Revised November 13, 2008 After ACID software is installed and you start it for the first time, the registration wizard appears. This wizard offers easy steps that allow you to register the software online with Sony Creative Software Inc. Alternatively, you may register online at http:// www.sonycreativesoftware.com/ at any time.
About your privacy Sony Creative Software Inc. respects your privacy and is committed to protecting personal information. Your use of the software is governed by the Software Privacy Policy. A copy of this policy is incorporated into the registration process and you are asked to agree to its terms prior to accepting the terms of the End User License Agreement.
Macromedia Flash Macromedia and Flash are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft DirectX programming interface Portions utilize Microsoft® DirectX® technologies. Copyright © 1999 – 2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft Windows Media Technologies Portions utilize Microsoft Windows Media® technologies. Copyright © 2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Cubase®, VST®, and Nuendo® are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. ASIO™ is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) Adobe Tagged Image™ File Format is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and other countries. All rights reserved. Targa file format The Targa™ file format is a trademark of Pinnacle Systems, Inc.
Table of Contents Introducing ACID Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Welcome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 System requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Installing ACID . . . . . . . . . .
Making selections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Selecting an event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Selecting multiple events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Creating time selections . .
Trimming events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Splitting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Splitting at the cursor position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Splitting one event . . . . . . . . .
Tagging media files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Creating a tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Applying a tag to a media file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Working with tempo/key/time signature change markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Using a tempo curve to change tempo between markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Changing a clip’s key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Changing an event’s key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using track effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Using track effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Creating or adding to track plug-in chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Arranging plug-in chain order . . . . . . .
Organizing plug-ins with folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133 Viewing a plug-in’s folder assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134 Displaying audio plug-in folders in the Mixing Console window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134 Classifying audio plug-ins and soft synths with categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adjusting bus or assignable effects send levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Change a track’s input or output device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Changing a track’s automation mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Muting or soloing a track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Specifying where recordings are stored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185 Changing where recorded files are stored for new projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185 Changing where recorded files are stored for individual projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185 Monitoring audio levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Editing MIDI clip properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Editing a MIDI clip with the Piano Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Editing a MIDI clip with the List Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Merging controller data from a MIDI clip . . . . . . . . . . . .
Configuring a Mackie Control Universal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229 Configuring a Frontier TranzPort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229 Configuring a generic MIDI controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229 Configuring a Behringer BCF2000 controller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rendering surround projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Burning AC-3 files to DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 Customizing ACID Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Working with ACID windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the Mackie Control Universal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273 Channel section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273 Footswitches (not shown) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .274 Control buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating ping-pong pan effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 Adding depth with assignable effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 Playing double time/half time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Constructing the wall of sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 1 Introducing ACID Software Welcome Congratulations on purchasing a revolutionary software application for Microsoft® Windows®. With ACID® from Sony Creative Software Inc., you can create great music by simply picking, painting, and playing. System requirements The following lists the minimum system requirements for using ACID: • Microsoft® Windows® XP (SP 2 or later) or Windows Vista™. • 1.8 GHz processor (2 GHz or faster recommended). • 1 GB RAM (2 GB or more recommended).
Toolbar Tabs Information pane Context-sensitive help To use context-sensitive help in a dialog box, click the question mark button in the upper-right corner of the dialog box. Help on the Web Additional ACID information is available on the Sony Creative Software Inc. Web site. From the Help menu, choose Sony on the Web, and choose the desired location from the submenu. The software starts your system’s Web browser and attempts to connect to the appropriate page on the Web site.
Divider Timeline Track view Track list Divider Window docking area Toolbar The toolbar allows you to quickly access the most commonly used functions and features in ACID. Opens a new project. You will be prompted to save any changes to the current project. Locks envelope points so they move with an event when it is moved along the timeline. Displays the Open File dialog. From this window, you can browse all of the available drives to select an ACID project or audio file to open.
Reverses an undo. Activates the Groove Erase tool to erase grooves or parts of grooves. When used in conjunction with the Ctrl key, the Groove Erase tool can erase an entire groove event. Turns the snapping feature on or off. With snapping enabled, you can decide whether to snap to the grid or to all elements (markers, regions, etc.). Activates context-sensitive help to obtain information about a specific option, menu, or part of the ACID window.
Bus assignment/Device selection Clicking the Bus Assignment button and selecting a letter from the menu allows you to assign the corresponding track to the specified output bus. However, the button is only available in projects containing multiple busses. MIDI Input button Clicking the MIDI Input button MIDI on page 189. allows you to choose a MIDI input device for recording MIDI.
Surround panner In 5.1 surround projects, the surround panner allows you to view and edit surround panning settings for a track. Double-click a surround panner to view the Surround Panner window and make fine panning adjustments. Volume fader This dedicated volume fader controls how loud a track is in the mix. A value of 0 dB means that the track plays with no boost or cut from the software. Dragging the fader to the left cuts the volume; dragging to the right boosts the volume.
Marker bar Beat ruler Zoom controls Transport bar Time ruler (if displayed) Marker bar The marker bar runs the length of your project and contains the tags for markers and regions positioned along the project’s timeline. Beat ruler The beat ruler allows you to place events in reference to the musical time of bars and beats. This ruler is fixed and does not update when you change the tempo. This allows the events in the tracks to maintain their size when you adjust the tempo.
Zoom controls To the right of the horizontal scroll bar are the time zoom controls. Clicking the Zoom In Time button ( magnification of the project. To decrease the level of magnification, click the Zoom Out Time button ( ) increases the horizontal ). Directly below the vertical scroll bar are the dedicated track height zoom controls. Clicking the Zoom In Track Height button ( ) increases the vertical magnification of the project.
Chopper The Chopper™ isolates audio events so that you can dissect them and reinsert them into a project to produce elaborate slice-n-dice effects with minimal effort. Display the Chopper by choosing Chopper from the View menu or pressing Alt+2. For more information, see Using the Chopper on page 95. Mixing Console The Mixing Console provides an integrated view of all tracks and busses in your project using the appearance of a traditional hardwarebased mixer.
Plug-In Manager This window allows you to view and choose effects plug-ins to be added to a track, bus, or assignable effects chain. Display the Plug-In Manager window by choosing Plug-In Manager from the View menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+1. For more information, see Organizing Plug-Ins and ReWire Devices on page 131. Tips: • To add an effect quickly, drag a plug-in from the Plug-In Manager window to a track, bus, assignable effects chain, or soft synth bus.
Audio signal flow INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE | 25
Notes on audio signal flow • This diagram describes non-MIDI audio events. For MIDI events, see MIDI signal flow on page 27. • In 5.1 surround projects, tracks routed to the Surround Master bus send surround panning (six-channel) information. Tracks routed to busses (e.g., Bus A) send stereo panning (two-channel) information. • Assignable effect chain panning is available only in 5.1 surround projects. In 5.
MIDI signal flow INTRODUCING ACID SOFTWARE | 27
Notes on MIDI signal flow • Soft synth panning is available only in 5.1 surround projects. In 5.1 surround projects, soft synth controls routed to the Surround Master bus send surround panning (six-channel) information. Soft synth controls routed to busses (e.g., Bus A) send stereo panning (two-channel) information. • Bus panning is available only in 5.1 surround projects. In 5.1 surround projects, busses routed to the Surround Master bus send surround panning (six-channel) information.
Chapter 2 Getting Started Now that you have an understanding of the interface and controls found in ACID® software, you are ready to begin learning the techniques needed to pick, paint, and play in ACID projects. In this chapter you will learn the skills that will allow you to create music, from locating media files to writing the finished project to CD. Starting projects Double-clicking the ACID icon on the desktop starts the software.
Item Description Cutoff frequency for low-pass filter Enter a low-pass cutoff frequency value for 5.1 surround projects. Audio sent to the LFE channel is limited to frequencies lower than the value you enter. Applying a lowpass filter approximates the bass-management system in a 5.1 decoder and ensures that you’re sending only low-frequency audio to the LFE channel. Low-pass filter quality Recorded files folder Start all new projects with these settings Available only in ACID.
Previewing a media file 1. Select the media file in the Explorer window that you want to preview. 2. Click the Start Preview button ( ). The media file begins looped playback. You can monitor its levels on the preview bus. 3. Click the Stop Preview button ( ) to end playback. Previewing multiple media files You can use the Explorer’s multiple-selection preview feature to preview a group of files in the order that you select them. 1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences.
Adding media files from the Explorer window You can use the Explorer window, which operates similarly to the Windows® Explorer, to locate media files for use in projects. Display the Explorer, if needed, by choosing Explorer from the View menu, or by pressing Alt+1. There are three ways to add media files from the Explorer window: • Double-click the desired file. • Drag the file from the Explorer to the track view or track list.
4. From the Action drop-down list, choose how you want to extract audio: • Choose Read by track and select each track you want to extract. Each track is extracted to a new track in your project. • Choose Read entire disc to extract the current CD to a single file. • Choose Read by range and enter a starting time and ending time (or a starting time and length). The time range is extracted to a new track in your project. Click Play to preview your selection.
Obtaining CD information 1. Insert a CD in your drive. 2. Click the MusicID button in the in the Extract Audio from CD dialog, or browse to the CD and click the button in the Explorer window. For more information, see Extracting media files from CD on page 32. For more information, see Explorer window on page 22. Gracenote MusicID attempts to obtain matching CD information and displays artist, album, and track data: • If the service locates an exact match, this information is automatically displayed.
MIDI A MIDI clip is automatically created when you open a MID, SMF, or RMI file. You can use MIDI clips to record data from and play back through synthesizers and other MIDI-compliant equipment. For more information, see Working with MIDI on page 187. Folder tracks Folder tracks can contain any combination of tracks. Use folder tracks to group related tracks or sections of a project so they can be easily expanded or minimized.
Painting events with the Paint tool Unlike the Draw tool, the Paint tool allows you to quickly paint multiple events across several tracks. This can be useful when you need to quickly add several seemingly random events to a project. The Paint tool is also best used for painting multiple one-shot events that will be evenly spaced on the grid lines. When painting MIDI or one-shot clips, you can click the down arrow created when you drag with the Paint tool.
Erasing sections of events Occasionally you may need to delete only specific sections of an event and leave the rest of it intact. The easiest method of deleting a section of an event is to use the Erase tool. 1. Click the Erase Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and choose Erase from the submenu. The pointer displays as an eraser icon. 2. Drag in the track view to delete event data. Tip: With the Erase tool, you can delete an entire one-shot, Beatmapped, or MIDI event.
Positioning the cursor with the Go To command The Go To command is used to place the cursor at a specific location in the ACID project. • Press Ctrl+G to position the cursor based on the position displayed on the beat ruler. Specify a position (in measures.beats.ticks format) in the box that appears in the time display and press Enter. • Press Shift+G to position the cursor based on the time displayed on the time ruler. Specify a time in the box that appears in the time display and press Enter.
Selecting multiple events using the Select Events to End command Right-clicking an event in the track view and choosing Select Events to End from the shortcut menu selects every event on the track after the selected event. You use this command across multiple tracks by holding Ctrl to click events on several tracks and then right-clicking and choosing Select Events to End from the shortcut menu.
Creating event selections within time selections You can select specific events within a general time selection. This technique is useful for selecting individual instruments from a particular section of a song. For example, you may want to copy all percussion events from a song’s bridge and re-use them in the coda. 1. Click the Time Selection Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and choose Time Selection from the submenu. The pointer displays with an adjacent cursor ( ). 2.
Duplicating tracks To duplicate a track, right-click it and choose Duplicate Track from the shortcut menu. An exact copy of the track is created and its events and adds it below the original track in the project. The words “Copy of” appear before the name of the duplicate track to identify it in the track list. For creative ways to use duplicate tracks, see Playing with duplicate tracks on page 297.
Once you have chosen what you want to adjust, drag the slider to adjust the level. You can hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple tracks and move the sliders together as a group. Function Description Volume This dedicated volume slider controls how loud a track is in the mix. A value of 0 dB means that the track plays with no boost or cut from the software. Dragging the fader to the left cuts the volume; dragging to the right boosts the volume.
Soloing tracks Located next to the Mute button, the Solo button ( ) allows you isolate tracks in a project during playback. When you click this button during playback, the corresponding track remains audible and all other tracks are muted. Clicking the Solo button a second time returns all tracks to their original levels in the mix. Toggle-soloing a track is an effective method of configuring and previewing isolated track effects against how they sound in the project.
Using undo To undo an edit, click the Undo button ( ) on the toolbar or press Ctrl+Z. Edits are undone in the reverse order they were performed. Tip: You can also undo the most recent edit by choosing Undo from the Edit menu. Undoing a series of edits Clicking the down arrow next to the Undo button ( ) displays the project’s undo history. The history displays as a drop-down list with the most recent edit located at the top. Undoing an edit in the list requires all subsequent edits to be undone as well.
Playing the project You have several methods for playing your projects. Using the transport bar All buttons required to play your project are located on the transport bar. The transport bar should look somewhat familiar to you, as it contains buttons found on most home CD and cassette players. For more information, see Transport bar on page 21. Using playback options As you build a project, you will likely have different playback needs.
Bypassing audio effects during playback If you want to hear your project without your applied audio effects (track, bus, and assignable effects), you can quickly bypass these effects during playback. From the Options menu, choose Bypass All Audio FX. This option can also conserve processing power to avoid playback problems. Note: When effects are bypassed, you can choose whether bypassed effects remain open.
6. Click Save. The project is saved. Tip: Once the project is saved, you can use the Save As command from the File menu to create a copy of the project with a new name or save to a different ACID project file format. Rendering projects Rendering refers to the process of converting the ACID project into a file that is formatted for a specific playback method. Possible playback methods include media player applications, Internet streaming media, CD-ROM, and CD audio.
8. When rendering is complete, you can choose one of the following options: • Click Open to start the associated media player and play the newly rendered file. • Click Open Folder to open Windows Explorer and display the location of the newly rendered file. • Click Close to close the progress dialog and return to the ACID window. Note: MIDI tracks must be routed to DLS or VSTi soft synths to be included in the rendered output.
Creating custom rendering settings The Custom Settings dialog appears when you click Custom in the Save As dialog. You can use the Custom Settings dialog to create custom encoding templates for many of the file formats available in the software. 1. From the File menu, choose Render As. The Render As dialog appears. 2. Choose your preferred file format from the Save as type drop-down list. If the format allows you to create custom settings, the Custom button becomes active. 3. Click Custom.
Rendering in real time Real-time rendering is a playback mode that renders your project to .wav (or .w64) format. Real-time rendering allows you to include the output from an external input source such as a hardware synth or effects processor with your project. For more information, see Using input busses with hardware-based effects on page 172 or Using input busses with hardware-based synthesizers on page 174.
3. Select the appropriate radio button to specify whether the song to be published is the current ACID song or a different song. • To publish your current ACID song, choose a streaming format and bit rate. • To publish a different song, enter the path to the song or click Browse to locate the file. This song must already be in a streaming format. 4. Click Next. If you are publishing the current ACID song, it is rendered in the format and bit rate you specified.
3. Choose a setting from the Action drop-down list: • Choose Burn audio to begin recording audio to your CD when you click Start. You must close the disc before it can be played in an audio CD player. • Choose Test, then burn audio to test whether your files can be written to the CD without encountering buffer underruns. Recording begins after the test if it is successful. • Choose Test only to test whether your files can be written to the CD without encountering buffer underruns.
Disc-at-once (DAO) CD burning The DAO burning process involves arranging your media on the timeline, adding pauses between tracks as necessary, inserting track markers, and burning your CD. Adding pauses Each CD track in your project should have a two-second pause following it. This default setting is based on the Red Book specification for audio CDs. The exception to this standard is a continuous recording, such as a live concert CD.
7. Select the Render temporary image before burning check box if you want to render your CD project to a temporary file before recording. Prerendering can prevent buffer underruns if you have a complex project that cannot be rendered and burned in real time. Note: The rendered temporary file will remain until you modify your project or exit. If an image file exists when you Open the Burn Disc-at-Once Audio CD dialog, the check box is displayed as Use existing rendered temporary image. 8.
Chapter 3 Editing Events In this chapter, you’ll learn about basic event editing techniques such as cutting, copying, pasting, trimming, splitting, and joining events. You’ll also learn how to use ripple editing to expand the possibilities of timeline editing. Finally, you’ll take a look at advanced editing techniques such as slipping and sliding events, changing event properties, and adding event envelopes.
Using the Paste command 1. Place the cursor at the desired position on the timeline. 2. Paste the clipboard contents using any of the following methods: • Click the Paste button ( • Choose Paste from the Edit menu. • Right-click the track view and choose Paste from the shortcut menu. • Press Ctrl+V. ) on the toolbar. Using Paste Repeat When building projects, you often need to paste the contents of the clipboard several times.
Cutting events Cutting an event, a time selection, or an event within a time selection removes the audio data from the track view and places it on the clipboard. Once data is placed on the clipboard, it can be pasted back into the project an unlimited number of times. Clipboard content remains on the clipboard until it is replaced by new data. 1. Select the event data you want to cut or make a time selection. For more information, see Making selections on page 38. 2.
Splitting events Splitting is a quick way to create independently functioning events from a single one. You might consider splitting an event if you want to adjust a small part of the track. For example, you may want to apply pitch shift to a guitar track for a few measures and then return the track to its original setting. Splitting occurs at the cursor position or at the in and out points of a time selection.
Splitting one event Selecting a single event prior to splitting prevents other events from being split at the cursor’s position. Events before splitting Events after splitting Event to be split Only the selected event splits at the cursor position Cursor position and split point Splitting multiple events Selecting multiple events splits only the selected events at the cursor’s position. Be sure to set your cursor position before selecting events.
Splitting events within a time selection When selecting events within a time selection, only the selected events in the time range split at the in and out points. Events before splitting Events after splitting Selection bar Selection bar Only the selected event splits at the in and out points Event to split at the time selection’s in and out points In point Out point Split point Split point Joining events You may join events on ACID tracks that have been segmented along the timeline.
Changing fade types You can change a crossfade to use one of many combinations of fast, slow, linear, smooth, and sharp fade curves. 1. Right-click the overlapping area to display a shortcut menu. 2. Choose Fade Out Type from the shortcut menu and choose a fade curve from the submenu to set the curve for the first event’s fade out. 3. Choose Fade In Type from the shortcut menu and choose a fade curve from the submenu to set the curve for the first event’s fade in.
Cutting time and event selections in ripple editing mode Events and portions of events within the time selection are reproduced and placed on the clipboard. Also, the time information is placed on the clipboard. Existing events occurring later than the time selection move forward by the length of the time selection. Only tracks containing selected events are affected by the ripple edit.
Pasting events in ripple editing mode Once information is copied to the clipboard, you may choose a variety of ways to paste the clipboard items into tracks. For more information, see Pasting events on page 55. The following procedures explain pasting information in ripple editing mode. Note: Events are always pasted into their own tracks at the cursor position. 1. From the Options menu, choose Ripple Edits to enter ripple editing mode. 2. Move the cursor to the desired timeline location. 3.
Original loop event Slipping the event two measures to the right Slip-trimming the event two measures to the right Sliding the event two measures to the right Shifting the contents of (slipping) events Hold Alt while dragging an event. The slip cursor appears ( ). As you drag the event, the contents of the event shift, but the event does not move. You can use this technique when you want to maintain an event’s length and position but want the to event play a different section of the source media file.
Item Description Quick fade edges to When you add an offset to an event so that it does not end on a loop point, you can introduce an audible click at the edges prevent clicks of the event. Select the Quick fade edges to prevent clicks check box, and a quick fade-in or fade-out is performed on the event edges. To adjust a quick fade, zoom into the event and hover over the upper-left or upper-right corner of an event until the cursor is displayed as . Drag the edge of the fade to adjust its duration.
Setting an event’s volume envelope You can control an event’s overall volume by setting an envelope at the desired decibel (dB) level. 1. Place the mouse pointer at the top of the event. The envelope cursor ( ) appears. 2. Drag the volume line to the desired level. As you drag the volume line, the event’s decibel level is displayed. 3. Release the mouse to set the event’s dB level. After you set the event volume level, you may change it later by dragging the envelope line.
Inserting a section 1. Create a time selection that includes the portion of the timeline that you want to use as a section. 2. From the Insert menu, choose Section (or press Shift+S). A section label is added above the marker bar. 3. Type a name to identify the section and press Enter. Adjusting a section's length 1. Hover over the end of a section label. The mouse pointer is displayed as a 2. Drag the end of the section: . to extend or shorten it. Tips: • Hold Shift to override snapping.
Copying a section Copying sections lets you copy all events within a section in a single operation. For more information, see Ripple editing on page 61. 1. Hold Ctrl and drag a section header, or multiple section headers, to a new position on the timeline. A is displayed to indicate where the section will be copied. 2. When you drop the section, it is copied to the position where you dropped it. Note: Hold Ctrl or Shift to select and copy multiple selections.
Chapter 4 Using the Media Manager This chapter covers the management and tagging of your media files in ACID using the Media Manager feature. Creating a new media library You can create multiple media libraries as necessary to organize your media. Each media library is maintained by the Media Manager software as a separate database that stores information about the media contained within it. 1.
Adding media files to a library Before you can search or organize your media files, you’ll need to add them to a media library. When the Sony Sound Series Loops & Samples™ reference library is installed and set as the active reference library in the Media Manager Options dialog, tags and custom properties from the reference library will be applied to media from existing Sony Sound Series Loops & Samples or Loops for ACID collections when you add media to your library.
9. Click the Search button to start adding files to the library. 10. Click the Close button when you’re finished. A tag is automatically added to the tag tree when you search. The tag name will include the date and time of the search, and all files that were added or updated in the library are marked with this tag. Removing media files from a library You can remove a reference to a media file from a library without affecting the media file itself. 1.
Applying a tag to a media file You tag media by dragging a tag from the tag tree to a media file in the Search Results pane (or by dragging a media file to a tag) when the Add Tag Mode button ( ) is selected. 1. Select media files to tag in the Search Results pane: • To select a single file, click the file. —or— • To select multiple consecutive files, click the first file, hold the Shift key, and then click the last item.
Deleting a tag from a library Deleting the selected tag(s) affects the current library only. 1. In the Search pane, select the tag(s) to be removed: • To select a single tag, click the tag. —or— • To select multiple consecutive tags, click the first tag, hold the Shift key, and then click the last tag. —or— • To select multiple tags that are not consecutive, hold the Ctrl key and click each tag. 2. Click the Delete Selected Tag button ( ) to delete the tag from the current library.
Assigning palette buttons 1. Perform either of the following actions to display the Tag Chooser dialog: • Click an empty palette button. —or— • Click an existing button and choose Choose Tag from the shortcut menu. 2. Select the tag you want to assign to the button. 3. Click the OK button. Clearing a button Right-click a palette button and choose Clear from the shortcut menu. Deleting a saved palette 1. Right-click a palette button and choose Delete Current Palette from the shortcut menu. 2.
Backing up your media libraries Media Manager software automatically saves your library as you make changes, so you don’t need to tell the application explicitly to save your library as you're working. However, you can create a backup of the current library as a restore point or as a template to create new libraries. 1. Click the Media Library Actions button ( ) and choose Back Up Media Library from the menu. The Back Up Media Library dialog is displayed. 2.
Searching using a keyword 1. Select the Quick text search check box in the Search pane and type a keyword (or keywords) in the edit box. Tip: You can separate search terms using quotation marks and other operators. If quotes or wildcard characters are not applied, an * is automatically added before and after each search term. 2. Press Enter. The Media Manager tool searches your media files and displays the results in the Search Results pane on the right side of the window.
Searching using tags In the Search pane, select the check box for each tag you want to find. The Media Library searches your media files and displays the results in the Search Results pane on the right side of the window. Choose Match Any from the Match Any/Match All drop-down list if you want to display all media that contains any keyword, tag, or advanced search criteria. In the example to the right, the Search Results pane would display all files that contain the tag “High Tom” OR the tag “Floor Tom.
b. Double-click an item in the Search Criteria Chooser or drag it to the Advanced section of the Search pane. Tips: If an item in the Search Results pane displays a button, you can click it to find related media. For example, clicking the button in the following example adds an item to the Advanced section to help you find other media with a beat count of 16. You can also drag a column heading from the Search Results pane to the Advanced section of the Search pane. 2.
Adding media to your project After you’ve added media to your library, tagged it, and searched for specific files or related media, you’ve probably found just the right piece of media for your current project. You can add media to your project from the Search Results pane by performing any of the following actions: • Dragging a file from the Search Results pane to the project timeline. The file is added wherever you drop it.
Customizing the Media Manager window Much of what you see in the Media Manager window can be customized to suit your preferences. Automatically hiding the Search pane Click the push pin button ( ) in the title bar of the Search pane if you want to save space in the Media Manager window by automatically hiding the search pane: • The push pin is displayed as a ( ) when the Search pane is anchored in the Media Manager window.
4. Select the Type box and choose Text or Integer from the drop-down list to indicate whether you’ll store text or numeric data in the column. 5. If you want to remove a custom column, select an entry in the list and click the Delete Selected Columns button ( ). The column and all data stored in the column is removed from the library. 6. Click the OK button. The column is added to the media library, and the Search Results pane is scrolled to the right to display your new column.
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Chapter 5 Working in the Track View This chapter introduces you to several ACID® features that increase your productivity, such as markers, regions, and snapping options. You’ll also learn about the different ways to change a project’s tempo, key, and time signature. Finally, you’ll learn several options for adjusting the project timeline. Using project markers and regions ACID markers and regions identify areas of your project and provide navigational cues for quickly finding those areas.
Naming markers You can name markers in your project. You may want to name markers based on parts of the project. For example, you may want to identify choruses, refrains, bridges, or instrument solos as reference points along the timeline. 1. Place the mouse pointer on the marker to be named. The hand cursor ( ) appears. 2. Right-click the marker and choose Rename from the shortcut menu. A box appears next to the marker. 3. Type a marker name in the box and press Enter to save the name.
Placing time markers Time markers are placed at the cursor position. You may place a time marker in one of the following ways: • From the Insert menu, choose Time Marker. • Press H. You may use this method to place a time marker while the project is playing back. Time marker Note: Time markers are not numbered. Adjusting tempo to match marker to cursor Using this function with time markers is particularly useful when scoring video. For more information, see Scoring video on page 234.
3. Complete the Command Properties dialog: • From the Template drop-down list, choose a custom template. For more information, see Saving command properties as a custom template on page 86. • From the Command drop-down list, choose the type of command. For more information, see Defining streaming media commands on page 87. • Enter parameters in the Parameter box to define the behavior of the command. • Enter your own notes or comments in the Comment box.
Defining streaming media commands In a streaming media file, command markers can be used to display headlines, show captions, link to Web sites, or any other function you define. Several command types are included that you may add to a streaming media file. Some command types are exclusive to either the Windows Media or the RealMedia file types.
Placing and moving regions Regions are placed at the start and end points of a loop region (time selection). You may place a region in one of the following ways: • From the Insert menu, choose Region. • Right-click the marker bar, choose Markers/Regions from the shortcut menu, and choose Insert Region from the submenu. • Press R. Region start Region end Loop region After you place a region, you may change its position by dragging the region tag to the desired position.
Using snapping Snapping helps you to align events in your project with other items. Event edges are preset to snap to the project’s grid lines as you drag an event along the track.
Changing tempo, time signature, and key You can set a tempo, time signature, and key for your ACID project. You can also make adjustments during playback. You can add specific tempo, time signature, and key changes within a project using tempo/key/time signature change markers. These markers appear on the marker bar above the track view. When the cursor passes over one of these markers, the master project tempo, key, and/or time signature changes in real time. ...
Changing project time signature Click the Project Time Signature control and select a time signature from the menu to adjust a project’s time signature. Select Other from the menu to enter a custom time signature. Changing project key Click the Project Key control and select a key from the menu to adjust a project’s key.
5. Select the Time Signature Change check box and make your Beats per measure and Beat value selections to change the time signature at the marker position. The time ruler divisions and grid spacing will be updated accordingly. Note: Time signature changes must occur on the first beat of a measure. If your cursor is not on the first beat of a measure, the marker is placed at the nearest measure. 6. Click OK. A marker appears in the marker bar at the cursor position that displays the change information.
Changing a clip’s key You can change the key of a clip on a track without affecting the project’s key. For creative ways to use track key changes, see Detuning paired tracks on page 297. 1. Right-click the track and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. The Track Properties window appears. 2. Double-click the event you want to edit. 3. On the General tab of the Clip Properties window, enter the number of semitones by which to adjust the key in the Pitch Shift box or use the spinner control.
Fitting to time The Fit to Time command allows you to adjust the project’s overall length to a specified amount of time. Note: The maximum and minimum length is limited to reduce the possibility of creating audible artifacts through the compression/ expansion process. 1. From the Edit menu, choose Fit to Time. The Fit to Time dialog appears with the current project length displayed in the New length box. 2. Enter the new project length in the New length box.
Chapter 6 Using the Chopper The Chopper™ feature in ACID® allows you to quickly create slice-and-dice effects. For creative ways to use the Chopper, see Slicing and dicing in the Chopper on page 302. Working in the Chopper window Selecting an event loads its clip in the Chopper. Toolbar Beat ruler Time ruler Transport bar Viewing the Chopper To display the Chopper, choose Chopper from the View menu or press Alt+2.
Using Chopper toolbar and keyboard commands In addition to the transport bar, the Chopper contains a toolbar that is designed to make creating selections quick and easy. The following table briefly describes the toolbar buttons and the associated keyboard commands. Button Keyboard Function / (front slash) or A Inserts the Chopper selection as an event in the track view at the current cursor position. Y Inserts the Chopper selection as an event in the track view at the play cursor position.
Placing files in the Chopper To place a file in the Chopper, do any of the following: • Select a track in the track list. • Select an event. • Right-click an event and choose Select in Chopper from the shortcut menu. Note: If you choose Select in Chopper on an event that contains only a portion of a file, the entire contents of the file are placed in the Chopper. The part of the waveform selected, however, matches the contents of the selected event.
Inserting increments In addition to creating selections, the Chopper feature allows you to configure the sections of silence between selections painted on a track. When you click the Link Arrow to Selection button ( ), the increment arrow length is incremented with the selection length. This forces the increment and selection lengths to remain equal, thereby allowing you to insert selections seamlessly, end-to-end, in the project.
Creating increments of a specific musical length The increment shortcut menu, like the selection shortcut menu, allows you to create increments that correspond to the specified musical length. 1. Verify that the Link Arrow to Selection button ( ) is toggled off and the increment arrow is displayed in black. 2. Right-click the increment arrow and choose the desired musical value from the shortcut menu.
Saving Chopper selections as new files You can quickly create a new loop by making a selection in the Chopper and saving the selection as a new file. The file is added to your project as a new track. 1. Make a selection in the Chopper. 2. Right-click the selection and choose Chop to New Track or Chop to New Clip from the shortcut menu. The Chop to New dialog appears. Tip: You can also drag a selection from the Chopper to the track list. 3. In the File name box, enter a name for the new file. 4.
Chapter 7 Working with Tracks This chapter covers advanced track features including using clips, track effect chains, track envelopes, groove mapping™, and stereo panning modes. You’ll also learn more about track types, track properties, track folders, and rendering tracks to new files. Using clips with tracks In previous versions of ACID®, each track in your project corresponded to a single media file.
Setting the active clip and creating events It is simple to set active clips and create events with ACID. 1. Click the Paint Clip Selector button in the track header. A menu is displayed to list the track’s current clips. 2. Choose a clip from the menu. The selected clip is used for creating events with the Draw or Paint tool. Copying clips and events across tracks In previous versions of ACID, you could only copy and paste events within the same track.
.. . and paste them into track 2, the event from track 1 is added to track 2, and a new clip is created for the new event. A new track is created for the event from track 3. If you copy events from tracks 1 and 3. . . Copying clips across tracks without copying events You can use the Cut , Copy and paste clips across tracks: , and Paste buttons on the audio Track Properties or MIDI Track Properties window to cut, copy, 1. Click the Paint Clip Selector button on the track header and select Clip Pool.
Pitch shifting audio clips You can use the Clip Properties window to pitch-shift all events on the track associated with a specific clip. For more information, see Adjusting pitch shift on page 117. Using the Clip Pool to manage clips You can use the Clip Pool to organize each track's media. In the track header, click the Paint Clip Selector button and then choose Clip Pool. The clip list displays each track's clips, the number of times the clip is used on the track, and the path to the media file.
Command Description Edit in Audio Editor Opens the clip's media in your selected audio editor. After you have edited and saved the file, ACID automatically detects the updated file and updates the events in the project. However, if you change the media file’s name or location (by using Save As), you must import the edited (new) file into your project.
Using bus tracks From the View menu, choose Show Bus Tracks to toggle the display of bus tracks at the bottom of the track view. A bus track exists for each bus, input bus, assignable effects chain, and soft synth in your project. You can use bus tracks to automate volume, panning, and effect parameters using envelopes. If a bus track has envelopes applied, its icon will include a fader in the bus track and in the Mixing Console window.
Monitoring bus track output levels During playback, a responsive meter is displayed in the bus track header to monitor the bus’s output. Horizontal meters Vertical meters (Right-click and choose Use Vertical Meters from the shortcut menu) When clipping is detected, the peak meter displays a red Clip indicator. Right-click the meters and choose a command from the shortcut menu to adjust the display of the meters.
Using track effects ACID allows you to use DirectX® and VST plug-ins at the track level. Track-level plug-ins process everything on the selected track. You can create plug-in chains, adjust the order of plug-ins on a chain, bypass plug-ins, remove plug-ins, and save frequently used chains as presets.
3. Select the plug-ins that you want to add. There are three ways to add a plug-in to the chain: • Double-click the plug-in. • Drag the plug-in to the chain area. • Select the plug-in and click the Add button. 4. Rearrange the order of plug-ins as needed by dragging plug-ins to different locations in the chain or by selecting a plug-in and clicking the Shift Plug-In Left ( ) and Shift Plug-In Right ( ) buttons. 5.
Bypassing effect automation For plug-in chains that include effect automation using envelopes, you can bypass automation by clicking the Bypass FX Automation button ( ) on the Audio Plug-In window. This does not remove any effect automation envelopes from the track, but rather temporarily bypasses processing of the effect automation. You can toggle this button on and off to hear the difference between the plug-in chain as a standard (non-automated) effect versus an automated effect.
You can also use the Sends control region in the Mixing Console window to configure bus sends. For more information, see Using audio and MIDI track channel strips on page 155. Tips: • FX sends are post-volume by default. To change to pre-volume, right-click the fader handle and choose Pre Volume from the shortcut menu. • If you want to apply track panning (including pan position and panning mode) to FX sends, right-click the FX fader and choose Link to Main Track Pan from the shortcut menu.
Adjusting a bus send level 1. Click the label on the multipurpose slider and choose the desired bus from the menu. The label changes to reflect the name of the bus. Tip: If you can’t see the multipurpose slider, drag the bottom edge of the track header to increase its height. 2. Drag the fader to adjust the level of the track sent to the bus. You can also use the Sends control region in the Mixing console window to configure bus sends.
Choosing stereo pan types When you pan a track using the pan slider or a pan envelope, you can choose among several pan types to determine how the track is panned. Note: When applying stereo pan types, a monaural track is interpreted as a stereo track with the same data in both channels. 1. Click the pan slider label and choose a pan type from the submenu: • The Add Channels pan type is most useful for panning stereo source material.
Click the Play button ( ) to verify the measure’s length. If the region is positioned correctly, click Next. Otherwise, drag the ends of the loop region to the appropriate locations and click Next. • Select the Metronome check box if you want to play a click track at the detected tempo. • Click the Halve Selection ( length. ) or Double Selection ( ) buttons or drag the ends of the loop region to adjust the measure 4. The waveform is displayed with markers at the end of the measure.
Configuring track properties From the View menu, choose Track Properties to display the Track Properties window. The contents of the Track Properties window reflect the currently selected audio or MIDI track. Double-click a clip to modify clip properties If you want to edit media properties and stretching information, use the Clip Properties window. Audio track properties For audio tracks, the Track Properties window displays the Clip Pool. The Clip Pool is used to organize each track's media.
Notes: • If you adjust a clip's properties and do not click the Save button ( ), the new properties are saved in your ACID project only (the media file is not modified). • If you adjust a clip's properties and click the Save button ( ), the modified properties are embedded in the media file if possible (you will be prompted to save to a different file if necessary). • When you load a project, the clip properties saved in the ACID project are displayed first.
Changing clip type Choose a setting from the ACID type drop-down list to change the way the clip is handled. Track Type Description Loop One-Shot When Loop is selected, the clip is transposed to the project key and stretches to fit the project tempo. Loops can be drawn across the track and will repeat end-to-end. When One-Shot is selected, the clip is streamed from the hard disk rather than being stored in RAM.
5. Enter a value in the Formant Shift (semitones) box (or use the spinner control) to adjust the formants of all events that use the same clip. Formant shifting can be used to deepen the tone of a vocal performance without changing the pitch. For élastique Pro, this amount represents the number of semitones to shift the timbre in addition to the offset required to compensate for any pitch shifting. For example, a setting of 0.000 applies formant correction with no additional shifting, while a setting of -7.
After you have edited a clip’s properties, click the Save button ( ) to embed ACID information in the file. Notes: • To save to a different file, click the Save File As button ( ). • If you save stretching properties to a new file, the changes will also be applied to the current clip and saved with the ACID project; the changes are not saved to the original file. • If you edit a file in another audio-editing program, it is possible that the ACID data will be removed.
Item Description Timing tightness Choose a setting from the drop-down list to specify the resolution for beat anchors ( ). For example, if you wanted to quantize beat anchors to sixteenth notes, choose Sixteenth Notes from the drop-down list. Quantized beat anchors are displayed as . If the you choose a resolution from the Timing tightness drop-down list that is too coarse, you'll notice that not all beat markers will be quantized.
Beat anchors and markers for loop clips Beat anchors ( ) correspond to musical beats on the ruler at the top of the waveform display. Beat markers ( ) correspond to points in time on the ruler at the bottom of the waveform display. Each beat marker corresponds to a combination beat/stretch marker ( ) on the timeline.
The following table describes the settings on the Stretch tab for Beatmapped clips. Item Description Initial root note Choose a note from the drop-down list to set the first root note for tracks that you want to conform to the project key. If you do not want a track transposed to the project key, choose Don’t transpose. Initial tempo Displays the starting tempo of the clip as determined by the Beatmapper Wizard. Enter a value in the box or use the spin control to adjust the tempo.
Adding a clip to the Groove Pool Click the Add to Groove Pool button ( ) located on the Stretch tab of the Clip Properties window to make the selected clip available in the Groove Pool so you can apply its timing to other tracks. Groove cloning can extract grooves from loop tracks only. Saving file properties When you make changes in the Clip Properties window, the changes you have made are saved in the project file, but does not alter the original media file.
A groove refers to the rhythmic pattern of a piece of music. Groove maps in ACID expand on the software’s ability to match the rhythm and timing of files nondestructively and in real time: • Breathe new life into your collection of loops and MIDI files by creatively applying grooves to change the rhythmic feel. • Adjust the timing of a track to add or remove a human feel. • Quantize and map multiple tracks or loops to a common groove. • Extract the groove from an existing audio file.
Setting a default groove for new tracks If you have a groove that you’d like to use to set the overall feel of a project, you can set it as a default for your project. 1. From the View menu, choose Groove Pool to display the Groove Pool window if it isn’t already visible. 2. Choose a setting from the Default groove for new tracks drop-down list. When you add a new loop, one-shot, or MIDI track to your project, the selected groove will be applied to the entire track. Existing tracks are not affected.
Removing a groove from your project 1. Select a groove in the Groove Pool window. 2. Click the Remove Selected Grooves from Project button ( ). The selected groove is removed from your project. If the groove is in use, a confirmation will be displayed if the Confirm groove deletion when still in use check box is selected on the General tab of the Preferences dialog.
Exporting a groove Grooves are stored with your ACID project. Exporting a groove allows you to save a groove in a file that you can use in other projects or share with other ACID users. 1. Select a groove in the Groove Pool window. 2. Click the Export Selected Grooves button ( ). The Export Groove to File dialog is displayed. 3. Choose a drive and folder from the Save in drop-down list, or use the browse window to locate the folder where you want to save your groove.
4. Add or remove markers as needed: • If you want to add a marker, press M or double-click the beat ruler. A beat anchor and groove marker are added to the nearest division on the beat ruler. • If you want to delete a marker, right-click it and choose Delete from the shortcut menu. Tip: Use a single beat anchor/groove marker to adjust all beats forward or back equally. This produces an effect similar to slipping an event. 5. Adjust beat anchors and groove markers as necessary.
Removing tracks from a folder track To remove a track from the folder track, expand the folder track and drag the track to another location in the track list. Muting a folder track To mute all tracks in a folder track, click the Mute button ( button again. ) on the folder track’s header. To unmute the folder track, click the Mute Soloing a folder track To solo only the tracks in a folder track, click the Solo button ( button again. ) on the folder track’s header.
3. Complete the Render to New Track dialog: • From the Save in drop-down list, choose the location where you want to save the new media file. • Enter a name for the track in the File name box. • From the Save as type drop-down list, choose a file format. • From the Template drop-down list, choose an audio format from the template list, or click Custom to create custom rendering settings. Note: If you want to downmix a 5.1 surround project, choose a stereo rendering format.
Chapter 8 Organizing Plug-Ins and ReWire Devices You can use the Plug-In Manager to organize your DirectX and VST plug-ins (VST effects and instruments) and ReWire devices. From the View menu, choose Plug-In Manager to toggle the display of the Plug-In Manager window. With this window, you can access effects and effects packages and apply them to tracks, busses, assignable effects chains, and soft synth busses. You can also rename and reorganize plug-ins.
Viewing plug-ins When you open the Plug-In Manager window, an Explorer view is displayed with separate folders for your plug-ins. Folder Description Audio FX Displays all your DirectX and VST audio plug-ins. You can drag plug-ins to tracks or Mixing Console channel strips to add effects to your project. Select the All folder to display all audio plug-ins. • The Failed folder contains plug-ins that did not scan correctly or timed out during scanning. These plugins cannot be used in ACID.
The toolbar at the top of the window helps you navigate the Plug-In Manager window and adjust its display. Item Name Description Address Bar Displays the current folder. You can choose a folder from this drop-down list or click a folder in the tree view to navigate the Plug-In Manager. Tree View Displays all of the folder that you can use to organize your plug-in. Contents Pane Up Displays the contents of the selected folder. Opens the folder one level above the selected folder.
Viewing a plug-in’s folder assignments You can see a plug-in’s folder assignments by right-clicking the plug-in and choosing Folder Assignments from the shortcut menu. A submenu displays all available folders. Select a folder from the submenu to change a plug-in’s folder assignments, or choose Remove from All Folders to clear all folder assignments. Displaying audio plug-in folders in the Mixing Console window You can use folders and categories to organize plug-ins in the Mixing Console window.
Renaming a plug-in If you want to change a plug-in’s name, right-click the plug-in in the Plug-In Manager window and choose Rename from the shortcut menu. You can then type a new name in the edit box. To reset a plug-in’s default name, right-click the plug-in and choose Reset Default Name from the shortcut menu.
Using soft synths When viewing soft synths in the Soft Synths folders, the following icons are used to represent your plug-ins: Icon Description Represents a soft synth. Represents a locked VSTi plug-in. When you use a VSTi plug-in in your project, ACID will lock it for the remainder of your ACID session. A lock is displayed to indicate that the plug-in cannot be removed until you close and restart the application.
Chapter 9 Using Automation Automation allows you to control audio and video levels, panning, and effect parameter automation over time. You can create fades, apply stereo panning, and vary effect parameters throughout your project. Automation is represented on the ACID® timeline as an envelope or set of keyframes.
Adjusting mute automation settings 1. Select the Automation Settings button . The Mute button is displayed as . 2. Click the Mute button to change the track's mute automation state at the cursor position. The button behaves differently depending on the track automation recording mode: • When the track automation mode is set to Off, the button mutes the entire track.
Bus automation You can use bus automation envelopes to vary the level of a track sent to a bus. Adding bus envelopes A bus envelope controls the level of a track sent to a particular bus. Before you can add a bus envelope, you must add busses to the project. For more information, see The Mixing Console toolbar on page 151. 1. Select the track to which you want to add the bus envelope. (You may select multiple tracks.) 2.
Adjusting assignable effects automation levels 1. Select the Automation Settings button . The fader handle is displayed as a in automation mode. 2. Click the label on the multipurpose slider and choose an assignable effects chain from the menu. 3. Drag the FX fader to control the level of the track sent to each of the assignable FX chains that you have created.
Envelopes display on the track for parameters that you selected in the FX Automation Chooser. To control which effect parameter envelope displays on the track, click the arrow adjacent to the Track FX button ( ) and choose an envelope from the menu. Tip: Press E to toggle through the display of all effect parameter automation envelopes.
Adjusting MIDI controller automation settings Track-level MIDI input filters—available on the Input Filters tab in the Track Properties window—allow you to control exactly which MIDI messages you want to record or exclude. For more information, see Setting up MIDI message input filters on page 205. You can also use an external MIDI controller (or the keyboard/drum list between the track header and timeline) to record MIDI into your ACID project.
Drawing envelope points To create an envelope quickly, you can draw freehand envelope curves in the timeline. 1. With the Draw , Envelope , or Time Selection tool active, hover over an envelope. 2. Hold Shift, and then click and drag over the envelope. As you drag, a trail of envelope points is created. 3. Release the mouse button when you're finished drawing.
Flipping envelopes You can flip an envelope to invert the envelope around its center. 1. Right-click an envelope. A shortcut menu appears. 2. From the shortcut menu, choose Flip All Points. Tip: If you want to flip only particular points on an envelope, select the points using the Envelope tool, right-click, and choose Flip Selected Points from the shortcut menu. For more information on the Envelope tool, see Using the Envelope tool on page 144.
6. Click the Go to Start button ( ) if you want the envelope to appear exactly as it was in the original track, or click to position the cursor where you want the envelope to start. 7. From the Edit menu, choose Paste. Locking envelopes to events Track envelopes extend for the length of a track and are independent of the events on the track. This means that the envelope remains in place when you move the events in the track.
Removing volume, pan, bus, or assignable effect envelopes 1. Select the track(s) from which you want to remove the envelope(s). 2. From the Insert menu, choose Envelopes. A submenu appears showing a check mark next to the envelopes being used. 3. From the submenu, choose the type of envelope you want to remove. The envelope type is removed from the selected track(s). Tip: Press Shift+V to remove a volume envelope or press Shift+P to remove a pan envelope.
Automation recording modes Automation recording allows you to edit envelope and keyframe settings by using the controls in the ACID interface. When combined with a control surface, you can create fades and adjust control parameters with a level of control that only a tangible control can provide. For more information, see Connecting a control surface on page 267. Automation recording is available for the following settings: • Audio track envelopes (using the controls in the track header).
Editing sections of your recorded settings in Touch mode In Touch recording mode, envelope points or keyframes are created only while a control is being adjusted. When you stop adjusting the control, automation recording stops and the existing envelope points/keyframes are unaffected. Use Touch mode for touching up sections of your recorded automation settings. 1. Select the Automation Settings button 2. Click the Automation Settings button displayed as a in the track header.
Setting the automation recording mode for a track 1. Select the Automation Settings button 2. Click the Automation Settings button Mode Off Track Icon in the track header. and choose a command from the menu to choose the automation mode. Description Automated parameters are ignored during playback. When you switch to Off mode, the control setting from the cursor position is used as a static setting, and the envelope/keyframe is dimmed to indicate that it is unavailable.
150 | CHAPTER 9
Chapter 10 Using the Mixing Console The Mixing Console provides an integrated view of all tracks and busses in your project using the appearance of a traditional hardware-based mixer. You can use the Mixing Console to mix your project in much the same way you work with a hardware-based mixer. Understanding the Mixing Console window From the View menu, choose Mixing Console to toggle the display of the Mixing Console window.
Item Description Show Channels Choose a command to configure which channel strips are displayed in the Mixing Console window. • Show All Channels: Displays all channel strips in the Mixing Console. • Audio Tracks: Shows or hides audio track channel strips. • MIDI Tracks: Shows or hides MIDI track channel strips. • Audio Busses: Shows or hides auxiliary bus channel strips. • Input Busses: Shows or hides input bus channel strips. • Soft Synth Busses: Shows or hides soft synth bus channel strips.
The Channel List pane The Channel List pane is displayed on the left side of the Mixing Console window. To show or hide the window, click the down arrow next to the Properties and Layout button and choose Show Channel List from the menu (or right-click the Mixing Console window and choose Show Channel List from the shortcut menu). The top of the Channel and Group List pane displays a listing of all tracks, busses, and assignable effects chains in your project.
Channel strips Tracks, busses, soft synths, and assignable effects chains are displayed as channel strips in the Mixing Console. When a control surface is enabled, an indicator is displayed in the Mixing Console to indicate which channels are under external control. Multiple bars are displayed if a channel is under the control of multiple devices. For more information about using control surfaces, please see Using Control Surfaces with ACID on page 267.
Insert FX Control Region Item Description Insert FX Control Region The Insert FX control region displays the insert effects chain for a track or bus. Note: MIDI tracks do not have this region on the channel strip. Sends Control Region I/O Control Region Peak Meters Control Region Sends Control Region The Sends control region displays controls for routing tracks to busses or assignable effects chains. For assignable effects chains, the Send Region also displays an input fader and meter.
Changing a track’s name To rename an audio or MIDI track, double-click the track label at the bottom of the channel strip and type a new name in the box (or press F2 to rename the selected track). The channel strip in the Mixing Console and the track header are updated when you press Enter. Adding or editing track (insert) effects Note: MIDI tracks do not have an Insert FX control region. When the Insert FX control region is visible, each track displays its effects chain at the top of the channel strip.
When an effect is bypassed, its button is displayed in red text. • Choose Remove to remove a plug-in from the track effects chain. • Choose Presets, and then choose a setting from the submenu to load a new preset. • To replace the current plug-in, right-click the effect’s button, and then choose a new plug-in from the menu. Plug-ins are organized in submenus by type (EQ, Dynamics, Reverbs, etc.).
Change a track’s input or output device When the I/O control region is visible, each track (audio and MIDI) displays controls you can use to set the track's input device (for recording) and output device. To show or hide the I/O control region, click the I/O button in the View pane. To choose the recording input for the track, click the Input Source button and choose a port from the menu. To route an audio track to a bus, click the Output button and choose a bus from the menu.
Muting or soloing a track When the Faders control region is visible, each track displays Mute and Solo buttons. To show or hide the Faders control region, click the Faders button in the View pane. Muting a track When the Automation Settings button is not selected, you can click the Mute button to prevent a track from being played in the mix. Click the Mute button on additional tracks to add them to the mute group. To unmute a track, click the Mute button again.
To show or hide the Faders control region, click the Faders button in the View pane. Arming tracks for recording Select the Arm for Record buttons on the tracks where you want to record. Arming a track enables it for recording. When a track is armed, the track meter displays the track’s level. If input monitoring is not on, the meter displays the level of your input source. If input monitoring is turned on, the meter shows the level of the input source plus the track effects chain.
To show or hide the Faders control region, click the Faders button in the View pane. Adjusting panning When the Automation Settings button is not selected, you can drag the Pan slider to control the position of the track in the stereo field: dragging to the left will place the track in the left speaker more than the right, and dragging to the right will place the track in the right speaker.
Using output busses You can use busses to group and mix tracks. The most common uses of busses are for routing tracks and effects outputs to specific hardware outputs or simply to use a bus as a master control for a set of tracks. For example, if you wanted to control the master level of all your drum tracks to a relative level, you could create a bus and assign all drum tracks to that bus. After your drums are mixed, you can adjust the overall volume of the drum tracks by adjusting the bus volume.
Routing busses You can create up to 26 (plus the Master) virtual busses that you can route to hardware attached to your computer or to other busses. By default, all busses are assigned to the Master bus. In this configuration, you can use them for creating subgroups of tracks—for example, you could route all your drum tracks to a bus so you can adjust their levels together without changing their relative levels.
Using bus track headers 1. Add busses to your project. For more information, see Adding a bus on page 162. 2. If bus tracks aren’t already visible, choose Show Bus Tracks from the View menu. 3. Click the Playback Device Selector button on the audio bus track and choose an ouput device from the menu: • The button is displayed as a • The bus letter is displayed ( • The button is displayed as a when a bus is routed to the master bus. , , and so on) when a bus is routed to another bus.
Changing a bus’s name To rename a bus, double-click the label at the bottom of the channel strip and type a new name in the box (or press F2 to rename the selected bus). The channel strip in the Mixing Console is updated when you press Enter. Adding or editing bus (insert) effects When the Insert FX control region is visible, each bus displays its effects chain at the top of the channel strip. To show or hide the Insert FX control region, click the Insert FX button in the View pane.
Adding a plug-in Click the button and then choose a new plug-in from the menu to add a new plug-in to the effects chain. Editing effects settings Click an effect’s button to display the Audio Plug-In window, where you can adjust the plug-in’s settings. When you right-click an effect’s button, a shortcut a menu is displayed: • Choose Show to open the Audio Plug-In window, where you can adjust the plug-in's controls. • Choose Bypass to temporarily bypass a plug-in.
Muting or soloing a bus When the Faders control region is visible, each bus displays Mute and Solo buttons. To show or hide the Faders control region, click the Faders button in the View pane. Muting a bus When the Automation Settings button is not selected, you can click the Mute button to prevent a bus from being played in the mix. Click the Mute button on additional busses to add them to the mute group. To unmute a bus, click the Mute button again.
Changing pre/post routing The Pre/Post-Fader Send button in the Sends control region and the Pre/Post Fader Insert FX button work together to determine the signal flow for your busses. in the Faders control region The Pre/Post Fader Insert FX button allows you to indicate whether the insert FX chain is affected by the channel's gain fader. When set to Post Fader Insert FX , the FX chain is affected by the channel’s gain.
Deleting a bus Right-click an input bus channel strip and choose Delete from the shortcut menu, or select an input bus channel strip in the Mixing Console window and press the Delete key. Using input bus channel strips A separate channel strip is displayed for each input bus in your project. For more information, see Using Input Busses on page 168. To show or hide channel strips for busses, click the Busses button in the View pane.
Editing effects settings Click an effect's button to display the Audio Plug-In window, where you can adjust the plug-in's settings. When you right-click an effect's button, a shortcut a menu is displayed: • Choose Show to open the Audio Plug-In window, where you can adjust the plug-in's controls. • Choose Bypass to temporarily bypass a plug-in. When an effect is bypassed, its button is displayed in red text.
To show or hide the Meters control region, click the Meters button in the View pane. Note: If the Meters control region is not visible, peak meters are displayed in the Faders control region. Right-click the meter and choose a setting from the shortcut menu to change the resolution and display options. Muting or soloing an input bus When the Faders control region is visible, each bus displays Mute and Solo buttons. To show or hide the Faders control region, click the Faders button in the View pane.
Adjusting panning When the Automation Settings button is not selected, you can drag the Pan slider to control the position of the bus in the stereo field: dragging to the left will place the bus in the left speaker more than the right, and dragging to the right will place the bus in the right speaker. You can hold Ctrl while dragging the slider to adjust the setting in finer increments, or double-click the slider to return it to 0. When the Automation Settings button automation on the bus track.
4. Add an input bus to your project. This input bus will receive the signal from your effects processor. For more information, see Adding a bus on page 168. 5. Configure your input bus to take its input from the effects processor and send its output to your main mix: a. In the I/O control region of the input bus's channel strip, click the Input Source button and choose the sound card input that is connected to your effects processor's output (Inst 1 for this example). b.
Using input busses with hardware-based synthesizers If you'd like to use your vintage synth with your ACID project, this topic will show you how to use input busses to send a MIDI track to a hardware synthesizer. 1. Connect the MIDI Out port on your MIDI interface to the MIDI In port on your synthesizer. 2. Connect the audio output of your synthesizer to an input on your sound card (for this example, we'll use Inst 1). 3. Add an input bus to your project.
Monitoring an external source without mixing it with your project You may not want every signal that goes through the Mixing Console to be mixed with your project. For example, you could set up a cue (talkback) microphone to communicate between the control room and recording booth. This topic will show you how to use an input bus to set up a cue microphone. 1. Add an input bus to your project. For more information, see Adding or deleting input busses on page 168. 2.
Changing an assignable effect chain’s name To rename an assignable effects chain, double-click the label at the bottom of the channel strip and type a new name in the box (or press F2 to rename the selected assignable effects chain). The channel strip in the Mixing Console is updated when you press Enter. Adding or editing effects When the Insert FX control region is visible, each assignable effects chain displays its effects at the top of the channel strip.
Adjusting assignable effects input levels When the Sends control region is visible, each assignable effects chain displays controls you can use to adjust and monitor the input volume of the effects chain. To show or hide the Sends control region, click the Sends button in the View pane. Changing an effects chain’s output device When the I/O control region is visible, each assignable effects chain displays controls you can use to set the chain’s output device.
Adjusting panning When the Automation Settings button is not selected, you can drag the Pan slider to control the position of the bus in the stereo field: dragging to the left will place the bus in the left speaker more than the right, and dragging to the right will place the bus in the right speaker. You can hold Ctrl while dragging the slider to adjust the setting in finer increments, or double-click the slider to return it to 0. When the Automation Settings button automation on the bus track.
Chapter 11 Recording Audio ACID® software can record audio into multiple mono or stereo audio tracks while simultaneously playing back existing audio and video tracks. You are limited only by the performance of your computer system and audio hardware. Audio is recorded to a media file on your computer and into an event on the timeline. You may record into an empty track, a time selection, an event, or a combination of time and event selection.
Setup with digital multitrack This setup includes a digital multitrack recorder with an optional MIDI synchronization component. Usually you would have a mixer, a microphone, etc. connected to these components. Your particular setup will vary depending on your equipment. Refer to your components’ documentation for specific setup configurations. Digital out Digital card Digital in MIDI card Sync. out Sync. in The dashed line indicated an option if you are synching ACID software to tape via a MIDI timecode.
The metronome sounds are created by the general MIDI sound set, and the volume of the metronome is determined using the Preview fader in the Mixing Console. Notes: • The metronome’s sound is not mixed in the final rendering of the project. • Before rendering from a ReWire mixer application, turn off the ACID metronome, or the metronome will be included in the rendered output. • The metronome will not follow grooves that you’ve applied to your project.
Recording You may record into an empty track, a time selection, an event, or a combination of time and event selection. The recording is added to the timeline as new clip and is saved to a media file on your hard drive. By default, the Microsoft Sound Mapper is used to record audio. However, you can use the Audio Device tab in the Preferences dialog to specify a different recording device. For more information, see Using the Audio Device tab on page 257.
Recording into a time selection By making a time selection, you specify where along the timeline to record. The time selection also determines how long the software records. Any selected events that occur within the time selection are split and the recorded data is placed into the time selection. The event’s waveform is displayed as it is recorded and automatically stops recording when the cursor reaches the end of the time selection.
Using pre-roll The previous technique allows you to define the playback region with a time selection and sets the punch-in and punch-out points in the recording to the event boundaries. When you click the Record button, playback begins at the beginning of the time selection. The event is then filled with the newly recorded material. The audio file that is recorded to your hard disk is the full duration of the time selection.
5. Select the Arm for Record buttons ( ) on the track where you want to record. Arming a track enables it for recording. When a track is armed, the track meter displays the track's level. If input monitoring is not on, the meter displays the level of your input source. If input monitoring is turned on, the meter shows the level of the input source plus the track effects chain. 6. Click the Record button ( ) on the Transport bar to start recording. 7.
Monitoring audio levels While you’re recording, a responsive meter is provided in the track header to monitor the incoming signal level of the selected recording device. It is important that you record with the highest signal possible without clipping. A reading of 0 dB is the maximum for a digital signal. Clipping occurs when the incoming signal is too high to be represented as a digital value. The result is distortion in the recording.
Chapter 12 Working with MIDI ACID® software allows you to record MIDI tracks and edit MIDI in your projects. The software provides two plug-ins: the piano roll editor and the list editor. You can also render projects with MIDI tracks, play MIDI from an external device, and synchronize to MIDI timecode (MTC). Adding MIDI tracks and files You can add MIDI files to your project or create new MIDI files from scratch.
2. Add to Project with Events — Adds the file to the current ACID project at the cursor position, adds tracks to the track list, and creates events for the MIDI note data on each track. Envelopes are added to the tracks to represent MIDI controller data. • For Type 0 MIDI files, a separate track is created for each channel in the MIDI file, and all tracks are organized within a folder track.
Editing frozen tracks After you freeze a MIDI track, you can adjust track volume and panning only. Trim and automation controls are available in the track header and Mixing Console. These controls behave as they do on an audio track. For more information, see Adjusting the mix on page 41. A frozen MIDI track does not allow you to edit the following: • Moving, splitting, deleting, and drawing events are not available.
Setting up a MIDI controller for recording into a track 1. Select the MIDI track you want to record into, or press Ctrl+Alt+Q to add a new, blank MIDI track to your project. 2. Choose a MIDI input port by clicking the MIDI Input button on the track header. Choose a command from the menu: • Auto Input • Input Off • Hardware Input Port List — Displays the devices that are selected in the Make these devices available for MIDI input list on the MIDI tab of the Preferences dialog.
6. Click the Record button on the transport bar to start recording. MIDI messages from your controller are recorded as you play them. • Notes are added to an event in the timeline. • MIDI controller adjustments (such as pitch wheel and modulation wheel movements) are recorded as track envelopes. For more information, see MIDI controller automation on page 141.
7. Use the MIDI Step Record dialog to set options for recorded MIDI notes. a. Click the Step size button and choose interval between the beginnings of notes. Select the Tuplet check box to set irregular intervals. For example, to set a triplet interval in 4/4 time, select the Tuplet check box and choose 3 in time of 4. b. Click the Duration button and choose length of the note's sustain. When you choose a duration longer than the step size, notes will overlap. c.
9. Click the Record button on the transport bar to start recording. MIDI messages from your controller are recorded as you play them. • Notes are added to an event in the timeline. • MIDI controller adjustments (such as pitch wheel and modulation wheel movements) are recorded as track envelopes. For more information, see MIDI controller automation on page 141. MIDI controllers are recorded in touch timeout mode: envelope points are created or edited when you change a control setting.
When you edit a MIDI event, all events that use the same clip will be updated. For more information, see Using clips with tracks on page 101. Tips: • Hold Ctrl+Shift while double-clicking a MIDI event to enter inline editing mode. • While in inline editing mode, drag over a blank area of the timeline with the Draw tool to create a new clip and draw an empty event.
Scroll vertically Perform any of the following actions to scroll vertically within a track: • Use the scroll buttons at the left edge of the track to scroll up or down: Piano roll Drum grid • With the Draw • Hold Ctrl while dragging the keyboard/drum list up or down. or Selection tool, hover over the timeline and hold Ctrl while rolling the mouse wheel forward or back. • Hover over the keyboard/drum list and roll the mouse wheel forward or back.
Selecting groups of notes Drag with the Selection tool to draw selection boxes around the notes you want to include. The Selection tool can draw three types of selection boxes: Free selection The default behavior of the tool. Click to select individual notes (hold Shift or Ctrl to select multiple notes). Drag to draw a rectangular region that begins where you start drawing and ends where you release the mouse button. All notes inside the region will be selected.
4. Inside an event, drag in the row for the pitch you want to create to create a new note, or click an existing note with the Erase tool to remove it. If you draw or paint notes beyond the event edge, the event is automatically extended. Hold Shift while dragging to override horizontal snapping (press Shift after you click). Tip: In inline MIDI editing mode, drag in the top portion of the track to create a new event using the active clip. Editing note positions 1.
Editing note velocity Note velocity is represented in the timeline by velocity stems. To show or hide velocity stems in inline MIDI editing mode, choose Show Inline MIDI Editing from the View menu, and then choose Show Note-On Velocities or Show Note-Off Velocities from the submenu. 1. Click the Enable Inline MIDI Editing button 2. Select the Draw tool . . 3.
Quantizing MIDI events 1. From the Edit menu, choose MIDI Processes and Filters. The MIDI Processes and Filters dialog is displayed. 2. Select the Quantize tab. 3. Select your quantization options: Item Description Quantize start Select this check box to force the beginning (note-on messages) of MIDI events to a specified resolution on the grid. Quantize release Select this check box to force the end (note-off messages) of MIDI events to a specified resolution on the grid.
Editing velocity 1. From the Edit menu, choose MIDI Processes and Filters. The MIDI Processes and Filters dialog is displayed. 2. Select the Velocity tab. 3. Select a check box to indicate whether you want to edit note-on or note-off velocities: Item Description Change Start Velocity Select this check box to edit note-on velocities. Change Release Velocity Select this check box to edit note-off velocities. 4.
5. Select the tracks or events you want to edit: • Select a track to edit all events on the track. Hold Ctrl or Shift while clicking a track header to select multiple tracks. • If you want to edit multiple events on multiple tracks, hold Ctrl or Shift while clicking the events to select them, and then select the tracks. • If a selected event has note events selected, only the selected notes will be edited. Note: Muted tracks will not be edited. 6. Click the Apply button. Editing duration 1.
Editing MIDI track properties From the View menu, choose Track Properties to display the Track Properties window. The contents of the Track Properties window reflect the currently selected track. For MIDI tracks, you can use the Output Settings tab to adjust MIDI controllers, voices, and drum maps. You can use the Input Filters tab set up MIDI message, velocity, or quantize filters. You can use the Clip Pool tab to organize each track's media and enable looped or oneshot drawing for MIDI events.
4. Double-click the Def box and type a new value to change the default setting for a controller. This value is used when you reset envelope points. 5. Click the down arrow in the Curve Type box to set the default fade curve for each controller's automation envelope. The new curve type will be applied to all segments on the envelope. You can right-click a segment and choose a new fade curve to override the default curve type. 6.
If the track does not contain program change keyframes, the selected patch is used to play the entire track. If the track contains keyframes, the selected patch is assigned to the keyframe that occurs before the current cursor position. Note: You can also select drum maps by doing either of the following: • Double-click the MIDI track icon to open Track Properties dialog. On the Output Setting tab, choose Drum Map from the drop-down menu.
Configuring MIDI input filters You can use the Input Filters tab set up MIDI message, velocity, or quantize filters. Setting up MIDI message input filters Use the Input Filters tab to choose which notes or other MIDI messages you want to record or exclude from MIDI recordings. 1. Select the track where you want to apply the filter. 2. From the View menu, choose Track Properties. 3. In the Track Properties dialog, click the Input Filters tab. 4.
Setting up MIDI velocity input filters Use the Input Filters tab to modify or limit note-on and note-off velocity from a track's MIDI input device during recording. 1. Select the track where you want to apply the filter. 2. In the Track Properties dialog, click the Input Filters tab. 3. Choose Velocity from the drop-down list at the top of the page. 4. Select the Enable check box. 5.
Setting up MIDI quantize input filters Use the Input Filters tab to force notes from a track's input port to align with musical beats during recording. 1. Select the track where you want to apply the filter. 2. In the Track Properties dialog, click the Input Filters tab. 3. Choose Quantize from the drop-down list at the top of the page. 4. Select the Enable check box. 5.
Using the clip pool You can use the Clip Pool to organize each track’s media and enable looped or one-shot drawing for MID events. 1. Select a track. 2. From the View menu, choose Track Properties. The Track Properties dialog is displayed. 3. Select the Clip Pool tab. Tips: You can also access the clip pool by doing the following: • Double-click the MIDI track icon to open Track Properties dialog. Click the Clip Pool tab from the drop-down menu.
Adding a mute envelope 1. Select a MIDI track. 2. From the Insert menu, choose Envelopes, or right-click in the track list and choose Insert/Remove Envelope from the shortcut menu. 3. From the submenu, choose Mute. A check mark is displayed next to the command, and an envelope is added to the timeline. Mute automation is either on or off with no fade between the on and off states. If you want to use fades, apply volume automation. 4.
5. Drag a slider to edit automation settings at the cursor position. The track header controls behave differently depending on the track's automation recording mode: • When the track automation mode is set to Off, the controls adjust the level of the entire track. In this mode, the automation envelope is bypassed, and the control does nothing.
Add a Sysex keyframe 1. Right-click the track header, choose Insert/Remove Envelope, and then choose Insert Sysex from the submenu. 2. Using the Draw or Envelope tool, double-click in the track's keyframe row to add a keyframe. 3. To edit a keyframe, double-click it to display the System Exclusive Editor dialog. Tip: To hide the Sysex keyframe row without removing keyframes, right-click the track header, choose Insert/Remove Envelope, and then choose Hide Sysex from the submenu.
Editing parameter automation envelopes You can edit mute automation settings by adding an envelope to the bus track or by using the controls in the Soft Synth Properties window. For more information, see Soft Synth Properties on page 23. 1. Select the Automation Settings button . 2. Click to position the cursor in the timeline where you want to edit a parameter. 3.
Using the piano roll editor The piano roll editor is an OPT plug-in that you can use to create and edit note events within the Clip Properties window for a MIDI clip. The top pane of the piano roll editor displays note information like a sequencer or a roll from a player piano. Each note is represented by a rectangular note event of a certain length and pitch. The piano keys along the left side of the window indicate the pitch of a note event.
Adding note events You can add note events using the Draw tool ( ) or the Paint tool ( ) in the same way you do in the main ACID window. Tip: As you drag to create new events, the event edge snaps to the divisions on the beat ruler. To snap to smaller divisions, click the Zoom In Time button ( ) at the bottom of the window to zoom in more tightly. Or, to turn off snapping altogether, click the Enable Snapping button ( ) to toggle it off.
Changing velocity data 1. In the lower-left corner of the Piano Roll Editor tab, click the drop-down arrow and choose Velocity from the menu. 2. In the area at the bottom of the Piano Roll Editor tab, drag the top of a velocity bar up or down to change the velocity value. You can also drag across multiple bars to change their values at the same time. Setting pitch bend 1. In the lower-left corner of the Piano Roll Editor tab, click the drop-down arrow and choose Pitch Bend from the menu. 2.
Using cut, copy, and paste After you select note events, you can click the Cut ( cursor in a new location and click the Paste button ( original note event. ) or Copy ( ) buttons to cut or copy the events. You can then position the ) to paste the events. Note events are always pasted at the same pitch as the Toggling note snapping Click the Enable Snapping Notes to Specified Scale button ( ) to toggle snapping. If the button is selected, you can only draw or drag notes within the selected scale.
Toolbar Events Transport bar Loop boxes Previewing MIDI You can preview individual events or the MIDI file as a whole within the list editor. Tip: To control volume during playback in the list editor, drag the Preview fader in the Mixing Console window. Previewing single events When monitoring is enabled, the list editor will play events when you select them. 1. In the list editor, click the Monitor button ( ) to turn on the event monitor. 2. Click anywhere in an event row to play the event.
Setting a loop region When the Loop Playback button is selected, you can set a portion of the edit list to play repeatedly. The beginning, end, and length of the loop region are displayed in the Loop boxes in the lower-right corner of the List Editor tab. 1. Select the Loop Playback button . 2. Select the first event you want to play. 3. Click the Mark Loop Start button . 4. Select the last event you want to play. 5. Click the Mark Loop End button . 6. Click the Play button to start playback.
Event parameters The table below describes the editable event parameters for different event types. Event type Editable parameter Description After Touch Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin. Control Change Channel MIDI channel (1-16) where you want to send the event. Pressure Amount of vibrato (0-127) you want to apply to each voice on the channel. Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin.
MIDI notes and frequencies The following table shows the musical pitch and frequency associated with each MIDI note. A5 is 440 Hz, and middle C is C5 at 261.63 Hz. These values can differ, often by one octave, from values used by other manufacturers. The following frequencies are based on equal temperament tuning. Pitch MIDI Key Frequency Pitch MIDI Key Frequency Pitch MIDI Key Frequency C0 G3 43 97.998 D7 86 1174.7 1244.5 0 8.176 C#-0 1 8.662 G#3 44 103.82 D#7 87 D0 2 9.
Creating events In addition to editing existing events, you can also create new events. 1. Click the Insert Event button ( ). The Insert MIDI Event dialog appears. 2. Choose an event type from the Event type drop-down list. 3. Enter a start time in the Start time box. 4. Enter values for the remaining event parameters. 5. Click Insert. The new event is inserted at the designated start time.
Routing tracks to MIDI devices or soft synths Each MIDI track can be played through any external MIDI port or any DLS, VSTi, or ReWire 2.0 soft synth bus control in the Mixing Console window. For more information, see Adding track, assignable FX, bus, and soft synth channels on page 155. 1. Click the MIDI Output button. A list of all the available MIDI devices and software synthesizers is displayed.
3. Click the MIDI tab. 4. Select a device in the Make these devices available for MIDI input pane. 5. To enable MIDI thru for the selected input, right-click the entry in the MIDI Thru column and choose a MIDI thru device from the shortcut menu. Note: The MIDI thru device must be selected in the Make these devices available for MIDI track playback pane in order to appear in the menu. You can choose more than one MIDI device for MIDI thru output, if desired. 6. Click OK.
Creating program maps 1. From the Tools menu, choose Program Map Editor to display the Program Map Editor dialog. 2. Click the New button to create a new program map. You'll be prompted to choose a file name and location where you want to save the new map. Tip: If you want to create a program map based on an existing map, load a program map and then click the Save As button to save a copy of the program map with a new name. 3.
8. Double-click the Prog, MSB, and LSB values to edit them and type the values that correspond to the appropriate program. Please refer to your device or its documentation to determine the correct values for each program. Notes: • Within ACID, MIDI values range from 0-127. If your device uses 1-128, subtract 1 when editing the program. • Devices that use Sysex messages to change programs are limited to 128 programs. 9. Click OK to close the dialog and save your changes.
4. If you want to associate the drum map with a MIDI device, double-click the Device box and type the name of a MIDI device. When you associate a drum map with a MIDI device, the drum maps will be displayed automatically on the Output Settings tab of the Track Properties window when you choose Drum Map from the drop-down list at the top of the page. For more information, see Editing duration on page 201. Note: Be sure to type the device name identically in the Drum Map Editor and the Patch Map Editor.
Generating MTC with an offset In some cases, you may want to start sending timecode with an offset (e.g., 01:00:00:00) to allow time for multiple devices to synchronize. You can create an offset on the ACID time ruler to accomplish this. For more information, see Using the ruler offset on page 249. Viewing outgoing timecode You can view outgoing timecode in the time display located directly above the track list.
Generating MIDI clock MIDI clock differs from MTC in that it contains tempo as well as positional information. MIDI clock is essentially measured in ticks from the beginning of the project. MIDI clock sends 24 ticks per quarter note. The advantage of using MIDI clock is that tempo changes are sent to the chasing application and they will be preserved. 1. Specify a MIDI output device to which you will send the clock. This option can be found on the Sync tab of the Preferences dialog.
5. Type a value in the Resolution box to set the resolution of file. The default is 960, but you can specify any value between 24 and 960. Important: Not all MIDI devices can read arbitrary resolutions. 6. Click the Save button. Configuring a Mackie Control Universal The Mackie Control Universal is fully supported by ACID. An overlay is available from Mackie that you can use to label the buttons and controls with their mapped functions in ACID.
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Chapter 13 Working with Video By adding a video track to your ACID® project, you can use the software as a scoring tool. Video is always added to the top track in the track list. Depending on your horizontal zoom level, each frame displayed in the video track may represent multiple frames from the source video. As you zoom in, marks display to represent each frame, and you can zoom further to view individual frames. Managing video ACID makes it easy to add video to a project and work with the video track.
Editing video events You have several video editing options to help you score your video. Moving video events Drag the event to a new location along the video track. Trimming video events Drag either end of the video event. The video event stays in place, but the beginning or end of the video moves. You cannot trim the beginning or end of the event past the event’s original end. You cannot trim an event earlier than its starting point unless the event has been trimmed previously.
Toolbar buttons Shortcut menu Background Status bar Copying a frame to the clipboard The Copy Frame toolbar button in the Video Preview window allows you to copy the current frame to the Windows® clipboard. Using toolbar buttons The toolbar allows you to access two commonly used functions of the Video Preview window. Button Description Copies the current frame to the Windows clipboard. Sends the preview to an external monitor.
Previewing on external monitors You can use your system’s external monitor for previewing video playback. You must have an OHCI IEEE-1394 adapter and a device to convert the DV signal to video, such as a DV camcorder, deck, or media converter. To specify an external monitor, click the External Monitor button ( from the Options menu and click the Video tab. ) on the Video Preview window, or choose Preferences Other settings for the external monitor can also be found on the Video tab.
Chapter 14 Working with 5.1 Surround You can create 5.1-channel mixes to wrap a listener in your remixes or prepare audio for cinema, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, or DTS 5.1 Music projects. Note: ACID plays, mixes, and renders uncompressed 5.1-channel audio. Authoring software such as Sony DVD Architect software is required to burn the audio to DVD. What is 5.1 surround? 5.1 surround is a standard format consisting of three speakers across the front and two speakers in the rear. The “.
Setting up surround hardware Before you create surround projects, you should set up your system to provide 5.1 surround playback. To play a 5.1 surround project, you must have an appropriate speaker setup such as: • Six powered speakers • Six passive speakers with a six-channel amplifier Your system must also have an appropriate sound card setup such as: • 5.
Track list in 5.1 surround mode Mixing Console in 5.1 surround mode Surround panner Surround panners Track routed to LFE Track routed to Bus MIDI track routed to soft synth Front L/R Rear L/R Center LFE Routing to hardware in the Mixing Console You must route the surround audio to the correct output in the Mixing Console. 1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences. 2. Click the Audio Device tab. 3.
To change a track or Mixing Console control back to surround panning, right-click the LFE indicator and choose Surround Pan from the shortcut menu. Note: Before rendering your surround project, check your surround authoring application’s documentation to determine its required audio format with respect to the LFE channel. For more information, see Setting up surround projects on page 236. Adjusting volume Adjusting track volume for 5.1 surround projects behaves almost identically to stereo projects.
Panning audio You can pan audio in a 5.1 surround project in two ways: • Pan tracks individually using the Surround Panner window. • Route tracks to mixer controls (busses, assignable effect chains, or soft synths) and pan the mixer controls using the Surround Panner window. Note: You cannot pan audio on tracks or busses that are routed to hardware outputs in a 5.1 surround project. Panning tracks 1. Deselect the Automation Settings button ( ) on the track you want to pan. 2.
Double-click to display the Surround Panner window 4. Adjust the panning settings. For more information, see Using the Surround Panner window on page 240. 5. Close the Surround Panner window. Tip: You can also use the surround panner on the mixer control to pan your track. Using the Surround Panner window Whether you’re adjusting track panning or mixer control panning, you use the same controls in the Surround Panner window.
3. Click the center speaker icon to include the center channel and drag the Center fader to apply a gain to the center channel. Applying a gain to the center channel may make dialogue more present in the mix. Note: When automating panning using keyframes, you cannot automate the gain applied using the Center fader. For more information, see Automating panning on page 242. 4. Drag the Smoothness slider to adjust the smoothness of the interpolation path between panning keyframes.
• The Film mode allows you to pan between pairs of adjacent speakers in 5.1 surround projects using a constant power model. This mode is optimized for theater-style speaker placement. In stereo projects, Film mode functions identically to Constant Power. As you drag the pan point to the center speaker, the sound becomes diffused through the front and rear speakers. When the track is panned fully to the center speaker, there is no output from the front and rear speakers.
3. Double-click the surround panner to display the Surround Panner window. 4. Adjust the panning settings. For more information, see Using the Surround Panner window on page 240. Note: You cannot automate muting/including channels. 5. Close the Surround Panner window. A keyframe with the pan settings you created appears below the track at the cursor position. Tip: You can also add keyframes by double-clicking the keyframe row or by right-clicking the row and choosing Add Keyframe from the shortcut menu.
Changing keyframe interpolation curves To control how the pan is interpolated between keyframes, right-click a keyframe and choose an interpolation curve type from the shortcut menu. Keyframe interpolation curves control how the pan occurs over time. Keyframe Interpolation curve Description Hold Linear No interpolation takes place. The keyframe's settings are maintained until the next keyframe. Panning is interpolated in a linear path. Fast Panning is interpolated in a fast logarithmic path.
Hiding keyframes 1. Select the track for which you want to hide keyframes. 2. From the View menu, choose Show Envelopes, and choose Surround Pan Keyframes from the submenu. Deleting keyframes Right-click a keyframe and choose Delete from the shortcut menu. Rendering surround projects Rendering a surround project creates six mono files (AIFF, WAV, W64, or PCA) or a single 5.1-channel file (AC-3, WMA, and WMV) that your authoring application can use to create DVD-Video or 5.1-channel music projects.
7. If the selected file type supports it, you can select the Save project markers with media file check box to include markers, regions, and time markers in the rendered media file. If the information cannot be saved to your media file, an .sfl file will be created (using the same base name as your media file). 8. Click Save. Burning AC-3 files to DVD With the addition of the AC-3 DVD Burner included in the Sony 5.1 Surround Plug-In Pack, you can burn AC-3 files to a DVD. 1.
Appendix A Customizing ACID Software You can customize the software to suit your project needs and working preferences. You may change these settings at any time. If you use the same settings for all of your projects, you may set the ACID® application to use your settings as defaults. In this chapter, you will find information about functions that allow you to customize and set the application’s preferences.
Close window Expand/restore window Drag handle Tabs Note: When the last window in the docking area is closed or removed, the docking area minimizes automatically. When the docking area is minimized, dragging a dockable window over the bottom of the ACID window causes the docking area to open again. Docking windows 1. If the window is floating on the workspace, grab the window by its title bar and drag it to the window docking area anywhere below the track list or track view.
Changing the time ruler format You may specify a time format for the ACID time ruler to display. The ruler, located below the track view, displays real time in several formats. You may change the ruler format in one of the following ways: • From the View menu, choose Time Ruler, and choose the desired format from the submenu. • Right-click the time ruler and choose the desired format from the shortcut menu.
The grid can use the following formats: Ruler Marks Measures Half Notes Quarter Notes Quarter Note Triplets 8th Notes 8th Note Triplets 16th Notes 16th Note Triplets 32 Notes 32nd Note Triplets 64th Notes 64th Note Triplets Setting the grid type You may change the grid type at any time and apply it to your project. There are two ways to set the grid type for your project. • From the Options menu, choose Grid Spacing, and choose the type of grid you want from the submenu.
2. On the Current toolbar buttons pane, select the button that you want to move and click Move Up or Move Down. 3. Click Close to save the toolbar changes and close the dialog. Adding buttons to the toolbar A series of buttons are included that you may add to the toolbar. These buttons are listed in the Customize Toolbar dialog. You may also add separators on the toolbar to organize the buttons to suit your preferences.
Using the time display The time display above the track list reflects the cursor’s position on the timeline. Changing cursor position You can edit the cursor position using time as it is displayed on either the beat ruler or time ruler: • To set the cursor’s position based on the beat ruler, right-click the time display and choose Edit Cursor Position - Beats from the shortcut menu.
3. Select the check boxes for properties you wish to set. Clear the check boxes for the properties you wish to leave as they are. Tip: Select the Restore original defaults check box to return to the original track properties. 4. Click OK. Setting ACID preferences From the Options menu, choose Preferences to display the Preferences dialog.
Using the General tab Item Description Automatically open last project on Select this check box if you want to reopen the project that was open the last time the startup software was closed. When you clear this check box, the software starts with a blank project. Show logo splash screen on startup Select this box if you want the ACID logo splash screen to display upon startup.
Item Description Save media-usage relationships in When this check box is selected, the Media Manager™ will save information about active media library media usage so you can perform searches for media relationships. You can search for projects that use a media file, projects where a media file was previewed, media that was rendered with a media file, and so on.
Item Description Include project name when naming recorded media Select this check box if you want to use the project name to identify recorded clips. For example, if this check box is selected and you’re working with My Remix.acd, recorded files will be named My Remix Track X Recording X.wav. If this check box is not selected, recorded files will be named Track X Recording X.wav.
Using the Audio Device tab Item Description Audio device type Choose a driver type from the drop-down list: • Microsoft Sound Mapper: The default setting. Allows the Sound Mapper to choose an appropriate playback device. • Direct Sound Surround Mapper: Allows the Surround Mapper to choose appropriate playback devices for the front, rear, and center/LFE channels in a 5.1 surround project (pg. 236). • Windows Classic Wave Driver: Allows you to choose a specific audio device using a classic wave driver.
Automatically detect and offset for Select the check box to automatically compensate for offset between the time you hardware recording latency initiate recording and when your sound card starts recording. Advanced Click this button to open the Advanced Audio Configuration dialog. Default All Click to restore the Audio tab to the default settings.
Customizing ASIO Port Naming When you use an ASIO sound card, default names are displayed in ACID for each of the device’s ports. If you have a simple setup, the default names probably work well enough for you. However, if you have a complex setup, customizing the port names can help you keep track of your routing with meaningful labels.
Using the MIDI tab Note: If you have a MIDI controller that includes buttons and knobs that you map to external control functions, you can use the device as an external control device and as a MIDI input device for recording MIDI — for example, you can use the buttons, knobs, and sliders on the device for external control, and still use the keyboard, pitch wheel, and modulation wheel for recording MIDI. MIDI messages that are mapped to external control functions are filtered when you record MIDI.
Using the Video tab Item Description Device Choose a DV output device from the drop-down list. This is the interface to which your video device is connected. Details Displays information about the device selected in the External monitor device drop-down list. If project format is invalid for DV output, conform to the following If your source media does not conform to DV standards, choose a setting from the drop-down list.The video is adjusted to display properly on your external monitor.
Using the Sync tab Setting sync preferences Generate MIDI Timecode settings Output device Choose a MIDI device from the drop-down list. MIDI timecode is sent to this device. The MTC slave should also be set to this device. This device will not be available for MIDI playback. Frame rate Choose a frame rate from the drop-down list. This frame rate is used to generate the MIDI timecode. The MTC slave must be set to the same frame rate.
MTC Input Send Start instead of Continue when beginning playback Select this check box if you want a Start command rather than a Continue command to be sent when Generate MIDI Clock is activated. When the check box is cleared, a Continue command is sent, as this type of command allows the chasing device to start from a specific time. However, some older sequencers that support MIDI Clock chase do not support the Continue command and must start playback from the beginning every time.
Using the Folders tab Item Description Default project folder This box displays the path to the folder that will be used for creating new projects. Click the Browse button to choose a different folder. Use a single default folder for project media saves Select this radio button if you want to save all project media in a single folder. Use separate defaults for each type Select this radio button if you want to choose where to save each type of project of project media save media.
Using the External Control & Automation tab Use the External Control & Automation tab to set up and customize control surfaces. From the Options menu, choose Preferences to display the Preferences dialog. Click the External Control & Automation tab. For more information, see Configuring a Mackie Control Universal on page 229. Note: From the Options menu, choose External Control to enable your selected control surfaces.
Saving a keyboard mapping Click the Save as button and type a name to save your current keyboard shortcuts to an .ini file in the C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Application Data\Sony\ACID Pro\7.0 folder (C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Local\Sony\ACID Pro\7.0 on Windows Vista). Tip: The Application Data folder is not visible unless the Show hidden files and folders radio button is selected on the View tab of the Windows Folder Options control panel.
Appendix B Using Control Surfaces with ACID A control surface is a hardware device that uses knobs, faders, and buttons to control user interface elements that are normally controlled with a mouse. Using a control surface lends a tactile feel to your editing sessions. Unlike keyboard shortcuts—which determine the shortcut's behavior based on the portion of the ACID window that has focus—a control surface's mapped functions work no matter what part of the application has focus.
Configuring ACID to use your control surface Use the MIDI tab in the Preferences dialog to select the device to which your control surface is connected. For more information, see Using the MIDI tab on page 260. 1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences to display the Preferences dialog. 2. Enable your MIDI input and output ports: a. Select the MIDI tab in the Preferences dialog. b.
Setting up a Mackie Control Universal The Mackie Control is fully supported by ACID® software and lends a tactile element to your editing sessions. There are many overlays available that you can use to label the Mackie Control buttons and controls with their mapped functions in ACID. For more information about Mackie Control overlays, please check the Mackie Web site: http://www.mackie.com/products/mcu/index.html The overlay identifies the default control mapping.
Configuring the software to use the Mackie Control Universal 1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences to display the Preferences dialog. 2. Enable your MIDI input and output ports: a. Select the MIDI tab in the Preferences dialog. b. In the Make these devices available for MIDI track playback box, select the check box for the MIDI port that is connected to the Mackie Control Universal’s In port. c.
4. Choose the channels you want to control with the Mackie Control Universal: a. From the Device Type drop-down list, choose Mackie Control. b. From the Channel Mapping drop-down list, choose the channels you want to adjust with the Mackie Control Universal. 5. Choose the channels you want to control with the Mackie Control Extender: a. From the Device Type drop-down list, choose Mackie Control Extender. b.
3. Double-click your Mackie Control in the Active control devices list to display the Configure Mackie Control dialog. 4. To add or change a function do the following: a. Select an item in the User defined surface control mappings list. b. Select an item in the Available host functions list. c. Click the Assign button. 5. To remove a function, select an item in the User defined surface control mappings list and click the Clear button. 6. To remove all functions, click the Clear All button. 7.
Using the Mackie Control Universal The following sections describe the default control mapping for the Mackie Control Universal when used with ACID. The Mackie Control Universal can control either trim or automation settings. In order to control automation settings, the Automation button in the Audio/Video section must be selected, and the track or bus you want to edit must be set to Automation Write (Touch) or Automation Write (Latch).
Item Description 7 Fader Adjusts the track or bus level (unless the Flip button is selected). When the Automation button is selected, the fader adjusts the automation envelope if the track is in Automation Write (Touch) or Automation Write (Latch) mode. The fader can also adjust settings for the following items when you select other buttons in the Channel section. • Audio track panning: Adjusts audio track panning when the Pan and Flip buttons are selected.
Item Description 5 Inserts Press to adjust effects settings. Press the button once to display PL in the Mackie Control Assignment display. The Mackie Control LCD displays the effects that are assigned to each track or bus. The following example shows a three-track project: Turn the V-Pot to scroll through the effects, and press the V-Pot to edit the current effect. In editing mode, PE is displayed in the Assignment display.
Fader Banks buttons The Fader Banks buttons control the behavior of the channel section controls. 1 2 3 Item 1 Bank Description Press the left or right arrow button to scroll the channels 8 units at a time. For example, if tracks 1-8 are currently displayed, pressing the right arrow will change to tracks 9-16. 2 Channel Press the left or right arrow button to scroll the channels 1 unit at a time. For example, if tracks 1-8 are currently displayed, pressing the right arrow will change to tracks 2-9.
Markers buttons The Markers buttons control additional track and channel settings. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Item Description 1 Marker 1/9 Automation Mode Press to place the cursor at marker 1, or hold Shift and press to place the cursor at marker 9. When the Settings button is selected, hold the button and turn the V-Pot to change the automation recording mode for each track and bus track. 2 Marker 2/10 Press to place the cursor at marker 2, or hold Shift and press to place the cursor at marker 10.
Windows buttons The Windows buttons control the display of various ACID windows. 1 2 3 Item Description 1 Mixer Press to show the Mixing Console window. If the window is not docked, pressing the button shows/hides the window. 2 Video Preview Press to show the Video Preview window. If the window is not docked, pressing the button shows/hides the window. 3 Plug-Ins Press to show the Plug-In Manager window. If the window is not docked, pressing the button shows/hides the window.
Modifiers buttons The Modifiers buttons extend the functionality of other buttons on the Mackie Control. 1 2 3 4 Item 1 Shift Description Hold the Shift button while pressing a button labeled with inverse text to perform the shift function. For example, hold Shift while pressing the Undo/Redo button to reverse an undo action. 2 Option/Track Hold the Option/Track Order button while pressing a button in the Settings, Add New, or Windows group for Order alternative functions.
Project buttons The Project buttons perform various project-level commands. 1 2 3 4 Item Description 1 Save Press to save your project. 2 Undo/Redo Press to reverse edit operations. 3 OK Not used. 4 Cancel Not used. Hold Shift while pressing the button to reverse an undo operation. Timeline buttons The Timeline buttons perform various commands for the project timeline. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Item Description 1 Marker Press to place a marker at the cursor position.
Item Description 7 RTZ/ End Press to move the cursor to the beginning of the project. Hold the Shift button while pressing the RTZ/End button to move the cursor to the end of the project. Transport buttons The Transport buttons allow you to navigate the timeline and preview your project. 1 2 3 4 5 Item Description 1 Rewind Press and hold to move backward through the timeline at 20x speed. 2 Fast Forward Press and hold to move forward through the timeline at 20x speed.
Arrow buttons The arrow buttons allow you to navigate the timeline and preview your project. 1 2 Item Description 1 Left/Right • Press the left or right arrow button to move left or right 1/32 note. • Hold Ctrl while pressing the left or right arrow button to go to the beginning or end of the project. • Hold Alt while pressing the left or right arrow button to go to the beginning of the next or previous measure. 2 Up/Down 282 | APPENDIX B • Press to zoom in or out.
Jog dial The jog dial allows you to navigate the timeline and trim events. Navigating the timeline When playback is paused and the Scrub button is not selected, the jog dial performs the following functions: • Turn the dial clockwise or counterclockwise to navigate the timeline by 1/32 note. • Hold Alt and turn the dial to go to the beginning of the next or previous measure. Scrubbing the timeline During playback, turning the jog dial increases or decreases the playback rate.
Control Function Out Set loop end. Shift Function Punch Toggle metronome. Toggle MIDI merge recording when displaying volume or panning for a MIDI track. • Press Track or Track to select a MIDI track. • Press Shift + Loop until volume or panning information is displayed on the TranzPort. • Hold Shift and press Punch. For more information, see Using MIDI merge recording on page 192. Loop Toggle looped playback.
Editing a track's input device 1. Press Track or Track to select the track you want to adjust. 2. Press Shift+Loop until the TranzPort displays the track's input device. 3. Hold Shift while rotating the jog wheel to scroll through the available inputs. When you change the input device, an asterisk is displayed before the device name on the TranzPort. 4. Press Shift+Punch to set the input device. Editing a track or mixer control’s output device 1.
Loading a control mapping file 1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences to display the Preferences dialog. 2. Select the External Control & Automation tab in the Preferences dialog. 3. Double-click the Generic Control entry in the Active control devices list to display the Configure Generic Control dialog. 4. Click the Open button and browse to the mapping file you want to use. 5. Click OK to apply your changes and return to the Preferences dialog. 6. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog.
b. Select Toggle Automation Mode from the Host Command list. c. Verify that the Learn check box is still selected, and then press the button or key you want to use to switch your control surface in and out of automation mode. You'll notice that the Channel, MIDI Message, and MIDI Data columns are updated. 12. Click OK to close the Configure Generic Control dialog, and then click OK to close the Preferences dialog. 13. From the Options menu, choose External Control to enable your controller.
The Behringer BCF2000 control surface LCD display Knobs Encoder groups buttons Push buttons Editing buttons Preset buttons Assignable buttons Faders Note: The following instructions describe using the Behringer BCF2000 only as an emulated Mackie Control Universal device. However, it can also be used as a generic controller. To set up the BCF2000 as a generic controller, see Configuring a generic MIDI controller on page 285 or the manufacturer’s instructions.
2. Open and run the BCF2000 Version 1.10 firmware .zip file. 3. Open and run the firmware update utility .zip file. 4. Turn off the Behringer BCF2000 and turn it back on after a few seconds. The LCD display should quickly flash 1.10 to indicate that the firmware has successfully installed. Then the LCD display should read P-1. If P-1 is not displayed, turn off the Behringer BCF2000. Press and hold the first push button in the top row of buttons (under the first knob) and turn the unit back on.
a. Select the MIDI tab in the Preferences dialog. b. In the Make these devices available for MIDI track playback box, select the BCF2000 check box. c. In the Make these devices available for MIDI input box, select the BCF2000 check box. d. Click Apply. Note: MIDI ports that are in use by the Behringer BCF2000 display a icon to indicate that they are not available for MIDI track playback or input. 4. Choose your control surface: a. Select the External Control & Automation tab in the Preferences dialog.
e. From the MIDI input and MIDI output drop-down lists, choose BCF2000. BCF2000 should be selected under MIDI input and MIDI output. 5. Click OK in the Configure Mackie Control dialog to close it. 6. Click OK in the Preferences dialog to apply your changes and close the dialog. 7. From the Options menu, choose External Control to enable the Behringer BCF2000. Note: The faders should automatically move into positions that correspond with your ACID settings.
Using the Behringer BCF2000 with ACID The following sections describe the default control mapping for the Behringer BCF2000 when used with ACID. Encoder Groups buttons The Encoder Groups buttons − when used alone or with Editing buttons, Push buttons, Assignable buttons − or knobs, allow you to change a variety of settings in your project.
Push buttons Knobs Top row of push buttons Encoder Groups buttons Bottom row of push buttons Items Description Push buttons (top row) Turns mute on or off for each track. Upshift+push button (top row) Turns the solo on or off for each track. Push button (bottom row) Selects the track. Upshift+push button (bottom row) Arms the track for recording. Downshift+push button (bottom row) Adds an audio track to your project.
Faders The faders control the following in your project: • The track volume level. • The automation envelope on the track (when in automation mode). Preset buttons The Preset buttons allow you to move left or right through the BCFview virtual display to expose all the tracks in your project. The virtual channel view will display 8 tracks at one time. Tracks 1-8 of your ACID project in the virtual view.
4. To add a volume, pan, or mute envelope, do the following: a. To add a volume envelope (purple), move the track fader. b. To add a pan envelope (red), twist the track knob. c. To add a mute envelope (green), press the top row button of the track..
Fader automation Another question that comes up often is, “Why aren’t the faders following the envelopes?” There are two quick answers to this question. 1. The Behringer BCF2000 is not in automation mode. To enable automation press Downshift+Edit. For more information, see Encoder Groups buttons on page 292. 2. On the track header, Automation Off has been selected. To enable automation, choose Automation Read, Automation Write (Touch), or Automation Write (Latch).
Appendix C ACID Tips and Tricks The following sections contain some time-saving tips and creative suggestions for building ACID® projects. Adding long media files quickly You can paint an entire CD track or MIDI file on an ACID track with a single click. 1. Add a long file such as a CD track or MIDI file to your ACID project. For more information, see Adding media to the project on page 31. 2. Click the Paint Tool button ( ). The Paint tool is selected. 3. Press Ctrl and click in the track.
Duplicating with offset Another way to add interesting dynamics to a project is to duplicate tracks and add an offset to one of the pair. This trick works well with most instrument loops and allows you to create different levels of effect. For example: • Configuring a slight offset between duplicate tracks creates a natural chorus effect. • Configuring small offsets creates various reverb effects. • Configuring larger offsets creates interesting echoes. 1.
Playing double time/half time You can also produce interesting effects by misinforming ACID regarding the number of beats in a file. Configuring a file with half its actual number of beats results in double-time playback. This is an easy way to add speed metal drum tracks to your project. This technique is also useful for adding a kick drum on every beat to producing a heavy dance foundation. Conversely, configuring a file with twice its actual number of beats results in half-time playback. 1.
One of the simplest, but most effective examples of this is the build up. When musicians play live, there is a tendency to increase dynamics as a song enters a chorus or refrain. Think of how a drummer uses accents, drum rolls, and fills that steadily increase in volume to enter a song or indicate an approaching change from verse to chorus or chorus to bridge. This effect is easily reproduced by adding a volume envelope to the track.
4. Select the Bypass check box and click OK. An envelope for the Bypass parameter of the effect appears on the track. 5. Add multiple points to the envelope. For more information, see Adding envelope points on page 142. 6. Adjust the envelope points to alternate between bypassing the effect (Bypass=True) and processing the effect (Bypass=False). For more information, see Adjusting individual envelope points on page 143. Preview the effect.
Slicing and dicing in the Chopper You can use the Chopper™ to add creative slice-and-dice effects to your ACID project. Chopping new loops for alternate time signatures The Chopper makes it easy to clone a new loop from a song or sample. This feature can be particularly handy when you want to create a loop for a different time signature. In this example, you’ll create a 3/4 pattern from a 4/4 loop. 1. Set the project time signature to 3/4.
Creating drum fills 1. Place a file in the Chopper. 2. Create an eighth-note (or other length) selection of a drum track in the Chopper. 3. Click the Insert Selection button ( ). 4. Use the Shift Selection Left ( ) and Shift Selection Right ( ) buttons to move the selection randomly through the drum track, clicking the Insert Selection button ( ) to insert drum hits. Creating one-track remixes 1. Place a Beatmapped track in the Chopper. For more information, see Using the Beatmapper on page 113. 2.
304 | APPENDIX C
Appendix D Shortcut commands Keyboard command reference The ACID keyboard commands are shortcuts that you can use while working on your project. Important: Some keyboard commands listed below are associated with features that are not available in all versions of ACID. For information on a specific feature and its availability, please refer to the description of the feature in this manual.
Magnification and view commands Description Keys Description Keys Show Explorer window Alt+1 F9 Show Chopper window Alt+2 Show Mixing Console window Alt+3 Show Video/Video Preview window Show Media Manager window Alt+4 Alt+5 Show Track Properties window Alt+6 Show Surround Panner window Alt+7 Show Soft Synth Properties window Show Audio Plug-In window Alt+8 Restore project magnification to the default settings Restore track height to a level where all track list controls are displayed Red
Cursor placement, loop region and time selection commands Description Keys Description Keys Go to beginning of active loop region or viewable area (if no selection) Go to end of active loop region or viewable area (if no selection) Home Center in view \ End Move cursor to corresponding marker or select corresponding region Move left/right one pixel Number keys (not Keypad) Left/Right Arrow Move to marker(s) Ctrl+Left/Right Arrow Ctrl+Alt+Left/Right Arrow ; (semicolon) , (comma) .
Event editing commands Description Keys Description Keys Paint the entire media length for all media except video (only when Paint tool is selected) Cycle event clip forward for all selected clips Cycle event clip backward for all selected clips Select Draw tool Ctrl+click in timeline Join selected events J C Create fades F Shift+C Reverse event U Ctrl+D Ctrl+T Select next edit tool in list D Select previous edit tool in list Shift+D Undo Ctrl+Z Redo Cut selection Copy event Ctrl+Shif
Playback commands Description Keys Description Keys Start/stop playback Stop playback Toggle looped playback Play from start Spacebar Esc Q Shift+Spacebar or Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar when the timeline or track view has focus Record Go to start of project Go to end of project Skip backward Ctrl+R Ctrl+Home or W Ctrl+End Page Up Skip forward Page Down Play from cursor Shift+F12 from any window Ctrl+Spacebar when the timeline or track view has focus Pause/resume playback F12 (from any window) Enter whe
Track list commands Description Keys Description Keys Mute selected tracks Solo selected tracks Record Cycle through effect automation envelopes Insert new MIDI track Z X Ctrl+R E or Shift+E Render to new track Show/hide bus tracks Insert folder track Insert audio track Ctrl+M B Ctrl+Alt+F Ctrl+Q Description Keys Ctrl+Alt+Q Mixing Console commands Description Keys Change selection of a mixer control Left/Right Arrow Move the right channel of the fader Ctrl+Up/Down Arrow for the selected mixer c
Appendix E Glossary The glossary contains terms and their definitions that you may come across in the manual. This glossary not only includes terms associated with ACID® software, but also includes relevant industry terms. .acd-zip An ACID project file that contains all information regarding the project including track layout, envelope settings, and effects parameters. In addition, all audio files used in the project are embedded into the project file.
Beats Per Minute (BPM) The tempo of a piece of music can be written as a number of beats in one minute. If the tempo is 60 BPM, a single beat occurs once every second. Bit The most elementary unit in digital systems. Its value can only be 1 or 0, corresponding to a voltage in an electronic circuit. Bits are used to represent values in the binary numbering system. As an example, the 8-bit binary number 10011010 represents the unsigned value of 154 in the decimal system.
Decibel (dB) A unit used to represent a ratio between two numbers using a logarithmic scale. For example, when comparing the numbers 14 and 7, you could say 14 is two times greater than the number 7; or you could say 14 is 6 dB greater than the number 7. Where did we pull that 6 dB from? Engineers use the equation dB = 20 x log (V1/V2) when comparing two instantaneous values. Decibels are commonly used when dealing with sound because the ear perceives loudness in a logarithmic scale.
Frequency Spectrum The frequency spectrum of a signal refers to its range of frequencies. In audio, the frequency range is basically 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. The frequency spectrum sometimes refers to the distribution of these frequencies. For example, bass-heavy sounds have a large frequency content in the low end (20 Hz-200 Hz) of the spectrum. Groove A groove refers to the rhythmic pattern of a piece of music.
Musical Instrument Device Interface (MIDI) A standard language of control messages that provides for communication between any MIDI-compliant devices. Anything from synthesizers to lights to factory equipment can be controlled via MIDI. Normalize Refers to raising the volume so that the highest level sample in the file reaches a user defined level. Use normalization to make sure you are using all of the dynamic range available to you.
Resample The act of recalculating samples in a sound file at a different rate than the file was originally recorded. If a sample is resampled at a lower rate, sample points are removed from the sound file, decreasing its size, but also decreasing its available frequency range. Resampling to a higher sample rate, extra sample points are interpolated in the sound file. This increases the size of the sound file, but does not increase the quality. When downsampling, one must be aware of aliasing.
Tempo Tempo is the rhythmic rate of a musical composition, usually specified in beats per minute (BPM). Threshold A threshold determines the level at which the signal processor begins acting on the signal. During normalization, levels above this threshold are attenuated (cut). Time Format The format by which the time ruler and selection times are displayed. These can include: time, seconds, frames, and all standard SMPTE frame rates. Track A discrete timeline for audio data.
318 | APPENDIX E
Index Numerics Latch mode, 147 MIDI controller, 141 MIDI program change, 142 Modes, 147 Mute automation, 137 Recording, 147 Showing or hiding controls, 137 Thinning envelope points, 143 Touch mode, 147 Track automation, 137 Track effect automation, 140 Volume or pan, 138 5.1 Surround Plug-In Pack, 235, 245, 246 5.
Writing media, 51 Changing, 158 Changing a section’s color, 67 Changing an event’s clip, 103 Changing the track color, 40 Channel strip adding/editing track effects, 156 adjusting bus/assignable effects send levels, 157 Channel strips changing a track’s name, 156 FX Send (Assignable Effects), 175 Choosing a drum map for a track, 226 Chopper, 23, 95–100 Grid, 95 Inserting increments, 98 Inserting selections from, 99 Keyboard shortcuts, 96 Markers and regions, 96 Saving selections as new files, 100 Selecting
Deleting points, 143 Drawing points, 143 Envelope tool, 144 Event, 65 Flipping, 144 Thinning points, 143 Track, 112–146 Track envelopes, 142–145 Volume (track), 142 Equipment setup for recording, 179–180 Basic, 179 Mixer, 179 With digital multitrack, 180 With MIDI option, 180 Erasing events, 37, 299 Event takes Recording audio as new, 182 Events Automatic crossfades, 60 Changing a clip, 103 Changing length, 36 Changing pitch, 93 Copying, 55 Copying across tracks, 102 Cutting, 57, 61 Deleting, 57, 62 Editing
Playing MIDI from, 222 Routing MIDI tracks to, 222 Routing surround to, 237 Routing video to, 234 Setting up for surround, 236 Help, 15, 16 Hiding/showing Toolbar, 250 Track envelopes, 145 Video tracks, 231 Windows, 247 Creating MIDI events, 221 Deleting MIDI events, 221 Editing MIDI events, 218 Filtering MIDI events, 218 MIDI event parameters, 219 MIDI notes and frequencies, 220 Previewing MIDI events, 217 Quantizing note events, 221 Undoing and redoing, 221 Locking events To track envelopes, 145 Looped p
Reloading, 122 Replacing, 122 Resolving offline, 79 Saving track properties to, 123 Searching, 75 Tagging, 71 Media libraries Tagging files, 71 Media library Adding media files, 70 Backing up, 75 Creating new, 69 Opening, 69 Removing media files, 71 Media Manager, 32, 69 Adding custom columns, 80 Adding media from, 79 Automatically hiding Search pane, 80 Customizing view, 80 Moving columns, 80 Moving the Search pane, 80 Options, 81 Resizing columns, 80 Resolving offline media, 79 Searching for media files,
Channel strips, 155 FX Send (Assignable Effects) channel strips, 175 Input bus channel strips, 169 inverting track’s phase, 159 monitoring bus levels, 166 monitoring output levels, 177 muting or soloing a bus, 167 muting or soloing a track, 159 muting/soloing an assignable effects chain, 177 Routing surround through, 237 toolbar, 151 View pane, 153 window, 151 Mixing to a single track, 129 Monitor for video editing, 234 Monitoring external sources, 175 Moving Events, 37 Tracks, 40 Moving a section label, 68
Projects Adding media, 31 Key, 91 Opening, 30 Playing, 45 Properties, 29 Publishing to the Internet, 50 Rendering, 47 Saving, 46 Starting, 29 Tempo, 90 Time signature, 91 Properties Clip, 115, 212 Event, 64 MIDI track, 202 MIDI track, 174-180, 202 Project, 29 Track, 115 Proxy file, 315 Publishing projects, 50 Creating personal accounts, 50 Uploading, 50 Punch-in, 183 Q Quantize MIDI, 198 Quantizing MIDI In the list editor, 221 In the piano roll editor, 216 R Real-time rendering, 50 Recording, 179 Arming t
Shortcut keys, 305 Signal flow Audio, 25–26 MIDI, 27–28 Sliding Events, 64 Video events, 232 Slipping Events, 64 Video events, 232 Slip-trimming Events, 64 Video events, 232 Snapping, 89 In the Chopper window, 95 To scale, 216 Soft Synth Properties window, 23 Soloing Tracks, 43 Splitting events, 58 At the cursor position, 58 Multiple events, 59 One event, 59 Within a time selection, 60 Start offset, 64 Streaming media commands, 85 Stretching properties, 114, 121 Loops, 118 Subtags, 73 Summary properties tab
Duplicating, 41 Effects, 108–110 Envelopes, 112–146 Folder, 35, 128 Managing clips, 116 MIDI, 35, 188 Monitoring output levels, 43 Muting, 42 Panning, 41, 112–146, 239 Pitch shifting audio clips, 104 Previewing clips, 103 Properties, 115, 123, 252 Renaming, 40 Reordering, 40 Resizing, 40 Selecting events that use a specified clip, 104 Soloing, 43 Stretching properties, 114 Unmuting, 42 Using clips with, 101 Using the Clip Pool, 104 Volume, 41 Working with, 40 Transport bar, 21 Transposing Beatmapped tracks
x | INDEX