Sony Acid 7 Manual
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CHP. 7WORKING WITH TRACKS 109 Replacing files Clicking the Replace File button ( ) displays the Replace File dialog and allows you to replace the audio file on the current track with a new audio file. This feature only replaces the actual audio. All track timing, effects, and envelopes remain. Tip: You can also replace a file by dragging an audio file from the Explorer and dropping it on the track name of an existing track. Saving file properties When you make changes in the Track Properties window, ACID saves the changes you have made in the project file, but does not alter the original media file. To save track property changes in the media file, click the Save File button ( ). You can also click the Save File As button ( ) to save the changes to a new file. ACID saves the media with the modified track properties to a new file, and renames the track in the track list to reflect the change. ACID saves all the information in the Track Properties window to your file except for any pitch-shifting you have applied and, for MIDI tracks, any volume or panning settings you have adjusted. ACID also saves any regions or markers you have created in the Chopper. For more information, see Inserting markers and regions in the Chopper on page 87. Mixing multiple tracks to a single track ACID allows you to mix a selected group of tracks or an entire project to a single-track stereo event. If your project includes any muted tracks, however, ACID does not mix those events into the new track. The original tracks and their events are unaffected when you mix to a single track. Typically, you would use this feature when you are finished refining a few tracks and want to combine them to conserve processing power. Also, when you mix multiple tracks to a single stereo track, any envelope or track effects that you applied are rendered into the newly mixed-down track. You can also use this feature to downmix 5.1 surround projects to stereo. This option also allows you to destructively process any track effect plug-ins. 1.Solo the tracks you want to mix. To mix down the whole project, skip to step two. 2.From the To o l s menu, choose Render to New Track or press . The Render to New Track dialog appears. 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 Te m p l a t e 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. Select the Render loop region only check box if you want to render only the loop region to the new mixed down track. Clear the check box to render the full length of the project. Ctrl+M
110 WORKING WITH TRACKSCHP. 7 4.Click Save. The time selection or project is mixed down to a new track and a copy of the file is saved in the folder specified. As the tracks are being mixed down, a status bar appears in the lower-left corner of the ACID window. Tip: You may cancel the rendering process by clicking the Cancel button () on the status bar. After ACID mixes down the new track, it appears at the bottom of the track view. If you mixed down the entire project, you may delete or mute the other tracks from the project, as they are all contained on the new track. 5.Use the Draw ( ) tool to paint the waveform on the new track. Exporting loops From the File menu, choose Export Loops to create new loops using the original loop media files in your ACID project. A new loop file is created for every tempo change in the project, which can result in multiple loop files being created from a single loop media file. 1.From the File menu, choose Export Loops. The Export Loops dialog appears. 2.From the Save in drop-down list, choose the drive or folder to which the new files will be saved. 3.From the Save as type drop-down list, choose the file format. 4.From the Te m p l a t e drop-down list, choose an audio format, or click Custom to create custom rendering settings. 5.Click Save. A progress dialog appears for each track as it is rendered to a file. ACID includes tempo information in the file name of each loop file created (e.g., bass 120.000 BPM. wav). Cancel button
8 CHP. 8USING THE MIXER CHAPTER111 Using the Mixer In the Mixer window, you’ll manage the project’s busses, assignable effects, and soft synth controls. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to add each of these controls to the mixer and route individual tracks to them. Yo u’ll also learn about working with the mixer controls, including adjusting levels, muting, soloing, and adding effects. This chapter also describes how to automate mixer controls by viewing them in the track view and adding envelopes. Using busses Think of busses as virtual pathways where signals from multiple tracks or effects can be mixed. You can add as many as 26 busses to the Mixer window, which provides you with a great deal of flexibility and mixing power. Busses are the last stage of the ACID signal flow and as such can be used to output audio signals to specific hardware. For more information, see Routing busses to system hardware on page 112. Adding busses to the project Add a bus to a project by clicking the Insert Bus button ( ) in the Mixer window or by choosing Bus from the Insert menu. Adding multiple busses 1. Display the Project Properties dialog using one of the following methods: Choose Properties from the File menu. Press . 2.Click the Audio tab. 3.Enter a value in the Number of stereo busses box and click OK. The busses are added to the Mixer window. Routing tracks to busses If your project contains multiple busses, you can assign tracks to specific bus outputs. To assign a track to a bus, click the Bus Assignment button ( ) on the track header and choose the desired bus from the menu. Assigning tracks to busses allows you to apply settings to a series of tracks and to route tracks to a particular hardware output. Note: The Bus Assignment button only appears if you have more than one bus in the project. Alt +Enter 8
112 USING THE MIXERCHP. 8 Adjusting the bus send level You can adjust the level of a track sent to a bus with the multipurpose slider in the track list. Tip: Bus sends are pre- volume by default. To change to post-volume, click the multipurpose slider label in the track list, choose the appropriate bus from the menu, and choose Post Volume from the submenu. Routing busses to system hardware You can route individual busses to specific system hardware for output. This allows you to configure busses to route output (projects or individual tracks) to sound cards, recording devices, mixing boards, etc. By default, all busses are assigned to the Master bus. In this configuration, you can use busses 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. However, you can also route busses to hardware outputs so you can use busses for sending tracks to external effects processors or for mixing on an external mixer. Note: When you installed ACID, the application automatically identified all hardware available for output on your computer and listed these components as options on the Audio tab in the Preferences dialog. For more information, see Using the Audio tab on page 181. To route busses to hardware, you must first verify whether you are using a Windows Classic Wave Driver, a DirectSound driver, or an ASIO driver as your audio device. Then you can choose the appropriate hardware device in the Mixer window. 1.From the Options menu, choose Preferences and click the Audio tab. 2.From the Audio device type drop-down list, choose Windows Classic Wave Driver or an ASIO driver. 3.Click OK to close the Preferences dialog. Note: If you have chosen Microsoft Sound Mapper in the Audio device type drop-down list on the Audio tab, you cannot assign the bus to a different device. 4.In the Mixer window, click the Playback Device Selector button ( ) on the bus you want to route. 5.Choose a hardware device from the menu that appears. Deleting busses Just as you can add busses to a project at any time, you can also delete superfluous busses. When you delete a bus from a project, tracks assigned to it are reassigned to the Master bus. Deleting a bus Right-click the bus in the mixer and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.
CHP. 8USING THE MIXER 113 Deleting multiple busses 1. Display the Project Properties dialog using one of the following methods: Choose Properties from the File menu. Press . 2.Click the Audio tab. 3.Enter a value in the Number of stereo busses box and click OK. The busses are removed from the Mixer window. Using assignable effects You can use assignable effect controls to send various levels of multiple tracks to a single effect chain. Like busses, these controls reside in the Mixer window and support plug-in chains. In addition, assignable effect outputs can be routed to project busses. You can add up to 32 assignable effect controls to a project, and each control supports as many as 32 DirectX plug-ins on its chain. For creative ways to use assignable effects, see Adding depth with assignable effects on page 189. Adding assignable effect controls 1.From the Insert menu, choose Assignable FX or click the Insert Assignable FX button ( ) in the Mixer window. The Plug-In Chooser dialog displays a list of the available plug-ins, and the assignable effect control is added to the Mixer window. Important: Do not use time-altering effects (such as time stretch, gapper/snipper, pitch-shift without preserving duration, and some vibrato settings) with an ACID project. Time-altering effects cause tracks routed to the assignable effect control to play out of synchronization with the waveform display in the track view and with other tracks. 2.Add all desired plug-ins using one of the following methods: Double-click the desired plug-in. Drag the desired plug-in to the chain area. Select the desired plug-in and click Add. Note: If you have preset plug-in chains saved, double-click the Packaged Chains folder to view those presets. For more information, see Saving plug-in chains as packages on page 124. 3.Click OK. The Plug-In Chooser dialog closes. The Audio Plug-In window opens and displays the plug-in chain. Alt +Enter
114 USING THE MIXERCHP. 8 4.Click a specific plug-in and adjust the effect’s parameters manually, or choose one of the presets from the Preset drop-down list. For more information about effect parameters, click the Plug-In Help button ( ) in the Audio Plug-In window. Tip: You can save an effect’s parameters as a preset to be used in other projects. To save a preset, enter a name in the Preset box and click the Save Preset button ( ). 5.Click the Close button ( ) to close the Audio Plug-In window. Working with assignable effects chains After you add an assignable effect control, you can add plug-ins to the chain and modify them as needed. For more information, see Adding effects to mixer controls on page 121. Routing tracks to assignable effect controls Routing tracks to an assignable effect control allows you to assign multiple tracks to a plug-in chain. 1.Click the multipurpose slider label (this icon displays Vo l u m e by default) and choose the desired assignable effect control from the menu that appears. The slider changes to reflect the name of the assignable effect control. 2.Drag the fader to adjust the level of the track sent to the assignable effect chain. Tip: Assignable effect chains are post-volume by default. To change to pre- volume, click the multipurpose slider label in the track list, choose the appropriate assignable effect chain from the menu, and choose Pre Volume from the submenu. If you set the Dry Out faders in your effect chain to -inf, you can adjust the wet/dry balance using the volume and assignable effect settings on the multipurpose slider. The volume fader adjusts the dry signal and the assignable effect fader controls the effect signals. Routing assignable effect controls to busses By default, assignable effect controls are routed to the Master bus for output. The bus then mixes the assignable effect plug-ins with all tracks routed to the same bus and outputs the mixed signal to the appropriate output device. For more information, see Routing busses to system hardware on page 112. To route an assignable effect control to a different bus, click the Playback Device Selector button ( ) on the assignable effect control and choose the desired bus from the drop-down list. The drop-down list displays all current busses in the project. For more information, see Adding busses to the project on page 111.
CHP. 8USING THE MIXER 115 Deleting assignable effect controls In the Mixer window, right-click the assignable effect control you want to delete and choose Delete from the shortcut menu, or select the control and press . The assignable effect control is removed from the Mixer window. Using soft synth controls You can add soft synth bus controls in the mixer to control the routing of your MIDI tracks to software synthesizers. Soft synth controls allow you to control volume and voice mappings for your MIDI tracks and add effects to a software synthesizer. In the same way you can route a MIDI keyboard to an outboard synthesizer module, you can route each MIDI track to any soft synth control you have set up for your project. Tip: You can also use soft synth controls to play MIDI from an external device. For more information, see Playing MIDI from external devices on page 150. There are three types of soft synth bus controls you can add: DLS, VSTi, or ReWire devices. A DLS or VSTi soft synth bus control is like a virtual synthesizer module where you can route tracks. In the same way you can route a MIDI keyboard to an outboard synthesizer module, you can route each MIDI track to any soft synth you have set up for your project or play a soft synth with an external MIDI controller. A ReWire soft synth bus control connects a ReWire panel application with ACID, which serves as a ReWire mixer application. When ACID hosts a ReWire panel application, playback is synchronized between the two programs, and the panel application’s audio is output through the ACID mixer. With ReWire 2.0 panel applications, you can also route MIDI tracks to ports (synths) in the ReWire panel applications. Note: If you receive an error that a MIDI port is currently in use when you try to play back your project, check the MIDI tab in the Preferences dialog and verify that your ReWire panel applications are not trying to access the same MIDI ports ACID is configured to use. Delete
116 USING THE MIXERCHP. 8 Adding soft synth controls to projects If you have no external MIDI devices defined, ACID adds a soft synth control with a default DLS voice set for you when you add a MIDI track to your project. You can add more soft synth controls to a project as needed. 1.Click the Insert Soft Synth button ( ) in the Mixer window. The Soft Synth Chooser dialog appears. 2.To add a DLS or VSTi soft synth, click the Soft Synths tab and choose an available synth from the list. To add a ReWire panel application, click the ReWire Devices tab and choose an installed panel application from the list. 3.Click OK. Note: If the VST instrument you want to use does not appear in the list, click VST Preferences. For more information, see Locating VST instruments for use in ACID on page 118. If the ReWire panel application you want to use does not appear in the list, see Locating ReWire panel applications for use in ACID on page 119. Modifying soft synth control properties Once you add a soft synth control to your project, you can use the Soft Synths Properties window to change the DLS, VSTi, or ReWire 2.0 soft synth used by the control, or edit the properties associated with the selected soft synth. Accessing the Soft Synth Properties window Note: You cannot display Soft Synth Properties for ReWire 1.0 soft synths or ReWire 2.0 soft synths routed to a specific channel. You can display the Soft Synth Properties window by double-clicking the soft synth icon on a Mixer control ( ), or by right-clicking the icon and choosing Soft Synth Properties from the shortcut menu. Changing the soft synth control routing 1. Double-click the soft synth icon on a control ( ). The Soft Synth Properties window appears. 2.Click the Edit Soft Synth button ( ). The Soft Synth Chooser dialog appears. 3.To route the soft synth control to a DLS or VSTi soft synth, click the Soft Synths tab and choose an available soft synth from the list. To route the soft synth control to a ReWire panel application, click the ReWire Devices tab and choose an installed panel application from the list.
CHP. 8USING THE MIXER 117 Changing voice mapping for DLS soft synth controls You can choose a DLS set from anywhere on your system for output from a DLS soft synth control. 1.Double-click the soft synth icon on a control ( ). The Soft Synth Properties window appears. 2.Choose a DLS set from the Vo i c e s e t drop-down list or click the Open DLS Voice Set button ( ) to browse to a DLS set. If you have the Enable Real-Time MIDI ( ) option enabled, you can audition voices using the keyboard at the bottom of the window. Note: To set the current voice set as the default setting to be used whenever you add a DLS soft synth, click the Set as default DLS Voice Set button (). Changing patches for DLS soft synth controls The Available voices pane displays the patch names, numbers, and other parameters of the voices included in the DLS set. You can choose a patch for ACID to play until ACID receives a patch change from the MIDI file. Tip: You can make ACID ignore patch changes during playback by clicking the Playback Filter button ( ) in the Track Properties window and choosing the Patch Change check box in the MIDI Event Filter dialog. For more information, see Filtering MIDI events during playback on page 134. 1.Choose a channel from the Channel drop-down list. 2.Choose a patch in the Available voices pane. ACID uses this patch until you choose another or until ACID receives a patch change from the MIDI file. Tip: You can create patch change events in the list editor in order to change patches within MIDI files. For more information, see Creating events on page 145. Changing VST instruments for soft synth controls You can choose a VST instrument from anywhere on your system for output from a soft synth control. 1.Double-click the soft synth icon on a control ( ). The Soft Synth Properties window appears. 2.Click the Edit Soft Synth button ( ). The Soft Synth Chooser dialog appears. 3.Choose a VST instrument from the list and click OK. If the VST instrument you want to use does not appear in the list, you may need to locate the files for use in ACID. For more information, see Locating VST instruments for use in ACID on page 118.
118 USING THE MIXERCHP. 8 4.Select the Enable button ( ) to enable playback of the VST instrument. 5.Modify the VST instrument settings as needed using the buttons in the Soft Synth Properties window: Locating VST instruments for use in ACID ACID designates a folder where you can store VST instrument files. However, if you have VST instrument files elsewhere on your system, you can direct ACID to look for files in alternate locations. 1.From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears. 2.Click the VST Instruments tab. The Default VSTi search folder box shows the default location of VST instrument files for use in ACID. VST instrument plug-ins located in this folder already appear in the Select VST instruments to be available as soft synths box at the bottom of the dialog. If the VST instrument you want to use appears in this box, select its check box. If the VST instrument does not appear in the box, continue with the following steps to locate the instruments for use in ACID. 3.Click the Browse button next to the Alternate VSTi search folder 1 box. The Browse for Folder dialog appears. 4.Browse to the location of your VST instrument files and click OK. ACID locates the VST instrument plug-ins and displays them in the Select VST instruments to be available as soft synths box at the bottom of the dialog. 5.Repeat steps three and four for the Alternate VSTi search folder 2 box, if needed. 6.In the Select VST instruments to be available as soft synths box, select the check boxes for the VST instruments you want available in ACID. 7.Click OK to close the Preferences dialog. Note: Once you add a VSTi soft synth to a project, the VST instrument stays locked until you close ACID. When a VST instrument is locked, you cannot clear its check box to make it unavailable in ACID. Loads an instrument preset. Choose an .fxp file to replace the current instrument preset.Opens an instrument bank. Choose an .fxb file to replace the current instrument bank. Saves the current instrument settings as a new instrument preset.Saves the current instrument settings as a new instrument bank. Locked VSTi