Sony Acid 7 Manual

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The track list and Mixer window switch to 5.1 surround mode. The Master bus becomes the Surround 
Master bus, which contains faders for each of the six surround channels. Surround panners appear on tracks 
and mixer controls. Tracks routed to mixer controls (busses, assignable effects, or soft synths) do not have 
surround panners; panning for these tracks takes place on the mixer control.
Routing to hardware in the mixer
You must route the surround audio to the correct output in the mixer.
1.From the Options menu, choose Preferences.
2.Click the Audio tab.
3.From the Audio device type drop-down list, choose an audio device type other than Microsoft Sound Mapper 
(such as 
Windows Classic Wave Driver).
4.Choose the playback devices for the six surround channels:
From the 
Default Stereo and Front playback device drop-down list, choose the appropriate device for the 
front left and right surround channels.
From the 
Default Rear playback device drop-down list, choose the appropriate device for the rear left and 
right surround channels.
From the 
Default Center and LFE playback device drop-down list, choose the appropriate device for the 
center and LFE surround channels.
5.Click OK.
Overriding the default device routing
By setting up the device routing in the Audio tab of the Preferences dialog, you have set the defaults for 
surround routing in ACID. However, you can override the default device routing at any time using the 
Surround Master bus in the Mixer window.
1.In the Mixer window, click the Audio Device Selector button ( ) on the Surround Master bus. A menu of 
surround channels (
Front L/R, Rear L/R, and Center/LFE) appears.
2.In the submenu, match a surround pair with the appropriate output. 
3.Repeat steps one and two to match each surround pair to the appropriate output.
Track list in 5.1 surround mode Mixer in 5.1 surround mode
Surround 
panner
Surround
panners Front L/R  Rear L/R  Center LFE 
Track routed
to LFE
Track routed
to Bus
MIDI track
routed to
soft synth 
						

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Assigning audio to the LFE channel
Once the project is in 5.1 surround mode, you must decide whether a track will provide the “5” (surround 
panning) or the “1” (LFE channel) in 5.1 surround. Initially, all tracks in a surround project are set to 
provide surround panning, but you can assign a track to the LFE channel instead.
You can assign an individual track to the LFE channel or you can route the track to a mixer control (bus, soft 
synth, or assignable effect chain) and assign the mixer control to the LFE channel. 
To assign audio to the LFE channel, right-click the surround panner on the track header or mixer control 
and choose 
LFE Only from the shortcut menu. The track or mixer control is assigned to the LFE channel.
To change a track or mixer 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 158.
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.
Right-click the surround panner and choose LFE Only... ...to assign the track or mixer control to the LFE channel. 
						

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Panning tracks
1.Double-click the surround panner on the track you wish to pan. The Surround Panner window appears.
2.Adjust the panning settings. For more information, see Using the Surround Panner window on page 163.
3.Close the Surround Panner window.
Tip: You can also use the surround panner in the track 
header to pan your track.
Double-click to display
the Surround
Panner window 
						

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Panning mixer controls
You may choose to route tracks to busses or other mixer controls (such as soft synths or assignable effect 
chains) and pan them as a group rather than panning each track individually. 
Note: When you route a track to a bus or soft synth control, 
ACID sends stereo (two-channel) output to the mixer control 
and the mixer control sends 5.1 (six-channel) output to the 
Surround Master bus.
1.Add a mixer control to the project. For more information, see Using the Mixer on page 111.
2.Route tracks to the mixer control. For more information, see Using the Mixer on page 111.
3.Double-click the surround panner on the mixer control to display the Surround Panner window.
4.Adjust the panning settings. For more information, see Using the Surround Panner window on page 163.
5.Close the Surround Panner window.
Tip: You can also use the surround panner on the mixer 
control to pan your track.
Double-click to display
the Surround
Panner window 
						

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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.
View the Surround Panner window by double-clicking a surround panner on a track header or mixer control. 
Once the Surround Panner window is open, you can dock it in the ACID workspace. For more information, 
see Docking and floating ACID windows on page 172.
Tip: You can also choose Surround Panner from the View 
menu to display the Surround Panner window. Once the 
Surround Panner window is displayed, double-click the 
surround panner for a track or mixer control to view its pan 
settings.
1.Click the speaker icons to mute or include channels. 
Muting a channel ensures that no audio bleeds through a channel. For example, you might want to mute 
all but the center channel when you’re panning dialogue to the center channel.
Tip:  + click a speaker icon to solo the channel. 
2.Drag the pan point to position the sound within the sound field. For more information, see Moving the pan 
point on page 164.
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 165.
4.Drag the Smoothness slider to adjust the smoothness of the interpolation path between panning 
keyframes. The smoothness setting appears only when you are automating panning using keyframes. For 
more information, see Adjusting the Smoothness slider on page 167.
Pan point
= Muted channel
= Active (included) channel Toggle options for constraining
Assign track/bus to LFE channel
pan point movement
Pan type indicator
Ctrl 
						

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Moving the pan point
ACID provides a variety of methods to help you position the pan point in the Surround Panner window.
Choosing pan types
When you pan a track or mixer control, you can choose among several pan types to determine how ACID 
pans the audio. The current pan type appears at the bottom of the Surround Panner window.
Right-click the Surround Panner window and choose a pan type from the shortcut menu.
The
 Add Channels pan type makes the audio appear to move as a unit among the surround channels. As 
you move the pan point toward a channel (speaker icon), more and more of the signal from the other 
channels are folded into the channel you are panning towards, until at the extreme, all channels are fed 
at full intensity into a single channel. This pan type uses a linear panning curve.
The 
Balance pan type is most useful for adjusting the relative signal levels of the channels. In this pan 
type, as you move the pan point from the center to a channel, the signal in the channel you are panning 
towards starts at the base dB level (either 0 dB, -3 dB, or -6 dB) and increases to 0 dB. The signal in the 
channel you are panning away from starts at a base dB level (either 0 dB, -3 dB, or -6 dB) and decays to 
no signal level. For example, when you pan fully to the right, only the right channel is audible. This pan 
type uses a linear panning curve.
The 
Constant Power pan type maintains a constant volume as you move the pan point from channel to 
channel. This pan type, which uses the constant-power panning curve, is most useful for panning 
monaural source media.
Using the grid to monitor panning
The grid in the Surround Panner window helps you to visualize how your panning will sound. The grids 
spacing changes to match the current pan type.
The vertical lines represent the points where the left-to-right signal ratio is 6 dB, 0 dB, and -6 dB 
respectively: at the far-left line, the left channel is 6.0 dB louder than the right channel.
Method Description
Click to toggle through three options for constraining pan point motion as 
you drag: Move Freely ( ), Move Left/Right Only ( ), and Move Front/
Back Only ( ).
Double-click Double-clicking the pan point resets it to the center front of the surround 
panner.
Double-clicking in the Surround Panner window moves the pan point to 
the double-click location.
Ctrl+drag Makes fine adjustments.
Shift+drag Constrains motion to vertical, horizontal, or diagonal motion at 45 degree 
increments.
Alt+drag Constrains motion to a constant radius from the center of the surround 
panner.
Shift+Alt+drag Constrains motion to the maximally inscribed circle (a constant radius at 
the greatest possible distance from the center of the surround panner).
Arrow keys  Moves front/back/left/right.
Ctrl+Arrow keys Makes fine adjustments.
Page Up/Page Down Moves front/back.
Shift+Page Up/Page Down Moves left/right.
Numeric keypad 1-9 Jumps to a corner, edge, or center of the surround panner.
Ctrl+Numeric keypad 1,3,7, 9 Jumps to a location on the maximally inscribed circle (a constant radius at 
the greatest possible distance from the center of the surround panner).
Mouse wheel Moves front/back.
Shift+mouse wheel Moves left/right.
Ctrl+mouse wheel Makes fine front/back adjustments.
Ctrl+Shift+mouse wheel Makes fine left/right adjustments. 
						

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The horizontal lines represent the points where the front-to-rear signal ratio is 6 dB, 0 dB, and -6 dB 
respectively. As you adjust the 
Center fader, the lines move forward or backward to compensate for the 
center-channel gain.
The grid assumes that youre using a correctly set-up 
surround system (matched speakers and ideal positioning). 
Variations in your monitoring system will cause 
inconsistencies between the graph and perceived output. 
Automating panning
You can automate panning on a track or mixer control by adding keyframes. Keyframes are similar to 
envelope points in that they mark specific locations in the track where settings change. However, unlike 
envelope points, keyframes appears just below the track to which they apply. 
To add panning keyframes to a mixer control, you must first view the mixer control in track view. From the 
View menu, choose Show Bus Tracks to view the bus track at the bottom of the track view. For more 
information, see Viewing bus tracks on page 125.
Turning on panning keyframes
Before adding individual keyframes, you must first turn on the panning keyframes for the track or bus track.
1.Select the track or bus track for which you want to automate panning. 
2.From the Insert menu, choose Envelopes, and choose Surround Pan Keyframes from the submenu. 
An additional row appears below the track with a single keyframe positioned at the beginning of the 
project. This single keyframe represents the current panning settings for the track.
Adding panning keyframes
With panning keyframes turned on, you can add keyframes at any location along the track or bus track.
1.Position the cursor where you want to begin panning the track.
2.Double-click the surround panner to display the Surround Panner window.
3.Adjust the panning settings. For more information, see Using the Surround Panner window on page 163.
Note: You cannot automate muting/including channels or 
the gain applied to the center channel using the Center fader.
Keyframe 
						

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4.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. Once you’ve added the 
keyframe, double-click it to adjust panning settings in the 
Surround Panner window.
As you add keyframes to a track or bus track, the Surround Panner window shows the path of the panning 
keyframes. The 
Smoothness slider controls the smoothness of the interpolation path between the 
keyframes. For more information, see Adjusting the Smoothness slider on page 167.
Working with keyframes
After you add keyframes, you can work with them in much the same way as envelope points. For more 
information, see Using track envelopes on page 97.
Moving keyframes
Drag a keyframe to a new position below its track. 
Duplicating keyframes
Hold   and drag a keyframe to a new position below its track.
Editing keyframes
1.
Double-click a keyframe to open the Surround Panner window.
2.Adjust the panning settings as desired and close the window.
New keyframe
The Surround Panner window shows the path of the panning keyframes.
Ctrl 
						

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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. 
Adjusting the Smoothness slider
The Smoothness slider controls the perceived motion of sound within the sound field among three or more 
keyframes. When you drag the 
Smoothness slider to 0, ACID interpolates the changes between keyframes 
along a linear path. As you increase the smoothness value, the path between keyframes grows more curved 
and smooth.
1.Double-click a keyframe. The Surround Panner window appears.
2.Drag the Smoothness slider to adjust the smoothness of the spatial interpolation path leading up to this 
keyframe.
Locking keyframes to events
If you want keyframes to move with an event when it is moved along the timeline, choose Lock Envelopes to 
Events
 from the Options menu. 
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.
Keyframe Interpolation curve Description
Hold No interpolation takes place. The keyframes settings are maintained until the next keyframe.
Linear Panning is interpolated in a linear path.
Fast Panning is interpolated in a fast logarithmic path.
Slow Panning is interpolated in a slow logarithmic path.
Smooth Panning is interpolated along a smooth, natural curve.
Three keyframes with 
smoothness=100......and the same three keyframes
with smoothness=0. 
						

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Rendering surround projects
ACID renders 5.1 surround projects to produce six monaural files (WAV or AIFF). You can then use an 
authoring application to create the final cinema, DVD-Audio, DVD-Video, or DTS 5.1 Music project from 
the rendered files.
With the addition of the Sonic Foundry 5.1 Surround Plug-In Pack, you can render AC-3 files in ACID and 
burn the resulting files to DVD.
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 158.
1.From the File menu, choose Render As. The Render As dialog appears.
2.From the Save in drop-down list, choose the drive and folder where the file will be saved.
3.Enter a new name for the project in the File name box.
4.From the Save as type drop-down list, choose the desired file format (AIFF or WAV). If you have the 
Sonic Foundry AC-3 Encoder, you can choose AC-3 from the list as well.
5.If necessary, click Custom to customize the rendering settings. For more information, see Creating custom 
rendering settings on page 55.
Note: ACID limits you to creating monaural files when 
rendering a surround project. 
6.Click Save. 
Rendering the surround project SampleProject.wav... ...results in six WAV files.