selector, bottom right of the numerical Song Position indicator, or click on the adjacent left Pattern options to view the menu.

Patterns, audio, and automation are arranged in the Playlist (F5). Unlike the Arranger window in Studio One, the equivalent of Events can be placed on any Track. Cmd/Ctrl+left-click and hold on the Timeline to highlight an area of the Playlist for export. Click and drag on the Zoom & Scroll Bar above the Timeline to increase or decrease the zoom length. The output of the Playlist and Mixer Tracks are not necessarily the same. This is important to remember when exporting Tracks, as we shall see later.    

You may swap between the selected Pattern and the Playlist using the Song / Pattern (‘Pat’) mode buttons next to the transport controls.   

Exporting Audio Files

No matter what kind of mass export you wish to do in Fl Studio, it is ultimately handled by the Export Project Dialog box (Cmd/Ctrl+R). The advantage of this approach is you can export several different file types in one instance (but if you wish to export MIDI, read the MIDI Export section below on the important preliminary steps).

From the top, Mode allows the user to choose exporting from ‘Pattern’ or the ‘Full song’. In most cases, ‘Full song’ means whatever is highlighted on the Playlist Timeline. When nothing is highlighted, the length of the Playlist is exported.

Tail has three options: ‘Leave remainder’, ‘Cut remainder’, and ‘Wrap remainder’. ‘Leave remainder’ will usually be the one to choose when exporting as it allows the audio to fade out. ‘Cut remainder’ ends at the last bar, risking a potential pop. ‘Wrap remainder’ is good for creating repeats as it merges the fade out at the start of the audio.

The Output Format section is where to choose the file types you require and their related settings. Available formats are WAV, MP3, OGG, FLAC and MIDI. When exporting audio, remember WAV and FLAC are lossless formats, therefore, usually ideal for exporting to another project. Image-Line recommend choosing 32-bit float for exporting Wave files into other DAWs. FLAC format compresses to considerably smaller file size than WAVs but has only a maximum 24-bit depth.  

When it comes to Quality, ensure the Resampling is 64-point sinc or higher. ‘HQ for all plugins’ should be highlighted. Unfortunately, if you’re exporting with third-party virtual instruments (not Image-Line), you should prepare those for audio conversion first. In the Channel Rack (F6), click on the name of the Channel with the third-party instrument you wish to prepare. On the plugin interface, select the VST Wrapper Settings tab (the symbol is shown in the above pic) and then the Processing tab below. Switch on ‘Notify about the rendering mode’.           

The Miscellaneous Options has a few noteworthy functions of interest. ‘Save tempo information’ allows the song tempo to be saved to the Wave file. This useful info may later be read in Studio One’s Browser. ‘Enable insert effects’ records individual Track Inserts from the Mixer onto the audio file, and ‘Enable master effects’ does the same for the Master Mixer Track. The most potentially important option for exporting, though, is ‘Split mixer tracks’, which is covered in the next section.

Exporting All Individual Tracks In One Go

Bulk export of each Track is executed by ‘Split mixer tracks’ or ‘All playlist tracks’. Which export option to choose depends on how one wants the audio divided for its eventual destination. ‘Split mixer tracks’ divides Patterns at the Mixer Track output. For example, if we have a drum Pattern made up of a kick, snare, and hats outputting through separate Mixer Tracks, ‘Split mixer tracks’ will make separate audio stems for the kick, snare, and hats. Turn ‘Split mixer tracks’ on in the Miscellaneous section of the Export Project Dialog.     

Alternatively, you can export each Playlist Track as individual files. This method prioritizes Patterns over Mixer Track outputs. In this case a drum Pattern made up of a kick, snare, and hats will be saved as one audio file. From the File menu at the top left corner, navigate down to the Export submenu and choose ‘All playlist tracks’ to apply this operation.

Saving Image-Line samples as Wave files in Sampler

Like many DAWs, Image-Line have their own propriety format for their samples. It could have been tricky to transfer individual samples elsewhere, but, fortunately, Image-Line has made it easy to convert one of their audio files into a Wave file in Sampler. In the Channel Rack (F6) click on the Channel name to call up the Sampler interface. Right-click on the sample image and choose ‘Save as’ from the menu.

Occasionally samples are contained in FL Studio’s more complex sampler, known as Direct Wave. This is usually because there are many samples making up the sound. The best option here is to use Direct Wave, or FL Studio itself, as a VSTi. These options are explored in the last section of the article.

Exporting MIDI Files

Although exporting a FL Studio Project as individual MIDI files is executed in the Export Project Dialog, there is some preparation required beforehand. For safety, I recommend you save the project as something else before you get going (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+S).

I suggest you rename each instrument Channel in the Channel Rack (F6) with the name of the plug-in and preset used. Click on the Channel’s name to display the instrument’s interface. Open the interface Plugin options menu from the arrow in the top left corner and choose ‘Rename, color and icon’. This might take a little time but is worth doing for the convenient info it provides when importing the MIDI files into another DAW.

The one necessary step before exporting is to convert each virtual instrument to a MIDI Out Generator. While this process isn’t difficult to command, it is a little disconcerting to watch, which is one reason I recommended you save your project under a different name beforehand! From the Tools menu, navigate down to the Macro submenu and select ‘Prepare for MIDI export’. You will get a scary warning but just click ‘Okay’. If you have a lot of virtual instruments, the screen will fill up with MIDI Out interfaces. Ignore this and press Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+R to bring up the saving location before the Export Project Dialog box presents itself.

Once exported, in Studio One, simply drag the MIDI file into the Arranger.

Saving individual MIDI Patterns

There are two ways to export individual Patterns as MIDI files in FL Studio. Both require the Pattern to be selected in the Pattern Selector (described in the introduction). The first method is via the Export Project Dialog (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+R). For the Mode option, be sure ‘Pattern’ is selected.

MIDI File

A second way I favour is to select the correct Channel in the Channel Rack as well as the Pattern in the Pattern Selector. Press F7 to bring up the Piano Roll. From the Piano Roll menu in the upper left corner of the window, choose the ‘Export as MIDI file’ option.

FL Studio VST/AU in Studio One

If you have the top tier All Plugins Bundle Edition of FL Studio, you already have the licences for many VST versions of Image-Line’s instruments and effects. Say your project’s drum patterns are produced by Image-Line’s Drumaxx, your best option is to install the VSTi version of the drum plugin. Those who own FL Studio’s Signature Edition can buy the VST Plugins Expansion Pack. Alternatively, all versions of FL Studio are capable of being slaved to Studio One as a VST/AU.

FL Studio as a VST/AU

There are two FL studio plugins that you should find under Instruments (F6) > Image-Line in the Studio One Browser (as long as they have been installed). FL Studio VSTi allows use of only a single output whereas FL Studio VSTi (multi) allows multiple outputs. You can change the FL Studio Channel in Studio One from the Track’s Instrument Channel drop-down menu. Click on Fruity Loop icon of the instrument’s interface to open FL Studio – now you can freely alternate between the two DAW windows from the dock/taskbar.

Notice FL Studio’s Channel Rack is preloaded with 16 predefined instruments on the 16 available Channels corresponding to the 16 channel numbers in Studio One. Right-click on the Channel name and hover over ‘Replace’ to choose another instrument, or you may open a FL Studio saved Project as normal.

FL Studio VSTi (Multi)

The FL Studio VSTi (multi) plugin has the added feature of multiple outputs from FL Studio to Studio One. This takes a little preparation. In the FL Studio Mixer, mute the Master Track by switching off the green Mute / Solo light. With the Track Inspector open (Ctrl/Cmd+Enter), click on a Track you need to route. Choose the Track’s output from the Audio Output Target at the bottom of the Track Inspector. Repeat for all required Channels.

Back in Studio One, open the Console (F3) and its Instrument tab. Right-click on FL Studio (multi) and select ‘Expand’ from the menu. Tick the relevant boxes corresponding to the FL Studio Channels required.

One could change channel on the FL Studio VSTi (multi) Track to see and hear the FL Studio routing through the Studio One channel outputs. However, what we want to do is set up multiple Tracks. Create a new Track (T). Give it a relevant name and ensure it is an ‘Instrument’ Type. We want the Output to be set to ‘Existing Instrument’ and choose the appropriate FL Studio (multi) channel from the drop-down menu. Continue to create new Tracks for every desired channel.

Recording FL Studio VSTi Audio

To record audio from FL Studio into Studio One, you need an Audio Track’s Record Input to be set to the FL Studio VSTi, or the intended FL Channel in multi-mode. Add a new Track. Name it and ensure ‘Audio’ is selected in the Add Tracks dialog. From the drop-down menu of the Input, navigate to ‘Instruments’ and select either ‘FL Studio VSTi’ or the desired FL Ch 1-16 (note: for a specific channel to work, you need to complete the preparation steps of FL Studio VSTi (multi) outlined in this article).

As FL Studio is slaved to Studio One, in theory, one should be able to record a Project’s entire Playlist into Studio One this way. In practice, there may be performance and syncing issues, therefore, better to print one Track at a time.

Some useful notes at the time of writing:

• Many of the keyboard shortcuts do not work in FL Studio VSTi mode.

• ReWire is no longer supported by Image-Line.

In Summary

All bulk exports in FL Studio are processed through the Project Export Dialog. Project MIDI files need some preparation first. You can work with FL Studio and many of its plugins as VSTs in Studio One.