From 9ab3009544de388b1e564dab28839462bef96df9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Ben Loftis Date: Wed, 28 May 2014 16:29:01 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] in-depth documentation of fade curves, from Mixbus manual --- ...09_create-region-fades-and-crossfades.html | 137 +++++++++++++++--- 1 file changed, 114 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-) diff --git a/_manual/15_editing-and-arranging/09_create-region-fades-and-crossfades.html b/_manual/15_editing-and-arranging/09_create-region-fades-and-crossfades.html index be2b8e9..59e7010 100644 --- a/_manual/15_editing-and-arranging/09_create-region-fades-and-crossfades.html +++ b/_manual/15_editing-and-arranging/09_create-region-fades-and-crossfades.html @@ -2,31 +2,122 @@ layout: default title: Create Region Fades and Crossfades --- +

Every Region has a fade-in and fade-out. By default, the region fade +is very short, and serves to de-click the transitions at the start and +end of the region. By adjusting the regions fade length, a more +gradual transition can be accomplished.

Region Fades

-

- Region fades are possible at the beginning and end of all audio - regions. In object mode, a grip appears at the top left and top right of an - audio region when the cursor hovers over it. Placing the cursor over the top - of the grip displays the region fade cursor tip. Click and drag the grip left - or right in the timeline to adjust the length of the fade. -

-

- To activate/deactivate or change the shape of the fade, hover the cursor - over the regionfade grip till the cursor tip indicates region fade editing - and context-click to bring up a context menu. In the context menu there is a - list of options for the regionfade. Activate/Deactivate enables - and disables the regionfade. The different types of fades are, - Linear, Slow, - Fast, Symmetric, and - Constant Power. +

Region fades are possible at the beginning and end of +all audio regions. In object mode, a grip appears at the top left and +top right of an audio region when the cursor hovers over it. Placing +the cursor over the top of the grip displays the region fade cursor +tip. Click and drag the grip left or right in the timeline to +adjust the length of the fade.

-

Crossfades

-

- Crossfades refer to the behavior of a region fade when regions - overlap other regions. Crossfades are regionfades. When one region - overlaps another and there is a regionfade on the top region the fade-out will - be mirrored as a fade-in on the underlying region. The grip for the top region - will allow changing the length and type of the crossfade. +

Crossfades refer to the behavior when you want to make +a smooth transition (mix) from one audio region to another on the same +track. Historically, this was done by splicing 2 pieces of analog +tape together, and this concept was carried forward into digital +editing. Each track is a sequence of sound files (regions). If +two regions are butted against each other, there needs to be a method +to splice them smoothly together. The crossfade allows one region +to fade smoothly out, while the next region fades smoothly in, like 2 +pieces of tape that have been cut at and angle, and overlapped.
+

+

But Ardour uses a more refined "layered" editing model, and +therefore it is possible for multiple regions to be stacked on a single +location with arbitrary overlaps between different layers. For +this reason, crossfades must be implemented differently. We can't +assume that a crossfade is an entitry that exists between 2 regions; +instead each region must have its own associated crossfades at each +end, and the topmost region must always crossfade down to the +underlying region(s), if any.
+

+

Ardour solves this problem by putting a crossfade at the beginning +and end of every region. The fades of the bottom-most region are +first rendered, and then each region is rendered on top of the one +below it, with fades at the end of each region providing a crossfade to +the region(s) beneath it.
+

+

It is important to understand that region fades are crossfades. When one region has +another region or multiple regions beneath its fade area, then you will +hear the topmost region fade-out be mirrored as a fade-in on the +underlying region(s). The grip for the topmost region will allow +changing the length and type of the crossfade into the underlying +region(s). In this way you can create a complicated series of +crossfades, and then layer another region atop the others, and fade +into _that_ complicated series. An image here would +probably help.
+

+

If a region doesn't have any region(s) under it, then the region is +crossfaded to silence; for convenience we call this a "fade" +rather than a crossfade.
+

+

Fade Shapes
+

+

To activate/deactivate or change the shape of a region's fadein or +fade-out, hover the cursor over the regionfade grip till the cursor tip +indicates region fade editing and context-click to bring up a context +menu. In the context menu there is a list of options for the +regionfade. Activate/Deactivate enables and +disables the regionfade.
+

+

Because each fade is also a crossfade, it has an inverse fade shape +for the audio beneath the fade. It is important to know how the +shapes differ, and which are most suitable for various editing tasks.
+

+

The different types of fades are:

+ +

Although these fade shapes serve specific purposes, you might find that +any of the shapes is usable in your situation. The final decision +is an artistic choice rather than a

+
+

These fade curves are developed to provide a range of common uses, and +are developed with the least possible amount of changes in the "slope" +of the line. This provides artifact-free crossfades. Some +DAWs provide complicated fade editors with parametric "spline" controls +of the fade curves. While it might be interesting to develop a +fade curve with a faster cutoff, the mathematical difference between +this and simply shortening the fade is vanishingly small; and the +amount of effort to shorten the fade is much easier than messing with a +crossfade editor dialog.

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