User guide

Tracktion 4 Reference Manual
148
With that all said, let’s look at the actual curves themselves. An automation curve is made up of a
series of automation nodes. Each node forms a breakpoint on the automation curve. Once a parameter
has been chosen by using one of the methods described above, an automation curve will appear on the
track. Initially, the curve will actually be a horizontal line, because there are no automation nodes. To
create a new node on the curve, double-click the curve (or ALT + click), and drag the new node up or
down to adjust the level.
For example, to create a volume ramp between bars two and three (Fig. 7.3.2), you would simply:
• Click the “A” icon for the track to be edited.
• Select the
volume and pan lter >> volume parameter from the list. The automation curve for
the parameter will now be visible.
• Double-click or
ALT + click (CTRL + click on a Mac) the line at the start of bar two. You should
see a new node created under your mouse cursor.
• Double-click
or ALT + click (CTRL + click on a Mac) the line at the start of bar three.
• Drag the node at bar three to a new vertical position.
Between the two nodes at bars two and three, there is a third node. This node is the curve node, and
it allows you to adjust the slope between two automation points. If you drag this node left or right, you
will notice that the automation curve becomes progressively less linear. At extreme settings, i.e., when
the curve node has been dragged as far as one of the two endpoint nodes, the change in level will be
an abrupt jump with no ramping at all. Figures 7.3.3 through 7.3.7 show the same automation curve,
with various settings for the node, ranging from full left, to full right, via half left, half right, and centred.
We will look at the node properties next, where the curve node’s value can be set explicitly.
Editing And Deleting Automation Nodes
Creating automation curves is all well and good, but there also needs to be tools for editing the
curves, and fortunately Tracktion offers quite a number of them. You can easily copy sections of curve
and paste them at different one or more different locations, either on the source curve, or on another
curve. You can move individual nodes for precise control, or scale the levels of an entire curve, or curve
section, for easy control of a number or nodes. You can record automation from mouse movements or
MIDI controllers in real time. You can even have automation curves lock to clips so that the section of
the curve covered by a clip will follow the clip if it is moved or copied. And nally, of course, you can
easily delete nodes, or sections of curves that you no longer need.
Figure 7.3.2
Figure 7.3.3
Figure 7.3.4 Figure 7.3.5
Figure 7.3.6
Figure 7.3.7