User manual

121
Fades, crossfades and envelopes
Creating crossfades
Overlapping audio material on the same track can be cross-
faded, for smooth transitions or special effects. You create
a crossfade by selecting two consecutive audio events and
selecting the Crossfade command on the Audio menu (or
by using the corresponding key command, by default [X]).
The result depends on whether the two events overlap or
not:
• If the events overlap, a crossfade is created in the over-
lapping area.
The crossfade will be of the default shape (linear, symmetric), but you
can change this as described below.
Ö The default crossfade length and shape are set in the
Crossfade dialog (see “The Crossfade dialog” on page
121).
• If the events do not overlap but are directly consecutive
(lined up end-to-start, with no gap) it is still possible to
crossfade them – provided that their respective audio
clips overlap! In this case, the two events are resized so
that they overlap, and a crossfade of the default length
and shape is applied.
• If the events do not overlap and cannot be resized
enough to overlap, a crossfade cannot be created.
• You can specify the length of the crossfade using the
Range Selection tool: make a selection range covering the
desired crossfade area and use the Crossfade command
on the Audio menu.
The crossfade is applied to the selected range (provided that the events
or their clips overlap, as described above).
Ö You can also make a selection range after creating the
crossfade and use the function “Adjust fades to Range”
on the Audio menu.
• Once you have created a crossfade, you can edit it by
selecting one or both crossfaded events, and selecting
“Crossfade” from the Audio menu again (or by double-
clicking in the crossfade zone).
This opens the Crossfade dialog.
Removing crossfades
To remove a crossfade, proceed as follows:
• Select the corresponding events and select “Remove
Fades” from the Audio menu.
• Use the Range Selection tool to select all fades and
crossfades you wish to remove, and select “Remove
Fades” from the Audio menu.
• Select a crossfade by clicking, and drag it outside the
track.
The Crossfade dialog
Options and settings
The Crossfade dialog contains separate, but identical, sec-
tions for the fade-in and fade-out curve settings in the
crossfade on the left, and common settings on the right:
Crossfade area
Option Description
Fade curve
displays
These displays show the shape of the fade out and
fade in curve, respectively. Click on a curve to add
points, click and drag existing points to change their
shape, or drag a point outside the display to remove it.
Curve buttons The curve kind buttons determine whether the corre-
sponding fade curve consists of spline curve segments
(left button), damped spline segments (middle button)
or linear segments (right button).
The curve shape buttons give you quick access to
some common curve shapes.